“Thank you, Uncle Li. I am not hungry; you go ahead and eat.”
Jiang Ming ultimately rejected Uncle Li's invitation. Uncle Li was instantly dumbfounded:
“You brat, I already cooked the meal. Wasn't my braised pork your absolute favourite in the past?”
Jiang Ming adopted a helpless expression, completely ignoring his violently rumbling stomach, and spoke:
“I appreciate your kindness, Uncle Li, but I ate my fill at home before coming over. I genuinely cannot stomach another bite.”
Seeing this, Uncle Li could only eat by himself. Jiang Ming heaved a secret sigh of relief; he had successfully bluffed his way through.
Listening to the gradually fading sounds of the door being battered outside, Jiang Ming rejoiced inwardly.
Excellent. Now, he merely had to wait for Uncle Li to finish eating, and the abomination outside would likely be gone. Then he could head directly home. It was simply perfect!
Right as Jiang Ming immersed himself in this beautiful fantasy, he witnessed Uncle Li pick up the entire basin of braised pork. The corners of his mouth split wide open, tearing all the way back to his earlobes.
Subsequently, three tongues lashed out and coiled together, beginning to violently gulp the food down. His throat expanded to grotesque proportions. With a ferocious exertion of force, a massive deluge of braised pork slid directly down his oesophagus.
After repeating this cycle two or three times, a massive basin of piping hot braised pork was completely devoured. Jiang Ming stared in absolute, dumbfounded horror.
After finishing the meat, Uncle Li's mouth flawlessly reverted to its original state. He cast a glance at Jiang Ming and spoke with a trace of embarrassment:
“Hahaha, you know how it is. Your Uncle Li's table manners have never been the most pleasant to look at.”
“How could that be? I feel that, um, Uncle Li's table manners are exceptionally bold and unconstrained.” Jiang Ming bit the bullet and forced out a bout of awkward flattery.
“Hahaha, Little Ming, you always know exactly what to say. However, you have been here for quite a while now. Your Mother must be getting anxious; hurry back!”
Uncle Li had issued a clear eviction order. Yet, listening to the commotion still lingering outside the door, Jiang Ming shamelessly dug his heels in:
“No, Uncle Li. I want to stay for a little while longer. I simply missed you too much.”
Jiang Ming originally assumed this would allow him to muddle his way through, but to his absolute surprise, Uncle Li's complexion underwent a drastic change. He abruptly spoke in a stiff, mechanical tone:
“Are you begging for my help?”
Jiang Ming continued playing the fool: “What do you mean, Uncle Li? I just want to spend a little more time with you.”
The room abruptly plunged into profound gloom, and a bone-chilling draft swept in. Uncle Li continued to ask in that exact same mechanical tone:
“Are you begging for my help?”
Viscerally sensing the mutation in the atmosphere, Jiang Ming sighed inwardly. As expected, a price absolutely had to be paid, didn't it?
Rule Set Four, Article Two: You may request assistance from the neighbours; however, afterward, you similarly cannot refuse the neighbours' requests.
Previously, just by asking the other Uncle Li for help finding a clock, he had shouldered the astronomical debt of a human heart.
But right now, if he did not beg for assistance, he estimated he would be violently evicted and slaughtered by that tentacled abomination.
Thus, he could only speak with utter helplessness: “That is correct, Uncle Li. I beg of you to help me. Please let me stay for a little while.”
The absolute instant the words dropped, the room flared with brilliant light. The warm, cosy atmosphere was fully restored, and Uncle Li's face blossomed with a radiant smile:
“However, Little Ming, Uncle Li has a favour to ask of you. You absolutely must promise Uncle Li.”
Jiang Ming was already thoroughly prepared to shoulder the debt of yet another human heart. He gave a slight nod: “Of course, Uncle Li. Speak your mind.”
Uncle Li chuckled sinisterly: “Uncle Li has been craving a little something lately. I want to eat a piece of dog meat.”
Jiang Ming froze. The rules had explicitly stated that the true neighbour loved eating dog meat. Did this mean the Uncle Li currently standing before his eyes was the true neighbour?
Could it be that the sole distinction between the true neighbour and the fake neighbour was that one loved eating dog meat, while the other loved eating human flesh?
Then regarding the dog meat this Uncle Li wanted to consume, did he mean the monster outside, or that Labrador?
Questions multiplied in his mind. Jiang Ming looked at Uncle Li and asked probingly:
“I wonder what specific type of dog meat Uncle Li prefers? Or perhaps, which family's dog meat?”
Uncle Li waved his hand dismissively, speaking with absolute nonchalance: “As long as it is dog meat, anything will do. Remember to deliver it to me tomorrow, otherwise the consequences will be extremely severe.”
“Yes, yes, absolutely. However, Uncle Li, I haven't been back in a long while, and I wanted to chat with you about the situation regarding the other neighbours.” Jiang Ming agreed without hesitation, conveniently attempting to fish for more intelligence.
Yet, who could have anticipated that this incredibly simple sentence would instantly provoke Uncle Li's profound suspicion:
“Neighbours? What neighbours? Isn't your family my only neighbour?”
After saying this, Uncle Li stared at Jiang Ming with deep suspicion, his gaze gradually morphing into something incredibly dangerous:
“You haven't been away at school for that long. How could you possibly forget that there are only our two families on this entire floor? How utterly bizarre!”
Jiang Ming's heart violently skipped a beat. Only two families!
That meant, from its perspective, the other Uncle Li fundamentally did not exist!
But Jiang Ming himself had physically interacted with that human-heart-devouring Uncle Li just moments ago. He undeniably existed.
Furthermore, these two Uncle Lis looked flawlessly identical. There was absolutely a profound connection between them!
Aside from this, another conjecture had been thoroughly verified. Uncle Li's bizarre questioning earlier was entirely designed to extract Jiang Ming's acknowledgment, forcing him to admit that his house had a dog!
If he had actually admitted it, God knows what catastrophic events would have transpired. Perhaps Uncle Li would have violently erupted, charging straight into his house to slaughter the dog?
It was absolutely not out of the realm of possibility.
But thank goodness he had reacted in time.
Very quickly, Jiang Ming recalled the mechanical voice's command to play his role perfectly. Thus, he restrained his chaotic thoughts and began weaving a fabricated excuse.
In a flash, an idea formed in Jiang Ming's mind. He flashed a bright smile and spoke:
“Ah, Uncle Li, it's not like you don't know how it is. The school always loves assigning these bizarre homework tasks.” The source of this chapter is g.com.
“See, this time the assignment is to write an essay titled ‘You in the Eyes of a Neighbour'. I just wanted to hear your perspective on the matter.”
Although this excuse was incredibly lame, Uncle Li seemingly swallowed it wholesale. He bobbed his head in a gesture of sudden realisation and began to ramble endlessly:
“You in Uncle Li's eyes? Well, you are an obedient, sensible child who shows filial piety to his mother and profound respect to his elders. You also adhere to the rules exceptionally well…”
Jiang Ming listened with absolute focus, discovering that Uncle Li's words were entirely targeted at him, completely avoiding any mention of ‘Mother'.
Desiring to extract more intelligence, he proactively steered the conversation toward ‘Mother':
“Then what do you think of my mother?”
“Your mother, huh? She is an incredibly formidable person. Furthermore, you have always shown her great filial piety…”
Uncle Li appeared entirely unwilling to discuss matters concerning ‘Mother'. After a brief, passing remark, he forcefully dragged the topic back to Jiang Ming.
Jiang Ming made several attempts, yet the results were all identically fruitless. Ultimately, he was forced to abandon any hope of extracting information about ‘Mother' from Uncle Li.
Over half an hour later, Uncle Li finally ceased his rambling. He let out a yawn and spoke with a trace of drowsiness:
“My sleep was interrupted by you earlier, you little brat, and now the drowsiness has returned. I'm going to take a nap; you can stay for as long as you please.”
“Of course, of course. Go get some rest, Uncle Li. Don't exhaust yourself.”
Uncle Li nodded, stood up to stretch his back, and strode toward the bedroom.
Jiang Ming's eyes tracked Uncle Li all the way back to his room. Only upon seeing the door securely shut did he retract his gaze.
He cast a glance at his left hand hidden within his pocket. Not bad, the bleeding had stopped. Jiang Ming heaved a secret sigh of relief.
However, this was not a long-term solution. He had to rush back home and treat the wound immediately; if an infection set in, it would be catastrophically dangerous.
Yet, listening to the guttural roars echoing from the doorway, Jiang Ming ultimately decided to wait a little longer.
Wait for how long? Two hours? Hmm, let's make it three!
…
Three hours vanished in an absolute flash. Jiang Ming stared at the door panel that had flawlessly reverted to its pristine condition, unable to resist marvelling at its transcendent quality. He then leaned in to peer through the peephole; there was zero anomaly outside.
Jiang Ming was supremely cautious. In truth, the abomination's door-smashing and roaring had ceased an entire hour ago, yet Jiang Ming had stubbornly waited an extra, excruciating hour before preparing to leave.
Creaaak~
Pushing the door open, the outside was engulfed in absolute tranquillity. The eerie mist drifted sluggishly, the dim ceiling lamp continued to flicker sporadically, and there was not a single trace of the monster's silhouette.
Strangely enough, however, even the shattered remnants of the vending machines from the earlier battle had vanished without a trace. It was exactly as if they had been swept entirely clean by some unknown entity, or rather, devoured completely by the corridor itself!
Viscerally sensing the faint, almost imperceptible sensation of being watched from within the darkness, Jiang Ming had zero desire to linger.
He sprinted rapidly to his front door. Extracting the key, unlocking the door, stepping inside, and slamming it shut was executed in one flawless, unbroken motion. This time, he encountered zero obstruction.
Only after entering his home did Jiang Ming's entire body thoroughly relax, collapsing into a paralysed heap on the floor.