Ten minutes earlier... at the entrance to Sunward Village.
"Get a fucking move on! Food, drinks, supplies-take everything you can carry!"
"You boys, take the stone they use to weigh down the pickled cabbage too!"
Big Niu carried a bent steel bar over his shoulder and clutched a huge, battered sack.
He directed Xiao Liu and several assistants as they hauled things away.
Cursing, he kicked open the gate of a farmhouse.
Under his foot, the wooden gate was as brittle as a wafer, shattering at a touch.
"Xiao Liu, get over here. Take this sack back first."
He bellowed in his rough voice, sweeping his enormous, fan-sized hand across the stove.
But after searching the entire house,
he had found only a small half-sack of moldy old rice and a few shriveled sweet potatoes.
There wasn't even a sip of drinkable water.
"Fucking rotten luck!"
Big Niu spat and waved the assistants away.
"Take the stuff back first."
"I'll check those houses over there. Stick together. Don't split up!"
Big Niu followed the village road, looting one house after another.
Soon, his gaze settled on the eerie building at the village entrance.
"Huh? How come I didn't see that on the way in?"
As Big Niu approached, his gaze landed on a sign in the corner that read
"Sunny Village Convenience Store."
He had only just reached the doorway.
An aged, hoarse yet gentle voice drifted out of the darkness.
"Young man, come on in. Look how hungry you've gotten, you've... grown so big and strong..."
Big Niu moved toward the voice. At some point, a figure had appeared in the doorway.
The old woman's back was severely hunched. She stood about five feet tall and was frighteningly thin.
Long hair covered the left side of her face, which writhed eerily like withered tree bark.
Something unknown crunched between her teeth.
Half her body hid in the shadows behind the door as she muttered endlessly...
"There are plenty of tasty things here. Fragrant roasted sweet potatoes, fried potatoes, big chicken drumsticks."
"I saved them all for you. Come inside, and Granny will pack them all up for you."
No one noticed the purplish-blue, black sheen on the fingers she hid behind the door.
Traces of unidentified blood remained on her nails.
Seeing Big Niu look her way, the old woman's smile grew even kinder.
Heh heh, finally, another living one. And he's an ability user.
His whole body is packed with nourishment. Once he comes inside, I'll gouge out his eyes and savor them.
Once I've digested his vital essence, I'll be able to advance again!
Naturally, Big Niu couldn't hear her thoughts. He scratched his gleaming bald head.
He let out a goofy chuckle, his mouth stretching wide and his eyes bulging like a bull's balls.
With one hand scratching his bald head and the other gripping a huge sack, he craned his neck to peer into the darkness behind her...
His voice was hesitant, as though he wanted to enter but didn't dare.
"Granny, you ain't lying to me, right...? You ain't one of them, uh, spooky things?"
"My captain told me not to go into this little store."
"Oh, why would Granny lie to you? I hid down in the cellar and only came out after the ghost left."
"Come on in. Granny loves you best. I'll give you all the tasty things!"
The old woman seemed afraid Big Niu would leave.
She forced out what she thought was a kindly smile, her mouth stretching past her ears.
Big Niu paused, apparently torn, then took another half-step forward, a trace of wariness in his voice...
"How about this, Granny?"
"Take my sack and help me fill it with the tasty stuff."
"Put it by the door. If there's really good food, I'll come in and get it. How's that sound, Granny?"
"If Granny cares for me, I'll sure care for Granny too."
A gurgle rose from the old woman's throat.
What a brainless idiot!
Unlike that reckless little bastard before him, this one is easy to handle. I'll lure him inside first.
At that thought, the old woman's face immediately filled with smiles, and her voice grew even more kindly...
"Of course, of course. Granny will bring it over right now. Wait here."
"Don't leave. Granny cares for you so much, so you have to take good care of Granny too!"
In the darkness, the old woman moved far too fast for someone her age.
Her arms spun like a windmill, and in no time she had stuffed the store's supplies into the sack.
Big Niu's sack seemed impossible to fill.
It swallowed everything in the store.
"Granny, the everyday supplies too!"
"Food, clothes, useful stuff-pack it all for me. I know Granny loves me best!"
The old woman stuffed everything she could find into the sack.
Huffing and puffing, she dragged it to the doorway.
"Child, this sack of yours is so big, but it's full now. That sack beside it has potatoes."
"Take those too. Come in and get them. Once you're done carrying them, Granny will cook you some noodles and pamper you, my good boy."
With that, the old woman looked up at Big Niu through the wooden doorway, her eyes brimming with affection for the boy...
But Big Niu remained motionless in the sunlight, his bare head gleaming beneath it.
He kept chuckling foolishly and muttered,
"Wait a bit, Granny. I'll come in and take care of you in a second."
Yet his feet never took a single step out of the sunlight.
Seconds and minutes ticked by.
At last, the old woman grew a little impatient...
"Young man, why aren't you taking them? Is it not enough, or are you tired?"
"Why don't you come in and let Granny massage your back?"
She hadn't noticed that the sun was slowly shifting, and the patch of light at the doorway
was eating its way into the dim little store, inch by inch.
It slowly crept past the opening of the sack piled by the door...
After standing there blankly for over ten minutes, Big Niu suddenly spoke.
"Granny, do you have any kids?"
"No, no. You're just like Granny's dear grandson!"
Wait, haven't I heard that somewhere before?
Before the old woman could react, the guileless smile abruptly vanished from Big Niu's face.
His gaze instantly sharpened. He thrust out a hand toward the outermost sack of potatoes.
With a hard yank, he dragged the sack out of the store's shadows.
Quick-eyed and quick-handed, Big Niu released the potato sack and immediately switched targets.
He reached for the oversized sack.
"Don't even think about it!"
The old woman growled and immediately thrust out her withered hand.
Her purplish-blue nails pierced the flesh of Big Niu's arm...
"Good boy..."
She had barely uttered those two words.
She gripped Big Niu's arm hard, trying to pull him into the darkness!
A huge, fan-sized hand rapidly grew larger in her vision.
The gust it raised blew her tangled hair aside.
Smack!!!!
The resounding slap caught the old woman squarely, spinning her halfway around.
Black blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, and her eyes nearly popped out.
"Fuck you, you old hag! Does it hurt?"
"I care for you more than anyone!"
Pain shot through Big Niu's arm, but he didn't release his grip on the sack.
Using the momentum of his slap, he yanked hard and dragged the oversized sack out.
"You really think I'm stupid? My captain said these spooky things are scared of sunlight!"
"You're a sneaky one, trying to trick me into going inside. I ain't falling for it!"
The sudden turn of events left the old woman utterly stunned.
She stood there clutching her face, her shoulders twitching slightly.
"If Granny cares for me, I'll sure care for Granny too."
"Bring the stuff out, and I'll come in and take care of Granny."
"Granny, do you have any kids?"
"Does it hurt, you old hag?"
"Even if you had a son, he probably wouldn't have an asshole."
The voices of the burly man before her and the young man from earlier echoed endlessly in her ears.
Humiliation. Utter humiliation!
Damn you! How dare you make a fool of me!
That ill-mannered little bastard was bad enough.
But a brainless oaf like you dares to toy with me too!
Half the old woman's face had been knocked out of shape.
Her cloudy eyes bulged, bloodshot veins spreading across them.
Even if I have to endure the blazing sun!
I'll swallow you alive! I'll eat your eyes!
Big Niu wasn't about to give her a chance to strike back.
The instant he finished slapping her, he pulled his hand free.
In a flash, he hoisted both sacks onto his shoulders, turned, and sprinted out of the village.
"Run! The old hag's coming out!"
Big Niu shouted at the top of his lungs, his bald head steaming as he ran beneath the sun.
Before you continue