Suspicion

A ragged, long-haired middle-aged man walked into the living room and stopped about a meter to Wang Zhifan's side. He made no move to pick up the bowl and chopsticks on the table. He even kept his head deliberately lowered, not daring to look at the lavish spread.

"Don't just stand there. Eat! Why aren't you eating? I can hear your stomach growling!"

Wang Zhifan watched the man, puzzled.

The man was a sorry sight. His tattered clothes were caked with dust and gave off an indescribable stench. Dirt and dried grass tangled in his long, weedlike hair. He was thin, with sunken cheeks and bloodshot eyes, and he squinted even in the glow of the red candles. He looked every bit like a beggar who had spent years living in the sewers.

But Wang Zhifan knew it was only natural for him to look that way. In a world swallowed by darkness and crawling with monsters, staying alive was a miracle in itself. Who had time to worry about cleanliness? As the first local he had met, the man had Wang Zhifan's full tolerance. His presence did nothing to spoil Wang Zhifan's appetite.

The man had no idea what Wang Zhifan thought of him. He merely stood to one side, head bowed, and answered in a hushed voice:

"My lord, that's a Life-Severing Meal laid out by ghosts. You mustn't eat it! You should find a way out of the village at once. Once that female ghost appears, it'll be too late. No one who's seen her has lived to tell the tale..."

"Oh? I can't eat it? It seems fine to me. It's real food, not some trick of the eye. Try it if you don't believe me."

Wang Zhifan found it a little funny that the local