CHAPTER 327: CHAPTER 7: HUNGER

"It’s useless." Li Junwen’s once tense body relaxed slightly as he leaned back into the oversized sofa that dwarfed even the bed beneath him, his layers of fat slumping down.

"No matter how much supplies... it’s useless." Li Junwen sighed, repeating himself.

"Why?" Yang Qi asked.

"There’s no why..."

"The ’hunger’ you mentioned." Wang Xiyi, who had remained silent after entering, suddenly spoke up, "Is it some kind of supernatural entity?"

Li Junwen suddenly widened his eyes, staring intently at Wang Xiyi.

"Is it a kind of rule-based supernatural entity? Once affected by it, no matter how many supplies you carry, no matter how much you eat, you’ll always feel hungry," Wang Xiyi said, "Is that what you mean?"

"I... I don’t know." Li Junwen mechanically shook his head, "Don’t ask me... I beg you not to ask! Stop asking..."

"Attention, the EEG of Li Junwen has shown significant changes, his emotions are extremely unstable, please leave the room immediately!" The voice from the researchers came through Yang Qi and Wang Xiyi’s earphones.

Meanwhile, several researchers in full protective gear rushed in, swiftly restraining Li Junwen’s limbs with straps and injecting sedatives into his body.

"With this dosage... it could knock out an elephant, right?" Ye Jiu’s mouth twitched—if these sedatives were injected into a normal person, just a tenth of the amount would be enough to send them into permanent slumber.

...

...

Mysterious region, "Maoyun Town."

"So, how much are you planning to pay for this bait block?" Sun Hang asked, eyeing the flickering light through the crack of the door.

"Seven... no, eight cents! That’s the highest price I can offer," the shopkeeper said gravely.

Eight cents?

Sun Hang was slightly surprised by the price.

Considering the excited behavior of those townspeople just now, plus that ’middle-aged woman’ willing to sacrifice herself for a chance to buy it... Sun Hang had the illusion that this stuff was a hot commodity, yet now you’re telling me it only sells for eight cents?

No, wait...

Sun Hang suddenly realized he had no clue about the purchasing power of the currency here.

In Tianfu City, even the cheapest bottle of mineral water costs one and a half yuan, whereas those high-end chain coffee shops in bustling commercial areas routinely sell a simple iced Americano for forty or fifty yuan... but if you go back a few decades, a worker’s monthly income would only be ten or so yuan, enough to buy most store items, except for big-ticket items like TVs, bicycles, sewing machines, which would reach triple-digit prices.

"Boss, how much do these things you’re selling cost?" Sun Hang pointed at the items laid out on the dustpan, asking.

He needed to understand Maoyun Town’s price level to determine if the offered price was reasonable.

As well as... the importance of ’food’ to the townspeople.

"Do you want to buy?" The shopkeeper’s tone was slightly odd.

"I’m a bit interested." Sun Hang nodded, "What are the prices for these things?"

"Money is for buying precious food, no one would use it to buy these things." The shopkeeper said ominously.

This guy... has an unexpectedly good conscience?

Sun Hang was momentarily stunned—for those unscrupulous merchants in popular tourist spots, faced with a clueless ’greenhorn’ like himself, they would already be jacking up the prices instead of being honest and revealing such ’important information’ to him.

"If they’re worthless... then how do I buy them?" Sun Hang asked.

"Trade." The shopkeeper replied, "You can exchange goods."

It’s actually a barter system... whereas money is specifically used to buy precious food...

This is valuable information, Sun Hang thought, just a pity he still couldn’t ascertain the actual purchasing power of the currency.

"If you think eight cents is too low, nine cents, sell me the bait block and I’ll give you nine cents!" The shopkeeper’s tone was somewhat urgent, "Can’t go any higher, nine cents, give it to me!"

"I can sell it to you, but I have one more question." Sun Hang had a somewhat crazy idea pop into his mind.

"As long as you sell it to me, you can ask anything!"

"How much would it cost to kill all these people on the street now?"

The other party paused for a few seconds, then slowly said, "Two cents, pay me two cents, and I can help you kill all of them."

Good grief!

Sun Hang was shocked—are lives here really that cheap?

Or perhaps the money here is more valuable than gold?

If I took out that fifty-cent bill, wouldn’t I be able to wipe out the whole town?

But wait...

If lives are so cheap... why is the price of food so high?

If survival is impossible without eating, then using such expensive food to sustain such cheap lives doesn’t make sense; if society were that broken, there would have been cannibalism long ago.

And if the townspeople of Maoyun Town don’t need to eat to survive... why is food sold at such high prices?

High prices require market demand to be justified; for an item without market support, its price-tag is meaningless.

Can’t be saying that in this place, food equals luxury, could you?

"Then if I catch a townsman, chop them up, sprinkle some green onions, pour hot oil, and stir it with a spatula, can’t I turn a few cents into a fortune?"

Hungry people will eat their kind, much less a supernatural entity?

"The bait block is yours, give me seven cents, and kill them all," Sun Hang said coldly.

A skeletal hand reached out from the darkness, grabbed the container holding the bait block, and retracted it. A few seconds later, seven one-cent coins rolled out through the crack, reaching Sun Hang’s feet.

When Sun Hang picked up the coins, he realized they were the type the Xiazhou Federation had issued years ago.

It’s a pity he didn’t have a hobby for collecting old banknotes, otherwise, bringing a stack of old hundred-yuan bills here would instantly turn him into a rich man.

Money can make ghosts turn millstones, money can just as well make the supernatural turn millstones.

"It’s time to execute our transaction," Sun Hang urged.

"It’s already finished." The shopkeeper’s voice quietly rose.

Sun Hang turned his head and saw that the townspeople who had just crowded around him were now lying sprawled on the street, lifeless.

He shone a mirror at these ’corpses’ on the ground—the mirror showed masses of decaying flesh, nauseating pus flowing into the gaps of the cobblestones, slowly seeping into the soil below.

But not all the ’people’ on the street were killed.

The two chubby little girls were still alive, not only that, they continued playing, oblivious to the ’tragedy’ unfolding right under their noses.

"Are you sure you’ve completed the transaction?" Sun Hang turned, eyeing the flickering light in the door crack, asking.

"Every person on this street, except for you, is dead," the shopkeeper said, "Doesn’t that count as completed?"

"What about them?" Sun Hang pointed to the two little girls.

The light in the crack suddenly went out.

The shopkeeper’s voice stopped being heard.

"Hey? Where’d you go?" Sun Hang waited a few seconds, but there was no response from the shopkeeper, so he stood up, only to find the two little girls had already stood behind him.

They were no longer playful, leaving their clappers and kites on the ground.

They stared straight at the dark crack, eyes eerie.