Brother, You Smell So Good (Please Read On!)

"What the hell?"

Startled, Ji Jue's heart tightened, and he couldn't help growing tense.

A thief?

That was way too rare!

After all, his home was poor enough that any thief who came by might have to leave with two bags of tears in hand. If they had even a shred of conscience, they might even leave two hundred bucks on the table before going, telling the kid to study hard and strive to get an education.

North Mountain District lay on the outskirts of Yacheng. It had none of the high-end, cutting-edge stuff, but when it came to filth, chaos, and squalor, it had never lost. Illegal immigrants, gangs, smuggling, even murder... Amid all that disorder, its homicide count had consistently ranked first among Yacheng's districts for years. The ranking was so stable that even the Governor would have to call it grandpa!

As for Ji Jue's Old House, calling it weathered by time would have been praise. It leaked rain on cloudy days, leaked wind in summer, leaked water by day and electricity by night. It had never been free of problems. Even looking with the heels of one's feet, it clearly wasn't the home of rich people. Over all these years, even when a few petty thieves occasionally came around, they would see the bare walls after entering, sympathetically say "Sorry for disturbing you," then Turned and Left.

Ji Jue bent down and pulled half a length of Steel Rebar from beneath the bed. Carefully stepping across the creaking floorboards, he went down to the first floor, peering around in every direction, more guilty-looking than a thief.

Yet apart from the broken doorknob and a trail of footprints crossing the Living Room and disappearing into the kitchen, he saw absolutely nothing.

"Hey! Come out! Buddy, you've got the wrong place. My family has no money!"

There was nothing here except a fragile college student who ate more, slept more, and lazed around more than you did!

Ji Jue poked his head out. In the kitchen, only the refrigerator stood with both doors yanked open, exposing the heartbreakingly meager leftovers inside. The light behind the door flickered weakly, as if on its last breath—just like the thirty-year-old refrigerator itself.

Ji Jue was struck dumb as thunder.

Tears nearly fell.

Fine, thieves didn't leave empty-handed, but how had they even stolen the half-plate of White Cut Chicken he had brought back from Lu Ma's the day before yesterday?! He had planned to add another dish when his birthday came in a couple of days!

"You have no humanity, Damn Bastard!"

Seeing the black fingerprints left on the plate, he could no longer stop himself from cursing. But looking at the empty kitchen and the open window facing the street, how could he not know the thief had long since fled? He couldn't help but burn with resentment.

Had he known the criminal forces were after the White Cut Chicken in his fridge, he would have grabbed the Steel Rebar and fought the thief from the start. Why had he spent so long trembling in fear?!

And now they had even broken his refrigerator!

The instant he touched the refrigerator door, amid the motor's old-cow-like hum came an unexpected warning: "Watch your back."

In that instant, Ji Jue whirled around.

In the foul wind that rushed towards him, he saw a pair of scarlet eyes.

They were staring at him.

Famished...

Above the kitchen entrance, in the crack between the ceiling and the Walls, a hunched human figure clung there as strangely as a spider, Wriggling as it crunched through the last of the bones in its mouth.

Its sharp teeth were like blades, Making people shudder.

The moment Ji Jue made out that figure's face, he could no longer hold back and screamed.

"Y-you're that Old Bastard from yesterday!!!"

Wasn't he?

Ji Jue remembered that Old face perfectly clearly!

It was the old man who had ridden his tricycle straight into him yesterday without caring whether he lived or died, nearly sending him through the whole reincarnation process into another world... The situation had been too chaotic then, and nobody noticed when he had slipped away. Ji Jue hadn't thought much of it, but he Did not expect the man to dare break into his home!

Only, compared to yesterday, he looked far more bizarre.

He was remarkably human-like.

Don't know what medicine he had taken by mistake.

"Fine, you actually dare come again! You've decided I'm easy prey, haven't you?!" Ji Jue flew into a rage. "You're not leaving today unless you compensate me! Get down from my wall!"

The Old Bastard went along with it readily.

He was very willing to listen.

The instant Ji Jue told him to get down from the wall, he had already—LEAPED! POUNCED! RIGHT! AT! HIM!

Too fast.

It was like the instant a spider or mantis struck at prey. The stinking wind swallowed Ji Jue in a heartbeat. He instinctively retreated, raising the refrigerator door before himself, only to see that the thick door of his family's refrigerator—which was useless at everything except being big, dumb, and bulky—was ripped open by the Old Bastard's sharp five fingers. His keen nails Scratched past Ji Jue's face, carving a gash into it.

In his panic, Ji Jue kicked out, but failed to move him. Instead, the recoil sent him staggering back several steps. He hurried around the dining table and took advantage of the moment the Old Bastard Pulled out his hand to run to the kitchen doorway.

Right there, he watched that Old thing tear his refrigerator door completely to pieces.

The bizarre old man, hunched like an ape, crouched atop the refrigerator wreckage, groping through its contents. He even grabbed the porcelain plate he had discarded earlier, shoved it into his mouth, and crunched it to bits.

His scarlet eyeballs were full of chaos.

"Eat, eat, eat... So hungry..."

The corners of his mouth, torn open by the porcelain plate, opened and closed. Blood flowed out, only to be slowly Licked back in by a long tongue. The old man raised his head and stared fixedly at Ji Jue, Drooling. "Fragrant. You smell so good..."

"Alright, stop talking. When one place is in trouble, aid comes from all eight directions, right?"

Without hesitation, Ji Jue pulled out every last coin he had—forty-eight yuan and nineteen cents—and slapped it onto the table. "Sir, this is all the money I have. Take it and get some morning tea... I recommend the place north of Six Shops Street. Their Shao Mai is cheap and the portions—"

BOOM!

The dining table was torn apart by the shrieking old man, along with the kitchen cabinet behind where Ji Jue had just been standing. Broken pots and shattered bowls crashed across the floor, echoing with a sound that tore Ji Jue's heart apart.

Damn it, did he not like Shao Mai?

Ji Jue rolled and crawled out of the kitchen, his mind blank. If he didn't eat Shao Mai, Pickled Rice Noodles were good too!

But no matter how blank his mind was, Ji Jue understood now. This Old Bastard didn't want Shao Mai, Pan-fried Dumplings, Rice Noodle Rolls, Xiao Long Bao, or Claypot Rice... He wanted to eat Ji Jue himself!!!

As the foul wind rushed towards him once more, Ji Jue Grit their teeth, tightened his grip on the Steel Rebar, and swung it with all his strength at the old man's forehead!

He could no longer care about respecting the elderly and cherishing the young!

A Loud explosion erupted.

The Steel Rebar flew from his hand, the recoil like he had struck a concrete pillar with all his might.

The Steel Rebar, enough to smash several old men's skulls, left only a cut on his forehead. Instead, Ji Jue's arm was raked open with two slashes like knife wounds.

Blood spilled forth.

It splattered onto the old man's face and was swept clean by his long tongue. Like drinking rich, aged wine, it made the Old thing tremble all over in excitement as he shrieked.

"Fragrant! Fragrant! You smell so good!!!"

"Fuck your mother's Scent Party!"

Staggering backward, Ji Jue grabbed water bottles and cups from the cabinet and hurled them wildly at him, then turned and sprinted for the door.

After briefly tasting Ji Jue's blood, the old man fell into a frenzy of ecstatic excitement and came racing after him on all fours, his entire body convulsing with delight.

Yet as he passed the stairs, Ji Jue's movement abruptly stopped.

He reached out, seized the Ornate Stair Railing he had repaired only a few days ago, yanked the sharp Iron branches from the barely patched concrete, then turned and chopped it at the old man's face!

In an instant, the Iron branches sank into his eye socket. The old man staggered, and then Ji Jue launched a flying kick that sent him out the front door. Like a rolling gourd, he fell into the mud-filled yard.

Before he could climb up from his tumble, Ji Jue jumped forward, pouring all his strength and body weight into stomping on his neck!

CRACK!

The sound of breaking Sounded by Ji Jue's ear, as clear as thunder.

He had not even had time to breathe a sigh of relief.

Then he heard the piercing shriek beneath his foot.

Like the dying wail of some Beast, yet also like a hungry roar and cry.

With half the railing still embedded in his eye socket, the Old Bastard's limbs kept Wriggling, tearing, struggling. He even overturned the nearby Electric Scooter.

Even with his neck broken, his twisted face still wore that terrifying scarlet color.

He kept Opening his mouth madly, trying to bite.

The only thing Ji Jue could do was use all his strength to grip the railing and pin the old man's head to the ground. But he was almost unable to hold him down.

He was too strong!

Ji Jue felt as if he was holding down not a dying Old thing, but some monster wearing human skin. The moment he let go, he would be torn apart in an instant.

He could feel it: from that Old thing's eyes, ears, and mouth—even from within his body—came a thick, nauseating stench, along with a faint scarlet glow.

The fatal injury seemed not to matter at all.

He was still brimming with life!

Even his supposedly broken cervical vertebrae rapidly reconnected... Ignoring the Iron branches Penetration through his eye socket, he inched forward bit by bit...

Then, for a moment, the Old thing's strength seemed to loosen considerably. But immediately afterward, he became even more violent. As he continued biting, only thick blood sprayed from his mouth and landed on Ji Jue's hand.

So cold.

[External active Aberrant Spirit Essence detected. Extract?]

A message from the Wristwatch suddenly rose from within his soul and consciousness, making Ji Jue wildly ecstatic. Afraid the Wristwatch would not understand, he shouted with every ounce of strength he had:

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!"

Before the words fell.

Before he could even show a smile, a crisp sound came from within the Wristwatch—tick!

Then, faint light emerged from the watch face, extending along Ji Jue's palm and fingers, tracing out an intricate Matrix Totem. Like circuitry, it spread all the way to his fingertips, then continued down the Iron branches.

It was as though, in an instant, flesh was no longer flesh and his hand was no longer a hand, but had undergone Metamorphosis, becoming some tool beyond even Ji Jue's control.

Through the crack above the eye socket, it plunged into Old Ghost's skull!

Then—unseen gears began to turn. A horrifying gravitational force, like that of a black hole, spread outward. A siphon capable of suppressing all Aberrant Spirit Essence began!

The piercing scream stopped abruptly.

In its place came a boiling sound, like a kettle howling atop a fire. Dense bloody light erupted from Old Ghost's eye socket, flowing along the Matrix and into the Wristwatch.

The Old thing, once twitching and convulsing, began to shrivel rapidly.

Only thick blood-colored matter continued Wriggling and struggling, like crazed worms, dragged from his body and drained dry by the Wristwatch in one breath!

The number on the watch face climbed frantically, reaching 59 in an instant.

In just a few seconds, it had nearly caught up to the Spiritual Substance reserves Ji Jue had accumulated over many years!

And the Old thing, still twitching, finally collapsed to the ground, unable to move again. No, it was more like... he had reverted to his original form. Having lost that bizarre power, he was on his last breath.

A trace of clarity appeared in eyes filled with chaos and hunger.

As if waking from a long nightmare, he stared blankly at everything Before one's eyes, confused and lost. After a long while, as though remembering something, his lips moved, seeming to speak a certain name.

Cloudy Tears slowly slid from the corners of his eyes.

They fell into the mud.

And so, he gradually collapsed and Turned into ashes.

Nothing remained but a set of tattered clothes.