Chapter 25: Divergence

Zhang Chenze's eyes widened, and she was speechless. She could only unconsciously step back.

"What’s wrong?" Qiao Jiajin asked, his view blocked by Zhang Chenze, not knowing what had happened.

The haughty lawyer took several steps back before plopping down on the filthy ground.

"You... you..." Zhang Chenze pointed at the female clerk.

The others followed her gaze and saw that in the clerk's opened palm was a small section of an arm. It was very delicate, not like that of an adult. Moreover, the fingers were clearly defined, definitely not from any animal.

It seemed the female clerk had indeed cooked a baby.

The baby's arm was emitting an enticing aroma.

Qi Xia witnessed this scene and, connecting it to the strange environment of the room, instantly understood what was going on.

"Is this... xiao zhu zai?" Qi Xia asked tentatively.

"That's right." The female clerk nodded. "Aren't you going to eat?"

Qi Xia’s face darkened as he asked again, "You said if we sleep with you, you can eat xiao zhu zai—meaning something like this?!"

"Mm." The female clerk stared blankly at Qi Xia. "Xiao zhu zai is delicious."

The room was heavy with a bloody smell, and there were bloodstains on the female clerk’s thigh and the bed. If Qi Xia’s guess was correct, the woman had given birth not long ago and then cooked the child.

She asked men to sleep with her just so she could eat the child.

"I can only eat xiao zhu zai about once a year..." The female clerk smiled, revealing her sallow teeth. "I just wanted to ask if any of you are willing to sleep with me? I can trade pig trotters with you..."

"We... we don't eat it," Officer Li said, shaking his head.

"Since you don’t eat it... then forget it." She fumbled around, stuffed the boiled baby arm into her clothing pocket, and wiped the grease from her hands.

Zhang Chenze saw that the jacket she had draped over the woman was now stained and didn’t know what to say.

Before this, she had never imagined that cooking human flesh could leave so much grease.

Tian Tian slowly walked over to the female clerk and said with a complex expression, "Miss, what you ate isn't xiao zhu zai—it's a child..."

"Child?" The female clerk's vacant eyes shifted. "That's xiao zhu zai. It suddenly burst out and hurt me."

The group exchanged glances, at a loss for words.

"Hey... I'm hungry again." The female clerk raised her eyebrows. "I'm going to drink some pork soup. It's great to eat until I'm full."

With that, she turned and walked back into the staff lounge. Before closing the door, she seemed to remember something and grinned foolishly at the group. "Feel free to pick whatever you like!"

Then she shut the door heavily.

The group fell silent for a long time, the atmosphere oppressively heavy.

Finally, Qi Xia broke the silence.

"Everyone, even if this godforsaken place doesn't get destroyed in ten days, we won't be able to return to the real world." Qi Xia touched his forehead. "If we're stuck here forever, we'll all end up as crazy as her eventually."

This time, Officer Li didn't object to Qi Xia.

He hesitated too—in this clearly abnormal city, under the dark red sky and earthy yellow sun, how long could humans stay sane?

Sounds of clinking kitchenware came from inside the room, suggesting the female clerk had served herself another bowl of her delicacy and was devouring it.

Just one door away, a woman was eating the child she had just given birth to.

Everything in this place was too abnormal.

"I want to go out and take a look." Qi Xia said, "Aren't you curious? What is this place exactly? Who are these people? Does the city have an edge? What's outside? How did we get here, and how do we leave?"

Rather than curiosity, the expressions on everyone’s faces were more like fear.

"I just feel like there's danger everywhere here..." Xiao Ran shook her head at Qi Xia. "I'd rather stay in a safe place than go out and join those 'games'."

"Beautiful, there's no food or water here." Qiao Jiajin touched his stomach. "We have to survive— we can't really eat that xiao zhu zai, can we?"

His stance was clear: he'd rather go out and explore than wait here to die.

The nine of them seemed divided into two groups—some wanted to leave, others to stay.

Doctor Zhao glanced at Han Yimo beside him and said, "Going out to look around is fine, but the injured person can't go. He has to stay here. As a doctor, I should stay to take care of him."

"Then I'll stay with you..." Xiao Ran said quietly.

"Are you all out of your minds?" Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "One patient, one weak girl, and a doctor—how are you three planning to live here?"

"I'll stay too." Officer Li suddenly spoke up.

Doctor Zhao and the others turned to look at him, knowing that with the physically strong Officer Li staying, they’d be much safer.

Officer Li nodded at Doctor Zhao and said, "This thug is right. You three alone here are too dangerous. Forget about those animal masks—just that woman in there going crazy would be more than you could handle."

Now, four people had chosen to stay. The group turned their attention to Tian Tian, Zhang Chenze, and Lin Geng.

The three women hadn’t stated their positions yet.

"Of course, I'm staying." Zhang Chenze smiled slightly. "I'm a lawyer. I won't make a move until I have all the information. That would lead to wrong judgments."

With that, she got up and joined Officer Li and Doctor Zhao’s side.

At this point, Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin seemed like outliers, wanting to venture out into this perilous world like immature kids.

Tian Tian glanced at Lin Geng beside her, then walked over to Qi Xia without saying a word.

She didn’t seem to need any reason to join Qi Xia’s group.

"Hmm?" Qiao Jiajin smirked. "I thought you'd stay."

"Stay?" Tian Tian shook her head with a bitter smile, then pointed to the ground. "Don't you see? There's a wall here, and it forces me to leave."

"A wall?" Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin looked down but didn’t see any "wall."

"On the other side of the wall, there are police, lawyers, doctors, and writers. On this side, there are con artists, thugs, and prostitutes." Tian Tian spoke flatly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Our 'factions' were set from the beginning, right?"

Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin’s expressions shifted as they understood Tian Tian’s meaning.

Yes, even though the nine of them were ordinary people forced into this place, they still had their own "factions."

Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, and Tian Tian were people living in the gray areas, destined not to fit in with the others.

Now, the only one who hadn’t chosen was Lin Geng.

Based on her identity as a xin li zi xun shi, she should go to the other side of the "wall."

But to everyone’s surprise, she slowly walked over to Qi Xia’s group.

Qi Xia vaguely felt that this girl was a bit off, but he couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong.

"You're coming too?" Tian Tian looked at the girl doubtfully. "You're not the same as us. If you go with them, maybe..."

"But I'm useful." Lin Geng covered her mouth and nose as she smiled at Tian Tian, interrupting her. "I understand human nature. I might be able to help."

Qiao Jiajin stretched lazily and said slowly, "Great, with two beauties along, the con artist and I won't get bored."

"Don't call me the con artist." Qi Xia frowned. "And I don't need you all to follow me."

"Fine, fine..." Qiao Jiajin nodded. "When are we leaving? Now?"

"I..."

Before Qi Xia could finish, Lin Geng interjected, "It's really getting late. I suggest we go out tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Everyone turned to look out the window, where the sky had indeed darkened.

The sky was even more darkly red, radiating a dangerous aura.