I took the lead and held Xiaotao’s hand and led her down into the basement. The steps had been soaked in water and moisture in the air for so many years that it was very slippery, so we had to be very cautious with our every step.

The walls of the basement were covered with old tiles. The original color was no longer visible because of the water stains. A lamp hung down from the ceiling. The light was on, but it flickered from time to time, probably due to unstable electricity.

The entire basement was divided into two by a plastic curtain. I sensed a strong bloody smell from behind the curtain—it was definitely human blood. Who would’ve thought that the real culprit had been in front of us the whole time!

Xiaotao pulled out her gun and examined the room cautiously. I reached out and pushed the curtain and walked further into the basement with Xiaotao. There was a row of rusty iron hooks hanging from the ceiling, like the ones that butchers used to hang meat. I noticed congealed blood on the hooks.

On a long table beneath those hooks, there was a long black plastic bag. Judging from the shape, there was probably a person inside. Blood dripped over the edge of the table, gathering into a small pool on the floor.

There was another table, and on it was a huge circular chopping board. The knife marks on it were so numerous and deep that it must’ve been used for a long time. It was sunken in the middle, and blood pooled into it.

A row of knives was next to the chopping board. There were big cleavers and strong steel deboning knives. The blades gleamed in the dim light of the basement—they’d been polished with oil!

On the floor, there was a hand-cranked meat grinder fixed into place with bolts. It was connected to a red washbasin that contained suspicious-looking meat.

This whole place made my skin crawl. I could feel the hairs on the nape of my neck stand up and I began to get cold sweat. There was no doubt about where I was—a human flesh slaughterhouse!

Xiaotao took out her phone and dialed the number for the police station. Before the call got through, I heard some movements from behind us. It sounded like footsteps. We both looked back at the same time.

A tall, dark shadow appeared behind the curtain, and it was holding a long wooden staff in its hand!

Before we could react, the staff swept across the air from behind the curtain. Xiaotao screamed. Her phone was thrown out from her hand and landed somewhere in the dark. Her forehead was bleeding.

Xiaotao immediately took a step back and steadied herself. She held the gun with both hands.

“Put the weapon down!” she shouted. “Otherwise, I’ll shoot!”

The curtain was slowly raised by the thick staff. It was more than a meter long, so it could very easily be used as a weapon. Once the curtain had been pulled away, Shopkeeper Tang’s face was revealed.

Or at least it looked like Shopkeeper Tang. But for some reason, he seemed like a different person. The expression on his face didn’t show any anger or distress whatsoever. Rather, he was smiling slightly, his mouth was slobbering, and his eyes were staring at us as a hungry man would when he saw food.

I wanted to kick myself for not noticing when Shopkeeper Tang appeared behind us. As I regretfully found out later, we were so intrigued by the human flesh slaughterhouse that we didn’t carefully investigate the other parts of the basement. In fact, Shopkeeper Tang had been hiding behind some bamboo baskets filled with potatoes and cabbage in another corner of the basement all along, and because of that he could block the exit, preventing us from escaping.

“Meat! Meat is coming right into my hands!” Shopkeeper Tang muttered to himself. It recognizably his voice, and yet it sounded like someone else entirely.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I am the one you’ve been looking for—Ma Jinhuo!”

We were shocked. Shopkeeper Tang was Ma Jinhuo? Did that mean that he had a split personality?

It’s not that I didn’t think of the possibility that the murderer had a split personality, but I had always assumed that Ma Jinhuo had a mental illness. Who would’ve thought that the Ma Jinhuo that we had searched for all over didn’t exist at all—he was just Shopkeeper Tang’s other personality!

“Nonsense!” yelled Xiaotao. “You’re Shopkeeper Tang! I order you to lay down your weapon! Don’t mess around; this place has been surrounded by the police!”

I immediately understood what she was doing. The phone that was hit by a stick and flew into the corner had been connected to the police station. Xiaotao deliberately shouted so that the police at headquarters could hear what was happening and rush here as soon as possible.

But Shopkeeper Tang paid no heed to her words at all. He got closer to us step by step, and that crazed expression of a hungry man on his face became clearer and clearer to me.

In his eyes, we were probably just walking meat, no different at all from pigs and cows. He did not have any sense of morality or conscience. He killed people in order to turn their flesh into buns. We were just food to him, and that thought made me shudder!

Shopkeeper Tang suddenly raised the staff in his hand. Xiaotao fired her gun immediately, at the same time the staff hit her hand and the gun flew out of her grasp. She only managed to hit Shopkeeper Tang’s left shoulder.

Shopkeeper Tang looked down at the gunshot wound on his shoulder. He licked his lips and drew in a breath, then screamed, “Insolent sheep! How dare you hurt me!”

He picked up the staff again. By the size and length of the staff, it must’ve weighed at least ten kilograms. Shopkeeper Tang was tall and strong too. He lunged straight at us, which forced us to keep retreating until our backs hit the table where the dead body was placed.

As he waved the staff around, he accidentally hit the lampshade of the light hanging from the ceiling. the lamp swayed back and forth on top of his head, one moment illuminating that horrible face, then throwing it into darkness the moment after.

At that moment, I noticed how Xiaotao had been rubbing her right wrist with her left hand. It turned out that her wrist was bruised and swollen. She told me, “I’ll deal with him. Song Yang, you should escape quickly and call for help!”

“I can’t do that!” I refused.

“Don’t be ridiculous! What fighting strength do you have? I’ll cover for you, just go and escape now!”

Right after she spoke, she charged towards Shopkeeper Tang. Their difference in size was enormous—Shopkeeper Tang was practically a giant next to Xiaotao! I couldn’t help but panic.

But Xiaotao found an opening, and kicked Shopkeeper Tang’s fat belly with all her might. Shopkeeper Tang merely wobbled a little, then grabbed Xiaotao’s leg.

“Oh, what beautiful legs! It’ll taste so good when I cook it!”

As he spoke, his saliva dripped onto Xiaotao’s foot—his other hand raised the staff and tried to hit Xiaotao’s head.

I almost screamed, but Xiaotao jumped up and swung beautifully in midair. She took advantage of Shopkeeper Tang’s exposed vulnerable point and kicked him in the neck.

Although Shopkeeper Tang was strong, this kick destabilized him. He had to slap a hand onto the table next to him to regain his footing. He dropped the staff and picked up a large and heavy cleaver from the wall. Xiaotao quickly fell back.

Shopkeeper Tang continued to drool; his eyes gleamed in the darkness and the blade of the cleaver reflected the light and shone as Shopkeeper Tang wildly slashed it in the air, in the hopes of hitting Xiaotao. Xiaotao was forced backwards till she hit a table. Her hands groped around in the darkness, trying to find a weapon to protect herself, but all she could find was the plastic bag that wrapped the dead body.

Although I was almost scared witless, when I saw Xiaotao in danger, I couldn’t sit still anymore. I bit my lips and rushed forward to pick up the staff on the floor, desperately trying to hit Shopkeeper Tang, aiming at his head.

I did it. The staff landed on his head with a dull thud. This was the first time I had ever hit anyone in the head so violently and it shocked me till I was numb all over.

Shopkeeper Tang turned around and gritted his teeth, seething with anger. A stream of blood flowed from his forehead down to his nose, making him look even more like a wild beast.

“How dare you!” he screamed, slashing his knife at me. I could hear the blade whistle past me, and I instinctively used the staff to block it. But it didn’t work, because his knife just cut the staff into half!

I froze for a moment, and just then Shopkeeper Tang landed a kick in my belly. I took a few steps backwards. It felt like I had just swallowed a ball of fire. A sharp pang exploded where the kick landed, and I had no idea where the staff in my hand had gone.

At that time, Xiaotao screamed and charged towards Shopkeeper Tang from the back. Her hands landed on his neck and she kept it clenched tightly.

Shopkeeper Tang looked like a raging bull just then. He kept struggling and his hands swung in the air, trying to hit Xiaotao. Finally, he slammed his whole body into the wall four or five times and Xiaotao was the one receiving the brunt of the impact. I was really afraid that Xiaotao might die at that moment.

After a while, Xiaotao lost her strength and slumped down to the floor.

Shopkeeper Tang grabbed her hair and lifted her up. It must’ve been very painful to be held up like that. Xiaotao clawed at Shopkeeper Tang’s big hand with both of her hands, desperately trying to break free.

Shopkeeper Tang raised the cleaver to her and croaked, “Don’t worry, pretty little thing. I’ll make sure your meat gets into my delicious buns!”

Seeing that the knife was going to slit Xiaotao’s neck, I desperately grabbed a knife from the wall and rushed towards Shopkeeper Tang. He turned around when he heard my footsteps, but it was too late.

The knife in my hand pierced through the skin on his back. Almost half the length of the blade plunged into his body…