Aromatic Delicacies

Brother Qiang suppressed his fear and said, "What payment? I have money. I'll give you money."

The waiter pulled out a dagger, his mouth stretching into an exaggerated grin as he mechanically repeated, "Guest, it's time to pay."

Brother Qiang finally couldn't hold back his terror. He grabbed Xu Rou, who was hiding behind him, and shoved her forward. "Take her! Take her all! Don't come for me!"

Xu Rou let out a terrified scream: "Ah!"

She never expected that the man who had promised to protect her would so easily push her out.

Without any hesitation, the waiter yanked Xu Rou over and sliced off her ear with one cut.

Xu Rou screamed again. The intense pain and fear made her eyes roll back as she collapsed unconscious.

While the waiter was attacking Xu Rou, Brother Qiang had already fled through the balcony.

After collecting the price from Xu Rou, the waiter turned and chased after Brother Qiang.

His speed was like a ghost's.

In an instant, he was right behind Brother Qiang.

Brother Qiang desperately grabbed a nearby chair and swung it hard at the waiter.

"Stay away!"

The waiter's head caved in from the blow. Red and white matter dripped down his face, but he remained unfazed, step by step closing in on Brother Qiang.

"Guest, it's time to pay."

Brother Qiang was scared out of his wits.

No matter how he attacked the waiter, the waiter wouldn't die.

His usual reliance on brute force had failed him, and Brother Qiang instantly lost his nerve.

He shrieked and tried to run.

But the waiter was fast in pursuit. His hand, as thin and dry as a skeleton's, grabbed Brother Qiang with a force that felt like it would crush his bones.

The waiter seized Brother Qiang's left hand, raised the knife, and brought it down.

A severed arm hit the floor.

Brother Qiang clutched his stump and screamed.

The waiter picked up the arm, placed it on the cart, and continued pushing it toward the next private room.

Li Ke and Han Shitao heard the screams, their faces turning pale as they huddled together in terror.

The waiter found them one by one.

He cut off a finger from each.

Li Ke watched the waiter push the cart away.

Only then did he tremblingly unwrap the towel he'd found in the bathroom and bandage his wound.

The waiter's last targets were Bai Zuo and Du Jiashi.

Du Jiashi had also heard the screams.

He had wanted to block the door with a chair to keep the waiter out, but Bai Zuo stopped him.

"Did you find what I asked you to find?"

Du Jiashi pointed at a few dead cockroaches in the corner. "Found them. I put them on the floor."

Under Du Jiashi's puzzled gaze, Bai Zuo picked them up with chopsticks.

He stirred them into the food on the table.

Du Jiashi suddenly understood!

Just as Bai Zuo set down the chopsticks.

The waiter walked in, splattered with blood all over, knife in hand like a murderous maniac. "Guest, it's time to pay."

Du Jiashi didn't wait for the waiter to approach. He struck first, slamming the table and shouting, "What kind of restaurant is this?!"

The waiter paused.

His raised knife hand wavered. "Guest, is there something you're dissatisfied with about our restaurant?"

The waiter's expression was terrifying, as if he would stab Du Jiashi if he didn't give a convincing reason.

Du Jiashi's acting was superb. He mimicked a difficult, unreasonable customer perfectly. "At the very least, the food in your restaurant should be edible, right?"

The waiter said mechanically, "Our restaurant's dishes are absolutely the most delicious in the world. Every guest who eats here is full of praise."

Du Jiashi picked up his chopsticks and flipped the cockroach out of the dish. "Look what's in your food! Bugs! Is this what your restaurant serves to guests?"

The waiter froze completely. He never imagined such a thing could appear in the food.

Seeing Du Jiashi furious, demanding an explanation or else he'd make a huge scene, the waiter had no choice but to say, "This is our restaurant's negligence. We'll have the chef redo this table of dishes immediately and waive today's bill for the guest."

The waiter promptly stepped forward, cleared the table, and then pushed his cart away.

After watching him leave, Du Jiashi's legs gave out and he slumped into a chair, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

Bai Zuo grinned and propped his feet up on the table. "Not bad."

Du Jiashi let out a dry laugh and praised him sincerely, "You're really something else, coming up with a method like that."

Bai Zuo got up, left the private room, found one with a sofa, and lay down to sleep. Du Jiashi sat nearby keeping watch.

That night, aside from Bai Zuo and his companion, everyone else spent it in fear and agony.

The next day, the sun rose.

Li Ke and his group left their hiding spot to look for the others.

Li Ke spotted Xu Rou walking over, covering her ears with a towel, her face full of indignation.

"Where's Brother Qiang?"

Xu Rou, remembering how she'd been pushed out as a scapegoat, rolled her eyes in annoyance. "He's over there eating."

Li Ke's face lit up, but he quickly masked his delight. "How come Brother Qiang is eating? Didn't the notice say not to touch the food on the table?"

"I don't give a damn if he drops dead!" Xu Rou cursed, spilling the story of how Brother Qiang had shoved her forward yesterday.

Li Ke almost laughed out loud. Brother Qiang, Brother Qiang—I haven't even made a move yet, and you're already digging your own grave.

Feigning urgency, Li Ke said, "Then we should go talk some sense into him."

The group arrived at the private room.

A fresh spread of dishes had been laid out on the table.

The aroma of the food was mouthwatering, making everyone's saliva pool.

They couldn't help swallowing hard.

Brother Qiang sat with his back to them, eating without lifting his head.

"Brother Qiang, stop eating. The food on this table isn't safe."

"Yeah! Who knows if it's poisoned."

Brother Qiang paid them no mind, still shoving food into his mouth in big bites.

He even abandoned his chopsticks, grabbing chunks of meat directly with his hands and stuffing them in.

The sounds of chewing and swallowing made the others' starving stomachs start to growl.

The notice had clearly said not to eat the food on the table.

But they'd been hungry for a whole day and night, already at their limit.

Seeing Brother Qiang eating so heartily, their eyes couldn't tear away from the table.

So delicious!

Those pieces of meat looked amazing!

Li Ke swallowed again.

He moved closer to Brother Qiang. "Brother Qiang, you alright?"

Brother Qiang still ignored him.

He kept stuffing food into his mouth, as if he had an insatiable, bottomless stomach.

"Brother Qiang?"

Li Ke gave him a nudge.

Only then did Li Ke notice that Brother Qiang was missing an arm. The severed stump was still dripping blood, and from the blood loss, his face was as pale as a corpse.

But Brother Qiang seemed to feel no pain or fear, still eating with his head down, shoveling meat into his mouth.

Li Ke stumbled back a few steps, his intense appetite dampened by the shock.