BFWGSW Chapter 15

I noticed a new notice on the blackboard to the right of the cafeteria entrance. This board usually lists the daily meals, yet today it displayed something else entirely. I stepped forward to take a closer look, and Wu Liang followed suit.

The most conspicuous feature was the newly posted rules in the cafeteria.

New Cafeteria Regulations:

1. Please do not waste food; if leftovers remain, unfortunate events may occur.

2. Should any meat products be discovered at the canteen counter, please refrain from consuming them. Should you unfortunately receive meat, discard it immediately. You must not eat meat.

3. Please ensure that no unusual items are present in your meal. Should any be found, immediately approach the serving counter attendant and request a replacement portion. Do not consume the meal.

4. Do not speak whilst eating; simply eat your meal properly. And above all, do not whisper to one another.

5. Should any of the above rules be violated, you may temporarily take refuge in the cafeteria’s storeroom. Note that this is only a temporary measure.

6. Should someone kindly offer you a bowl of meat, do not refuse it; eat it immediately. You may partake of the meat.

What a nonsensical jumble of rules! I’m beginning to suspect the Headmaster who drafted them is a complete lunatic.

“Now that it’s been written down, they’ll surely enforce the rules today just like the library does. You’d better be careful,” Wu Liang warned me from the side, but I paid him no heed. I walked straight to the rice dispenser and began sniffing the aroma.

“This smells absolutely delicious! I haven’t eaten all day and I’m starving.”

Wu Liang was in a hurry to drag me up to the second floor of the cafeteria. “Come off it, sis, what on earth are you thinking? It’s nearly closing time and you still want to eat? I feel like there’s something up there that resonates with me. Come on, let’s go.” He’d been at it for ages, but I didn’t budge an inch. Instead, I’d thought of a rather clever way to find what we were looking for.

“What do you think? Should I just bulldoze the cafeteria? Once it’s gone, you start searching. When you find something, we head back to the dorms and tear down the boys’ and girls’ quarters too. Then you keep searching. Repeat the process.”

Wu Liang finally understood once and for all that the girl before him was a complete lunatic!

Just as I was about to say something, a cook wielding a butcher’s cleaver entered through the side door of the cafeteria. The man was solidly built, with bulging muscles and an imposing frame. Spotting me in the cafeteria, he gave a cold snort and warned me, “It’s not meal time yet. If you want to eat, you’ll just have to wait.”

Wu Liang instantly ducked back into my disguise. He whispered to me, “The chef is the most formidable person in the canteen. You mustn’t provoke him.”

The most formidable? Oh, but what does that have to do with my wanting to eat? I’m hungry; having the cook prepare a meal for me is only natural, isn’t it?

The cook, looking thoroughly disgruntled, lugged tray after tray of steaming rice from the kitchen to the serving hatch. Seeing him in such a sour mood, as if he’d rather be at the graveside than at work, I guessed he wasn’t too chuffed about the new rules. Curiosity piqued, I struck up a quiet chat with him.

“Doesn’t the Headmaster impose rather a lot of rules on you lot? Now there’s this new regulation on top of everything else. What about the elderly gentlemen and ladies who help out in the cafeteria?”

The cook’s expression shifted slightly. He snorted twice. “The cafeteria’s rules have nothing to do with you teachers in the teaching block. Mind your own business. It’s not meal time now. Get out.”

My stomach growled loudly, and without a second thought, I plonked myself down beside him. Waving my hand dismissively, I declared, “I’m starving. Get me something to eat. Boil some noodles.”

The cook’s expression turned fierce. “Are you intending to break your teacher’s rules? I’ve heard that your teacher’s meal times are strictly fixed.”

I mimicked his tone, “You’re just a kitchen hand in the cafeteria. Stick to your job and mind your own business. Or is there some rule in your regulations that says you can’t cook outside meal times?”

Huddled beneath the disguise, Wu Liang shivered uncontrollably. He knew this cook was no ordinary man. Not only did he reek of blood, but that distinct scent from the Underworld filled Wu Liang with dread. Perhaps, just perhaps, this chef had been hired by the Headmaster from the Underworld itself.

The cook eyed me up and down with a scowl. “You seem different somehow. Never mind. Eat up if you like. The meal’s already cooked. If anything goes wrong, it’s on you, not me. At least I’ll have had a decent meal.” He turned and headed into the kitchen. I heard the stove being lit.

That’s quite the way to put it, as if I’d broken some rule and he could just eat me alive. I’d be delighted if he made a move on me.

Before long, a bowl of pig’s trotters over rice appeared before me. The chef informed me that the dish cost ten yuan, but as I was a school teacher entitled to a subsidy, I could have lunch free of charge. I nodded in acknowledgement. Once the chef had returned to the kitchen, I began to examine the dish more closely.

Wu Liang peered out from beneath my collar, urging me not to eat. “Even if you were a starving ghost incarnate, you’d still want to know what you’re eating, wouldn’t you?”

Upon hearing Wu Liang’s words, I carefully picked through the pork knuckle and rice on my plate with my chopsticks, only then discerning what the stewed, pulpy meat actually was.

Though called pig’s trotters, they’re actually human feet. The heels and insteps have been hacked off with force, steaming hot with tendons still attached, coated in a thickened sauce. This mushy, bone-free flesh looks like some animal’s foot if you don’t look too closely. I find it rather revolting – why on earth must I eat someone else’s feet?

The Dragon Nation viewers watching the live stream couldn’t hold it in any longer – they were about to vomit.

【This place’s style, I knew it would be like this. The first time she ate here, finding fingernails and hand bones in the soup was already abnormal. Now this is even more abnormal.】

【Will she eat?】

【I can’t bear to watch any more.】

I’m no cannibal, mind you. I ate all the rice and greens, leaving the pig’s trotters untouched on the plate. The cook emerged from the serving hatch, glaring at me and demanding why I hadn’t touched the trotters, leaving the meat behind. Then he broke into a cheerful grin and declared, “Breaking the rules, wasting food. It looks like I’ll be having a proper feast today.”

“What are you saying about Mummy?”, I pondered for a while, then ground my teeth, picked up the pig’s trotter and marched to the cafeteria counter. “The new cafeteria rules say no meat, don’t they? What’s this about? You deliberately got me meat just to get me into trouble.”

The chef slammed his cleaver down on the table and threatened me, “You’re the one clamouring for a meal, and you’re the one stirring up trouble. Just say whether you’re eating or not.”

“Is there any other food? I don’t fancy eating human feet.”

The cook gave the cleaver a sharp downward chop, “That’s a pig’s trotter.”

“Do you take me for a blind fool? I know perfectly well that humans have dead skin¹calluses on their feet – you’re poisoning me!”

“You think you’re some big shot swearing at me? You think I won’t cut you down right now?”

That’s absolutely splendid. It provides the perfect excuse to dispose of this cook without the Headmaster discovering anything. Were I to take matters into my own hands, I’d fear the Headmaster finding out. But if the cook wishes to kill someone, he ought to have the right to do so. Even if the Headmaster were to discover the cook getting into a fight with someone, he’d likely turn a blind eye.

After all, the students beneath the Headmaster’s office still need to be sent to the cafeteria to be processed like livestock.

“Cut me, quick, cut me! If you’re a proper brother, come and cut me, cut me dead.” I gestured towards my own throat, “Cut here, quick, quick.”

The cook had been rather annoyed, but now he was beginning to doubt himself. After hesitating for ages without making a move, he asked me what on earth I was up to, whether I’d come to cause trouble.

“Treat me now as you would treat anyone who breaks the rules. Hurry up, I’m wasting food. Deal with me quickly.”

The chef looked absolutely livid. Gritting his teeth, he snapped at me, “Are you bloody mad? If you’re ill, don’t come looking for trouble in the cafeteria. This isn’t your territory.”

“I know, so are you going to chop me or not?”

The chef, seeing this, could bear it no longer. He reached out to drag me towards the kitchen. Wu Liang instantly shot out from beneath my disguise, fearing that what I intended to do might affect his soul.

In the kitchen, the chef opened the freezer and said to me, “Perfect timing! You’ll be the beef.” That huge cleaver swung straight for my head. Instantly, I pulled off my hood to reveal my true form, then used my skill to kick the handle flying. The butcher’s blade plunged into the floor beside me.

“Ha! You’ve finally made your move.” Amidst the chef’s stunned gaze, I picked up the butcher’s cleaver from the floor and slammed it down on his arm.

“You… you… you… how could this be? You’re not the teacher, you’re the student. You’re… that transfer student!” The chef’s form grew ever larger, his body covered in intricate patterns of veins. These veins were green, spreading across his entire body.

“Who else runs the cafeteria besides you?”

The chef scrambled to his feet, intent on crushing me. Clutching the weapon delivered to my doorstep, I aimed it squarely at his head, a decapitation strike within my domain.

The headless body twitched in futile agony as a familiar black mist spewed from the chef’s severed neck. Wu Liang burst into the kitchen from outside, dragging me urgently towards the staircase to the second floor.

“Now I understand: this chef is from the Underworld. You mustn’t come into excessive contact with the black mist, or you’ll be corrupted.”

I paid no heed whatsoever, weighing the weapon in my hand as I charged into the black mist. With several flashes of cold steel, the cook was thoroughly dismembered. The black vapour swirled above my head, lingering long after the struggle. Finally, the mist began to seep into my ears, eyes, and nostrils.

Wu Liang asked me nervously if I felt anything. I acted as if nothing had happened, my face still flushed with excitement, and cheerfully replied, “Nothing at all, not a thing. It’s just that I’ve obtained the chef’s meat cleaver. I’ve got a weapon now; it’s brilliant! This thing cuts like a dream.”

“You really are my senior sister…” Wu Liang was baffled. Why wasn’t this girl being corrupted by the black mist from the Underworld? Many students at the school turned into strange things after touching the mist, yet the girl before him remained unaffected. He had many theories, the most outlandish being that she herself was originally from the Underworld.

But that’s utterly preposterous—how could that possibly be?

Perhaps this is simply the other person’s innate ability.

“Weren’t we heading upstairs? Are you sure the chef’s the boss of this cafeteria? I sorted him out and he didn’t even let out a fart. Now get moving and lead the way to your corpse.”

Wu Liang led the way upstairs, where I discovered half the floor comprised a kitchen for cooking, while the other half was occupied by staff quarters. The dormitories were separated by a glass door. Without a moment’s hesitation, I smashed the glass door to pieces and, activating my barrier ability, searched each dormitory one by one.

The men and women in the dormitory all sleep upside down in their rooms like bats, oblivious to anyone coming in from outside. I’ll chop them all up with the chef’s cleaver.

Having dealt with the cafeteria staff, I had Wu Liang sense the location of his own corpse. He was utterly dumbfounded. How could this be possible? It was truly a matter of resolving the issue through sheer brute force. And who on earth tackles the boss before the minions? He was completely awed by me and acknowledged me as his leader.

“I understand. You possess formidable abilities; you are my leader. With such power, I trust my remains will soon be reunited. Then we shall kill the Headmaster together.”

Listening to his sycophantic flattery, I remained utterly unmoved as I followed him to the second-floor cafeteria counter. From the kitchen area, I spotted the same crimson door as in the library – one likewise adorned with a nose, eyes, and mouth. Upon detecting my approach, it sprang to life and demanded to know the purpose of my visit.

“Open the door! I’m coming in.”

The red door bars entry to anyone other than the Headmaster. “Inside is the Headmaster’s collection; those wishing to enter must pay the price.”

I’ve lost all patience. There’s always something wrong with these bloody doors. “You know that red door at the library? What’s your connection to it?”

The cafeteria’s red door beamed cheerfully. “That’s my own flesh and blood, you know. Have you been looking for him too? Well then, my brother’s not exactly easy to get past, is he? We brothers guard the doors – not a soul gets through.”

I cut him off. “Your brother’s dead. I killed him.”

“What? You wretched creature, what have you done? I’ll tell the Headmaster!”

How could I give him that chance? I immediately demanded to know how one could enter the door.

The crimson door sought vengeance, and he stated his terms.

“I want your heart.”

“Impossible,” I retorted, landing a left hook that instantly shattered the crimson door. Black energy, streaked with red, was sucked into the darkness within. As the door crumbled, the power sealing the room vanished.

“We can go in now. Once we’ve got what we want, we must get out fast. Otherwise, my father will sense it.”

I nodded to Wu Liang, then stepped over his unwilling, pained face and entered the door.

Translator’s Corner: At this stage, the author could as well have named the novel “Every Time LinLin Chose Violence” instead. If you see any grammar/spelling errors, please let me know. Enjoy the chapter ~

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