Sacrifice

On the other side, Jiang Xun, sensing that Yu Fu might be driven to desperate measures, followed the trail all the way down to the first-floor restaurant.

Unfortunately, he was still one step too late.

In the short time since he had last seen it, the restaurant had completely transformed!

Not long ago, it had been filled with people in a feeding frenzy, but now there were only overturned tables and chairs, bent or broken cutlery, and blood smeared across every surface like an oil painting.

Most of the diners had vanished; only two remained.

It was likely a man and a woman.

The reason for the description “likely” was simply because, at this stage, it was difficult to discern their true gender by appearance alone. In fact, they no longer looked human at all.

Their heights had swollen to at least two and a half meters. Their bodies were bloated like mountains of meat, with layers of fat rubbing and squirming against each other as they moved. Combined with the blood covering their bodies—whether their own or from elsewhere—the only word to describe them was horrifying.

The only reason Jiang Xun suspected one was female was because of the long hair trailing behind a head that was disproportionately small compared to the massive body.

Currently, these two bloated entities were embracing each other and… devouring!

Yes, they—or rather, it—were eating the flesh of the other, gnawing away at each other’s bodies.

The scene was so bloody and eerie that it provoked an instinctive physical revulsion. Even Jiang Xun couldn’t help but frown.

By the time he arrived, the battle between these two mountains of flesh was essentially decided. More than half of the man’s body had already been swallowed by the woman. Yet, he was still alive, tearing at the flesh near her mouth as if he couldn’t feel any pain.

They were the only ones here, but looking at the sheer volume of meat on them and their current behavior, it was obvious where everyone else had gone.

“…”

After a brief silence, Jiang Xun let out a heavy sigh.

The situation in the restaurant exceeded his expectations. The deterioration here had happened much faster than he anticipated. He had thought that stopping the ritual would prevent this, but he had still been a step behind!

However, the young man quickly composed his emotions.

He had encountered similar situations more than once or twice. In this dangerous world, the resistance of ordinary people toward anomalous objects was near zero; once they were caught, a clean escape was nearly impossible.

In many cases, death was a form of mercy.

There was nothing he could do. Many things were beyond the power of a single individual to change, and one man could not save everyone.

Since it had come to this…

Jiang Xun stepped forward, flames igniting on his body. He would have to end the suffering of these poor souls with his own hands.

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed. A distorted demonic person dropped from the ceiling!

It had been hanging above the door, waiting for the moment the young man stepped inside. Catching him off guard, it lunged to bite his throat.

In the next second, the creature felt a massive force. Its body was slammed into the ground, and crimson flames instantly spread across its skin, forcing a scream of agony even from an emotionless demonic person!

Flinging the burning creature aside, Jiang Xun expressionlessly grabbed a second demonic person attacking from the left. With a burst of exaggerated strength, he twisted the attacker’s arm into a braid before setting it ablaze as well.

But the sacrifice of these two demonic people was not entirely worthless. Though they only delayed him for a few moments, the monster in the restaurant had nearly finished consuming the other.

As Jiang Xun prepared to rush over, the last four demonic people lunged from the corners simultaneously, successfully obstructing his path.

It was then that Yu Fu slowly walked out. He had been in the center of the restaurant all along, but the two massive, devouring monsters had perfectly hidden him from view.

Now, the white-haired old man looked at the bloated monster before him. There was no trace of disgust or fear in his eyes—only anticipation.

He saw Jiang Xun but didn’t care. With a trembling hand, he pulled a necklace from his pocket.

The black necklace was made of an indiscernible material, but the golden, pebble-shaped gemstone hanging from it was exceptionally beautiful. In the dim light of the restaurant, it actually emitted a bright glow.

Yu Fu used a small knife to slice open his palms. A closer look revealed that his hands were already covered in scars—some large, some small, some scabbed over, and some fresh.

He cut himself again, letting a large amount of blood coat the singular gemstone, then held it up reverently in his cupped palms.

At the same time, the bloated monster finally stuffed the last chunk of flesh into its mouth and let out a satisfied burp.

A look of pure bliss appeared on its completely distorted face. Now that its appetite was sated, its eyes, which were squeezed into mere slits, seemed to regain a flicker of clarity.

Then, very quickly.

It seemed to realize something.

The unnaturally bloated monster looked down at its own body. In its widening eyes, confusion turned to shock, and then to extreme terror.

“I… what am I doing? What… what am I doing! I’m… Gag! Vomit! No… this isn’t me, NO!!”

It let out a frenzied scream, gagging violently, but it couldn’t vomit anything up.

It tried to use its hands to claw at itself, but its body was so monstrously obese that moving a limb was a task of immense pain.

After the gagging came a roar of desperation and hollow grief.

“No, no, why is it like this!? Sob, fake, it’s all fake, Hahaha! I must be dreaming, I didn’t… I didn’t! I… Hahaha, Uuugh…”

It laughed and cried at the same time, tears and saliva covering its face. It beat its own chest, trying to wake up from this nightmare, its mind completely shattered.

Yu Fu watched all of this quietly. His expression didn’t shift; his cold eyes didn’t flicker once at this scene of despair and agony.

Once he was sure the timing was right, he raised the blood-stained gemstone and closed his eyes.

“■■, ■■■, ■■■…”

Language unintelligible to humans squeezed out of the old man’s throat. The twisted, abstract sounds didn’t even seem capable of coming from a human. As his chanting grew faster, the gemstone held high began to emit an increasingly scarlet light.

The light quickly enveloped the entire restaurant. It was only then that the bloated entity seemed to notice there were others around.

It turned its body with great difficulty to look over. On the other side, Jiang Xun, who had just finished off the last demonic person, froze.

The young man realized something was wrong, but with the rising blood-light, the strange language made the surrounding air turn viscous. The entire restaurant felt as if it had been plunged into a massive glob of fresh red amber!

Jiang Xun’s movements became difficult. It happened fast, and ended even faster.

As the blood-light surged, the bloated monster suddenly let out a shrill, piercing scream. Its mountain-like body began to shrivel at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In less than two seconds, the giant, flabby figure was like a punctured balloon. It shrank from a two-and-a-half-meter mountain of fat to nothing but skin and bones!

Finally, with a scream of absolute despair, its body shriveled into a clump, collapsed forward, and shattered into countless fragments like a broken statue.

All of this occurred within seconds. With the death of the bloated entity, the surrounding blood-light finally condensed into a solid form, frantically gathering above the corpse to form a massive sphere of blood-red mist.

Then, a pale hand reached out from within.