"I’m back, just got up the stairs."
Tan Wenbin didn’t go upstairs to find Xiao Yuan, but ran to the workshop instead.
As soon as he opened the door, he smelled a rich aroma of meat.
"Hey, Run Sheng, you’re really not playing fair, secretly roasting meat here."
Saying that, he reached over the stove, pinched a piece, and put it straight in his mouth without blowing on it.
"Phew... so hot... so hot!"
"Crispy, not bad. Are you roasting pig skin here? Why not prepare some dipping sauce. Even if you don’t have chili, some salt would suffice."
"Does it taste good?"
"Delicious, the meat is quite fresh."
"Want to have some more?"
"Nonsense, of course."
"Here, which piece do you want? I’ll cut it for you."
Run Sheng laid out the two sets of skins on the table, "lifelike."
He was just following Xiao Yuan’s instructions to destroy them, but before he could warn Tan Wenbin, the latter had already started eating.
Tan Wenbin saw the two thin figures lying on the table.
He was stunned for a full half-minute while still numbly chewing in his mouth.
Finally, he looked down, spat out the stuff in his mouth, and covered his throat:
"The bathroom is next door. Go there to vomit."
Binbin stayed put, squatting on the ground and continuing to dry heave.
Run Sheng didn’t want him to mess up the place, so he simply picked up Binbin and took him to the bathroom, letting him lean on the toilet and vomit loudly.
After returning to the workshop, Run Sheng finished cutting the rest of the skins, then put them into the stove in batches.
The destruction was done, but he had to clean the stove afterward, otherwise, it would be coated with grease.
A pale-faced Tan Wenbin came back, looked at the now empty table, and asked, "I was just hallucinating, right?"
"Not a big deal, just some dirty meat."
"No, are you really eating this stuff?"
Run Sheng shook his head: "I don’t eat it."
"Huh..." Tan Wenbin breathed a sigh of relief.
"The meat is not dirty enough, not marinated to taste."
Tan Wenbin collapsed to sit, scratched his hair with his hands, and said, "I always feel like you guys are deceiving me."
"Deceive you about what?"
"From start to finish, it seems like a staged drama. I am always left out at the critical moment. I haven’t even seen a corpse that moves on its own."
"Just pretend we are deceiving you then."
"But it doesn’t feel like it, Xiao Yuan wouldn’t joke about this kind of thing."
Run Sheng touched Tan Wenbin’s forehead with concern and asked, "Are you food poisoned?"
Tan Wenbin shook his head pitifully. He had seen Li Zhiyuan recite math problems while simultaneously giving the answers. For a student about to enter their senior year of high school, this was more miraculous than seeing a corpse that moved.
"Run Sheng, can you tell me now what happened last night? Xiao Yuan asked me to come to you."
Run Sheng nodded and recounted the events of last night and today.
After listening, Tan Wenbin’s face turned even paler.
"So, the two water monkeys I encountered today were actually possessed by Corpse?"
"Do you even need to ask? You just ate their skin."
"Don’t mention that, I’ve already forgotten it."
"Do you have any more questions?"
"No, that’s all." Tan Wenbin stood up shakily, staggering as he walked out.
"Where are you going?"
"Going to the convenience store to make a call, to have my dad come and pick me up."
Tan Wenbin walked up to the dam, squatted down, and tremblingly took out a cigarette to light, but he couldn’t get a spark despite several attempts with the matches.
He was just joking; how could he possibly call his dad to come and pick him up? If he hadn’t seen Corpse this time, there would surely be a chance next time.
This feeling was like someone who loves spicy food but can’t resist trying it even though it’s painfully spicy and uncomfortable.
He got the match to light, and Tan Wenbin immediately leaned over to light the cigarette.
A roaring sound came, and a police tricycle arrived on the dam.
Tan Wenbin looked up with a cigarette in his mouth and locked eyes with Tan Yunlong.
The cigarette fell from his mouth.
Tan Yunlong got off the police car, came over, and gave a dose of fatherly love with a kick.
Tan Wenbin was kicked to the ground, the dam was flat, and he rolled several times.
"I put you here for you to smoke? I think you have no manners whatsoever!"
Tan Wenbin retorted, "Dad, you’re also using the public vehicle for personal purposes."
"Heh." Tan Yunlong started to undo his belt.
"What’s the matter, what’s the matter." Li Sanjiang walked out and grabbed Tan Yunlong, "Don’t always be so harsh on the kid. What if you break him?"
"Old man, just now this kid was squatting here smoking!"
"Ah, I just pulled it out for the kid to play with, he doesn’t even smoke. If you want to hit someone, hit me."
"Old man, you can’t always protect him like that. Spoiling the child too much will lead to no good."
"I indulged Little Yuanhou, and I think he turned out quite alright."
"Can that even compare?"
"They’re both kids, what’s the difference?"
"I dream of a difference."
"Come, have a seat, stay for dinner tonight."
"No, old man, I’m here on official duty. There was a theatrical troupe that had an accident at Pingchao Town around noon, the car crashed through the railings on the bridge and fell into the river."
"They performed at Si Yuan Village yesterday."
"Oh, that troupe, how are the people, how are they?"
"Sheesh... how could that happen."
"It’s just a plain car accident, but too many people died, I’ve come here to do a routine check, to see if there were any issues during yesterday’s performance, like fights or conflicts that could have triggered this."
"No, nothing, they performed quite well yesterday, probably played the whole night without closing their eyes, must’ve been fatigued driving."