Chapter Twenty-Seven: Minced into Bits

Liu Zheng did not stand on ceremony and checked the pots one by one. The ingredients floating on the surface were all the same: onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, cilantro, and so on. Below the surface, the liquid was thick and opaque, hiding everything within. At the same time, the system provided no prompts.

He hesitated, then extended a tentacle.

"You can look, but you touch it, you lose a limb," Oink said, unable to watch any longer. "And it's not free." He paused, then added, "Tsk."

Liu Zheng clicked his tongue. "I'll take this one, then." He pointed to the one in the very center, for no other reason than its symmetry.

"Looks like your luck isn't very good," Oink said, shaking his head as he retrieved tableware from a cabinet behind him. Soon, a bowl brimming with broth was placed before Liu Zheng. "Drink up. Once you're finished, you can head to the chopping block."

The pig-headed man said this gently. Liu Zheng looked into the bowl. The broth appeared much clearer than it had in the pot; several red-eyed flies were fluttering in the liquid as if they were still alive.

"Name: Hell Dragon-Fly Spicy Soup"
"Type: Item"
"Quality: Inferior"
"Effect 1: Loss of taste. Duration depends on constitution."
"Effect 2: Constitution permanently reduced by 5 points."
"Can be brought out of the instance: Yes"

He stared at the spicy soup with a grimace. It wasn't the presence of the Hell Dragon-flies that bothered him—he’d already eaten eyeball sashimi, so this was nothing—but rather the entirely negative effects, especially the permanent loss of constitution. Liu Zheng’s base constitution was only twelve; this would wipe out nearly half of it. If he cleared the "Flesh Aberration" status after the instance ended, he feared he might end up paralyzed on the spot.

"Can I get this to go?" Liu Zheng asked seriously.

"I can pack *you* to go," Oink replied with equal seriousness.

"Sigh." He sighed, bowed his head, and took a sip. An extreme, biting spiciness punched his taste buds, and the sulfurous aftertaste delivered a secondary blow to his brain.

"Hisss-hah! Hisss-hah!" Liu Zheng stuck out his tongue, saliva flowing uncontrollably, though it was but a drop in the bucket.

"Is it good?" Oink asked.

"Not... enough... spice," he managed to say, word by word, after catching his breath.

"With a mouth like that, you'd need to be stewed for at least eight hours," Oink chuckled.

"What, can't you chew the sashimi?" Liu Zheng continued to talk back.

"I don't eat humans, though you humans have eaten me. After all, I am half human," Oink shook his head. "But I will sell your meat to them, just as you did to me."

He spoke calmly.

"Like the Bloody Restaurant?"

As soon as the words left his lips, the light in the room dimmed instantly. Oink’s shadow stretched infinitely, swelling into a demonic god wielding a giant axe.

"You didn't tell him?" Oink tilted his head to ask the Ox-Horse.

"I didn't think he'd ask," the Ox-Horse replied, looking helpless. *Wait, how did we end up talking about supplying the restaurant? You’re just an ingredient—why are you so proactive?*

"The Bloody Restaurant used to have a classic dish: Live Roasted Suckling Pig," Oink said, the fire in his eyes flaring brightly again. "I was that pig."

In the suffocating silence, Liu Zheng spoke slowly. "Does it taste good?"

"Good? I'll kill you!" The Ox-Horse cursed and kicked Liu Zheng over. After knocking him down, it stomped on him ruthlessly, turning all four of his tentacles into pulp. "His brain seems to have broken after he stopped being human, please don't take offense," it shouted while kicking.

"You want to protect him?" Oink pierced through its intentions.

"He did call me 'Boss', after all," the Ox-Horse said humbly.

"You can't protect him," Oink shook his head.

"Let me try. We’re all from the same farm, surely you wouldn't kill me," the Ox-Horse said, lying on the ground and exposing its belly, even wagging its tail.

"You learned that move from Black Claw, didn't you?" Oink frowned deeply.

"Black Claw is long dead," the Ox-Horse said.

"Oh. No wonder I haven't seen him come to sell meat in a while. Was he made into dog meat hotpot?" Oink asked.

"He went to the landfill to open a treasure chest and got his guts spilled," the Ox-Horse said flatly.

"He was always that stupid," Oink sighed. "I told him to stay put in the sewers, or at least come work as a guard for me." The pig-headed man shook his head.

"Dogs will be dogs; they always want to be strays," the Ox-Horse said.

"Hmm," Oink replied softly, and his shadow retreated back to his feet. "Alright, lie up there." He dragged a wooden butcher's table from the corner, soaked in layers of bloodstains and filth.

"Hurry up," the Ox-Horse kicked Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng walked over and lay face down on the table.

"Why aren't you facing me? Are you afraid?" Oink mocked.

"I’ve always seen pigs slaughtered face down," he muttered.

"You seem eager to anger me," Oink sneered.

"I don't mean to. I just can't help it. The Ox-Horse is right; there's something wrong with my brain," Liu Zheng explained. His irritability made it impossible to control his anger, and he occasionally couldn't resist provoking others.

"It doesn't matter. You won't have to control it for much longer," Oink said, raising his butcher knife.

The first strike took off his head.
The second strike took off his limbs.
The third strike removed his internal organs.
With the final strike, he split Liu Zheng in two.

Liu Zheng gritted his teeth, not making a sound throughout the ordeal. Even though his physical body wasn't truly being separated, the sensations were vivid and real. However, as he was continuously cut, those sensations grew increasingly dull. By the time he was finally cleaved open, Liu Zheng felt no more pain.

"Done and done!" Oink shouted, tearing off his dirty apron and covering Liu Zheng’s face with it.

Liu Zheng’s eyes were wide open. He saw nothing, heard nothing.

*So this is what an "empty shell" feels like.* That was the last thought that flashed through his mind before he plunged into eternal silence.

" 'Emergency Rations' have been used automatically."

The system's cold voice rang out abruptly. A writhing mass of flesh appeared out of thin air and crawled into Liu Zheng’s mouth on its own.

"So that's what he was relying on," Oink watched, a cold sneer on his face.

"You didn't say I couldn't," the Ox-Horse giggled.

"This is the first time, and the last," Oink said seriously.

"Of course, of course," the Ox-Horse wiped away a cold sweat. Although it knew the pig-headed man's personality well enough to dare this trick, it only felt truly relieved after hearing those words. Heaven knows if Oink would go on a rampage; he had once hacked half the restaurant to pieces.

"You have high hopes for this human?" Oink asked suddenly, looking at the still-unconscious Liu Zheng. Otherwise, the Ox-Horse would never have risked such a stunt.

"He got me a couple's vacation voucher for Paradise Island, and he got the Pompadour's vest from that tree," the Ox-Horse stopped smiling. "I think this kid might actually accomplish something."

"Is that so?" Oink walked over to a furnace and lifted an entire pot. He pried open Liu Zheng’s mouth and poured the scalding broth inside, not caring that his mouthparts were scorched and discolored.

"Then, let's look forward to it."