Chapter 757: Reincarnation Reappears

Junsheng's body was frail and completely lacked the strength to resist. I was forced to dodge backward. 'If this thing refuses to let up, I'll just have to run,' I thought.

I hadn't even figured out the exact situation since entering this place, let alone tracked down Old Granny's location. I absolutely could not afford Dying Before Achieving Victory.

The pig trotter, mottled with dark brown spots, drew closer and closer. Clumps of coarse hair clustered across its rough skin like a disease. It was a sickening sight.

The cloven hoof reached my face. Right as it was about to press down on the top of my head, I ducked out of the way.

It grabbed empty air. Its expression shifted slightly as its pig ears flapped, stirring up a foul stench.

I stared at that pig face, at a complete loss for how to communicate with it. I stood my ground. Since it didn't seem to have any intention of harming me, there was no need to lose my composure and flee in a panic.

Perhaps seeing that I hadn't run, the bipedal pig's attitude softened. It leaned its massive, fat body against the doorframe and peered down at me.

An adult pig was already much larger than a living person, but the beast in front of me was even larger than a normal farm pig. Walking upright, it stood over two meters tall. The top of its head scraped the doorframe, making it look more like a monster than an animal.

'A farm pig speaking human words. This world really is insane,' I muttered inwardly, though I didn't do anything irrational. After all, I wasn't Junsheng. Hidden beneath the exterior of this six- or seven-year-old child was a formidable soul tempered by countless life-and-death struggles.

"Is that Junsheng? How did you end up all the way over here?"

Before I could answer, the voice of a second pig rang out from inside the room. I looked up to see a shriveled, wrinkled pig face lean into view.

"Don't scare him," an elderly voice said. The second pig forced an incredibly ugly, terrifying smile onto its face. "Don't be afraid. Uncle Xu is here. They won't dare bully you."

A pig speaking human words. As its mouth opened and closed, the long hair and dark spots on its face stretched taut. The kindness it tried so hard to fake looked completely horrifying to me.

Fortunately, I had strong mental fortitude. I quickly calmed down and pondered his words.

'Uncle Xu? There was an old man like that in Old Granny's story. When Junsheng snuck Granny away, it was an old man who was keeping watch that night. He had apparently left his post for some reason, giving Junsheng the chance to escape with her.' Even though that old man had partaken in eating human flesh, he wasn't completely rotten to the core. In the final moments, he was the one who had stepped aside to let the two children go. I figured that if Junsheng hadn't turned back later, this old man would have been the one eaten in his place.

'Are they the same person? But according to Old Granny, that old man survived. They even met once after the war.' My expression shifted unpredictably as I ran through every possibility. 'Could it be that anyone who ate "meat" in the Pig Cage Apartments, regardless of whether they survived, gets cast into the Animal Realm after they die? Do they all return here to become these half-human, half-pig monsters?'

I didn't know if my guess was right. There was a massive flaw in that logic, and something about it just felt wrong. 'What I'm experiencing right now seems to be the very night Old Granny left the Pig Cage Apartments, which means it's the night before Junsheng was eaten. This is clearly the Animal Realm. They are two completely different worlds. Why is this tragedy playing out on repeat? Could this be the punishment of the Animal Realm within reincarnation? To sink into the nightmares at the bottom of your heart, unable to ever break free?'

Even though I had already arrived at the Other Shore of Reincarnation, my entire experience in this world was still confined to the interior of the Pig Cage Apartments. Every door and window leading outside this building had been sealed shut. I couldn't even see this world's sky or earth, leaving me completely uncertain about the nature of this place.

'This place... it really is the Animal Realm, right...?' Gradually, I was actually starting to waver.

"What are you spacing out for?" Before I could react, the pig trotter grabbed me by the neck. It squeezed tightly, lifting me right off the floor. "If you dare leak a single word of what we just talked about in that room, you'll be the next one eaten. Do you hear me?"

Junsheng's frail, thin frame had absolutely no power to fight back against this pig. Although I still had my trump cards, the beast didn't seem truly intent on harming me, so I held back and hurriedly nodded.

"If you want to survive in here, you need to be obedient. We can't guarantee you'll live to the very end, but we can at least keep you alive a little longer." The greasy trotter pressed down on the top of my head. The expression on its pig face was absolutely repulsive. A cold glint flashed through my eyes, but I kept my mouth shut.

"The feast begins tomorrow morning. The main course has already been decided." It dug into its pocket and pulled out a filthy wad of cloth. When it shook the fabric out, the number twenty-one was written across it in crooked handwriting.

"You're the closest with that kid. I'll let you deliver this to her." The pig pressed its hoof against my head, its grip painfully tight. "I don't need to teach you what to say, right?"

Ever since it pulled out that strip of cloth, the pig calling itself Uncle Xu hadn't said a single word. He just watched with a trace of sympathy in his eyes.

I took the filthy strip of cloth and stood before the two monsters, hesitating for a long time. "Is twenty-one her number?"

"Stop asking so many questions! Just go!"

Shouted at by the beast, I dropped the matter. I clutched the strip of cloth and turned to run downstairs, figuring my best move was to get away from these two monsters before planning my next step.

But I didn't even make it a few steps before that pig clamped its hoof down hard onto my shoulder again. I whipped my head around to see its fierce, snarling face. The corners of its mouth split wide to reveal yellowing gums.

"Where do you think you're running to, you little bastard? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Its tone was chilling and practically overflowing with killing intent, making me involuntarily shudder. At the same time, I was completely baffled. 'Has this pig lost its mind? Didn't it just tell me to leave?'

"Stop scaring the boy. I think you've terrified him out of his wits." Uncle Xu stepped out of the doorway and swatted the monster's arm away. He turned back to look at me. "Downstairs is the territory of Room Four. Are you tired of living? Running down there in the middle of the night—do you want to be eaten?"

"Room Four?" This was a completely new term for me. I had absolutely no idea what it meant.

"The very first cannibal beaten to death in the Longchang Neighborhood came out of that room. Everyone living in there is a lunatic. They're more vicious than animals..." Uncle Xu rambled on for a bit, and it was through his words that I finally understood the terror of Room Four.

Cannibalism was abhorrent to the vast majority of species. For humanity, bound by thought and morality, crossing that threshold was even more difficult. Everything has a tipping point, and the trigger for eating "meat" in Longchang had been Room Four.

When the food ran out, most people tried to break through the blockade and flee the war zone. With artillery fire raining down from the skies, only a lucky few ever made it out. The vast majority were reduced to cold corpses in the ruins.

Death became nothing but a number. Tortured by terror and despair, the people grew numb. The sheer, sickening madness began right then and there.

The first scent of cooking meat drifted out of Room Four. At first, when everyone discovered where the meat came from, there was an uproar. The man who had eaten the "meat" was beaten to death by the furious crowd, his battered corpse left right beside the iron pot of boiling meat soup. That was a restless night. But when the second day arrived, the people discovered that the corpse had vanished.

Nobody knew where the body went. Or rather, everyone knew exactly where the body went, but nobody was willing to point it out.

Only when pushed to the absolute brink could a person truly understand just how tempting the word "living" could be.

The atmosphere in Longchang changed. From murderers being beaten to death, to a silent, collective consent, and finally to the establishment of an entirely new set of rules—"meat" had become a delicacy served right out in the open, yet one that could never be spoken of.

Everyone knew exactly where it came from, yet everyone kept their mouths shut. It was a fatal weakness shared by the vast majority of human nature.

Amidst this subtle shift, the tenants of Room Four became increasingly unbridled. Their minds had become entirely warped, completely convinced that eating "meat" was the only correct choice.

With the tacit consent of the majority, the small handful of people who dared to object were carved up and served on the dinner table by the lunatics in Room Four. In the end, wrong became right.

Uncle Xu gave me one final warning: absolutely never provoke the People of Room Four.

I didn't need him to tell me that. There were less than ten people sharing that room, yet they monopolized an entire floor to themselves. That was enough to explain the situation. Nobody was willing to live near them—or rather, most of the people who had lived near them were already food.

'The cannibalism started in Room Four. That must be where the obsession was first born. If I get the chance, I should go take a look.' The Pig Cage Apartments were swallowed up in obsession. Those deeply malicious thoughts had taken root inside the building and were still festering decades later. If I wanted to completely banish it, I would likely have to sever it right at the source.

Following the direction Uncle Xu pointed out, I hurried off. Old Granny lived on the first floor. I had to take a long, winding detour just to avoid the floor where Room Four was located, wasting a huge chunk of time before I finally found her place.

'This place is a long way from the top floor. If I want to seize that one sliver of hope and cross over from the Other Shore of Reincarnation through the Copper Mirror, it's going to be difficult,' I fretted inwardly. I hadn't run into a single other "person" along the way. Even the Red Building Tenants were nowhere to be seen. I wasn't sure if they were just hiding somewhere, or if the obsession had inverted and they had all returned to their respective bodies on this side of reincarnation.

The long corridor was dark and deep, lined with interlocking gray bricks. The sickening sound of chewing constantly echoed from behind the closed doors on both sides. Having lost my Judging Eye and Breath Listening, I didn't dare stir up any trouble. Clutching the strip of cloth, I compared it against the numbers painted on the doors I passed. I let out a long, internal sigh before quietly tucking the fabric away, shoving it deep into my pocket.

The tragedy Junsheng had suffered decades ago was playing out once again, only this time, the ending rested in my hands.

In order to save Old Granny back then, he had knelt before every demon in the building, begging to offer up his own flesh and blood in her place.

I couldn't match his level of sacrifice, nor would I ever get on my knees and beg a murderer. Although we shared the same body, I was not him.

The back of my hand brushed against the White Bone Jade Box hidden in my clothes. The blood-red madness brewing in my eyes slowly faded. Without a single trace of hesitation left, I reached out and pushed open the door in front of me.