One Step to the Stomach

The arm, severed cleanly at the root, covered the woman's face.

Her lifeless gaze met Liu Zheng's through the gaps between her fingers.

Her pale bluish skin still looked smooth and elastic.

She must have been young, and she had not been dead for long.

Even after preparing himself mentally so many times, even after doing his best to numb himself.

His body still could not stop trembling when he saw the hollowed-out abdominal cavity.

Because of fear.

And even more because of anger.

"Leave it to me."

A hoof snatched the bag away.

Cow-Horse gave him a strange look.

"Go help me roll out the wrappers."

It shoved Liu Zheng hard.

The immense force left him unable to resist, and he staggered over to the pastry workstation.

"Roll them thinner. Don't make them like naan."

Without even looking back, Cow-Horse shouted as it carried the bag toward the sink.

Liu Zheng watched its back, his chest heaving several times before he finally calmed down.

He raised the dough and slammed it viciously against the counter.

White-Feather Chicken glanced over calmly, then continued arranging the plates.

Humans were always like this, making a fuss at first.

They would get used to it eventually.

And if they could not get used to it, Cow-Horse would teach them the rules.

Fortunately, Liu Zheng quickly found an outlet for his emotions.

He used four tentacles to control two rolling pins separately, rolling out wrappers while multitasking.

That difficult operation occupied all his attention, leaving his CPU with no threads to think about anything else.

One wrapper after another, each as thin as an A4 sheet of paper, took shape and was tossed aside by Liu Zheng.

Before long, a mountain of wrappers had piled up on the counter.

"Stop rolling. You've already rolled enough wrappers for next year."

At some point, Cow-Horse had come to his side.

Its voice snapped Liu Zheng out of it, and he looked past Cow-Horse toward the sink.

There was nothing inside.

"Stop looking. It's already stewing."

Cow-Horse pointed at a pressure cooker.

"Old Ginseng Whole-Person Soup. This pot is worth at least this much."

It raised a hoof, then awkwardly froze.

Because it could only hold up the number "2."

"Ahem. Anyway, you know what I mean."

Cow-Horse said without changing its expression.

"Are you trying to comfort me or piss me off?"

Liu Zheng looked at it.

"Both."

Cow-Horse answered frankly.

"I think highly of you, but you also get on my nerves. So don't give me an excuse. Stay alive."

It squeezed Liu Zheng aside.

"Go wash vegetables."

Cow-Horse said flatly.

Liu Zheng gave it a deep look and returned to the vegetable-washing area.

"You're back."

Calico Cat sighed in relief when it saw him return.

"It's good that you're back. That cow is so stupid—it even broke the faucet."

It complained.

"It's Cow-Horse, you stupid cat!"

Cow-Horse shouted.

"Bleh!"

Calico Cat pulled a face at it.

"Phew... What else needs washing?"

Liu Zheng asked after taking a deep breath.

"Then go fish out the fish in there."

Calico Cat pointed at a fish tank covered by a black cloth.

"You need to say it loudly before lifting the cloth."

It reminded him.

"Okay."

He walked over to the fish tank, his tentacles gripping the edge of the black cloth.

"I'm lifting the cloth."

He announced loudly.

"Everyone, cover your ears!"

Calico Cat immediately shouted.

Upon hearing that, every kitchen worker put down what they were doing and covered their ears.

"Huh?"

Though Liu Zheng did not know what was happening, he followed suit and stuffed his tentacles into his earholes.

Then he lifted the black cloth.

A fish with a frog's head opened its eyes, then opened its mouth wide.

"Ribbit!"

A massive sound wave crashed into him, blanking Liu Zheng's mind for an instant.

Even the water in the fish tank began to boil, and cracks appeared across the tank.

"Fuck!"

Liu Zheng cursed instinctively once he came back to his senses.

That was with his ears plugged. Without that, his brains would probably have been shaken into mush.

He reached a tentacle into the tank and grabbed Frogfish by the tail.

But Frogfish struggled violently, and the tentacle could not restrain it at all.

And the harder it struggled, the louder it cried.

That made the already irritated Liu Zheng even more irritated.

In a burst of anger, he thrust his tentacle straight into Frogfish's mouth, one step all the way to its stomach.

"Gah!"

Frogfish's cry stopped abruptly.

"Go on, scream. Even if you scream again, no one's coming to save you."

Liu Zheng pulled it out, then gave it two resounding slaps.

He hit it so hard that Frogfish passed out on the spot.

"Having lots of hands is so nice."

Calico Cat watched enviously.

Every time they caught Frogfish, they had to suffer through an ordeal.

"How do I prepare this thing?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"Don't touch the head. Handle the rest normally."

Calico Cat said.

"Okay."

He carried Frogfish over to the sink, then curled a nearby knife in his tentacles and began scaling it.

Liu Zheng had grown up in the countryside. Killing chickens and fish was nothing to him; if push came to shove, he could slaughter pigs and sheep too.

"Don't waste the blood and innards. You can save them to eat yourself."

Calico Cat licked its lips, its eyes full of longing.

Whoever washed the vegetables could eat the scraps. It counted as a little kitchen perk.

"Okay."

Following Calico Cat's suggestion, he put Frogfish's blood and innards into another basin.

"Here."

Liu Zheng handed the basin to Calico Cat.

"You're not eating it?"

Calico Cat asked in surprise.

"This is expensive. Even these scraps can sell for hundreds outside."

It thought Liu Zheng did not know Frogfish's value.

"You look like you want to eat it more than I do."

Liu Zheng said.

"Hehe."

Calico Cat awkwardly washed its face.

"Then thank you."

It buried its face in the basin and began wolfing it down.

"Don't think you can steal my cat just by doing this, you scumbag!"

The man's face appeared again, filled with rage.

"I just want to get along with my colleague."

"I'd advise you not to get too worked up. You wouldn't want your cat to think you're doubting its love for you, would you?"

Liu Zheng said calmly.

"..."

Human Face was speechless.

"I'll tell it that I gave it this basin of fish scraps for your sake."

Liu Zheng mouthed silently.

"You'd better keep your word."

Human Face mouthed back before turning into fur again.

"So delicious."

Calico Cat raised its head and licked its paws contentedly.

Dark red blood stained the fur on its face. Thinking of what it had said, Liu Zheng could not help feeling a chill run down his spine.

"Actually, your master is the one who told me to let you eat it."

Liu Zheng said.

"Really? Master is so nice. I like Master the most."

Calico Cat said happily.

Human Face quietly emerged, smiling indulgently.

Then he looked at Liu Zheng, and his expression immediately darkened.

"Bring your tentacle over."

Human Face said.

"Why?"

"Just bring it over when I tell you to. I'm only a face now. What are you afraid of?"

Human Face said impatiently.

Liu Zheng frowned and extended a tentacle in front of Human Face.

Human Face opened his mouth, and the cat fur suddenly surged outward, piercing into Liu Zheng's flesh like steel needles.