The pig continued to chop off limbs peacefully while humming the same weird tune. He would sometimes let out noises that sounded like either a snort or an 'oink'.
Ren had to cover his mouth to stop himself from giggling.
'Ah, it's so fun here...'
He then slowly took out the pocket watch from his pants' pocket before clicking it open. Ren stared at the moving hand and the delicate surface of the item.
Jiro took a peek at the time as well.
It was already 5:18 in the afternoon. The 18-year-old young man flinched after seeing the time. There's still a long way to go. It would be up to the universe whether they could even stay safe in this kitchen for the remaining twelve hours.
Jiro's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a sudden slam of the door. The young man squinted his eyes to get a better look at the newcomer.
It was a goose.
"Ah-fuck! Old Zhu, chop them faster! The customers are starting to flood in!" It cawed, flapping its wings in a harsh manner.
Ren narrowed his eyes at the mention of the name 'Zhu'. Isn't it the Mandarin word for 'swine'? So funny, ah!
Old Zhu slammed the butcher knife he was holding on the chopping board. "Shut up, birdie. Don't pressure me, lest I chop you instead!"
"Fuck you. Respect your manager, damned old pig!" The goose snapped back before going out again with an audible slam.
Old Zhu grumbled curses under his breath. "Manager, my ass. You just became a manager because you offered your eggs to the boss, hmp!"
Jiro wasn't feeling well with the eavesdropping he experienced today. It was very weird to hear animals talking to each other in human language, but it was even weirder to see them act and curse each other like real humans!
Ren simply smiled at the teenager beside him before gently closing the pocket watch. He then moved his finger to point at the pig outside, who was busy placing the newly chopped meat in a different container. Jiro's sight followed the direction of Ren's finger, with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
However, Jiro shuddered in fear as he saw the pig turn its back from the container and instead walk leisurely towards the cabinet they were in. The white apron of the said pig was smudged with red blood and tiny bits of human flesh. At that time, Jiro badly wanted to just teleport away from the approaching disgusting mammal.
Without any warning, Ren softly knocked on Jiro's forehead as he gave him a mischievous wink.
Jiro's face paled at that. Every time Ren winked at him, something unexpected would always happen.
Something unexpected, like suddenly pushing the cabinet's door open and revealing themselves to the butcher as if nothing was wrong with it.
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" Jiro couldn't help but shout as he scrambled to pull the door close again.
Ren laughed loudly. He did not say anything and only focused on getting a good laugh out of Jiro's reaction.
"My God, we're screwed! You're literally sick in the head!" Jiro was getting hysterical at this point.
On the other hand, the brawny pig in front of them tilted its head in confusion, blinking at the living humans stuffed in the cabinet.
"Ah... Oink." It finally realized the situation happening right now. There was fresh food in front of him!
"Ya-hoo, Old Zhu!" Ren stepped out of the cabinet and waved at the pig with a huge smile on his strangely charismatic face.
"FUCKING SALARYMAN!" Jiro yelled in anger before pouncing on Ren's back. "I fuckin' swear, I'm going to kill you, and then I will kill myself!"
Ren had to stop Jiro from choking his neck as he dodged and ran away from the pig. Instead of taking the route where they entered, Ren used the backdoor where the butcher threw its trash earlier.
As they went out of the kitchen, their noses were assaulted with a different kind of stench. It was worse than the foul smell inside, like rotten flesh and blood combined with other human waste.
Jiro gagged at this. He could only bury his face on Ren's neck to lessen the smell he could inhale.
The ground was quite slippery, and there were a lot of things strewn around. Trash bags here and there, trash cans here and there, some dark stuff that they would rather not step on, and more unknown things lying quietly on the floor.
When they finally got out of the dirty alley, Jiro raised his face to breathe in the fresher-than-before air. He was also thankful for Ren's agile body, which was basically piggyback-carrying Jiro. Ren continued running as if it were just a marathon and no one was chasing them.
Other than Old Zhu, the other animals who noticed the two humans lumped together in a quick dash also joined the small chase. This resulted in a new mob of beasts running after them.
"Why did you open the cabinet?" Jiro asked in the midst of the chaotic environment. He was still hell-bent on killing Ren after this chase. What Ren did back there was insane!
Ren squinted his eyes a little bit as he took a swift detour to the right, dodging away from the tiger who almost pounced on them from the left street.
"Kid, use your brain and guess why," Ren replied casually, his tone and voice lacking any hint of urgency.
Jiro pursed his lips and gazed in deep thought as they maneuvered along the path they were taking. He tried to recall what made Ren do such a thing. At that time, the pig was done with chopping the previous body, so he was obviously on his way to get another one to work with.
A gasp escaped Jiro's mouth as he came to a realization.
He looked at Ren's black hair with a complicated expression. "You knew we would still be caught if we stayed still, so you chose to open the cabinet while there was still a distance between the pig and our hiding place. Because of that, we could still utilize the remaining space to run away from the beast." Jiro muttered his guess with bated breath.
But he paused as another loophole in Ren's plan emerged in his mind. If Ren knew all along that they would still be caught in that cabinet, then why would they still hide there? Shouldn't they just pick a better place within the kitchen?
As if reading Jiro's silent inquiries, Ren suddenly opened his mouth to talk. "The cabinet inside has humans, right?"
Jiro was confused at the brief and sudden mention of this fact, but he still nodded obediently.
Ren continued, "I was curious whether or not they were real humans or just a replica created by the Nightmare Express. Aren't you curious?" A smile escaped his lips as he skipped over a rolling barrel.
Jiro did not respond.
"So, while we were inside the cabinet, I carefully picked up some stuff from their bodies, like a strand of hair and some dead skin. I'm planning to experiment on it, particularly their DNA. Were they real? Have they existed in our universe before? Or were they originally from 'this' universe? Or were they only created for our own amusement?" Ren's out-of-the-box questions prompted Jiro to think more about the current situation.
Ren wasn't just thinking about their survival at this point; he was also pondering the nature of this phenomenon.
Jiro felt goosebumps all over his skin. Ren... Ren was a twisted genius. His thoughts were far from the usual questions people would ask. He is the kind of genius who knows what will happen next, as if it were just a game of chess for him. The guy he was piggyback riding on was a ticking time bomb.
Jiro couldn't help but pull his body closer to Ren. 'If it means I'll have to be degraded by you to stay with you, then I'd rather accept that. With Ren, my chances of survival will never be low.'
Ren suddenly laughed with joy. "I'm amazing, don't you think?"
"Yeah," Jiro whispered in response. Ren was sick, but never dumb enough to just blindlessly shove himself to death. It was like Ren was an expert dancer of the waltz, and if someone shot him with a gun, they would still miss because of how great he was at utilizing his body to dodge danger. In this case, Ren's strength lies in his capacity to think of a way to survive.
Ren's greatest sword was his mind.
They continued running without stopping or resting. The longer they ran, the more animals joined the mob behind them. Despite the ground shaking as if a stampede was going to happen any moment now, Ren kept on a calm demeanor all throughout the chase.
Sweat trickled down his forehead to his tall nose, but his expression did not show exhaustion or any kind of fatigue from the prolonged period of sprinting. Ren even had the audacity to gawk at the town's architecture.
Jiro had to bear with him as he listened to Ren's incessant blabber about Chinese lanterns and zodiac signs.
"I know a little bit of Mandarin, Jiro," Ren boasted as he pointed with his thumb at the animals running after them. "I mostly know Mandarin words that describe animals, like the word 'Zhu'! It means 'pig' or 'swine'!"
Jiro played along with him. "Why only animals, though?"
"To prepare myself for checking the menu of a Chinese restaurant that I will go to in the future," Ren replied with pride. "I've been hoping to go to a China Town like this."
Jiro grimaced. 'Well, we went to the wrong China Town, sir. Might as well take that wish back.'
Ren's eyes glinted in the dim light as he halted in front of a manhole. His gaze landed on the dark pit beyond them.
Jiro nudged the older man as he looked back at the nearing carnivorous mob. "Why are you stopping?" he whispered with gritted teeth. He knew that Ren wouldn't do anything too life-threatening, but there's still that left-over fear of being surprised to death every single damn time.
"Shh." Ren raised a finger over his lips before jumping down at the manhole without any forewarning to the unaware teenager clinging onto his back.
Jiro had to clasp his mouth tight so as not to make any loud noise that would attract more of the animals' attention. It was so dark around him.
And so stinky.
Ren rubbed his nose first before swiftly running through the cemented road. His ears were on high alert as he tried to sense out any noise coming from which direction.
Jiro, on the other hand, watched in horror as a stream of monsters hurled down the manhole. 'Fuck, they discovered we were here. They weren't dumb. Fuck,' Jiro cursed in his head in disbelief. Can somebody cut them a slack?! He would probably go crazy if this continued any longer!
"Old Zhu, you brainless pig! How could you let them go so easy? It's because you're so fat that you couldn't chase after them!" A snake taunted the butcher as they ran through the manhole's sidewalk.
Old Zhu snorted. "You dare blame me when you can't even walk properly."
"Hey, I'm a snake! Of course I can't walk! Dumb fuck!"
Their loud banter echoed through the manhole.
Emi and the woman from before hid behind a pipe with bated breaths.
The woman in the red dress closed her eyes. 'Out of sight, out of mind. Out of sight, out of mind,' she chanted in her head as if it were a prayer or a mantra.
Emi, on the other hand, squinted her eyes as she took in the quick movements of two men lumped together. They were coming in their direction.
She tilted her head in surprise. "Jiro...?"