"I can't take this money, according to the rules I can't let outsiders in," the Gatekeeper glanced at the money, greedy but didn't take it.
I consciously took a step back, "Sorry, I was being presumptuous. How about you go in and catch one for us to check its quality?"
"Sure, that I can do, but it's quite easy. Are you really giving six hundred?" The Gatekeeper asked, not so certain.
I nodded with certainty, "Yes, compared to the brand we're planning to develop, this money is nothing."
"City folks are so generous. I'll open the gate and catch a chicken for you," said the Gatekeeper, his face beaming with joy as he took the money.
He pulled out a key and unlocked the gate to enter.
As soon as the door to the Slaughter Chicken Field opened, a wave of the stench of blood emanated out.
I quickly reached into my pocket for a cloth strip, ready to face any sudden danger.
Before I could pull it out, my waist was suddenly gripped by Yu Longting.
He slightly bent over to protect me in his arms, his long legs moving us toward the chicken farm.
Inside, the air was damp, and the concrete floor was stained with blood, looking wet and sinister, very much like Asura Hell.
The Gatekeeper was already scared witless, sitting on the ground, unable to stand up, "What happened... what's going on..."
"Yu Longting, look, all those chickens have turned into skeletons," I raised my head to look at the cages where the chickens were waiting to be slaughtered.
Each one was stripped bare of flesh, even the innards were gone.
Yu Longting's eyes suddenly turned green as he scanned the room of seventy or eighty square meters, "The Tree Infant has been here, but it must have left already, or it wouldn't have left this lone survivor."
I didn't want to continue discussing this topic in front of the frightened Gatekeeper, making him even more terrified, so I chose not to respond...
But in my heart, I strongly agreed with what he said.
"What's a Tree Infant? What are you talking about?" The Gatekeeper swallowed his saliva, completely lost, but he seemed to be catching on, "The live one you mentioned, that's not me, is it...?"
"Clean the blood off yourself and get home quickly, otherwise, these chickens will be your fate," Yu Longting gave the Gatekeeper a Spirit Talisman for protection and left with me.
I was nearly ninety percent sure, "The Slaughter Chicken Field slaughters in the daytime and had already delivered its products. At night, only six or seven chickens remain, not enough to sate the appetite of the Tree Infant."
"So, we need to check the pig slaughterhouse; they usually kill pigs at night and deliver them to the market in the day."
Yu Longting frowned as he looked down at the blood on the sole of my shoe.
He bent over especially to clean my shoes thoroughly.
His own soles were already clean. Did he float when he walked?
Initially, I thought Yu Longting helped clean the blood off my shoes because of his cleanliness, but as we reached the western village and the crowd slowly grew...
I realized his foresight. If someone with bloody footprints were to walk by, they might be mistaken for a butcher or a serial killer.
Upon reaching the pig slaughterhouse, red light shone all around.
The place was brightly lit, and from the outside, you could see each pig split open and hanging overhead. This text is hosted at novel fire.net
Everything seemed normal; no skeletons in sight.
But just the sight of all these dead pigs was enough to scare someone as faint-hearted as me.
"If you're scared, you can close your eyes at any time, and I will hold you tightly," Yu Longting said, and then like the wind, he entered the slaughterhouse.
I felt the air was very cold; I swallowed, "So strange, I haven't seen a single person who kills pigs... Where did everyone go?"
It was only when I suddenly found myself lifted into the air, held by Yu Longting's arm, that I realized something.
I looked down at the ground and nearly fainted on the spot...