Chapter 233: Weight of a Soul

The clothes of the young boy were already soaked, his body was covered in stains and other dirty things. The small face was still frightened and gripped by fear. The child was very afraid, he did not know what to do so the only thing he could do was to hide inside the drain. “Those monsters have already left.” Han Fei discovered that humans were really a very special creature. He was shivering in fear himself but before the child, he did not want to show any weakness. Perhaps it was the confident expression on Han Fei’s face that gave the boy some security. He gripped Han Fei’s clothes and his expression softened slightly. He did not fuss or cry as if fear had already deprived him of those basic abilities. But seeing how catatonic the child was, Han Fei felt even more pained.

The boy had no idea what hope was living inside such a world. He had made no mistake but he was constantly being punished. Occasionally blood and organs floated by them. In this dirtiest, smelliest hiding place, Han Fei’s eyes shone with kindness as he gently pushed the dirty stuff away.

“Are you afraid?” Hearing Han Fei’s question, the boy first nodded before shaking his head. “You are the toughest kid I’ve met, we’ll definitely be able to escape from this place.” Han Fei consoled softly. After quite some time, the boy finally undid his armor around Han Fei and was more willing to communicate. The boy was too thin for his age, he did not even know how to string a complete sentence yet. To communicate, he had to rely on singular terms and hand gestures. Using about 10 seconds, Han Fei had a gist of what the boy was trying to say.

After being rescued by Han Fei, he had been running blindly through the alley. But he was unlucky because after he stepped into the blood mist, he was captured by another pig-faced monster. However, the monster did not kill him. After breaking one of his legs, the monster carried him to the meat packing plant. The boy thought it was over for him but to his surprise, he saw other captured adults deep inside the factory. The adults tried everything they could to help him. When they were ordered to move, they used their bodies to hide as the boy as he slipped away and found refuge in the drain.

“There are other adults here?” Han Fei knew that he was too weak compared to those monsters, so when he heard there were other adults at the factory, he made the instant decision that he would try to save these people.

When the footsteps couldn’t be heard anymore, Han Fei removed the iron net and quietly climbed out. The boy’s leg was broken so Han Fei had him stay inside the drain. After putting the net back, Han Fei and the snake moved to hide behind the large machines of unknown uses. They made their way slowly towards the inner part of the factory. The deeper they went, the more palpable the blood mist. The creaking sound of machinery was mixed with screams and howls. This was truly hell on earth.

With the snake ready to enter his tattoo, after walking past a wall covered in blood, Han Fei was greeted by another unforgettable scene. There was a bottomless blood pool deep inside the plant. A giant black scale appeared to grow out from the pool. On the left-hand side, many pig masks were strung along sticky blood threads; while on the right-hand side, living souls dangled on black rusted iron hooks. The pig masks that symbolized animal and the souls that symbolized man were posited on opposite sides of the scale. They both dangled dangerously above the blood pool.

‘What is this?’ The pig masks carried various lively expressions, there were anger, cunningness, condescension and venom, each of the face was turned towards the living soul as if wanting to take a bite out of them. The souls that were impaled by the hooks were all wounded. They struggled weakly, devoid of all hope. However, they still retained a human shape. Even though their faces were colored with pain, there was something still burning within their eyes. It could be kindness, memory, love or even pride as a human.

Staring at the scale, Han Fei was pondering how to save these people, when footsteps came from behind him. He quickly scurried behind one of the machines and held his breath. Cries and pleas echoed inside the plant. A large pig-faced monster covered in scars dragged two men behind him. The pig mask on its face was carved in an excited smile. The more its prey begged, the happier it would be. With a howl, the monster dropped the two almost identical men on the side of the blood pool. The two men appeared to be twins. They looked similar but they had opposite personalities. The younger brother couldn’t stop crying. He held his broken arm and applied pressure on his chest as he knelt on the ground.

The older brother was in a deeper injury than his brother. His expression was twisted from pain and veins popped on his forehead but he uttered not a word of plea. Occasionally his eyes would wander to the monster as if looking for a chance to strike back. Toying with its cleaver, the pig-faced monster enjoyed holding the life and death of others in its hands. It allowed the younger brother to keep crying for mercy. It even grunted several times when the younger brother asked for him to be spared. Just as cautious hope lit up the younger brother’s face, the monster kicked heavily against the man’s chest, crushing his ribs. The kick also sent the younger brother flying into the blood pool.

When the younger brother’s soul came into contact with the blood pool, he screamed shrilly. His skin melted off as his body slowly sank. All struggle was futile. After the younger brother was fully drowned inside the pool, the blood mist thickened further. Then a pig mask surfaced at the spot where the younger brother dipped into the pool. The pig mask contained the facial feature that resembled the younger brother. Its face was colored with selfishness and anger.

‘Even the masks are made from actual humans?’ Han Fei witnessed everything and he found it difficult to calm down. Originally he thought that Cattle Alley was tyrannized by animals but now he realized everyone at Cattle Alley were human beings. In other words, some of the people managed to retain their human shape while others were animals to begin with. The alley merely stripped away the presentable appearance and exposed the bloody truth for all to see.

The little brother’s mask was strung up by a thread and dangled on the left side of the black scale.

The pig-faced monster chuckled gleefully before turning to the remaining brother. It brandished the cleaver as it approached the older brother. As it attempted to kick the brother into the pool, the heavily injured brother jumped to the side. Then he grabbed the monster by its leg and tried to drag the monster down into the pool with him!

The older brother never gave up but ultimately he was too weak, he was not on the same level as the monster. The broken body flew through the air and the big brother fell into the pool as well. Bloody water scorched his skin and seeped into his open wounds. However, no matter how hard the blood water tried, it could not contaminate the purity of the big brother’s soul. He had the same appearance as his younger brother but he was made of a stronger constitution.

Resisting the pain, the man tried to swim towards the edge again and again but was kicked back into the pool by the pig-faced monster every time. After multiple attempts, the big brother changed his target and tried to swim towards the pole standing in the middle of the pool instead. His goal was to climb up the pole to destroy all the pig masks on the left side of the scale!

Even with ghastly wounds all over his body, the big brother slowly inched his way upwards. The pig-faced monster looked on with interest. When the man was about to reach the masks, a thick hook reached out from the darkness and pierced through his shoulder. It then dragged him over to the right side of the scale. Blood dripped from his body and fed into the pool below. Despite the many injuries, the big brother still retained his human shape. His face was glowing with fearlessness. He grabbed the hook and tried to unhook himself but naturally it was to no avail.

Han Fei saw this as well. Those who managed to retain their shape after being dropped into the blood pool possessed some kind of unique humanity about them. It was that determination and humane trait that allowed them to keep their human shape and sensibility. Even with the contaminated blood water pouring into them, they did not turn into animals controlled by hunger.