Who Let You Set Up a Stall Here?!

Squeak—squeak—

The wheels rolled over uneven concrete, producing a grating sound that set teeth on edge.

In the deathly silent alley, the noise was amplified severalfold, like someone scraping glass with rusty fingernails.

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness at the alley entrance.

He hunched over as he pushed an old wooden cart. A ring of tiny red lanterns hung from it, their dim crimson glow outlining his bent silhouette.

With his arrival, that overpowering aroma of meat instantly became overwhelmingly rich.

Qin Feng hid in the shadows and held his breath, but the scent permeated every corner.

His saliva began to flood uncontrollably, and his Adam's apple bobbed on its own.

"Clang."

A soft sound shattered the alley's silence.

Then came a second, and a third.

The doors of the old residential buildings lining both sides of the alley opened one after another.

Skinny middle-aged men in sleeveless undershirts emerged as if sleepwalking.

Their eyes were vacant, their faces carrying the numbness of extreme hunger. They were so gaunt that they were little more than skin stretched over bone, as though a gust of wind could topple them.

Like puppets controlled by the aroma, they ignored everything around them and walked straight toward the steaming cart, then quietly and politely lined up before the stall.

The hunchbacked old man finally stopped. He lifted his face and grinned at the first man in line.

The smile was as stiff as a mask. Only the curve of his lips moved, while there was not the slightest emotional ripple in his clouded eyes.

He slowly lifted the steamer lid.

"Whoosh—"

An even thicker burst of white steam, mixed with the scent of meat, rushed out.

Inside the steamer, plump, crystal-clear soup dumplings that were nearly transparent had been neatly arranged. Their skins were so thin that the broth sloshing inside was visible.

The man at the front of the line could no longer hold back. His eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

He did not even use chopsticks. He simply grabbed a scalding dumpling with his hand and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Sizzle—"

Rich broth burst open in his mouth, filling the air with fragrance.

The man closed his eyes blissfully, letting out an indistinct whimper from his throat.

Seeing this, the others followed suit. For a time, the alley was filled only with overlapping sounds of ravenous chewing and satisfied groans.

It should have been an ordinary late-night food scene, full of everyday life.

But in Qin Feng's eyes, it was a living feast of ravenous ghosts.

His vision had long since pierced through that tempting facade.

Those were not crystal soup dumplings at all. They were clearly lumps of dark red minced meat, chopped into a pulp and haphazardly wrapped in some kind of translucent membrane!

Within that sticky filling were black hairs curled from burning, fingernails with murky pink curves, and even a molar still not fully decayed, streaked with dark red blood!

The men ate until their mouths glistened with grease, their faces overflowing with happiness.

But in Qin Feng's vision, what spilled from the corners of their mouths was not broth at all, but thick, foul-smelling fresh blood!

He stared fixedly at one of the men who was eating the most frantically.

As the man wolfed down his food, his mouth smeared with bits of meat, he swayed his head in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, the index finger of his own left hand was visibly shriveling and withering, as though every drop of moisture and flesh had been drained from it.

He was eating himself.

[Weird Tale Compendium activated!]

[Target locked: Human Meat Buns]

[Danger level: D-Class (Threat level: Dangerous)]

[Sin Points: 130 (continuing to increase)]

[Background story: Please spare me. I'll never dare do it again.]

[Rule analysis: Uses its own flesh and blood as bait, trapping prey dominated by hunger and exhaustion through a supernatural aroma. It consumes their flesh to restore itself.]

[Weakness analysis: ??? (Insufficient clues)]

"D-Class..." Qin Feng's heart sank.

A D-Class weird tale corresponded to a collaborator in the "Form-Observing" realm. That was an existence an entire major realm above his own "Spirit-Touching" realm! If he faced it head-on, he would not even have a chance to run.

Instinctively, he wanted to awaken the Scissors of Truth on his right arm, but immediately suppressed the thought.

The system's weakness analysis had always been infallible, yet it could not analyze this one. That made him realize he could not rely on strength alone this time.

After a while, Qin Feng saw that the man's index finger had withered until only dry skin wrapped around the bone. He knew he could not wait any longer.

If this dragged on, even if these people did not die, their souls and bodies would be completely eroded by these bizarre rules.

Since he could not use force, he could only use regulations!

Aren't you running a stall and doing business?

Then I'll use the rules to deal with you!

Looking over his clothes, Qin Feng took a deep breath, no longer hiding himself. He straightened his collar and stepped out from the deepest shadows of the alley with steady, measured strides.

His footsteps sounded especially abrupt amid the chewing.

"Tap, tap..."

The sounds of ravenous eating came to an abrupt halt.

Every man who had been eating froze and turned their heads in unison.

More than a dozen bloodshot eyes, the eyes of addicts, locked onto him, this unwelcome visitor. Their gazes were filled with the irritation and displeasure of being interrupted.

The hunchbacked old man slowly turned as well. His stiff, masklike smile faced Qin Feng directly, and the curve of his spread lips seemed to widen slightly, carrying a silent question and threat.

The temperature in the alley seemed to plummet by more than ten degrees.

Faced with the stares of this group of inhuman beings, Qin Feng showed no fear whatsoever.

He merely raised a hand, used a white-gloved finger to point at the squeaking wooden cart with utter disdain, then shouted in a matter-of-fact, emotionless tone that was utterly earthshaking:

"What are you doing?! What's going on here?! Who let you set up a stall here?!"

His voice was loud and full of force, creating surround sound in the narrow alley and making everyone's eardrums buzz.

The blood-eyed men all froze. They even forgot to swallow the "delicacy" in their mouths, and the violence in their eyes was swiftly replaced by confusion.

Even the hunchbacked old man's eternally rigid smile showed the slightest trace of a freeze.

Qin Feng gave them no time to react. He crossed the distance in a few quick strides, stood before the stall, and looked down at the diners. Finally, his gaze settled on the hunchbacked old man. He raised his chin slightly and demanded with imposing official authority:

"Where's your business license? Your food hygiene permit? Do you have health certificates? Take them out and let me see!"

He pulled a little red booklet from his pocket and snapped it open with a smack, displaying his identification as he shouted sternly:

"Municipal Urban Appearance and Environmental Sanitation Comprehensive Law Enforcement Brigade. Routine inspection! Put everything down! No more eating!"

"U-urban management?"

The first man in line parted his lips. The "soup dumpling" in his mouth fell to the ground with a plop, turning into a puddle of foul-smelling blood.

The alley fell deathly silent.

The hunchbacked old man's smile completely froze. For the first time, an emotional flicker called astonishment appeared in his clouded eyes.

The ring of tiny red lanterns hanging from his cart began to flash violently and uncontrollably in the dim crimson light.