You taste truly exquisite, Youfu.
1404 Words
The next morning, Yan Feng, who was in deep sleep, was startled awake by a series of knocks at the door.
"Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan, is Youfu in your room?"
"Aunt Cui, what's the matter?"
Hearing the knocking, Yan Feng gradually woke up and realized he had spent another night sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed.
"Have you seen Youfu? When I got up this morning, I found he wasn’t home."
"No—" Yan Feng stretched lazily, just about to respond when he was greeted by a horrifying sight.
Scattered on the floor in front of him were half-eaten pig trotters and chicken legs, with the floor and walls nearby splattered with blood and various pieces of viscera.
Youfu had been dismembered by some kind of wild beast, its dog head lying sideways on the floor, the large eyes staring directly at him, while the body was a gruesome mess, reduced to little more than a skeletal wreck.
"This..."
Yan Feng looked down and found his hands, clothes, and pant legs covered in blood.
"I..."
"Xiao Yan, did you hear me?"
Aunt Cui's voice called out again from outside the door.
"I heard, has Youfu gone missing?"
"Yes, last night while I was sleeping, I think I heard the sound of bones being chewed. Did you give Youfu something to eat?"
"No, I didn't!"
"Oh, have you seen Youfu then?"
"No, I haven't."
"Alright, I’ll go look for him nearby then!"
"..."
Once Aunt Cui left, Yan Feng shot up from the ground and dashed into the bathroom. He turned on the faucet and stood under the showerhead.
The water sprayed over him, and the blood that washed off stained the bathroom floor a deep red.
Only when all the blood was rinsed away did he shut off the water, leaning against the cold tiles, slowly sliding down to the ground, dazed.
"Could I have eaten Youfu raw? How is that possible?"
At that moment, he felt something stuck between his teeth, causing discomfort.
He reached in with his fingers and scraped it out, finding a thin strip of raw meat!
Glancing at his loosened pants and frayed T-shirt, his face paled.
"Dammit, could I have..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a loud belch escaped him, the stench of blood filling his nostrils, making him recoil in disgust. Instinctively, he waved a hand in front of his face.
The scene before him left Yan Feng no choice but to believe he had likely killed and eaten Youfu raw.
He struggled to recall the details of the previous night, racking his brain but only remembering bringing food home and calling Youfu to join him. Everything after that was a blur.
Left with no alternative, he returned to his room to examine Youfu's corpse more closely.
The dog’s spine and the back of its neck bore distinct claw and bite marks, and on the floor, a half-chewed thigh bone showed two gaping tooth marks, black and hollow, sending chills through Yan Feng’s heart.
"What on earth happened after I blacked out?"
Yan Feng had always loved animals, dogs included.
Looking at Youfu's terrified expression, he was filled with unease and guilt.
"Youfu, what a miserable death you suffered..."
After mourning the dog’s death for a while, his emotions finally settled.
No matter what, Aunt Cui could never find out about this, or Yan Feng wouldn’t know how to face her.
He opened his suitcase, standing next to the wardrobe, dumped its contents onto the bed, and carefully picked up the scattered pig trotters, chicken legs, and Youfu’s remains, placing them inside.
Next, he took off his clothes, filled a basin with water, and wiped away all traces of blood from the room. The soiled clothes were thrown into the suitcase as well, which he then shut tightly.
Having done all this, Yan Feng let out a sigh of relief.
At that moment, he noticed something strange—he didn’t feel hungry anymore. Examining himself in the mirror, he saw that the swelling on his back had subsided, and no matter how much pressure he applied, there was no pain, only an itch, as if something was happening beneath the surface.
Originally, Yan Feng had planned to go to his company today to resign, but feeling odd about his body, he decided to wait, prioritizing the disposal of Youfu’s remains.
With that in mind, he changed into clean clothes, grabbed the suitcase, and headed out.
Aunt Cui was probably out searching for Youfu, and her husband wasn’t home either.
Yan Feng’s workplace was in Xiufeng Plaza, which was only a ten-minute walk from his place in Mucu.
Parking was difficult there, but he owned a black Lynk & Co 01 SUV, which was parked in the company’s underground lot.
After reaching his car, he placed the suitcase in the trunk and drove to a nearby hardware store to buy a shovel, then headed straight for Jubaoshan, north of the city, where he found a secluded spot to bury Youfu’s remains.
Along the way, the intense itch in his back gradually spread to other parts of his body, an itch akin to that felt by someone who hasn’t exercised in years running a few hundred meters on a cold day—unbearably uncomfortable.
As he got out of the car, he scratched at the back of his neck, only to scrape off one of his nails.
"What the hell!"
Staring at his nail-less pink fingertip, Yan Feng felt a wave of nausea wash over him, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
He swallowed hard and, with trembling hands, reached for his left thumb’s nail, finding that it too came off easily.
At that moment, a gust of wind swept by, blowing off several of his beard hairs and even a few strands of hair...
For a moment, Yan Feng stood there, completely dumbfounded, as if his brain had been slammed by a door.
Chemotherapy patients often lose hair because the treatment drugs can't distinguish between normal and cancer cells, damaging healthy cells like those in hair follicles.
But Yan Feng hadn’t even started chemotherapy, and it wasn’t just hair he was losing—his fingernails were falling off too.
A sci-fi movie enthusiast, Yan Feng wondered if his genes were disintegrating, or if his body’s systems were collapsing, causing his skin and tissues to start falling off, leaving behind nothing but a skeleton.
After disposing of Youfu’s remains, Yan Feng drove home, consumed by anxiety.
He hadn’t been this terrified when he was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer.
"Could Youfu have been poisonous? Is that why I’m falling apart after eating him?"
Recalling scenes from movies, Yan Feng feared his entire body might begin to deteriorate piece by piece until nothing but bones remained.
Back at his rental, the intense itching inside his body hadn’t abated but instead grew stronger, even spreading to his gums.
Eventually, the itching became unbearable. Stripping off his clothes, Yan Feng began scratching himself all over.
In the end, his hair, beard, body hair—every bit of hair on his body—had been scratched off.
He spent the afternoon in his room, paralyzed with fear.
By evening, every last bit of hair, his teeth, and even his fingernails and toenails had fallen off.
Gazing at his reflection in the mirror, his body now completely bare, Yan Feng was on the verge of collapse.
So much had happened over the past two days. If he hadn’t already been diagnosed with terminal bone cancer and given a short time to live, he might have gone insane.
As the sun set, the unbearable itch reached its peak, spreading through his entire body, even his internal organs, making him writhe on the floor in agony.
The torment lasted a long time before the itching finally began to subside.
By that point, Yan Feng was drenched in sweat, completely exhausted.
He barely managed to push himself up, intending to get some water, when a sharp pain suddenly pierced his scalp, like needles stabbing into his skin. Then came the pain in his gums, fingers, and toes, until finally, every pore in his body seemed to ache.
"What now? Is my skin really going to fall off next?"
Horrified, Yan Feng rushed to the mirror and, in the bright moonlight streaming in through the window, he saw something growing on his bald head!
- Writer
