“Don’t stop eating, don’t stop eating…” The fat guard, holding a spear, patrolled back and forth between the tables. Heads occasionally flew up, and blood sprayed like a fountain from severed necks. The people around had red eyes, yet no one dared to look too much; they buried themselves in food, swallowing even more desperately.
Xiong Jiabao didn’t want to eat; he just wanted to vomit.
But the head at his feet, with its unblinking eyes, reminded him that he had to eat, couldn’t not eat, absolutely couldn’t stop!
All the delicious food had lost its flavor. Xiong Jiabao stuffed unknown things into his mouth, swallowing them whole. His fingers trembled continuously, and his stomach quickly filled up, yet more food kept coming in, almost ready to burst. Tears streamed down his face, mixing with the food in his mouth, bitter and astringent.
How ridiculous that he thought his choice was the right one, a rare gem among many, feeling no pain at all. But now, he felt like he was about to explode!
It turned out that not only the pain of starvation was torturous; being full to a certain extent could also bring a feeling of impending death…
“Help, someone save me…” Even speaking had become a luxury. Xiong Jiabao could only pray in agony in his heart, hoping someone would pull him out of the abyss…
No one was there.
Except for himself, there was no one to rely on. In despair, Xiong Jiabao was instead forced to tap into his potential. He began to change his strategy, just like he always found clever ways to slack off at work. Now he had to think of a way to lessen his suffering. He tentatively slowed down, chewing slowly, swallowing slowly…
The fat guard didn’t come over; his head was still firmly attached to his neck.
Xiong Jiabao breathed a sigh of relief.
……
“I accept you!” The Jealous Demon Lord, with his legs crossed, took the wine offered by a beautiful maid beside him, wrapped his arms around her waist, and gave her a hard kiss on her bright red lips before turning to look at Li Yougen, sizing him up with satisfaction: “Not as handsome as me, not as tall as me, not as fit as me, and even the symbol of manhood is not as big as mine…”
“Simply worthless, I’m very satisfied!”
Li Yougen stood naked in the banquet hall filled with demons, awkwardly covering his lower body with his hands, his mouth twitching, cursing inwardly, but his face was full of flattering smiles: “Have you agreed? That’s wonderful! It’s my honor, and I will definitely serve you well!”
The Jealous Demon Lord raised an eyebrow, his fingers playing with the maid’s ample bosom. After a moment, he stopped, revealing a playful smile, and said slowly, “If you want to serve me, of course, you can. First, I’ll give you a task. Complete it, and you will naturally receive the rewards you deserve.”
Li Yougen secretly muttered in his heart: “I thought just saying I accept would be enough; I didn’t expect to still have to take on a task.”
“In my back garden, there are always a few annoying people,” the Jealous Demon Lord squinted, seemingly recalling something, and his expression suddenly became somewhat ferocious, “You need to help me eliminate their annoying traits, or… directly get rid of them. Can you do that?”
He had no choice but to nod vigorously, saying it was no problem, promising it would be on him.
The Jealous Demon Lord waved his hand, and a short, ugly guard with a face full of flesh came over, taking Li Yougen away from the banquet hall.
Following the winding path, Li Yougen walked with the guard for nearly an hour before reaching their destination.
Completely different from what he imagined, this back garden had no lush trees, no flowers or wild bees; the barren, cracked ground was littered with ruins. Collapsed stone houses, furniture covered in mud, and a few trees that were left were just bare trunks, charred as if burned by fire. Various horrifying torture devices hung from the branches like demonic claws: huge scissors, saws, axes… Dried black stains were frozen on the surface, and he could almost smell the strong scent of blood.
This was no garden; it was clearly a hellish battlefield!
Li Yougen shivered and began to regret agreeing so hastily.
“They are inside,” the short, fat guard pushed him, “Go in.”
Li Yougen was caught off guard and stumbled, but instead of getting angry like usual, he turned his eyes and returned to the guard with a flattering smile, “Big brother, I thought you looked familiar from the start, and then I realized you look just like my older brother!”
After saying this, he shamelessly took out a chocolate bar from his backpack and stuffed it into the guard’s hand.
The short, fat guard looked down, smiled, and said, “Kid, you’re quite clever.”
“Of course, of course.” Li Yougen secretly wiped his sweat. He intended to bribe him, but the most valuable thing in his entire backpack was probably just the chocolate. If the guard didn’t accept it, he really wouldn’t know what to do.
But now the guard clearly understood his intention and accepted the chocolate, so everything was easier to discuss. He showcased his strengths and began to chat with the guard.
“Big brother, if I pass this test, we’ll be working together in the future, and I’ll need to rely on you a lot. I’ll shamelessly ask, what’s the temper of this Demon Lord like? What does he like?”
The short, fat guard tore open the chocolate wrapper, took a bite, and showed a satisfied expression, smacking his lips, “What does he like? He likes everything that’s not as good as him. But, you know, this is adult business; we lowly people should keep our mouths shut, or we might invite disaster.”
The last sentence was clearly a warning, and Li Yougen knew he wouldn’t be able to gather any information about the Jealous Demon Lord from him. But what about the task? Surely there should be some hints about the task?
“Big brother, you see there are no flowers here; why does the lord call this place a garden?” Li Yougen tentatively asked.
“Tsk, are your ears not working or your brain?” The short, fat guard said impatiently, “Didn’t the lord say there are people he doesn’t like here? Would he put people he doesn’t like in a garden? This is the ‘back garden,’ but it’s actually a place of exile. The lord throws all the people he hates here. You’d better be careful when you go in; since he locked them up, he hasn’t fed them again. Tsk tsk, I wonder what they’ve been eating all these years.”
“However,” the short, fat guard suddenly looked at Li Yougen with a mischievous glint, saying meaningfully, “Occasionally… the lord will also throw in some live prey. Whether they can catch it depends on themselves.”
Li Yougen nearly wet himself; how could it be cannibals again!
If he went in, who would eliminate whom?!
“B-B-Big brother,” Li Yougen’s face turned pale, “I’m too weak; I’m afraid I can’t complete the task the lord assigned…”
The guard enjoyed the last bite of chocolate, not responding to him, but instead said, “This chocolate is quite good.”
Li Yougen was very clever and immediately took out the last two chocolate bars from his bag, offering them all to the short, fat guard. However, he cunningly kept the bread and cookies that could stave off hunger hidden in his backpack.
The short, fat guard was satisfied as he tore open the packaging and continued eating, “You have to complete it, whether you can or not. Once the arrow is shot, there’s no turning back; that’s non-negotiable.”
Just as Li Yougen was about to fall into despair, the short, fat guard suddenly changed his tone, “But if you master the right method, it won’t be too dangerous.”
Li Yougen was overjoyed and hurriedly asked, “What method?”
The short, fat guard put away his things and didn’t make things difficult for him, saying straightforwardly, “There’s a magic stone inside, given by the lord to the previous guard. If you take it out and shine it on those people, you can immobilize them, allowing you to do as you please. But don’t ask me where that magic stone is; ever since that idiot accidentally got dragged in by the people inside, he’s never come out again. Who knows if it ended up in someone’s stomach.”
After he finished speaking, he shrugged, looking helpless, effectively blocking Li Yougen’s next question.
“……” Li Yougen choked for a moment and asked, “What does the magic stone look like?”
“Don’t know!” After finishing the chocolate, the short, fat guard’s attitude became impatient again. He pushed Li Yougen toward the garden, “Hurry up, we’ve wasted too much time!”
Li Yougen was pushed to a certain spot and suddenly watched helplessly as a strand of his slightly long hair was neatly cut off, a sharp pain shot through his nose as if he had hit a blade, and bright red blood flowed out.
“Ah, oh no, oh no,” the short, fat guard slapped his forehead, chuckling, “Look at my brain; I almost forgot to open the door! Don’t be fooled by the emptiness around; it’s actually been enchanted by the lord. If you try to break in, you’ll be sliced into thousands of thin pieces of meat. Have you seen lamb slices? The kind humans use for hot pot… Never mind, I won’t say more. Just wait a moment; I’ll open the door for you.”
Li Yougen didn’t dare to move, his heart pounding like a drum, his eyes wide open like copper bells, his eyeballs rolling in terror as he tried to find that transparent, terrifying “wall” that almost cost him his life. To no avail, his gaze fell on his bleeding nose, and he almost couldn’t catch his breath, as hot, foul liquid flowed out of his pants.
“Tsk, look at you, so timid that you’re about to wet yourself? If you go in later and face those ‘monsters,’ you might just scare yourself to death.” The short, fat guard shook his head, originally intending to make a joke to cover up his negligence, but unexpectedly almost gave Li Yougen a heart attack right then and there.
At this moment, Li Yougen was filled with fear and regret. He regretted why he chose to enter through this door; if he had chosen another, it surely wouldn’t have been so terrifying, and he wouldn’t have to fight for his life against a murderer!
Anyone who has participated in work would understand this matter—there is always an unwritten law: one always feels that what others do is easier than what they do themselves.
Li Yougen was now trapped in such a strange loop; he felt like the unluckiest person in the world, thinking that others surely weren’t in as much danger as he was, while darkly cursing them, hoping they would die faster than he would.
This emotion made him, who was already strong on the outside but weak on the inside, even more unwilling to take on this task. The broken, eerie back garden had long turned into a bloody, terrifying hell in his eyes, fearing that if he stepped over, he would be shattered to pieces.
He trembled and was unwilling to move forward, but the short, fat guard didn’t care what he was thinking. Eager to complete the task, he opened a black passage on the transparent wall that could only fit one person, then kicked Li Yougen in the butt, sending him through the door.
