Chapter 242: Dividing the Meat and Feasting

The air was thick with the stench of blood, and the broken moon was occasionally obscured by dark clouds.

Under the flickering moonlight, the butcher methodically dismembered the pig, cutting it into eight pieces.

Leg meat, tenderloin, fan bones… each was arranged in order. Some of the organs were still steaming, and the pig’s heart continued to thump, thump rhythmically.

The most unsettling sight, however, was the severed pig’s head placed at the center.

Even without its body, its eyes remained open, occasionally rolling as if observing the people around it.

Zhou Zhongtian lowered his voice and whispered to Gu Ning’an, “Mr. Gu, this is some real eerie shit!”

“I can accept a pig’s heart still beating, but how the hell are its eyes still moving?”

“There’s definitely something wrong with that butcher. Either he’s a demon or some kind of evil spirit!”

Gu Ning’an responded coolly, “He’s the same as the courtesan from earlier.”

“What?!” Zhou Zhongtian was momentarily stunned.

Perhaps the stark contrast between the tenderness of the courtesan’s embrace and this grotesque slaughterhouse had skewed his perception.

It was easy to think that the plump woman had been harmless, while the butcher, with his grim and eerie presence, was the obvious monster.

But hearing Gu Ning’an state so plainly that the courtesan and the butcher were alike sent a chill through Zhou Zhongtian’s heart.

“Folks, the pig’s butchered,” the butcher announced.

“Come up and take your share—first come, first served! No need to be polite!”

His voice was deep and heavy. The moment he finished speaking, the gathered villagers surged forward.

In the blink of an eye, they swarmed over the fresh, bloody meat!

A tall, burly young man was the fastest, grabbing the fattest, most succulent pig leg.

Without a care for the blood dripping from it, he sank his teeth in, tearing off a chunk of raw meat and swallowing it almost without chewing!

This was no isolated incident. The stronger, faster villagers had each grabbed large chunks of meat.

But the elderly, the weak, and the women were less fortunate. They had failed to snatch any in the initial rush—but they didn’t give up. Their hungry eyes locked onto those who had food, and they pounced!

The scene instantly descended into utter chaos.

The indistinguishable mass of heads, the frenzied sounds of tearing and gnawing, the heavy, ragged breathing—if one were to close their eyes and listen, it would be impossible to tell if they were humans or a pack of hyenas fighting over a fresh kill!

As the crowd scattered, Gu Ning’an and his group, who had remained hidden among them, suddenly stood out.

The butcher, still standing at the edge of the dispersing crowd, glanced at them and smirked.

“You over there—want some pork?”

“No!” Zhou Zhongtian coldly retorted. “What the hell are you playing at?”

The butcher let out a mocking laugh. He clashed his two blood-stained knives together with a sharp clang, sneering, “I’m just a butcher, slaughtering pigs. What, are Golden Guard agents blind now?”

Sching!

Zhou Zhongtian drew his blade, his voice sharp. “Say that again?”

At the same time, Feng Wei and the burly man moved to Zhou Zhongtian’s side, standing just as they had earlier when guarding Gu Ning’an.

“Oh?” The butcher’s smirk deepened. “Looking for a fight?”

Zhou Zhongtian snapped, “Release these villagers from your demonic control immediately, or we’ll—”

Before he could finish, the butcher turned to the frenzied villagers and chuckled, “My dear friends, these Golden Guard agents don’t like me giving you free pork.”

“They’re officials, after all. I’m just a lowly butcher—I can’t afford to offend them. What do you think we should do?”

His words carried a strange power.

One by one, the villagers, who had been utterly lost in their gluttonous feasting, slowly turned their heads toward Zhou Zhongtian’s group.

“Get lost! This kind man is giving us free meat, and you bastards have to ruin it! Great Wu officials just can’t stand seeing commoners happy, huh?!”

“Golden Guard agents? Bah! They’re nothing but worthless parasites. Compared to the real Golden Guards, they’re no better than dogs!”

“Exactly! Hurry up and get lost! Don’t get in the way of this kind butcher giving us free meat! If you keep standing there being an eyesore, I’ll march straight to the yamen tomorrow and report you! Strip that uniform off you… Oh wait, you don’t even have matching uniforms. And yet you still dare meddle in our business?”

A crowd of people, their mouths dripping with blood and bits of meat, slowly closed in on Zhou Zhongtian and his group.

Under the pale moonlight, their grotesque faces looked like vengeful spirits crawling out from the underworld.

Zhou Zhongtian and the others were forced to retreat step by step until they finally reached Gu Ning’an’s side.

The latter, as if he had expected this all along, said calmly, “Let’s go. If they want to eat, let them eat.”

Zhou Zhongtian hesitated. “Sir Gu, if this continues, things will go horribly wrong…”

“And what can you do about it?”

“Even if you could defeat that butcher—which is uncertain—you’d have to get through these people first.”

“Are you planning to kill them all?”

Hearing this, Zhou Zhongtian gritted his teeth, then nodded. “Let’s leave for now and plan accordingly.”

Watching the group of External Agents hastily retreat, the butcher seemed almost disappointed.

If not for the plump woman’s strict instructions to avoid unnecessary trouble, he would have loved to carve them up just like a pig.

As they made their way toward North Corner Village, the atmosphere in the group remained heavy.

Zhou Zhongtian kept his head down the entire time, deep in thought. Feng Wei occasionally glanced at Gu Ning’an, while the two sturdy men seemed the least troubled, still discussing the plump woman’s figure.

“We should inform Yang Wang about this first, right? We can’t be the only ones worrying over this,” Zhou Zhongtian suddenly spoke.

Hearing this, Liu Feng shot a glance at Guo Teng and grinned. “You lost. Remember to pay me two qian of silver later.”

Guo Teng rolled his eyes. “Tch, like I’d ever welch on a bet.”

“Heh!” Liu Feng turned to the frowning Zhou Zhongtian and continued, “Zhou, we’ve worked together for a long time—I know what kind of person you are.”

“But worrying over this won’t do any good.”

“First, all the butcher did was distribute meat. Sure, it was raw meat, and sure, the villagers were acting strange, but he didn’t do anything outright suspicious. You have no direct proof that he’s a problem.”

“Second, knowing that bastard Yang Wang, if you go back to report in the middle of your patrol, he’ll definitely ask about the other two villages.”

“And even after asking, he still won’t act immediately. Given how unclear the situation is, he’s the type who absolutely won’t make a move without being sure…”

“So stop overthinking it. It’s pointless.”

Knowing that Liu Feng was right, Zhou Zhongtian remained silent for a long time before finally sighing. “Let’s just finish patrolling the remaining villages… I have a feeling tonight isn’t over yet…”