Chapter 18: Half a Man

“Remember when we were young? We used to go to those haunted places! We had a lot of fun, didn’t we? Why are you so scared now?”

“Excuse me? Just run away? You’re carrying that iron lump around! We aren’t getting far with that thing around!”

Sumi joked around while reaching out to touch Acala, the Immovable, but was pushed away mercilessly by Lu Yibei.

“Back off! This is my saviour! I won’t let your filthy hands desecrate it!”

“Woah, okay,” Sumi withdrew his hand, leaning against the edge of the door. “That iron lump—can it ward off evil spirits?”

“Tsk, who knows?”

Yibei turned away and said, ‘I used this to kill a man last night. It does more than ward off evil spirits.’

“Forget it,” Sumi waved his hands. “You can sleep over tonight, but…”

A wretched smile appeared on his face, and his jet-black eyes wandered back and forth on Lu Yibei’s body hungrily.

Lu Yibei stepped back and covered his chest vigilantly with both hands, “H-hey! I treat you like you are my brother, and you want me to… pay you back?”

“Not that way! Even if you wash up and strip yourself and present yourself on my bed, I’m not interested!” Sumi laughed. “I want to eat your food! I don’t want to eat disgusting takeout anymore.”

Like Lu Yibei, Sumi grew up in a single-parent family. His mother was busy, so half of his meals were eaten at Yibei’s house.

However, ever since Yibei’s father got into an accident, he hadn’t eaten in his house for two whole years.

“Please? I don’t ask for much… Maybe I want some steamed fish, mapo tofu, meat and garlic, stir-fried eggplants…”

“Okay, okay…” Lu Yibei interrupted. “I’ll cook them, but you have to pay for the ingredients.”

“Of course! That’s a trivial matter.”

“Let’s get some vegetables then.” Yibei rolled his eyes. “I’m guessing that you don’t have many ingredients in your fridge except for frozen food.”

Sumi took out his wallet and handed it over to Yibei, smiling, “You know me.”

“W-wait! Give me your guitar bag!”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re just going to shop for ingredients… do you really need to bring that thing around?”

Lu Yibei patted the statue as he stuffed it into the guitar bag and handed it over to Sumi: “Help me carry it.”

“…”

After leaving Peony Street and a short kilometre walk to the east, they pass through an alley surrounded by old buildings and reach the gate of a local market. 

The farmer’s market has been around for quite some time. The sign above the rusty iron gate has long since faded, but Yibei vaguely remembers that it was called the [Jiuliu Vegetable Market].

“Buns! Come get your steamed buns!”

“Freshly baked!”

“Fresh fish! Get yer fresh fish ‘ere!”

It had just been ten minutes, and Yibei had practically filtered out all the bargaining cries in the market. When he was young, he would follow his father to this same market and stare at the items as if he were in a zoo.

He didn’t feel disgusted in this dirty and dingy market. In fact, he felt warm.

However, this intimate feeling lasted only for a short moment.

His eyes burnt.

In the air, streaks of turbid, grey air flowed.

He could hear the fish and the shrimp in the tiny tubs of water chatting in a strange language and the whines and cries of the chickens and ducks that pierced through his brain.

On the hook of the butcher’s stall was a pig’s leg. Grey fog surrounded the leg, forming a whole pig that whispered faintly to nothing.

‘Great. Now I’ll feel guilty for eating.’

“Young man, would you like some beef and mutton? Freshly slaughtered!”

Turning around, he could see that same grey fog wrapping around the meat, and the grey fog took the shape of a pig.

Yibei stared straight through the butcher and said, “Sorry, I don’t want it.”

‘How do you sleep at night selling me pork and telling me it’s beef and mutton?’

Thinking of this, he turned around and froze as he peered into a shop that sold frozen meat.

It was a small shop that had white, blinding lamps that illuminated the whole shop. The owner of the shop was leaning on his recliner and fanning himself with a giant fan.

Through the frosted glass of the freezer, one could vaguely see a cloud of mist swimming inside.

The mist took the shape of a chicken, a duck, cattle, sheep, and…

…half a man!

Half of the man was cut from top to bottom, and one could see the cross-section of the man as well. It was extremely messy as if he had been cut with a blunt knife.

The fog was lying face up on the edge of the freezer. His messy, long, black hair hung all the way to the ground. His facial features seemed obscured by the fog. He would groan every time a customer walked past.

Lu Yibei felt his stomach turn and couldn’t help but run away.

Peony Street.

Meanwhile, Sumi picked up his phone and spread the news about the return of his old neighbour.

“Hey, Liu! Lu Yibei is back in town! Want to come over to my house and eat?”

“Hey! Uncle Zhang? Yibei’s back in town, and I heard he was making pork livers with pickled peppers. Come over and grab a plate!”

“Lili, it’s me! N-no, I’m not here to make a confession. Lu Yibei’s cooking lunch today. Want to come over for a meal?”

When Lu Yibei hurried back, there were already several people sitting in front of the gate. They all cast expectant gazes at him but fell silent upon seeing him return empty-handed.

Seeing this, Sumi laughed. He pulled Yibei to the side and whispered, “Why did you come back empty-handed? I called everyone over! And…”

“I-I…” Lu Yibei’s chest violently heaved as he tried to catch his breath. “You won’t understand.”

Thinking of the human-shaped mist in the freezer, his face turned pale, and he hastily threw Sumi’s wallet back to him, saying, “Forget it. You won’t believe me. If you want to eat what I cook, buy the ingredients for me.”

“O-okay, I’ll go buy them. Why are you crying, anyway?”

Lu Yibei motioned for him to hurry up and leave.

“Wait!”

“What’s the matter?”

“D-don’t buy frozen meat!”

“Alright! The freshest meat for Chef Lu!”

“And don’t buy the beef and buttons from Booth 37!”

“Oooookay, anything else?”

“That’s it.”