You Promised Me, Drink It

Yu Xing sat in the grass. He had been squatting, but after a while he realized that squatting was too tiring.

He was incredibly patient, taking in everything through the leaves at the entrance of Old Zhang.

Old Zhang went out hunting, Old Zhang wife also had to go to the nearby fields to do farm work. After telling Mai Mai to stay home obediently, the woman went out.

Around noon—time flow in this world is strange, and Yu Xing can only judge the approximate time by the position of the sun— Mai Mai stepped out of the house and peeked outside.

Normally by this time, my mother, who goes out to work in the fields, should have already returned home to cook lunch for me, but for some reason, she hasn't come back yet today.

Mai Mai was still feeling down from the argument that morning, pouting as she planned to go back inside and wait.

Suddenly, a similarly small figure came running from not far away. It was a chubby boy of about twelve or thirteen years old. The chubby boy smiled and greeted her, "Mai Mai!"

Mai Mai looked over curiously and recognized him; it was Li Bao, the son of Li Fugui.

Although the village was small, with only a few children, she didn't like playing with this person, so they didn't have much interaction.

What did Li Bao ask her to do?

"What are you doing?" She looked at Li Bao, who was running closer and closer, and suddenly had a bad feeling.

Mai Mai backed away until she was behind the door. Once the door was closed, Li Bao wouldn't be able to touch her.

Li Bao clearly knew this too, so he slowed his pace and stammered, "Mai Mai, I've come to apologize. My dad told me what happened this morning when he got home, and my mom scolded him. She said that you should be polite when you take things from other people's homes, and that my dad has no conscience."

Mai Mai paused in her retreating steps and looked at Li Bao again.

She felt wronged after thinking about it. If Li Bao's mother spoke up for her, then it might not be so unforgivable. After all, she was just a little girl, still innocent. "Really?"

"Really, really! My mom said she was afraid my dad would scare you, so she asked me to apologize on his behalf. Whether you forgive my dad or not, I'm giving this to you." Li Bao said, stretching out his hands. Mai Mai couldn't help but look into his hands, where he was holding a paper butterfly.

Little butterfly!

Mai Mai's eyes lit up, and she hesitantly took a few steps away. "I... I don't want to blame your dad, but he has to apologize to my parents!... When my parents come back!"

"Okay, I'll tell my dad when I get back!" Seeing that Mai Mai seemed to be okay, Li Bao waved the paper butterfly at Mai Mai. "It's for you."

Mai Mai hesitated for a moment. Li Bao was two years older than her, taller, and fleshy, which made him look a bit intimidating.

However, the other person is just a child; they probably aren't a bad person.

"Okay." She pursed her lips and said reservedly, then walked towards Li Bao and took the little paper butterfly.

However, the next moment, Li Bao suddenly grabbed her wrist.

The paper butterfly fell to the ground and was stepped on by Li Bao, who stepped forward.

Mai Mai panicked and yelled, "What are you doing!"

She sensed something was wrong and struggled with all her might, but Li Bao held her tightly with all his might, making it impossible for her to leave.

Li Bao turned around and shouted, "Father! Mother! We caught them!"

Several adults ran out from their hiding places. Li Fugui grinned maliciously and pulled Mai Mai away from Li Bao's arms. "The little brat's pretty wary. You finally managed to trick her out. Are you scared, huh?"

Besides Li Fugui, the other people who caused trouble in the morning were still there, along with Li Fugui's wife, all staring at Mai Mai with ill intent.

Mai Mai had never seen anything like this before and was so frightened that she burst into tears. She cried out for her parents and, in her struggle, she even bit Li Fugui's hand hard, drawing blood.

"You little bastard!" When Li Bao saw his father being bitten, he imitated his father's beating manner and slapped Mai Mai across the face without saying a word.

Seeing this, Li Fugui's wife was not shocked by Li Bao's actions. Instead, she patted Li Bao's head and said, "Good son, you know how to help your father."

Besides Li Bao, others were also cursing, using all sorts of inappropriate and offensive words to describe the little girl.

Mai Mai cried even harder. She wanted her father to come back, and she wanted Brother Yu to come back. These people never dared to bully her when Brother Yu was around.

Yu Xing, one hand gripping the grass blades, watched this scene expressionlessly, her fingers twitching unconsciously.

He heard Mai Mai's cries for help and sensed Mai Mai blind trust in him.

But he chose to stay where he was, telling himself:

This is just a replay of the past... Even if he saves people now, it won't change what has already happened. What he needs now is to see the truth of what happened with these villagers.

It was all well-reasoned and justified, but Yu Xing's palms were already raw, with his own fingernails digging into his flesh, leaving drops of fresh blood.

Li Fugui and his group made quite a commotion in front of Old Zhang; every household in the small village could hear it.

One by one they came out of the door, pointing and commenting on Mai Mai's rising and extinguished hopes.

"Is Li Fugui going to send her to the next village now?"

"If Old Zhang finds out, won't he go after Li Fugui and fight him to the death?"

"Old Zhang? He's already too late to come back. Besides, with so many people kidnapping Mai Mai together, even if Old Zhang wanted to fight, could he possibly settle scores with each family one by one?"

Why hasn't Old Zhang's wife come back?

"My wife is responsible for keeping Old Zhang's wife occupied in the fields; she definitely won't be coming back."

"I heard that the village next door has a tradition of cannibalism."

"But the material conditions are good. Li Fugui has gone to the neighboring village to negotiate many times. I heard that as long as that Witch Doctor is satisfied with the person sent there, she will give our village meat to eat every month."

"Actually, Old Zhang has given my family quite a lot of meat, but I can't stand seeing Mai Mai like this..."

"If you can't stand it, then don't look. Did he give it to your family? Humph, he didn't give it to my family! Our whole village can eat meat, isn't that better than Old Zhang, who have everything to please him?"

That's truly heartless.

Old Zhang is a simple and kind person. He only shows his displeasure when others are being unreasonable. This kind of personality is not necessarily a good thing; it makes him too easy to be bullied, and his efforts are taken for granted.

Yu Xing listened to the conversation in general terms and realized that all of these villagers knew about what had happened that day, and many had even been directly involved!

Therefore, the kindest and most capable Old Zhang family, after showing their goodwill, were secretly taken away by everyone in the village.

Mai Mai cried until her voice was hoarse, and was forcibly dragged out of the village by Li Fugui and his group.

Almost exactly one or two minutes later, Old Zhang's wife rushed back. When she saw the wide-open door and the villagers who hadn't all gone back inside, she was first stunned, and then a sense of fear washed over her.

She rushed into the house and searched everywhere, but couldn't find her. She then wandered around the village for a while, finally yelling hysterically at others, "Where's my daughter?!"

No one answered her. The way everyone avoided the topic made Old Zhang's wife realize something. After letting out a series of devastating screams, she rushed into the woods leading to the village where the Witch Doctor.

Yu Xing's gaze gradually turned cold.

He already knew what betrayal and greed were all about.

Clearly, even though Li Fugui brought them Mai Mai, the Witch Doctor had no intention of "sharing the meat" with them. Instead, she spoke of the small village with Yu Xing, as if it were a joke.

He slowly got up, adjusted to the anemia-like dizziness he had never experienced before, ignored the pain in his palms, and began to chase after Li Fugui and the others.

He wasn't afraid of losing them, because that ragtag mob was definitely not as fast as him.

"Human nature, just how ugly can it be?" When Yu Xing left, she left behind only a chilling sneer and a few drops of uncongealed red blood.

As Yu Xing had predicted, he caught up with Li Fugui and his group in the forest, even faster than Old Zhang's wife, and continued to stealthily follow them.

Therefore, he read the entire story of the tragedy that occurred when Old Zhang's wife angrily confronted them.

When Mai Mai saw her mother, she frantically cried for help. Old Zhang's wife was also in a frenzy; she had probably never been as angry as she was today because someone from the same village with whom she had lived for so many years was actually going to send her child to his death.

Naturally, she lost her temper and only wanted to get her child back, so she fought with the group of people.

She was just a woman, even though she was strong enough to do farm work.

As for Li Fugui and his group, now that they had taken the plunge, they had to succeed. Otherwise, when Old Zhang returned from hunting, along with that ill-tempered outsider, they might really lose their lives.

They felt they had no way out, so several men... beat Old Zhang's wife to death.

Mai Mai's cries changed from "Mommy, save me!" to "Mommy, run!" But it was too late.

She watched as her mother, who usually doted on her, was beaten to the ground by a group of people, and then stared at her with her eyes open for a minute... two minutes... forever.

Yu Xing blinked, feeling the rage surging wildly within him. His chest ached terribly, a feeling of bitterness and fury intertwined.

"I must have never let those bastards live before."

Mai Mai's desperate expression kept replaying in his mind, and his memory barrier began to weaken once again.

Old Zhang's face flashed before his eyes. In this new memory, he seemed to be running towards Old Zhang from a distance. Just as he got closer, he saw Old Zhang with a ferocious expression, raising an axe to chop at Li Fugui, but was hit from behind by another man with a stick.

Old Zhang fell down with his eyes open, and sticks came from all directions. Many men from the village beat him hard with expressions of fear and pleasure. Soon, he could no longer get up.

Yu Xing's memory of himself stopped, standing still, lost in thought, seemingly processing the fact that Old Zhang, who had taken him in for half a year, was dead.

A few seconds later--

Blood rained down from the sky.

The viscous liquid, with its sweet, fishy smell, was poured onto the soil, staining the small village red.

Everyone immersed in the joy of success turned to terror in that instant, looking up at the sky, and then, after a short while, looking back at Yu Xing was walking forward step by step.

He stepped forward, picked up the axe that Old Zhang usually used, and chopped the men holding sticks in half.

A vast expanse of blackness emanated from him, and a chilling aura of death, carrying the power to devour everything, spread out. Yu Xing, dragging his body at its peak, moved through every room, torturing the people with terror in their final moments before they died on the axe blade.

In less than thirty seconds, this small village was transformed into a miniature hell on earth. Yu Xing, watching this scene, couldn't help but let out a sickly smile.

Perfect, isn't it? These people only deserve to wail in hell.

Yu Xing was in a daze, and it took her a long time to snap out of her memory.

He shook his head, trying to shake off the negative emotions filling his chest.

"In the past, I didn't realize that Mai Mai and Old Zhang's wife had been murdered while hunting, and I couldn't save Old Zhang, who was outnumbered, after the hunt... Even if I had made the whole village die with them, what good would it have done? I'm such a useless person." He cursed himself and raised his eyes.

"Um?"

The scenery before her was quite different from before. There was no corpse of Old Zhang's wife on the ground, nor any footprints left by others. Instead, it was a landscape that Yu Xing was very familiar with: the mountain forest between the village where the Witch Doctor lived and the lake.

During the time he was in a daze, his position changed silently.

"Wait, did I jump through timelines again?" Before, at least he would have to take a nap before the timelines would change, unlike now, he just stood there spacing out for a bit and it happened.

Was it because he remembered part of the events that he didn't need to relive them and could continue jumping around...? Yu Xing thought to herself as she looked down at herself.

The bandages on his body had completely disappeared at some point, and the skin under his clothes was as smooth as ever, as if the terrible injury had never existed.

"I'm back, Shiwei, you must have been waiting long!" The Witch Doctor's voice rang out from behind him. Yu Xing turned around and saw the Witch Doctor, now dressed in a different skirt, walking towards him with a bowl in her hands.

In fact, Yu Xing had already figured out how these timelines appeared.

The two villages, the small village where Old Zhang lives, have scrambled timelines, but they follow the actual history exactly as it happened. Even if he makes a different choice and travels to a different timeline next time, nothing will change.

For example, in reality, he didn't lose his memory after escaping the experimental base. In the fictional scenario, he didn't tell the Old Zhang family his name because of his amnesia. However, when the story jumps back to a different time in the small village, the Old Zhang still knows his real name, which should be because he told the Old Zhang family himself in reality.

The village where the Witch Doctor lives is on a forward timeline, and all the events will change because of the choices she makes now.

In reality, Yu Xing lived in a small village until he learned that Old Zhang had died and massacred the village, at which point he went to the big village to find Mai Mai.

Now, he enters the large village without knowing anything and is persuaded to stay by the Witch Doctor; each time the time shifts are based on the latter.

For example, the Witch Doctor holding the bowl right now.

"Shiwei, you promised me, drink this bowl of blood, become a follower of the God Official, and stay with me forever." She placed the bowl in Yu Xing's hands. Yu Xing looked at it and saw only a thick, opaque blood that had been there all night, and the reflection of his obviously unhappy face in the blood.