"Hee..hee…hee."
The giggle echoed through the shadows like a moan caught between pleasure and cruelty - shivering with every echo.
High-pitched.
Breathless.
A little girl stood in the middle of the ruined hut.
Chen Lingling.
Wooden stick in her hand.
Blood on her cheek.
Her shadow flickered against the walls, long and twitching in the lantern light.
She didn't move.
She didn't blink.
Drip. " Plop ..plop"
Blood slid from the stick's edge.
Drip…" plop"
It hit the floor, soaked into the cracks, painted the dirt red.
Her smile stayed frozen.
Not cruel-just satisfied.
Moonlight slipped through the broken window and kissed her face,
silver and silent.
A breeze passed through the hut.
It carried the scent of dust, ash,…and fresh iron.
She tilted her head slowly.
Listening.
The giggle stopped.
Then-
"Lingling," said a voice.
Calm, Gentle.
Lao Chen stepped through the doorway, holding a flickering lantern that hummed like a creepy ghost.
He looked around the scene —at the walls, the puddle of blood, the trembling stick in her hand.
Then he smiled like a proud teacher reviewing a messy painting.
"I told you," he said, smiling gently, "Aim for the head,"
"Hit the ribs and the blood sprays like a fountain. Now it's leaking like a busted melon.
You'll waste half the meat."
He sighed with a smirk mock disappointment.
"Kids these days."
A beat of silence.
Then-
Boards creaked softly outside.
One…then another …slow and steady
Someone-or something-was walking just outside the hut.
A shadow passed across the doorway.
Then, through the cracks in the wooden wall, faces began to appear .
Pale. Wide-eyed.
"…unblinking; their mouths slightly open, pressed to the slats."
Some licked their lips aggressively, some other just stared, unblinking.
Tch. Tch. Tch
Tongue clicked quietly in the dark.
A voice finally called out- softly.
"Can we have some?" With a creepy smile.
Lao Chen turned slowly and smiled.
"Of course," he said. "We've got enough for the whole village tonight."
He raised his voice toward the dark road outside the broken windows.
"Tell everyone to gather at the center. We're having a feast!"
"Hehehehe"
Laughter echoed under the moon.
Later that night…
The village square burned bright with firelight.
A large bonfire crackled at the center, spitting sparks into the night sky.
Pop-pop. Hisss. Crack. Chrrrk.
Fat from the roasting meat sizzled as it dripped into the flames,
filling the square with smoke and mouthwatering scent of roasted meat.
A savory haze clung to the air, pulling growls from every stomach nearby.
Jinhai stood near the edge of the crowd, barely upright.
His red wedding robe was stained with blood. His hands trembled, and a clay cup of warm goat's milk steamed in his grip.
Lingling had handed it to him with a smile like nothing strange had happened.
He took a sip.
It was earthy.
A little sour.
And strangely comforting.
He let out a laugh-soft, uneven, nearly hysterical.
"I thought.." He muttered, voice breaking slightly.
"I thought my family couldn't wait for me to die slowly and finally hired someone to finish me off."
Then slowly, almost reverently, he placed his palm over his face-
Like he could hide from what just happened.
"Gods," he whispered. "I'm losing it."
Lingling sat beside him on a carved wooden bench, legs swinging back and forth as she munch on a chunk of roasted root vegetable.
"I wanted to warn you when you arrived," she said cheerfully,
Crumbs on her lips, "but Grandpa told me not to."
Jinhai turned to her slowly.
"Warn me about ….what?"
She pointed at his chest.
"You were vomiting blood everywhere," she said. "That smell?
It attracts Spirit Rats."
She said it so casually, like she was talking about mosquitoes.
"Spirit Rats?"
Lingling nodded, still chewing.
"They're just rats - until they drink enough human blood."
She swallowed, then licked her fingers.
A bit of rat fat clung to the corner of her mouth.
"Then their eyes start glowing red . Muscles swell. And their meat…"
She pointed at the large spit nearby.
Two giant rat carcasses turned slowly over the fire, Their skin
blistering and crackling, meat dripping thick juices into coals below.
"Full of spirit energy," she said.
"If normal humans eat it, it won't explode their stomachs like other
Spirit beast meat does. It just gives them energy."
She leaned in slightly, her eyes bright.
"One bowl of meat can keep you full for a whole week," she said.
"It's like eating mutton every day, breakfast to dinner - but faster and tastier."
Jinhai blinked.
Surprised…and confused.
"So…I was just a bait?"
Lingling gave him a soft, innocent smile.
"No. You just happened to be there and the blood smell. It all just lined up perfectly.
Yeah… let's just say the timing was perfect."
She smiled, cheerful as ever.
"So technically…yeah. Dinner bait."
Around them, the villagers worked in perfect harmony -
rubbing spices into thick limbs, cutting heads cleanly from carcasses, boiling bones into dark soup.
Laughter and old folk songs echoed through the night.
Firelight danced across their faces.
A shadow loomed over the fire.
Lao Chen approached with a wooden bowl in one hand and an air of chopstick in the other.
"You're lucky," he said warmly, nodding to Jinhai.
"Tonight's catch was a fat and clean. Young blood, just enough fat in the muscles."
He sat down beside them, then used his chopsticks to lift a steaming, glistening chunk of meat from the bowl.
The outer layer was charred just enough to cackle, but the inside shimmered - dark and juicy, glistening with spicy oil.
"This one's the belly cut," Lao Chen explained.
"We rub it with crushed garlic, wild pepper, and black vinegar. Then we pan-sear it
with pickled chili oil until it crisps around the edges."
The aroma hit Jinhai like a slap-spicy, smoky, rich with umami.
His stomach growled louder make Lingling giggle.
Lao Chen offered him the piece.
"Try it. Tastes like a mix between roast duck and grilled beef - if both were dipped in heaven sauce."
Jinhai took it slowly, unsure whether to eat or cry.
Lao Chen continued, gesturing toward the tables nearby.
"The limbs? We stew those in bone broth for hours with wild radishes, dried dates, ginger, and medicinal herbs.
Makes the meat fall off the bone and the soup thick like silk. Good for your bones, and good for recovering blood loss."
He pointed to a bubbling clay pot, where steam carried the sweet smell of cinnamon and pepper leaves.
"The ribs, we coat in fermented bean paste, honey, and rice wine, then roast them slow over embers, The glaze turns sticky and dark—
makes your fingers dirty, but your heart warm."
Jinhai's mouth was full of Spirit Rat meat now.
He didn't remember when he took a second - or a third - bite, but his eyes were starting to glaze over - lost somewhere between horror and flavor, just like the ribs."
Lao Chen smiled.
"We can't finish it all, of course. Each spirit Rat's as big as Lingling's thigh.
Even a hungry village has its limits."
He motioned toward a group of villagers fanning thin strips of meat hanging from bamboo racks.
"We smoke the rest with mountain wood and salt it heavy. Dry it out. Make it last weeks — months if the rain's kind. Some we soak in chili oil or rice vinegar to make travel jerky."
He turned back to Jinhai.
"Good for winter. Good for trade. Great for gifts - if the recipient doesn't ask where it came from."
Then he laughed.
"We call that Midnight Char. Tastes like roasted beef, smells like smoked applewood, and if you close your eyes… you'll never know it used to squeak."
Jinhai spoke with his mouth still half full of meat.
"Ish - mmph - this is the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. Since birth. Maybe even before birth."
Then he swallowed, sighed deeply, and let out a loud, satisfied burp.
Lingling blinked.
Her smile faded just a little.
She turned to Lao Chen, tilting her head.
"Grandpa…did you really need to use half of the village's supplies for this one feast meal?"
Lao Chen paused.
He looked at the bonfire, then at the dozens of villagers still humming and licking their fingers.
"Well," he said, rubbing his beard, "most of it was going bad anyway."
Lingling frowned. "The spices?"
"The spices, the vinegar, the dried vegetables, the chili oil- everything," Lao Chen nodded seriously.
"Humidity's been weird lately. If we didn't use it tonight, it might've turned sour by tomorrow morning anyway."
Lingling squinted. "And the firewood?"
"It was stacked too close to the place they bury corpses. Might've absorbed corpse moisture."
Jinhai blinked.
"…Corpse what?"
Lao Chen waved a hand.
"Not important. Point is- we save it from spoilage. That's called smart resource management."
Then he proudly held out a skewer of Spirit Rat ribs.
"Eat. This one was cooked on the clean wood stick. Probably."
The fire crackled, sending sparks spiraling into the dark sky.
Around the bonfire, the villagers clapped, swayed, and began singing in loud, cheerful voices.
Their song echoed across the square-
Off-key, chaotic, and full of way too much enthusiasm.
" Spirit rat, spirit rat, fat and round-
Dragged you screaming from the ground!
Roast your tail and toast your toes,
Stuff your guts with garlic cloves!"
One of the elders added harmony with a pot lid and wooden spoon.
"Crunch the bones, slurp the juice,
Salt your ears for extra use!
Eat it fresh or eat it dried-
Just don't ask what's inside!"
Jinhai blinked slowly, chewing in silence.
"They sing this…often?" he asked.
Lingling nodded, mouth full.
"Every time we get Spirit Rat as feast."
"Jinhai took another bite—
.…Totally worth it."
The fire popped.
The song had long since faded into gentle humming.
Jinhai leaned back on a rough mat inside his hut, belly full, eyelids heavy.
For the first time since waking up in this strange place… he felt warm.
Safe.
His hand rested lazily on his chest, still stained with dried blood
and faintly scented of roasted Spirit Rat meat.
And then - sleep took him.
—
Cut to the dusty road.
A lone ox cart rumbled through the dusty path under a pale silver of moonlight.
The driver sat calmly, reins in hand, gently guiding the ox through the quiet night.
Inside the cart, a young man sat hunched forward, biting his lip, eyes full of worry.
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"Please…don't let anything bad happen to you…"
The cart rolled slowly onward in the dark.