The Butcher's Craft

JOE--Chinese transliteration is "Qiao".

It is usually used as a boy's name, but it can also be used as a girl's name.

It comes from Hebrew, and its original English meaning is an ordinary person, a child given by God. It implies a handsome, dashing, and independent person, and in a playful and lively slang term, it is also called "handsome young man."

At this very moment--

The tour guide greeted the two newcomers using the nickname [JOE].

A Xing and Xue Ming then realized what was happening.

Just like Pop Art, the people of Mimir Hot Spring Market today have come to regard the word "JOE" as an integral part of their daily lives, including food, clothing, shelter, and entertainment.

It can be used to greet someone or make a joke.

When greeting friends, this cultural symbol is fully integrated into the greeting.

For a moment, the two young men didn't know how to reply and stood there awkwardly.

The tour guide took an axe from under the barbecue grill and chopped the spine into three pieces.

Jiang Xueming was amazed by the way the guide chopped bones. He used to work in the catering industry and was very skilled at handling meat. He saw that the axe blade in the guide's hand had an obtuse angle between the spine and the edge, which was used to cut and split the multi-layered fibers of the tree.

This tour guide's bone-chopping technique was sharp and natural. He could find the joint opening of the spine at a glance and naturally break the bone from the fat and muscle texture of the spine, cutting it in two in one smooth motion.

The marrow fluid in the bone is originally sealed in protein colloids and joints. Under the pressure of the axe blade, the cavity of the roasted meat opens up suddenly, making a crisp "pop" sound, which is the work of a skilled butcher.

"Why didn't you even say hello?" The tour guide took out three thin pancakes, each about the size of a washbasin, wrapped around his spine, and handed them out. "Eat something first, we can talk on the way."

The aroma of the roasted pork spine made Jiang Xueming's eyes clear and bright, as if it were a catalyst, activating his previously sluggish mental state.

A Xing was about to go upstairs to collect his gift.

Xue Ming, ahead of everyone else, took off his cotton-padded coat to keep warm, revealing the spirit robe and trousers underneath. He then took the gift from the tour guide.

He grasped the spine of the flatbread, gnawed off a piece of piping hot meat from the bone, and while chewing slowly, gave a brief self-introduction.

"My name is Jiang Xueming. I came from Nine Realms Station. David Victor told us to come to this city to find work and earn money."

Two things happened in just a few breaths.

Let's start with the changes in Xue Ming.

The spicy pork rib meat is full of the aroma of spices. The outer layer of meat is crisp and chewy, while the inner layer is loose, tender, and juicy, with no trace of blood or fishy smell.

Xue Ming couldn't identify the spices. If forced to describe them, he could only say they had a "salty and umami flavor similar to mushrooms," along with a wine-like aroma of fermented lime and plum.

He quickly took a second bite of meat.

The flavor of the roasted meat gradually became richer, as if it had been marinated for a very long time. Then came the third and fourth bites—until my teeth slammed into the crisp spine, and the sauce and marrow flowed out of the bone.

In that instant, Xue Ming felt an explosion inside his head—like the Cambrian explosion of life.

His limbs trembled slightly involuntarily in response to the signals from his brain, and his nose, throat, and upper respiratory tract were filled with this smell.

To the spiritual essence, the bone texture of this dish tasted a lot like wasabi; just a small bite was enough to bring Xue Ming back to life.

Let me tell you something else--

--When the tour guide heard the name David Victor, his expression went from cold to warm, but not by much.

It's like meeting a stranger and hearing a familiar name from their mouth, feeling happy to have something in common to talk about.

More than the matter itself, the expression on Xue Ming's face while eating made him happier.

Barbecue is one of the tour guide's specialties.

The most exciting thing is when guests come, accept this gift, and eat it all up in front of them.

It's like Mr. Victor seeing a reader meticulously read the entire novel in the newspaper.

Seeing Ming Ge's blissful expression, Bu Liuxing couldn't resist asking for a pork rib pancake.

This time was different; unlike the Big Mac hamburger in the Dead Puppet Agency — A Xing couldn't say a word while eating.

He lowered his head and, with his strong, hard teeth, gnawed open every piece of meat along the spine, squeezing out a thick sauce and marrow from the bone joints with the soft dough.

He kept eating until his mouth was covered in grease, then wiped it clean with the flatbread, swallowed the flatbread whole, and finally let out a burp, his face flushed.

"Ah, I'm satisfied. I don't have to fight anymore." A Xing collapsed on the spot, lying in a starfish shape, staring wide-eyed at the dome above the tenement building, his eyes filled with a million stars.

"What spice is it? It looks like thyme. No, it also looks like mushroom. I feel like the battery in my brain is now brimming with energy, ready to unleash thunder."

His face was beaming with happiness.

"Hey tour guide, what's your name?! I really want to know, can I contact you to deliver food sometime? This dish is like a song! A story!"

A Xing got more and more excited as he talked. The scalding food in his stomach made him feel like he was on fire. The clueless food critic was about to start praising and commenting.

"The bamboo charcoal infuses the pork loin and fat with a smoky flavor, and with the accompaniment of mushrooms, wine, and spices, I feel as if I'm in a tavern where people are smoking and playing cards."

A Xing ran up to the tour guide with an air of importance, placed his hands on the frozen food display case, and pressed them against the tour guide's face.

"It's so mysterious! What animal's spine is it? When I used my front teeth to gnaw off the first piece of meat along the cut of the skeleton, the juices from the sides naturally clung to me—like pushing open two spring-loaded doors in a tavern, and the hostesses on either side suddenly grabbed my arms!"

The tour guide didn't reply, his expression calm and natural, just smiling as he gnawed on the bone.

A Xing continued, "And there's more! And there's more! The feeling of the first bite was like a strange appetizer that was scorching hot and hard, like a tough guy with a gun showing off to me, telling me to use my real skills and my nimble tongue to deal with these local bullies and win their favor."

"But as soon as I exert a little force, use my little brain—these paper tigers will kneel down and beg for mercy. I can hear the muscles playing a rapid flamenco guitar, and in the instant they go from hard to soft, the juices gushing from deep within the flesh are the blood that splatters out in this fight!"

"The sound of cartilage and collagen cracking was like a relentless drumbeat, urging me to a decisive battle. When my teeth slammed into the cooked bone, I realized—I'd met my match. In this tavern, there was a damn ruthless devil waiting for me. Unlike the henchmen outside."

A Xing's expression also turned fierce, his brows furrowed and his teeth clenched.

"Damn, even dead, this guy's spine is ridiculously hard. It's so spicy it's making my throat burn. It's so sexy, it instantly filled me with determination!"

The meteor danced wildly, stretching its cheeks and showing off its teeth.

"I used every technique imaginable, every weapon in my body, even my naked tongue, to fight it head-on! What was that spicy, stimulating feeling? What did you add? It made my ears ring! When I was gnawing on the bone, I heard a gunshot like thunder!"

"It's mustard greens," the tour guide revealed his secret. "It's a type of mustard green."

"Wasabi? Mustard greens?" Meteor didn't understand. "My God, your technique is simply divine! You can make wasabi seep into the bone marrow without damaging the integrity of this spine!"

"No, it wasn't my doing," the tour guide replied with a smile. "This is the spine of a monstrous beast, a very rare kind."

"Huh?" Meteor was even more confused. "What kind of animal would put mustard into its own bone marrow?"

"It's quite strange, you outsiders must find it hard to understand." The tour guide packed up the barbecue grill and returned the trolley to the room. "Open your logbooks, there's a detailed description of the Spirit Calamity monsters inside."

Mimir Hot Spring Market

--A monster in the Spirit Calamity.

This wilderness is home to many strange and unusual wild animals.

Their limb tissues and hair structure, these features, make them resemble the Chimera of mythical legends.

What's truly remarkable is that these Spirit Calamity monsters exhibit no reproductive isolation, resembling an ecosystem both independent of and closely resembling the surface of the earth.

The Research Station believes that these synthetic beasts were able to overcome reproductive barriers, exchange genes with other biological species, and freely exchange triadic substances, likely because they received help from trolls.

Trolls are enormous humanoid creatures whose appearance is related to their direct parents Mountain Giant.

These mythical creatures would attempt to mate with various animals, giving birth to all sorts of powerful, deformed monsters.

The mountain demons would then interbreed with their offspring a second time, overcoming reproductive barriers and opening a door to life—this unpredictable mode of reproduction, nurtured by the bizarre geomagnetic environment of the Mohorovičić discontinuity, gave birth to tens of thousands of synthetic beast races.

Here, you might see a nine-headed snake, a three-headed dog, or a monster with a lion's head and a snake's tail.

However, nowadays, most of these mythical creatures are on the menu. If they don't look strange enough or aren't dangerous enough, the Red Stone People are unwilling to eat them and treat them as ordinary animals like cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses.

Occasionally, one can spot individual calamity beasts in the wild that have undergone multiple dimensional exchanges. Those that can survive in such harsh environments must be extremely bizarre beings.

"The mustard flavor in this spine wasn't added by me; I don't have that ability," the tour guide explained. "It contains glucosinolates, a very obscure type of Spirit Calamity monster that they use as weapons. When they are young, they are very active and like to venture into warmer areas deep within volcanoes to find food, making them vulnerable to the Madness Butterfly."

The tour guide walked out, led the way for the two passengers, and then said...

"This stuff is found in mustard greens, Brussels sprouts, and other rapeseed vegetables. It has a strong bitter taste and a pungent spiciness; White Lady shakes her head at the smell. Young animals will specifically eat these foods, or their parents will plant mustard greens along their spines to maintain a symbiotic relationship, using it as a deworming agent and as a vaccine for the Vita Imprint."

"So that's how it is!" Bu Liuxing exclaimed in amazement at the wonder of life. "Little brother! I haven't introduced myself yet! My name is Bu Liuxing! What should we call you? What's your zodiac sign?"

The tour guide shrugged nonchalantly. "Names don't matter, just call me tour guide. As for my zodiac sign, I don't know either."

"There are still people who don't remember their own zodiac sign?" Bu Liuxing asked in confusion, turning to Jiang Xueming and whispering, "Ming Ge, this young man doesn't seem to like chatting, just like when I first met you!"

Jiang Xueming: "They don't like to talk nonsense, so let's just go along with what they want."

"No." The tour guide led the two brothers across Sweet Potato Street, ducking to avoid the stray bullets fired from the duels around them.

They only had a chance to chat when they entered Sunset Avenue.

The tour guide explained, "I genuinely don't remember my birthday or zodiac sign, and I can't even recall my name. I think my surname is Wen, sigh. If I knew, I wouldn't need to hide it from you. Having more friends means having more options, right? You don't even know my name or birthday, how are you going to repay the favors I've done for you?"

"Weng Ge!" Meteor shouted immediately, "Were you hit by a car? Have you lost your memory? Or did someone cheat and blow your skull open during a gunfight? Are you out of your mind?"

Jiang Xueming muttered under his breath, "If you can talk so much, you should publish a book."

The tour guide wasn't angry at all, remaining as calm as a still, deep well. "Your friend is quite interesting. Does someone with amnesia remember how they lost their memory?"

Xue Ming: "Mental patients have broad thinking; try to understand that."

"You're such a good griller! You must have lots of friends!" Meteor shouted. "Maybe your friends can help you regain your memory?"

"I'd rather not, I feel fine as I am now." The tour guide used the Mimir Hot Spring as an analogy. "It's like a long-dried-up Mímisbrunnr in the city. If you drink from it, you'll remember many, many things. Perhaps not thinking about it and not remembering it is also a blessing, don't you think?"

Bu Liuxing chuckled and replied, "Yes, yes! If only there were a potion to forget all the bad things from the past!"

Xue Ming's face was full of worry. "But... what if we owe a lot of people money?"

"Then let the creditors come after me. I don't need to look for them; they'll definitely find me." The tour guide said nonchalantly, "If I were a murderer, there would be Lapis Lazuli Guards chasing after my debts. If I were a heartless man, there would be women chasing after me. If I had many important friends who had shared life and death with me—and I were to reunite with all these people and events, I would turn over a new leaf and start anew."

"That's great! Ming Ge!" Meteor was extremely excited. "He's so great! The tour guide the BOSS arranged for us is fantastic!"

"Mr. Wen!" Xue Ming remained calm, only wanting to get to the bottom of things. "How much do you remember? How many people do you know? Can you help us find jobs?"

"I've lived here for sixteen years, so it shouldn't be a problem." The tour guide led the two to the public parking lot on Sunset Avenue and asked the service desk for three motorcycles.

Then I saw the tour guide take out a razor from the motorcycle's storage compartment, trim his hair and beard, and suddenly he looked sharp and energetic.

He was a typical East Asian, with sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes, and thick, fleshy lips. He was about 1.75 meters tall, with strong and powerful limbs. His hair was slightly messy after being trimmed with a razor, and his thick jaw resembled that of a shark.

Xue Ming had never seen such a strong jaw—it seemed to have been born to crush food and gnaw through bones.

The tour guide's eyes were just too gentle and calm, having absolutely no resemblance to the sharks in the ocean that never look back and never stop.

"Come on, I'll take you to the leather and fabric shop to try your luck. We've got all sorts of trades, so let's start with clothes. I happen to know the owner there." Weng Ge took off his apron, changed into a black tank top and leather jacket and pants, climbed onto the Harley- Davidson, and put on his sunglasses. "You two, you're not going to gamble, are you?"

Meteor: "I like to make bets with people."

Xue Ming: "No."

Weng Ge down his sunglasses, revealing dark, calm eyes hidden beneath his messy hair, and stared intently at the two little ones.

"You won't make a living from gambling, right?"

Meteor: "That's impossible! I used up all my luck on being born into the right family; I'm aware of that much."

Xue Ming: "My luck in being born into this world is so-so. But I won't gamble."

Weng Ge tossed two keys and two pairs of sunglasses to Xue Ming and Liu Xing, telling them to get in the car.

Xue Ming was more cautious.

He saw that Weng Ge had another primary weapon in his car.

UTS-15 shotgun.

The UTS-15 is a bullpup pump-action combat shotgun manufactured by a Turkish company, firing 12-gauge shotgun shells. It is a highly effective weapon in modern urban warfare, with extremely high killing efficiency. However, the UTS-15 also has a high failure rate.

The secondary weapon is the Remington M29 Revolver we just saw, also known as the Smith & Wesson M29—I've seen this weapon company's products before; it's the automatic pistol that Xue Ming got when he first took the car to Fang Feng.

Let's return to this antique firearm.

Its ammunition type is rather unique.

Xue Ming was able to recognize this murder weapon from seventy years ago because of its unique caliber—Magnum.44IN*40 revolver cartridges.

This was the world's most powerful secondary weapon pistol bullet at the time, with a bullet diameter of nearly 11 millimeters, a muzzle velocity of 448 meters per second, a kinetic energy of 1560 joules, and a maximum chamber pressure of 297 megapascals.

It is a powerful tool for hunting large animals.

To master this type of firearm requires a strong physique and exceptional eyesight.

A Xing had already mounted his Harley and was twisting the throttle relentlessly, burning the tires in place.

Xue Ming stood still, still deep in thought.

Weng Ge asked another question, "What's wrong? Jiang Xueming, are you scared?"

"No." Xue Ming felt extremely embarrassed.

Weng Ge asked in confusion, "Why aren't you getting on the bus yet? Could it be..."

Xue Ming nodded and confessed, "I can't ride a motorcycle. I've never learned, and I don't know anything about it. Driving a car is like being wrapped in iron, while riding a motorcycle is like being wrapped in iron. If there's an accident, I might as well take the subway. So I've never learned how to drive such a dangerous vehicle."

Weng Ge felt relieved; upon reflection, it made sense.

"Why don't you sit behind me?"

Xue Ming asked, "Is there a bus?"

Weng Ge: "Do you think so? In this city where the spirit of freedom practically leaps off your face, everyone's a knight, everyone lives a life of fleeting existence. Would a place like this have public buses?"

Xue Ming held firm to his bottom line. "I mean, is it possible that there's a vehicle called a motorcycle, but it looks more mature and stable?"

Weng Ge laughed and clapped his hands, applauding loudly. "The destination is twenty-one kilometers from here. You can choose to run there."

Xue Ming climbed onto the back of the Harley, gripped Weng Ge's waist tightly, and covered the luggage tightly, afraid that something might be missing.

Weng Ge pointed at A Xing, who was burning tires. The parking lot was filled with the stench of rubber and had rows of charred, round tire tracks.

"Look at your friend, he's so energetic. I saw that you two are like brothers, so I assumed you were just like him."

"No, actually," A Xing immediately released the accelerator, got off the motorcycle, and returned the keys. "Actually, I can't ride a motorcycle. I was just doing burnouts for fun, it felt so cool!"

That's all--

A Xing, a tall guy of 1.9 meters, sat in the front row of the Harley, Xue Ming, a short guy of 1.7 meters, sat in the Harley row.

Mr. Wen wasn't angry at all, and his expression didn't even change. He just found the two little guys very amusing. He looked down at the road from under A Xing's armpit.

Then they sped off in a cloud of dust.

Three friends of similar age sped along Sunset Avenue, rushed onto the bridge, crossed the kilometer-long steel bridge, and headed towards the west of the city, stirring up dust, stones, and thick smoke.

In the distance, you could hear the driver's shouts as he whipped his horse.

"Ha!"