He Gu was sweating profusely, with a somewhat grim smile on his face, and a trace of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth where he had bitten his tongue.
At this moment, He Gu’s whole body was trembling slightly, looking somewhat manic. This was a physiological reaction caused by the double effect of adrenaline and the strong desire to restrain from eating.
In front of He Gu, there was a figure standing, wearing a uniform coat with the brim of the hat covering half of the face. It was none other than the night shift security guard!
The security guard remained silent for a few seconds, then hoarsely asked, “When did you notice?”
He Gu laughed manically, “You’re too impatient.”
“In the evening, you helped me distract the supervisor. At night, when the supervisor and I were at a standstill, it was you who suddenly appeared and called the supervisor away…”
“All of this is too coincidental, so much so that it made me suspect that you were helping me.”
The security guard fell silent again at these words.
After a moment, as if unwilling to give up, he asked again, “Since you know I’m helping you, why are you on guard against me?”
He Gu spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground, his face showing a mocking expression, “If it’s just because of that, I really wouldn’t need to be on guard against you.”
“But why are you helping me? There must be a reason for it.”
“You helped me, which allowed me to successfully get rid of the supervisor.”
“It’s quite a coincidence. It was after I met you that I started to take steps towards this. It means that the person who wanted me to get rid of the supervisor has always been you, right, Old Ma?”
…
After saying this, the security guard’s body trembled slightly.
After a moment, the security guard took off the large hat from his face, revealing the face of Old Ma, who had fallen from the building a few days ago.
Old Ma stared at He Gu with a complex expression, his voice no longer deliberately hoarse, “Just based on a guess, you dare to be so sure it’s me?”
He Gu shook his head lightly, “Of course not.”
“What really gave you away was your uniquely ugly handwriting!”
Last night, when He Gu went out to “use the restroom” and came back, he glanced at the registration book in front of the security guard.
At that time, Old Ma had deliberately changed his handwriting, but sometimes, the handwriting deliberately disguised by a person can be even more obvious.
He Gu had always been sensitive to handwriting, and when he saw the handwriting in the registration book, he had already had some suspicions, but he hadn’t connected it to Old Ma temporarily.
It wasn’t until tonight, after listening to the recording left by 424, that He Gu suddenly realized that he seemed to have been deliberately guided step by step to this situation.
Who was the one who first told He Gu to get rid of the supervisor?
It was Old Ma!
When He Gu thought of Old Ma, he immediately thought of the handwriting he had seen in the registration book.
Realizing that it was Old Ma’s handwriting, everything was instantly connected.
So there was only one last question left: why did Old Ma deliberately and even resort to faking his death to push He Gu to get rid of the supervisor?
He Gu thought of the two sentences left by 424 in Morse code:
“Here, most people’s destinies are to be eaten. Different people will become different forms of prey. Guess who you will ultimately become the food of?”
“The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. The predator is often also the prey.”
…
Different people will become different forms of prey, which means that there may be more than just the supervisor who wants to eat He Gu.
The form in which the supervisor preys is when the “fruit is ripe.”
In other words, there may be other forms of prey.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. After getting rid of the supervisor, He Gu’s identity would become the predator.
Linking Old Ma’s series of actions, He Gu came to a bold conclusion: Old Ma’s form of prey was to make He Gu get rid of the supervisor, and then he would eat He Gu!
So, after confirming that the supervisor had been taken care of, He Gu had been trying hard to keep himself alert and wait for this “oriole” to appear.
Sure enough, Old Ma appeared as expected.
At the sight of Old Ma, all of He Gu’s suspicions were confirmed.
…
In Warehouse 44, Old Ma looked at He Gu with a complex expression, falling into a long silence.
During this process, He Gu noticed that the rich and almost irresistible scent on the supervisor’s body had disappeared at some point.
He Gu finally no longer had to resist the temptation with great effort.
But just as he raised the wrench to hit Old Ma, Old Ma didn’t even flinch. This made He Gu feel a sense of dread and he didn’t dare to act rashly for a while, just gripping the wrench tightly and staring at Old Ma.
Old Ma didn’t rush to make a move, but furrowed his brow slightly, as if lost in thought.
After a long time, Old Ma let out a sigh and revealed a sinister smile to He Gu, “What a pity.”
He Gu’s heart tightened immediately, frowning, “What?”
The smile on Old Ma’s face gradually turned mad, “You are my last prey… If you had obediently eaten him and then I ate you, I could have worn the purple clothes.”
“What a pity you didn’t follow my plan… I’m almost depleted. If I don’t eat you tonight, I’ll die.”
“But since you didn’t eat him, I’ll eat you like this, and I’ll have to wait another half a month for a chance to be promoted to purple… What a pity.”
…
Hearing Old Ma’s words, He Gu’s scalp instantly tingled.
“To hell with you!”
He Gu cursed angrily, seemingly to bolster his courage, and suddenly stepped forward, swinging the wrench at Old Ma.
Old Ma calmly raised his right hand and used his arm to block He Gu’s wrench.
“Clang!”
Another sound of metal clashing, Old Ma’s arm seemed to be made of steel, and when He Gu swung the wrench, it ended up shaking his own hand and the wrench flew out.
The next moment, Old Ma stepped forward, reaching out to grab He Gu’s throat.
He Gu’s pupils dilated instantly, wanting to dodge, but Old Ma’s hand had already reached him like a ghost.He Gu barely had time to react before he was once again seized by the throat.
Old Ma’s strength was much greater than the supervisor’s!
With just that grip, He Gu was choked to the point of gasping for air.
Perhaps due to the high tension, his adrenaline had been surging.
He Gu fainted for less than two seconds before his eyes suddenly snapped open again.
However, as soon as he opened his eyes, He Gu witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Old Ma’s mouth was wide open, his entire face twisted and deformed, his oral cavity expanded to the extent that it could almost fit He Gu’s head inside!
Just as he opened his eyes, He Gu saw himself getting closer and closer to that unnaturally twisted gaping mouth, his head nearly being stuffed inside!
At that moment, He Gu felt as if his blood was about to freeze, his thoughts experiencing bursts of short-circuiting, almost instinctively struggling and resisting.
But at this time, there was nothing on He Gu that he could use to resist, fumbling in his pockets for his cellphone, walkie-talkie, small medicine bottle… Whatever he pulled out, he hurled it all at Old Ma’s head.
However, such struggles were as futile as trying to extinguish a fire with a cup of water, utterly useless.
“Sizzle—”
Just then, He Gu suddenly heard a sound like a hot iron searing flesh, a “sizzling” noise.
“Ah ya!!”
Old Ma suddenly let out a scream, flinging He Gu away as if he were too hot to handle.
He Gu crashed into a pile of goods, tumbling over in complete disarray.
At the same time, He Gu heard Old Ma’s terrified shout: “You! How do you have this thing in your hand!?”
Dazed and confused, He Gu propped himself up, only then realizing that he was holding that red towel in his hand…
…
PS: I’m actually not feeling very well today, I was about to go to sleep.
But after posting the last chapter, so many people requested another one…
Here, here, here, here, here! You want an extra chapter, right?
Here you go!
Enjoy!