Chapter 129: Sacrificing the Womb

The stable was vast and filled with thick, swirling smoke—the acrid, choking fumes of burning hay. The horses in the back stalls were growing increasingly agitated.

Only within the haze could one see the black horse that Fu Yanyan had ridden, now lying bloodied on the ground, its belly ripped open, its viscera and gore spilling out. The scene was nauseating; the stench alone was enough to make her gag.

"Hi there, boss. I’ve just made a decision: it’s better to have a barbecue in the stable. Let its kin watch closely as it slowly vanishes from this world. Such horse meat is truly vigorous. Would you like a taste?"

Guan Yujing, dressed in a transparent white hazmat suit, smoked a cigarette, his deep blue eyes growing increasingly inscrutable. He placed a piece of the meat onto the grill. Once it began to sizzle, he put it into his mouth, savoring it slowly as if it required no seasoning at all. Few people could swallow this; raw horse meat naturally possesses a heavy, sour, and pungent odor.

"No thank you, Mr. Guan. As long as you are happy. Seeing that you are both unharmed, I can rest easy."

The stable owner could not bring himself to blame the man, for it was this very man who had paid a fortune to purchase the horse. He turned to leave the stable, intending to call for workers to repair the door, when he suddenly felt a sharp, violent pain at the back of his head and collapsed to the ground, struck down by a club.

The assailant was Guan Yujing, still in his hazmat suit. He had swiped the rod from inside the stable. After finishing the deed, he walked back inside with ease and locked the door behind him.

Zhong Huayan had just been preparing to slip away when she saw the madman return after his assault.

"You... why did you call me here? If you keep this up, I’m going to scream for help!"

She had no choice but to step forward, looking at the sickening pile of tools. The man was crouched on the ground, using a blade to carve meat from the tenderest part of the horse.

"Go ahead and scream. There’s no one around here. Tsk, tsk. You had quite the backbone when you were using that crossbow to spook my horse earlier, didn't you?"

"I was trying to save you! How was I supposed to know your skill level? At the speed you were riding, there was no way you could have maintained control. You would have been hurt for sure."

At the time, Zhong Huayan's primary motivation had been to help Fu Yanyan secure the project. She had merely used a beautiful excuse as a stalling tactic against her opponent. Although that reason had existed, it was a minor one.

"Ha, so I should thank you? Do you eat horse meat often?" He continued to approach her, holding the tongs over the grill.

"Guan Yujing!..."

Before she could finish, she saw the secretary trembling in the corner. The woman’s face was deathly pale, and there were clear burn marks from the tongs on her thighs. She huddled in the corner of the stable, staring at the ground with a pitiful expression, her hair disheveled and matted with traces of vomit.

Zhong Huayan grew fearful that Guan Yujing was losing his mind, and she took a step back. She watched, horrified, as the man pointed the tongs directly at her from the grill. Her face drained of color, and she stumbled backward.

"What are you doing..."

"What are you afraid of? Come, try this piece of meat?"

Guan Yujing seemed extraordinarily excited. His deep blue eyes now resembled those of a bloodthirsty werewolf, and although his face was masterfully sculpted, it was chilling to behold. The bloody horse meat, clutched by the tongs, sizzled with hot grease. As he watched her, the expression in his eyes shifted from excitement to a darkening gloom. Just as his emotions seemed on the verge of spiraling out of control and the meat dangled precariously—

Zhong Huayan felt cold sweat beading on her forehead. She knew Guan Yujing was lashing out because of the earlier competition, killing and eating the horse Fu Yanyan had ridden, and now forcing her to swallow it as well.

Seeing that there was no movement in the surroundings and sensing the terrifying, oppressive shadow cast by the man before her, she compared him to Xu Yaochuan. At least Xu Yaochuan wasn't like this; he would curse when angry, all bark and no bite. Guan Yujing was the complete opposite—a ticking time bomb that could detonate at any moment. His actions were calculated yet absurd, like a starving wolf with a psychological disorder lurking in the shadows, silent until he could tear you to shreds.

Zhong Huayan, highly sensitive, could feel that his composure was about to snap. She reached out and took the piping-hot piece of meat into her mouth.

Suddenly, her entire palate was flooded with a sickening taste. Fortunately, because she had refused to eat sashimi as a child, her father had forced her to consume various repulsive raw dishes, granting her a tolerance for such extreme flavors. She chewed the meat slowly, and from the sour, pungent stench, she instantly recognized exactly which part of the horse it was.

Her eyes welled up with tears. Amidst the swirling smoke, her pale cheeks framed a gaze that caught the man’s reignited, manic excitement—his eyes a tangle of bloodshot red and deep, icy blue.

"What kind of person are you? To be able to calmly chew on the uterus of an unripened mare. Is it good? Is it soft?"

Guan Yujing was filled with an insatiable desire to probe her, watching her tears fall before she could even speak. He was puzzled, but his confusion was quickly eclipsed by ecstasy. He gently brushed the stray hair from her face, seeing only compassion in her eyes. Her pupils trembled, and she wept as she spoke.

Her voice was like a haunting melody, raspy and low, her lips trembling uncontrollably. Her face looked more pitiful than ever.

Under the dim firelight, she locked eyes with him, gently took the cigarette stub from his mouth, and spoke softly.

"On the moss, cold rain. Only that life is breaking out of its cocoon. Trembling... trembling... all that comes out is blood. That is not life; that is my kin. In this warm place, a painful struggle. Pleading only for a life that weeps as the blade rises and falls. Such bitter softness; even as I chew, I taste the sacrifice of autumn turning to winter. Save me... save my child... I’m in so much pain, there’s so much blood. Did I kill my child? You can do it... we can live forever... can’t we? Little Jing?"

Zhong Huayan pressed him, nearly weeping, as she swallowed the uterus. The sour, bloody stench was enough to make her brow knit in agony.

Her performance, executed with the precision of someone at the end of their rope, combined with the sudden pitter-patter of rain outside, carved itself deeply into the man’s heart. His inner world was overturned by a tidal wave of emotion. His hands trembled, and the tongs slipped from his grip, clattering to the ground.

The man raked his hands through his hair, the crimson in his eyes melting into tears that streamed down his face. In the span of a few seconds, his demeanor shifted from savage and threatening to wretched and broken. The tears flowed without end.