Chapter 50: The Pig’s Head, the Human’s Head

No.

It was a pig head.

A stunned expression appeared on Zhou You’s face.

In truth, if the dish had really been prepared from a human corpse, he would not have been this shocked.

After all, he had personally watched the monster carry away a body.

The sounds of chopping afterward were real enough.

He had already mentally prepared himself for some grotesque sight.

But who could have imagined that the final dish served would be a pig’s head?

“...What is this supposed to be? Roasting itself?”

Sneaking closer, Zhou You first poked the pig’s head.

A slight springy softness came through his fingertip.

One touch was enough to tell that it had been roasted perfectly.

Tender and elastic.

Neither undercooked nor dry.

The problem was that judging from the elasticity and thickness, this was clearly pigskin rather than human skin.

To confirm further, he changed angles and picked up a chopstick from the plate.

Then he inserted it into one of the gaps in the pig’s head.

“The bones are obviously pig skull bones too.”

“It doesn’t look like a human head covered with pigskin.”

“So why did the System specifically arrange this scene...”

Before he could finish speaking, a strange sound suddenly rang out.

Grrr.

“...What kind of sound was that?”

The words had barely left his mouth when the noise immediately continued.

Grrr. Grrr. Grrr grrr...

Only after three or four seconds did Zhou You realize where the sound was coming from.

He lowered his head and looked at his stomach.

The continuous noise was coming from there.

The intestines and stomach of this body seemed not to have eaten for a very long time.

Now they were issuing an intensely desperate warning.

Saliva flooded his mouth.

The urge to eat momentarily overwhelmed even the pain in his palm.

Only one thought reached his brain.

Eat it.

Driven by instinct, Zhou You’s hand involuntarily reached toward the pig’s head.

After all, it wasn’t human.

Taking a bite of a pig’s head... should be fine, right?

However.

At that very moment.

Right beside his ear.

A cold voice suddenly spoke.

“If I were you, I absolutely wouldn’t touch that thing.”

Instantly, Zhou You snapped awake.

The hand that had already stretched outward froze in midair.

Then he frowned.

How strange.

Was his willpower really that weak?

Could mere hunger make him want to eat something of completely unknown origin?

And more importantly...

Who had just spoken?

Zhou You’s eyes instantly cleared.

Slowly drawing the Bloodstained Blade, he looked toward the source of the voice.

Earlier, he had already confirmed that there was nobody else in the room besides himself.

Which meant the speaker was almost certainly...

Sure enough.

Within his field of vision, the three severed heads suddenly smiled.

Despite having lost their bodies, they smiled brilliantly.

Their expressions looked as though they were still alive.

Zhou You immediately took a step back and held the dagger horizontally before him.

At the same time, he prepared himself to utter a True Word at any moment.

In a low voice, he asked the heads:

“Are you ghosts or demons?”

The head of the young man smiled and spoke first.

“Not ‘you all.’”

“’You.’”

As soon as the young man’s voice fell, the middle-aged head opened its mouth.

“Brother, all the heads you’re seeing are actually one person.”

“They’ve just been separated.”

The elderly head spoke last, its voice icy.

“And kid, I just helped you.”

“Is this how you repay me?”

“Not only do you not thank me, you’re even pointing a knife at me?”

Their words sounded perfectly ordinary.

There seemed to be no hostility whatsoever.

But Zhou You did not lower his guard.

Still, it was a fact that they had snapped him out of that strange state.

So he did not rush to attack.

Instead, he continued:

“I only wanted to taste a little of that meat just now.”

“I don’t understand how that counts as saving me.”

“Unless it’s poisoned?”

“One person!”

The middle-aged man snorted and emphasized the correction.

Then the young man’s head immediately continued.

“Poisoned? Hah. If that were the case, it’d actually be better.”

“At least then you’d die quickly and wouldn’t have to suffer anything.”

“But unfortunately, the moment you ate even a single bite, you’d end up just like that pig’s head.”

The elderly head sneered as it concluded:

“After all, that’s human flesh mixed with Grand Duke Jupiter flesh.”

A familiar term entered Zhou You’s ears.

Instantly, he thought of this scenario’s title.

Grand Duke Jupiter.

The exact same two words.

Coincidence?

Or...

But he did not ask immediately.

Instead, he cautiously retreated, walked to the doorway, and glanced outside.

The pig-headed monster was nowhere to be seen in the passage.

Only the faint sounds of chopping meat continued from somewhere nearby.

It seemed the creature would not be returning anytime soon.

Seeing Zhou You’s behavior, the young man’s head spoke again.

“Friend, you’re a little too cautious.”

“Relax.”

“After that thing finishes one dish, it takes at least half a shichen before the next dish is ready.”

“During that period, unless you burn down its lair, it won’t even pay attention to you.”

His tone was friendly enough.

Yet combined with that bizarre appearance, it only made the situation more chilling.

Zhou You showed no discomfort.

With the support of his Basic Acting talent, he calmly replied:

“My apologies for earlier.”

“Thank you for the warning.”

“And by the way, this friend...”

“Could you explain what you were talking about in more detail?”

“And what exactly is this Grand Duke Jupiter?”

“What? You don’t even know Grand Duke Jupiter?”

The middle-aged head sounded genuinely puzzled.

Then the elderly head immediately took over.

“Kid, where exactly did you come from?”

“That’s the deity that presides over the entire eastern region of Cangzhou.”

“So many things survive on His flesh.”

“You’re already here, yet you don’t even know that?”

A deity?

For some reason, Zhou You suddenly remembered the Auspicious Tranquil Ghost Mother Bodhisattva.

His brows immediately furrowed.

Wait a second. Could it be the same kind of thing as the one in this scenario?

A faint sense of unease arose in his heart.

But Zhou You forcibly suppressed it.

Now was not the time to think about such matters.

Instead, he asked the three heads once more:

“My apologies.”

“Could you please explain in detail what this Grand Duke Jupiter actually is?”

“And why would eating it cause me to end up like that?”

The three heads merely smiled.

After a long while, the middle-aged head finally spoke.

But instead of an explanation, he recited an ancient text.

“Grand Duke Jupiter appears in the form of flesh.”

“It attaches itself to great stones and possesses both head and tail, making it a living creature.”

“The red variety resembles coral.”

“The white variety resembles fat.”

“The black variety resembles lacquer.”

“The blue-green variety resembles emerald feathers.”

“The yellow variety resembles purple gold.”

“All are bright and translucent like solid ice.”

“...The Compendium of Materia Medica.”

“I know that passage.”

“It says Grand Duke Jupiter can be used as medicine and as food.”

“But what does that have to do with this pig’s head?”

“Very simple.”

The elderly head on the right spoke, his voice full of mockery.

“Because the pig’s head in front of you isn’t a pig at all.”

“It’s a human who was fed Grand Duke Jupiter flesh and then forcibly matured through the art of Animal Transformation.”

Looking at the golden, fragrant, irresistibly delicious pig-head feast, the young man’s head suddenly laughed.

“When livestock become humans, and humans become livestock.”

“When beasts do the cooking and living people enter the pot.”

“When heaven and earth are reversed and all order is overturned.”

“That is precisely what this is.”

“If you eat the flesh produced through Animal Transformation, sooner or later you’ll become another beast yourself.”

“So tell me.”

“Doesn’t that count as saving your life?”

Zhou You ignored the mockery in those words.

Instead, he turned his head and stared blankly at the aromatic delicacy.

This...

Was human?

He carefully examined the pig’s head but could find nothing abnormal.

He neither questioned it nor responded.

Instead, he suddenly said:

“Then, my friend.”

“You’ve told me all this.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t simply to stop me from eating.”

“Let’s speak frankly.”

“What exactly is your objective?”

At once, all three heads laughed.

Yet none of them said anything like “save me.”

Instead, they opened their mouths together.

In an extremely venomous tone, they uttered the exact same sentence.

“My request is very simple.”

“I ask you, brother.”

“I ask you, friend.”

“I ask you, kid.”

“Kill the other two versions of me.”