The short dagger sliced down from the chin, creating a gaping wound over a foot long in the blink of an eye. Scalding hot blood gushed out as the feeble goat let out a terrified wail, unable to break free. The black-faced man didn't stop, continuing to slice open the goat's belly.
Within a breath or two, he had already skinned the goat. With a flick of his wrist, the short dagger returned to the leather sheath at his waist.
He grasped the parted goat skin with both hands, ripping it forcefully to the sides, producing a sound of tearing flesh and skin, accompanied by a rush of blood.
The goat let out a pained howl, its head drooping to one side, silent and still.
Seeing the goat no longer struggle, the black-faced man worked even faster, brutally tearing off the goat's skin. He hefted the bloody hide, shaking it forcefully, until the last piece stuck to the head finally tore free.
In an instant, the skinned goat, collapsed to the ground, transforming into a bloodied, emaciated woman, utterly naked.
The black-faced man grinned broadly, hoisting the woman of unknown fate onto his shoulder, running swiftly to the side.
"Hei, you damn thief, don't run!"
A voice shouted angrily from behind, an old man carrying a ram's horn pickaxe, so enraged he was blowing his beard and glaring.
But the black-faced man had already slipped into a burrow, disappearing from sight. The old man cursed a couple of times, showing no intent to continue the chase, while those catching up from behind didn't seem to find it odd, with some even cursing with a laugh.
What left Yu Ziqing dumbfounded came next; some carried wooden sticks, others ropes, and upon reaching the place, swiftly set up a frame with skilled hands.
Some people drove the herd together, some sharpened knives, and some bound the goats' legs, hanging them from the wooden racks.
Hanging, skinning, skinless goats turning into human forms, the survivors carried away those who endured the skinning's pain.
Those who succumbed to the pain, dying on the spot, were also carried to the side, heaped together like garbage.
In this brief moment, the scene became bustling as if a market fair in the countryside.
But Yu Ziqing felt it resembled an orderly assembly line, efficient and seamless.
Those who survived the skinning were cheered for and fought over, while the dead were tossed aside. Even among the few real goats, skinned and killed, someone immediately set up a bonfire, placing a large pot big enough for bathing.
No one seemed to find anything strange about this scene.
Except for Yu Ziqing.
Yu Ziqing unconsciously stretched out an arm, tightly grasping Old Yang to prevent it from escaping, keeping it from being caught and skinned.
In this short amount of time, the goats that died from skinning were all older ones.
Considering Old Yang's current state, it probably couldn't endure the pain of skinning.
Yu Ziqing clutched Old Yang while just standing there, expressionless...no, numbed to the point of shock, watching these scenes unfold as if witnessing the real world for the first time.
Even after months of seeing human lives treated like grass, nothing was as worldview-shattering as this.
In times of disaster, fights and struggles for resources seemed like a normal development to Yu Ziqing.
The appearance of human traffickers, killing without hesitation, also felt like a normal development.
With no resources left, the emergence of cannibals was shocking, but he could still rationalize it with the phrase "Great famine, people eating people."
But what lay before him now was completely different.
These people seemed like ordinary, common folk, as if in a regular village.
There was no menace in their faces, no aggressiveness in their eyes; without looking at the goats, it seemed like a simple village celebration scene.
No one found anything wrong with brutally skinning those "goats," and when one died, those involved simply lamented their bad luck.
Not the luck of the goats.
Yu Ziqing snapped out of it, suddenly feeling that the current state of this place, contrary to his expectations, seemed quite normal.
Only this way could they maintain an apparently harmonious and stable scene after months of upheaval.
Whereas Yu Ziqing, being different from everyone else, made him the abnormal one.
Watching the herd being skinned one by one, their evil skill lifted; most survived, while the dead were carried away one after another.
And the real goats, except for the first one, were all butchered and carried to the high slope at the side, where the chilling wind blew, and that mutton would be dried in days, making decay almost impossible.
Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
Honestly, Yu Ziqing had once speculated there might be a method here to unravel the evil skill, but never imagined it'd be so simple and brutal.
At that moment, an old man with a cane slowly walked toward Yu Ziqing from behind.
The old man's eyes were cloudy, squinting, craning his neck forward as if his vision was poor, trying hard to see the newcomer.
"The shepherd's here, huh, why is it a bit less this time."
"The weather's changed outside, it's too cold now, barely any living creatures to be seen." Yu Ziqing paused slightly, then continued, "The shepherds all died, this time is the last."
Hearing this, the old man was slightly shocked, and the people behind paused as well, all looking toward Yu Ziqing.
Yu Ziqing's expression remained unchanged, pointing behind him.
This old man, looking half a foot in the grave, seemed quite muddled at first glance, but his first words were laying a trap.
The shepherds never spoke of the mines' internal affairs in their idle chats, and with the special natural hazard at the gate, could such merciless, killing-uncaring cannibalistic evil Dao enter?
As thoughts swiftly turned in his mind, Yu Ziqing felt that responding to the other's probing with honesty was the best way to deal with it, saving trouble and preventing future exposure.
"I was seized as a cook; with them outside, we couldn't last many days. I brought everyone in here, and I need to rest for a few months to leave in the spring. Is there a problem?"
The old man sized up Yu Ziqing, suddenly revealing a slight smile.
"Alright, then stay here until spring, but we don't keep idlers here."
The old man didn't ask how the shepherd died, nor concerned himself with Old Yang, whom Yu Ziqing was constantly holding, directly arranging a burrow for him.
That mountain lee slope's holes, each had a space a yard wide, with poor lighting and ventilation, small and cramped, making it hard for taller people to straighten up, but none of that mattered as it sheltered from wind and cold, with added dry grass for warmth, quite decent.
Resting in the burrow, Old Yang lay on the dry grass, eyelids drooping in weariness, though Yu Ziqing still persevered without sleeping.
"Old sir, I just feel something's not quite right here, they don't ask anything and yet let me stay."
Old Yang didn't react; Yu Ziqing glanced down, only to find Old Yang fast asleep.
Yu Ziqing sighed softly, retrieving several dirty long robes from the pillaged belongings to cover Old Yang.
At this moment, a voice came from outside.
"Hey, little brother, come have some soup."
Climbing out of the burrow, a squat man offered a wooden bowl, filled with a clear, sparse lamb soup with two pieces of fatty mutton. The strong gamey scent and aroma rushed into Yu Ziqing's nose.
The man couldn't stop swallowing, his gaze fixed on the bowl in his hands.
Yu Ziqing shook his head.
"I'm allergic to mutton."
"I get an upset stomach from eating mutton, you guys go ahead, just give me some boiled water."
"Oh, what a pity." The man looked disappointed; getting an upset stomach here could be fatal.
The man carried the bowl away, approaching the old man with poor eyesight.
"Grandpa, he won't eat, says mutton upsets his stomach, what should we do?"
"Heh…" The old man appeared surprised, grinning, "Doesn't eat mutton, huh, then let him stay for now. Later, ask him what he can do, we can't keep idlers."