Stranger Danger

“Boss Ye! How did you…” Zhou Fu exclaimed in surprise when he turned around and saw Ye Qing standing behind them. The young man was wearing a serene, laid-back smile on his face.

“I followed you, of course!” Ye Qing replied.

“Boss Ye, did you just say you can treat my son?” Zhou Fu’s wife pushed past her husband and grabbed Ye Qing’s arms.

.

He nodded. “Yes, I can!”

Overjoyed, she begged, “Please save my son, Boss Ye! I beg you!”

Zhou Fu was just as worried as his wife, but unlike her he was a little less trusting. “Are you sure, Boss Ye?” He asked suspiciously. It was understandable. Ye Qing was just too young.

Ye Qing paid his suspicion no heed and answered amiably, “Do not worry, Boss Zhou. As a scholar, I always put my money where my mouth is!”

Once again, his wife shoved Zhou Fu aside and pulled Ye Qing all the way to the bed. Like a drowning woman on her last straw, she begged, “There is no time! Please examine Hui’er already, Boss Ye!”

Ye Qing obediently sat down beside the bed and gave Zhou Hui’s stomach a rub. The young boy’s stomach was round and swollen. To say that he was full to the brim would be an understatement. And yet, the boy’s eyes shone with such hunger it reminded him of a beggar who hadn’t had a drop of water for days. Even now, he was trying to swallow the handkerchief in his mouth and succeeding.

Seeing that there was no time to waste, Ye Qing started untying the ropes keeping Zhou Hui in place while ordering, “Get me a bottle of vinegar right now. The sourer, the better!”

“Boss Ye, you can’t—!” The wife hurriedly started. The reason they had bound Zhou Hui wasn’t just because he was hurting himself, but also because he had become unnaturally strong after catching this strange illness. It had taken them an unbelievable amount of effort to secure him to the bed. Even with the addition of two men, she did not think it would be an easy task to bind him to the bed once more.

Unfortunately, she did not manage to finish before Zhou Hui’s bindings became undone. As soon as the rope came loose, Zhou Hui immediately started shoving the handkerchief down his gullet like he had gone insane. Not only that, he jumped down the bed and sprinted for the exit so fast it was unthinkable that a nine-year-old boy was capable of such movements.

“No!” The wife exclaimed in horror, but her panic proved to be unnecessary just an instant later. Ye Qing stretched out a hand and, despite looking like he wasn’t even trying, caught Zhou Hui while he was still in the air and pulled him down. A second later, the manic boy found himself lying on top of Ye Qing’s legs.

Thud!

Ye Qing turned his wrist slightly and slapped Zhou Hui hard on the back. At the same time, he pushed up against the boy’s stomach with his right knee.

“Blargh!”

An unimaginable amount of vomit burst out of Zhou Hui’s mouth. A couple more pushes later, the boy’s stomach looked a lot healthier. However, Zhou Hui was still struggling with all his might and moaning, “Eat… eat… eat…” again and again. His eye color was an unnatural shade of dark green as well.

“Boss Ye, what are you—”

“Where’s the vinegar?”

Zhou Fu wanted to ask what the hell Ye Qing was doing, but he was interrupted before he could finish. It was at this moment a servant girl ran over and handed the young man a jar of vinegar, declaring, “Here!” He took a sniff, nodded in satisfaction, and flipped Zhou Hui over. Then, he forced open the boy’s mouth and poured the vinegar straight down his gullet.

“What are you doing? Stop!”

Zhou Fu’s wife was furious when she saw Ye Qing handling her son so roughly. She ran over and tried to pull him away, but the young man raised his finger slightly and sent an invisible Blood Shadow in her direction. It tripped her and caused her to fall on top of a servant girl instead.

Ye Qing paid the looks of anger, puzzlement and shock around him no heed. Still maintaining a tight grip on Zhou Hui and pouring vinegar into his mouth, he looked up and smiled at the crowd. “Don’t worry. A bit of vinegar won’t kill him!”

Ye Qing had poured over half a jar of vinegar into Zhou Hui when suddenly, the boy ceased his struggles. Then, as little bumps started appearing all across his stomach as if something was writhing inside it. The crowd could only watch in shock and horror.

“Boss Ye, what is happening to Hui’er?” Zhou Fu exclaimed in fear as he pointed at Zhou Hui’s stomach.

Ye Qing replied casually, “It’s just a small worm. Don’t worry about it!”

When the time was right, Ye Qing slapped Zhou Hui’s back once more—this time a lot gentler than before—and shoved just a tiny bit of force into Zhou Hui’s stomach. The young boy immediately started throwing up small chunks of food and the old vinegar Ye Qing had forcefully poured down his throat a moment ago.

That wasn’t everything Zhou Hui threw up, however. Just a few seconds later, a worm about the size of a thumb fell out of Zhou Hui’s mouth and hit the ground with a disgusting squelch.

The worm was five segments long, white, and extremely fat. In another place and time, no one would’ve favored it a second glance. Right now though, the crowd was so scared that they instinctively took a few steps away from it.

Zhou Hui stopped struggling and begging for food almost immediately after he spat out the worm. His warped, maddened expression slowly faded back to normal as well. He whispered weakly, “Big bro Ye…”

“Don’t worry. You’re all fine now!” Ye Qing assured him gently before grabbing a new handkerchief from the bed and wiping away the filth on his mouth. Then, he gently laid the boy on the bed and looked at Zhou Fu, saying, “It’s done. Hui’er is cured!”

“My son! My son!” Zhou Fu’s wife half-sobbed and half-laughed as she rushed to the bed and hugged Zhou Hui tightly against her chest. Ye Qing naturally stepped out of the way before producing a pair of chopsticks and a porcelain bottle from his shirt. He picked up the strange worm and dropped it inside the bottle.

“What on earth is that worm, Boss Ye?” Zhou Fu was overjoyed that his son was cured as a matter of course, but he did not neglect his benefactor like his wife had.

Ye Qing put away the bottle safely before answering, “The worm is called the Everhungry Worm, a Mundane-class Stranger. It is normally harmless until someone accidentally inhales its egg into their nose or mouth. Once it enters the stomach, it would release a paralyzing toxin that induces a feeling of extreme hunger. It’s why the victim can never feel full no matter how much food they eat, and why they’re driven to eat like a starved man. Hence the name.”

“The unnatural hunger is purely mental and has nothing to do with one’s physical needs whatsoever. The toxin doesn’t improve one’s ability to digest food either. Therefore, it is entirely possible for a victim to die from overeating if they aren’t stopped in time.”

“Heavens…” Zhou Fu pressed a hand against his heart when he heard this. He could only imagine what would happen if they had not discovered Zhou Hui’s affliction in time. “Is that why you fed Hui’er vinegar just now? To force the Everhungry Worm out of his body?”

“That’s right!” Ye Qing nodded. “The Everhungry Worm isn’t afraid of sweet, bitter, salty or spicy flavors. It is only afraid of sourness. Your son has probably eaten everything in your kitchen at this point, but I’m willing to bet he hasn’t eaten much sour food, has he?”

Zhou Fu thought back for a moment and quickly arrived at the conclusion that he was right. 𝙗𝙚𝒅𝒏𝙤𝙫𝙚𝒍.𝒐𝙧𝙜

Suddenly, Ye Qing said, “I have a couple of questions I’d like to ask Hui’er, Boss Zhou. Is that okay?”

“But of course! Feel free!”

Ye Qing turned back to Zhou Hui—the young boy’s complexion had finally returned to a healthy color—and asked gently, “Excuse me, Hui’er, but do you remember where you went to play yesterday? Did you encounter anything you might consider strange or interesting?”

Zhou Hui tilted his head to one side and thought for a moment. Then, he raised his hands and replied animatedly, “Hui’er ran into a big cat yesterday! It’s real scary!”

“A big cat, you say?” Ye Qing’s eyes flashed with intelligence. “Do you remember where you ran into it?”

Zhou Hui answered, “At the back alley. It ran through our feet while Young Nan, Niu Niu and I were playing together. Young Nan and Niu Niu were scared, but I wasn’t! I even beat it to scare it away!”

“Haha. You’re a brave kid, Hui’er!” Ye Qing smiled. “I don’t have any more questions, so go catch some rest. Come find me when you’re healthy again, okay?”

“Okay!” Zhou Hui replied with an obedient nod.

Ye Qing turned back to Zhou Fu and warned, “Hui’er is fine now, but make sure you don’t feed him anything spicy or difficult to digest, okay? His stomach is hurt from all the food he swallowed and needs time to recover. Just feed him some porridge for the next couple days, and he should be fine.”

As the young man turned to leave, Zhou Fu hurriedly strode over to see him off. “Thank you so much, Boss Ye. If something were to happen to Hui’er, I don’t think I’d have the courage to live another day. You’re not just my son’s savior, Boss Ye. You’re my savior as well!”

Ye Qing shot him a smile. “You flatter me, Boss Zhou.”

Zhou Fu shook his head vehemently. “Not in the slightest! In fact, I’m not quite sure how to thank you for saving our lives! I… I… Please accept my knees, Boss Ye!”

The middle-aged man’s knees buckled, but Ye Qing caught him before he could fall to the ground. “Boss Zhou! If you really want to thank me, why don’t you charge me a little less and stop mixing water into my Pear Blossom wine? That’s all I ask!”

“Ahaha… got it.” Boss Zhou let out an awkward chuckle before swearing, “Not only that, I hereby declare that you’re my restaurant’s most honored customer! From now on, you won’t have to pay a single silver to dine at my restaurant!”

“Haha! That’s very generous of you, Boss Zhou! I shall happily accept your offer!” Ye Qing let out a hearty laugh and saluted Zhou Fu. “You should go see your son now, and I still have a jar of wine to finish!”

Zhou Fu responded just as happily, “Feel free to drink to your heart’s content, Boss Ye! Coming Clouds might be lacking in some ways, but our wine is not one of them! Hahaha! Goodbye, Boss Ye!”

“Yeah. See you later!”

Ye Qing bade Zhou Fu goodbye and left the Zhou residence, but instead of returning to the restaurant as he claimed he would, he went to the back alley Zhou Hui had mentioned. After that, he poured the Everhungry Worm on the ground, hid in a corner and waited for something to happen.

His patience was rewarded just a few minutes later when a big cat with shiny, black fur crawled out of a corner. It then ran straight toward the Everhungry Worm.

Zhou Hui wasn’t kidding when he said that the cat is big, Ye Qing thought. It was the size of a smaller hound with a pair of eyes that shone like gemstones. Its ears were twice as large as a normal cat’s, and it had a fluffy tail and an extremely round head. It looked funny, goofy and lovable, but Ye Qing knew better than to trust its inviting appearance.

“I knew it was you, Rot Eating Cat!”

The massive black cat was a Red-class Stranger called the Rot Eating Cat. It was a savage beast that feasts on rotten food and shared a symbiotic relationship with the Everhungry Worm.

The Everhungry Worm could usually be found on the Rot Eating Cat’s fur in its egg form. The Rot Eating Cat would then lure an unsuspecting victim to touch them so it could infect them with the Everhungry Worm. Once the Everhungry Worm had crawled into the victim’s stomach, it would poison them and drive them mad with unquenchable hunger.

When the victim had died from overeating, and the body was buried in the ground, the Rot Eating Cat would seek it out by following the Everhungry Worm’s scent. It would then tear open the victim’s stomach with its sharp claws and tail and feast on the rotting food within. That was why it was named the Rot Eating Cat. It was a devious and evil Stranger through and through.

From the moment he determined that Zhou Hui was infected by an Everhungry Worm, he already guessed that there might be a Rot Eating Cat nearby. That was why he didn’t kill the Everhungry Worm immediately and instead, used it to lure out the Rot Eating Cat. In short, he was catfishing—literally!