He slept through the night, after a full day of trying to find his sister. He had only been pacified after his father had said she was over with A'Sang. She'd be safe with A'Sang. A'Sang's brother was big, and strong. He was righteous.
A'sang's brother would protect Niuniu. Niuniu and A'Sang were best friends after all.
He didn't eat dinner that night. He hadn't eaten dinner at all recently. It was once again a filthy piece of meat.
The next day, he walked over to A'Sang's home.
She wasn't there.
Only her parents, in a heap at the table, unmoving. Her brother was gone.
They weren't the first bodies Yang Ming had seen, not by far.
But... If they were dead, where was Niuniu?
He looked around, and couldn't find either of the girls.
Stepping up the staircase, he caught a rather iron-y scent.
His heart stopped cold. He ran up the steps, and threw open the padlocked door of the wardrobe.
A'sang was there.
At least, part of her was.
No.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No.
Yang Ming ran. He ran as fast as he could.
He sprinted home, and ran to their own wardrobe.
There Niuniu was, tied in a heap. Her mouth was bound, and tears were in her eyes. No. Those
were tear tracks on her cheeks. Her eyes were dry.
Yang Ming carefully touched her neck.
It was still.
He stepped back.
Rage overtook him.
He would kill them all and he woul-
But he couldn't.
They weren't worth the effort. If he tried to fight them, he would win too easily.
Yang Ming lifted Yang Niuniu up on his shoulders, and walked out. The villagers who tried to stop him were met with brutal force. The other villagers stopped bothering him and his meimei.
Why fight for more meat when there was some on the floor right there?
He walked past the wheat fields, up the mountain and into the forest. His fingers were raw, his nails long gone when he finished digging a hole big enough for Niuniu.
He buried her without a coffin.
Goodbye, Niuniu.
A soft broken song was chanted across the clearing.
Old and thin men are called Rao Ba Huo.
Dry and stringy, so you need to stew them extra long.
Pretty young women are called 'Bu Xian Yang'.
Tender and soft, better than any lamb.
Itty Bitty Children are called 'He Gu Lan'.
Not much meat, so you need to grind their bones into porridge.
This is the tale of the two legged sheep.
Yang Ming looked up.
He stared into the eyes of the girl sitting in front of him. He was filled with confusion. Now that the implanted memories were gone, he felt next to nothing for the girl. He felt empty. After finally being "human", A'Ming wanted nothing more than to go back. To feel "empathy" properly.
"Why did you put me through this trial? I have nothing to do with you?"
The girl- Niuniu- looked at him.
"You were meant to eat the meat. Everyone eats the meat."
Ah'Ming paused.
"You aren't human, are you," Ah'Ming asks her. "You're an amalgamation of all the resentment in this town. Do you swap the lives of the visitors with those of the women? Release them of their bad karma so they can reincarnate?"
Niuniu blinks, before her sweet mouth twists into an ugly scowl. "They don't deserve life. they ate the meat. They should all die. But they cursed us to suffer and be eaten instead."
Ah'Ming counters "Why didn't you leave? Why didn't any of you leave? You stopped me every time I tried."
And he had tried, countless times.
Maybe even a hundred.
He never got very far.
Niuniu opened her mouth, but closed it again.
Ah'Ming softened. "Can you at least tell me how many made up you? I'll try to help you. Who knows, maybe I'll end up down there and ask for help for you guys."
Niuniu, well, the dozens of women and girls that made her up, laughed.
She gave a soft smile, and faded away.
Ah'Ming fell asleep once more.
(Okay, in my complete defense I was just moody because I failed a test, so you guys get an over dramatic rendition of one of the nightmares I got recently)