After getting out of bed and washing up, Su Jin quickly packed an extra change of clothes and rushed out the door straight for the slaughterhouse.
He had already asked around at the vegetable market's meat stalls about the local abattoirs.
There was one on the outskirts of town. From what he had heard, its management was rather lax, and it dealt almost exclusively with "pigs."
Although the primary meat-yielding animals of this world shared a similar form with pigs, the breed was quite different from those on Earth.
They somewhat resembled wild boars, with small ears and pointed heads, and looked fairly aggressive.
They would serve as excellent practice targets.
As for whether the slaughterhouse would allow it... he figured that wouldn't be much of a problem. Worst-case scenario, he would just grease some palms.
Taking a taxi, he arrived at the slaughterhouse on the outskirts.
Before he even got close, the stench of blood wafted toward him on the wind.
Su Jin closed his eyes, continuously bracing himself mentally.
*It's fine, it's fine... I've been in plenty of fights growing up, big and small, and I've run into people pulling knives twice.*
*This is just simple practice for killing, seeing a bit of blood, that's all... It'll be as easy as taking a bath.*
After working up his nerve for a long while, he took a deep breath and resolutely strode forward.
Less than a hundred meters later, Su Jin stood before the entrance of a massive corrugated iron workshop.
The workshop had no doors. A thick animal stench mingled with the metallic tang of blood drifted through the air.
Bloody water ran across the concrete floor, surrounded by swarms of flies.
Dozens of workers in rubber boots bustled about, pushing handcarts loaded with dripping plastic buckets full of animal entrails.
The management was nowhere to be seen. Seeing how cleanly dressed Su Jin was, the workers merely threw him a couple of curious glances, but no one bothered to question him.
This was the area where animal carcasses were processed. By the looks of it, the actual slaughtering area should be behind the workshop.
After a moment's thought, Su Jin took a detour toward the back of the building.
This was where the slaughtering took place—beneath an open-air corrugated iron shed.
Several workers were on-site, some wielding stunners and others holding long-handled tools, working in shifts to butcher the animals brought out from the pens. The ground was slick with bloody mud.
After observing from the shadows for a while, Su Jin fixed his gaze on one man.
A burly fellow, around fifty years old, with tattoos on his arms.
The others called him Brother Liu, and judging by his demeanor, he seemed to be the crew's leader.
It seemed that bribing this man would be enough to settle the matter.
Turning the thought over in his mind, Su Jin walked up to him.
Brother Liu was directing the others when a shadow appeared beside him. He immediately stopped talking and turned his gaze.
Taking just one look at Su Jin, his expression instantly grew tense.
"What... what do you want?" Brother Liu asked in a gravelly voice.
"Don't be nervous, big bro, I'm not here on an inspection," Su Jin said, having already prepared his cover story. "I'm Lin Shirong... It's a bit embarrassing to bring up, but since you look like a straightforward man, I'll just be blunt. I came here to learn how to butcher."
"I haven't been able to find a job, but one of my dad's friends offered to set me up with slaughtering work. He's an old pal of my dad's, and I don't want to embarrass him, so I wanted to find a place to practice beforehand..."
"Ah... here to learn slaughtering." Brother Liu's expression relaxed, the corners of his mouth curling upward. "You think this is a place to learn butchering? Cut the bullshit and get the fuck out of here!"
Su Jin glanced left and right, then pulled out a hundred-yuan bill.
Leaning close to Brother Liu, he whispered, "I won't learn for free. Just set me up with a pig to practice on; I don't want anything else."
"You..." Brother Liu's gaze locked onto the cash, his tone softening somewhat. "That still won't do! You're a total greenhorn. If something goes wrong, who's paying your medical bills... Fine, be careful, and I'll keep an eye on you."
Pocketing the two hundred yuan, Brother Liu led Su Jin toward the center of the yard.
***
Three hours later.
In the shade along one side of the workshop, the two men stood facing each other.
Su Jin was panting heavily, his face flushed light red as if smeared with ketchup, though he had already changed into a fresh set of clothes.
Opposite him, Brother Liu was as pale as a sheet.
Eyeing Su Jin's expression, Brother Liu stammered, "Little bro... had your fill?"
Su Jin pressed his lips together, nodding as he fought down a wave of nausea.
"I'll come back tomorrow..."
"Come back?!" Brother Liu's voice shot up two octaves, a string of curses already erupting in his mind.
He had thought pocketing two hundred yuan on the side was a sweet deal.
Yet this polite-looking kid was an absolute lunatic!
He hadn't come here to practice slaughtering pigs—it looked more like he was practicing how to chop up people!
He had told them to go easy on the stunner, then chased the pig all over the yard hacking at it, practically scoring the creature's backside into a decorative cross-hatch pattern.
And hacking away at it was one thing, but once the pig was cut open, he had stood there churning through its guts.
He had even draped intestines and stomachs around his neck, not stopping even after he made himself throw up!
This kid wasn't just sick in the head—he was completely unhinged!
If he let this lunatic come back, something terrible was bound to happen!
"Don't you dare come back tomorrow. Our plant manager will be here, and he'll never allow it," Brother Liu said. Then, a thought striking him, he added in a trembling voice, "Little bro... tell your big bro the truth. Did you run into some serious trouble and come here to practice your nerve? Take it from me, whatever you do, don't go down the path of crime!"
Hearing that, Su Jin's heart leaped into his throat!
He had taken the practice too far just now, forcing down his disgust and compelling himself to adapt to the gore.
If this man called the police, he would be in deep trouble.
At that thought, Su Jin's features scrunched together in an expression of sheer agony.
He was already suffering from intense discomfort and nausea, with bile constantly rising in his throat.
Lowering his head, he let the meager contents of his stomach rush up toward his throat, then forcefully swallowed the foul liquid back down!
"Bro..." Su Jin wailed in sorrow, tears and snot streaming down his face. "Since you brought it up, I won't hide it from you anymore! I really didn't come here to learn butchering!"
"Little bro, take it slow, talk to me!"
*I knew it! This kid wants to kill someone and came here to build up his nerve!*
Brother Liu's face turned another shade whiter.
"My woman ran off with another bastard! I fucking want to chop the two of them to pieces!" Su Jin sobbed and cursed.
"Don't! Don't do it! You're still young, what kind of woman couldn't you find?"
He could not let this kid do something stupid. Wouldn't that make him an accomplice?
Brother Liu comforted him gently, "Take it from me, this is nothing. What man hasn't worn a green hat? To tell you the truth, your big bro has worn one too..."
After about ten minutes of continuous consoling, Su Jin's crying gradually subsided, and he wiped his tears away.
In a hoarse voice, he said, "Bro, honestly, after butchering that pig and hearing what you had to say, I feel a lot better. There's no point in ruining my own life over that pair of scumbags."
"That's the spirit! Exactly right!" Brother Liu felt an immense surge of relief, so touched he almost wanted to treat the kid to a couple of pork hocks.
From the sound of it, the boy had vented most of his rage; the danger had passed.
Two lives saved, and his own neck out of the noose. What a righteous deed!
Right at that moment, Su Jin looked up and suddenly said:
"Say... could you give me back that two hundred yuan?"
"..."
The expression on Brother Liu's face instantly petrified, as if he had been shocked by the pig stunner.
After a long pause, suppressing the urge to deliver a stinging slap, he reached into his pocket, pulled out two crumpled hundred-yuan bills, and slapped them firmly into Su Jin's hand.
"Take it, little bro! Go back and live a good life... Just don't ever come back here. Your big bro is genuinely terrified of you."
"Bro, thank you so much, your great kindness..." Su Jin said, his peripheral vision catching a stack of feed bags not far away.
When he clearly read the printed characters on them, his eyes widened with surprise!
He immediately changed the subject, pointing toward the pig feed.
"Could I take two bags of pig feed too? That pair of dogs ran off with all my money, and today, all I want to eat is pig feed! I have to constantly remind myself that sooner or later, once I make money, I'm taking back the dignity I lost!"
*This little bastard! He actually has the nerve to ask for more?!*
Brother Liu sucked in a cold breath, clutching his chest with an expression of pure agony.
He waved a feeble hand.
"Take it... Take whatever you like..."
Chapter 17