Chapter 381: Five More?

Zhang Mu accompanied Hachikuju to complete the follow-up procedures of Badar’s funeral, and at the same time let the two cavalry stationed in Ejin Horo Banner freely adjust, until the night fell, they came to Zhang Feng’s restaurant.

The meat was cooked by Zhang Feng himself, the wine was ordinary wine brought from Gesar, slightly diluted with some plant-based wine, otherwise with that level of alcohol, drinking two bowls would make this group of first-stage evolvers all pass out here. What’s the point of drinking and eating meat then?

This time, Zhang Feng replaced a pot that was twice as big as last time, causing everyone to be stunned.

As the volume of the pot increased, the intensity of his flames also rose accordingly.

The thickness of the pillar of fire was far higher than the last time they met. It seemed that he had found a way and gotten the meat of a second-rank mutant beast. Although mutant beasts are difficult to deal with, with good luck, one can always encounter a lone one. As for where he found it, Zhang Mu didn’t know.

Seeing Zhang Feng’s breakthrough, Hachikuju was very excited. After all, the current Zhang Feng was on the same chariot as him. He anxiously asked Zhang Mu, “Hey Zhang Mu, can eating mutant beast meat like this advance abilities to this extent? If I eat it too would it be helpful?”

“I feel like my transformation has already reached its limit. The power of the giant axe can’t be increased any further. If it’s slightly heavier, I can use it, but swinging it won’t be as agile, greatly reducing its effectiveness on the battlefield.”

Seeing Hachikuju’s envious expression, Zhang Mu shook his head helplessly and said slowly, “Eating mutant beast meat is definitely beneficial for humans, after all, it’s rich in the energy essence of flesh and blood, but the effects of ordinary people eating it compared to Zhang Feng are insignificant, probably only about one-tenth of the effect.”

His natural ability is to store energy in thick fat, which is part of his special awakening ability. It’s something we admire but can’t achieve. Let’s just enjoy the taste of delicious food.

He eats a lot of meat every day until his taste buds become dull. It’s uncomfortable living like that. If you were asked to eat meat for a month, you would have felt sick long ago. This Zhang Feng has great perseverance.”

Hearing Zhang Mu’s sigh, Hachikuju thought about scenes of eating meat all month and her excitement quickly faded, especially with only one-tenth of the effect, it’s really a waste.

“Forget it, I’m still hoping to evolve into a third-rank evolver. Achieving it with such low efficiency requires eating meat for a long time, and capturing second-rank mutant beasts is not easy. I don’t know how that guy got one. It’s making me so jealous that he won’t share. He said he finished it himself.”

It’s despicable. He finished a whole second-rank mutant beast by himself without any fear of overeating, but here we only have this ordinary meat. If not for my reliance on him, I would have cursed him long ago.”

Hachikuju, looking angry, couldn’t bring herself to eat after seeing Zhang Feng enjoying second-rank mutant beast meat, suddenly feeling uninterested. She put the meat aside, grabbed a jug of wine, and started drinking heavily.

At this moment, Uncle Peng, who had never appeared since the beginning of the banquet, suddenly showed up, quickly walking over to Hachikuju with a serious expression rather than his usual carefree demeanor.

“City Master, five bodies have been found in the southeast part of the city, in the same condition as last time.”

Seeing only Zhang Mu and Hachikuju at the table, he didn’t bother to lower his voice, causing Hachikuju, who was drinking heavily, to throw the wine jug in her hand to the ground, making a loud noise and waking up everyone who was drinking.

“How come there are five more? Isn’t this unexpected?”

Suddenly, it became quiet around him. Hachikuju also realized her behavior and waved her hand, saying, “You all continue eating and drinking. Uncle Peng and I need to discuss something. We have work to do these two days. Stay alert, everyone.”

After hearing Hachikuju’s instructions, the crowd continued to deal with the remaining food, but their voices were quieter and more fragmented.

“It seems like someone else has died. Otherwise, the leader wouldn’t be so angry.”

“Oh, have you not seen the gruesome state of those corpses? It was terrible. Let me tell you, it was all blood and flesh, even his parents could hardly recognize him. They could only identify him by the few remaining shreds of clothing on his body.”

A soldier who was sitting far from Hachikuju’s table began to talk about this matter with seriousness. The people around him were scolded by Hachikuju for listening too obviously, so they all perked up their ears and listened intently.

“It’s hard to say. Some twisted evolver took advantage of the owners of these corpses first, then murdered them. Probably scarred from childhood, then disposed of the bodies completely. That’s why the corpses look like that.”

A cavalryman nearby frowned and asked in confusion, “Wait, I remember them saying all the dead were boys. Where did the molestation before the killings come from?”

The soldier who was interrupted looked uneasy and mumbled, “How would you know? Have you seen what I have seen with your own eyes? Also, who says boys can’t do such things? Haven’t you heard about the sexual abuse of young boys before the end times?”

“Those teachers are really bad people. Have you seen the movie ‘Silenced’? It’s about this. Some people like this kind of thing. If your child is safe when they’re older, it’s just luck. They didn’t meet someone like that. How messed up can someone’s mind be?”

“Oh, I’ve seen that movie too. I hope there aren’t really people like that in our city.”

The soldier who spoke the truth wasn’t sure if he heard correctly. Seeing the person speak so confidently, he thought he might have misheard and agreed with him.

The soldier managed to deceive others. With alcohol in his system, he started teasing his reserved companion, “Are you secretly hoping to be intimate with a man? Stay away from me. I need to continue my family line. Besides, the victims are all young. I don’t think they would be interested in someone old like you.”

The soldier didn’t witness it firsthand. They were always together on missions and had no time alone. But under the influence of alcohol, he couldn’t retract his words. So, he continued to fabricate stories about the perverted maniac.

Rumors spread and twisted. After a drinking session, the story evolved into a deranged serial killer hidden in the city, especially fond of harming young boys.

“Do you see how damaging this incident is? There are no secrets in this world.”

Hachikuju sighed and said to Zhang Mu, taking another gulp of alcohol, “Everything bad seems to happen at once. There’s trouble with the Eight War Riders over there, and now this incident in our city. It’s so frustrating. Even drinking doesn’t help.”

Zhang Mu remembered what Hachikuju had told him earlier and furrowed his brows, deep in thought. He compared the details of the incident in his memory.

…

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