Cold and Hungry. The chill seeped straight into his bones.
Wang Yu huddled in the grave pit, his consciousness like ice water, drifting in and out. The faint black ash left by the three burnt grass stalks had already been scattered by the cold wind, leaving no trace behind.
With the disappearance of the "incense," the blurry shadow behind the opposite grave mound seemed to grow erratic again, its form wavering.
The lingering sense of cold also faded considerably.
"Not enough…"
A muffled gasp slipped from Wang Yu's throat with desperate numbness. This pitiful "offering" couldn't even fool himself.
He was an orphan from Xiao Shi Village, without a family name. The villagers called him Wang Zaizi.
From a young age, he understood one truth clearly: to survive, he had to steal and snatch.
Stealing cakes from the Zhang family, snatching chickens from the Li family,he'd been chased all over the village just for a mouthful of food.
Beatings were common.
He didn't care. Pain was better than starving to death.
This time, he'd stolen half a dried chicken the village chief's family had prepared for ancestor worship. Caught red-handed, he was beaten half to death, then thrown out of the village like a broken sack and dumped onto Dead Man's Hill.
born a bad seed? Maybe.
Wang Yu only knew that kindness and rules were meaningless nonsense in front of a starving ghost.
Just as his consciousness was about to sink back into darkness, a low, greedy whimper drifted over from afar.
Wild dogs.
Not one but two.
They were gaunt, their fur matted and filthy.
Green eyes glowed like ghost fire in the dimness, fixed firmly on the "meat" curled inside the grave pit. Saliva dripped from their fangs, carrying the stench of rotting flesh.
Fear poured over Wang Yu like ice water, instantly jolting him awake. He tried to get up, but his frozen body refused to obey, only twitching weakly.
The slight movement was enough.
The wild dogs growled, stepping closer with caution. Their foul, hot breath nearly sprayed across Wang Yu's face.
It's over.
His pupils shrank violently. He was about to be torn apart alive.
Despair coiled around his heart.
Suddenly, Wang Yu turned toward the blurry shadow behind the opposite grave mound and screamed with all the strength he had left, his voice twisted and hoarse:
"Dogs! There are dogs trying to eat me! They… they have meat! Living meat! Blood! Hot blood!"
The words spilled out incoherently, the instinctive cry of a drowning man clutching at his final straw. He didn't know what that shadow could do, only that he was about to die.
Whether it was the lingering scent of the "incense," or Wang Yu's explosive fear and malice at death's door, or perhaps the words blood and meat themselves..
The blurry shadow trembled.
A cold aura several times stronger than before erupted outward. The temperature inside the grave pit plunged instantly.
The two wild dogs reacted as if struck by an invisible whip.
"Awooo!"
A shrill, distorted shriek pierced the air. The smaller of the two dogs was suddenly yanked upward, as though invisible claws had torn into its belly, its body twisting grotesquely in midair.
Hot, foul-smelling blood splashed everywhere, several drops landing on Wang Yu's frozen face.
The larger dog whimpered in sheer terror, tail tucked tight as it turned and fled, vanishing behind the grave mound in the blink of an eye.
The attacked dog crashed heavily onto the ground. Its limbs twitched spasmodically, a gurgling sound bubbling from its throat as dark red blood rapidly soaked into the cold earth.
It was silent then.
Only the dying gasps of the dog remained, accompanied by the mournful wail of the wind.
Wang Yu gasped violently, his heart hammering as if it might burst from his chest.
He stared at the shadow.
It seemed to have "feasted" on the fear and blood-soaked aura of that instant. Its form grew slightly more solid, no longer completely blurred.
A distorted, child-like outline faintly emerged, radiating a presence that made one's heart tremble.
It worked.
It really worked.
The ecstasy of surviving death overwhelmed his fear. Ignoring his stiff, weakened body, Wang Yu almost crawled on all fours to the still-twitching wild dog.
It wasn't fully dead yet. Its green eyes locked onto him, filled with pain and malice.
Wang Yu bared his teeth in something close to a feral grin. He grabbed a sharp-edged stone and, without hesitation, smashed it down on the dog's throat.
Pfft!
Warm blood burst forth. The dog twitched once, then went still.
Panting heavily, Wang Yu dropped the blood-smeared stone. Hunger burned through his stomach like a red-hot iron. His eyes saw nothing but the steaming corpse.
Food.
With the stone, with his nails, with his teeth, he tore into it wildly, ignoring the stench and the icy raw flesh. He ripped off a chunk of dripping meat and stuffed it into his mouth.
Blood flooded his senses. He chewed and swallowed in huge gulps, raw meat sliding into his empty stomach, bringing a convulsive, intoxicating satisfaction. He was no different from a beast, hunched over his prey, tearing and devouring greedily.
As flesh and blood filled him, strength slowly seeped back into his frozen body.
After some time, Wang Yu finally stopped. He slumped against the cold grave dirt, mouth and hands smeared with dark, congealed blood.
His stomach was no longer empty still cold, but no longer screaming for food.
He looked at the mangled corpse on the ground, his gaze indifferent, as if it were nothing more than firewood.
Then..
That cold aura approached again.
Wang Yu lifted his head.
At some point, the child-like shadow had floated closer, stopping at the edge of the grave pit. It seemed to be "watching" him.
The cold carried something new.
Curiosity.
And a faint, barely perceptible… anticipation.
A thought surfaced in Wang Yu's recovering mind.
It had helped him.
Now it wanted payment.
Not fake offerings like incense.
Sure enough, a faint but distinct thought, like spider silk, wrapped directly around his consciousness. Child-like curiosity mixed with command:
'Play… play with me…'
Wang Yu's body tensed instantly…
Play with a ghost?
Play what?
How?
His gaze flicked from the distorted child-like shadow, to the remaining wild dog corpse, then to the hard-won, bloody warmth filling his stomach.
A cold, blood-smeared smile slowly spread across Wang Yu's face.
An opportunity.
This was a chance, granted by heaven, or perhaps by the ghosts of Dead Man's Hill.
A chance to survive.
A chance to eat his fill.