Chapter 15: Group of Hungry Ghosts

19 June, Afternoon, before 17:00

“Bang!” Xiao Mo got pushed by the throng of people and crashed onto the shelf.

Old Yi was nowhere to be found.

The floor was a mess. Almost everyone was fighting the food items on the shelves and shoving it into their mouths, while those that weren’t hungry took the opportunity to snatch the other items.

At that moment, everyone must have forgotten that this was a law-enforced society, and forgotten that the quarantine zone was under the control of the government.

The changes started almost instantly.

Xiao Mo leaned against the shelf. Both his hands had started shaking.

He was persevering, trying his very best to control himself.

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There were not many people in the area, so he smoothly proceeded to crack open a bottle of milk tea and gulped it.

Glug, glug. The bottle was gone in a flash; he had emptied the whole bottle into his stomach. He threw away the emptied bottle carelessly to one side before setting his sights on the deli section right beside.

There were more people crowded around the section, so competition was very fierce. Several hungry people were all crowded around there. After they successfully snatched a sausage, they simple squatted down and started devouring.

Some of them that were still sane went over to the shelves and quickly snatched over a pack of sausages before running away.

Xiao Mo squeezed in using his shoulders before finally managing to grab a pack of beef sausage before trying to move out.

“What are you doing!”

“Hey, why fight?”

“Here comes another insane one, beat him up!”

Those that he pushed or stepped on, started to push back and cuss out. Hunger was causing them to loss their reasoning, as such, a small issue would spark their anger, let alone Xiao Mo, who was using force to snatch their food.

Xue Li Hong observed that he was unable to follow Xiao Mo, so he cleverly hid at the side. He was observing the situation. Xiao Mo must have been influenced by something, and it was most likely the Mother of Gluttony that was the root cause.

He started looking for that woman, to check if she could really influence the people around her.

Xiao Mo was being tortured by his bottomless urge for food. He was about to break down, and was ready to throw away his courtesy; anyone who dared touch his food, he would immediately hit back.

Perhaps it was because he had eaten his fill before coming here previously, so he felt that his body was filled to the brim with energy. Even when he was hitting back, his punches were way more powerful than the others.

Besides those that wanted to get back at him, there were also people who wanted to fight for the beef sausage in his grasp. The moment Xiao Mo realized that they were there to snatch his food, his eyes turned crimson.

Right now, food was like his wife. Those who touch, he would kill! He had utterly forgotten why he came to the supermarket in the first place.

A leg straightened and booted out a young man, while a fist came flying towards an uncle who stretched out his hands to snatch his beef sausage. Xiao Mo fought without any thought, but he had the strength to back it up. Even if four or five people ambushed him at once, he still fought back successfully.

As compared to those people’s punches, his kicks were way stronger; those who got kicked were all unable to get back up.

While they were still fighting till they were in one big tangled mess, there was someone over at the other side who managed to snatch a pack of sausage.

It was an old man that had managed to snatch the pack of sausages. He was so crazy with hunger that he actually ripped open the bag on the spot and proceeded to shove it in his mouth.

The aroma of food immediately agitated the group surrounding Xiao Mo. Everyone swallowed their saliva. Xiao Mo was simply way too strong, so those who were beaten by him and could not get back up to fight, they simply let go of Xiao Mo and turned to pound on their new target behind.

“Everyone, please stay calm! There is enough food for all, please calm down!” The anxious voice of the supermarket supervisor came from the loudspeaker, asking everyone to calm down.

But no one listened; even if they heard, they could not be bothered to respond.

“The police are coming, please, calm down!” The supermarket supervisor glanced at the CCTV; the whole place was a mess. His perspiration flowed down as he continued to shout through his loudspeaker to no avail.

The supermarket was in utter chaos, and this was definitely too much for the few policemen and security to handle.

Xiao Mo valiantly fought all his opponents while he ignored the loudspeakers. He finally tore open the bag of sausages, pulled one out, squeezed the meat out and started eating in relish.

As he ate, he ran towards the fruit area. There were plenty of fresh fruits, which made the man very satisfied.

At some point, someone had fought and gotten hurt, and the thick and concentrated metallic scent of blood permeated through the air. The scent was similar to worms; it creeped through his nose, crawled down his throat and towards his stomach, making his appetite grow yet again and his saliva flow endlessly.

Xiao Mo’s face turned ugly as he endured his unfathomable hunger for food. He was extremely fed up; he had started eating whatever fruit he had laid his eyes on. Even the bananas that he disliked the most, he had eaten a lot of it. God knows what he was thinking… … stop it, stop it! He must have been mad to think of drinking human blood.

Fruit, bread, cakes, ice cream, cheese, braised meat, canned food, etc. As he swept away the food, he swore to himself, that he would eat as much as possible, before the police showed up.

The kid was hiding in a corner as he observed the Mother of Gluttony pounded a woman and bit her neck!

Threw the mouths of those that had escaped, rumours that there were people inside Lian Gou Le having a free buffet inside had spread out.

Because of hunger, or because of some other unknown motives, the crowd around the supermarket entrance only grew larger as time passed.

The first person to react to the situation was the working personnel that was in charge of distributing the rations. Once they saw that the situation was not right, they jumped onto the lorry with all the supplies and asked the driver to drive off.

Staring at the lorries driving away, the crowd was agitated for a while. Perhaps the lorry was difficult to block, or perhaps they still had some sense, but the crowd at the supermarket still let a few of the lorries leave peacefully.

The police patrolling nearby heard the news and rushed over, but there were way too many people, ten policemen were of not much use, plus they couldn’t go physical against the citizens.

The people were still trying to squeeze into the supermarket, but the policemen used their bodies to create a barrier to try to push them to retreat.

“We want to buy food and shop; why are you stopping us?”

“Yes! You distribute so little and yet you are stopping us from buying! Are you trying to starve us to death?”

“Xiao Fei, do you still have any heart? You are our outstanding policeman. You will think of us; you even gave us your hand phone number saying we can look for you if we have anything. But now are you trying to stop us from buying food?”

“Please be rational, don’t listen to those who spread rumours. Something is happening to the supermarket, so you cannot enter right now. Please be understanding, when everything is settled, you can enter the supermarket.”

The policeman whose name got called had sweat flowing down from his hat. He was in a difficult position currently. He really wanted to let them go, but he was not able to do so. Whether he let them in or not, it will not benefit anyone regardless.

“Don’t talk so much to him, his mum and dad are not here anyways. Even if he starves us to death has got nothing to do with him! It is not like we’re not going to pay for our purchase; you sell, I buy, it is only natural. I don’t believe, even if we force our way in, what can they do!”

The police wanted to find who was the person shouting, but there were too many people, so they were unable to find him afterall.

The police started calling for help and asking for enforcement, but the other side said that they had already sent people and they would be arriving soon.

Inside the supermarket.

It was like a disease; the number of people losing their minds to the torture of hunger and got transformed into a hungry ghost kept increasing exponentially.

Now these hungry ghosts only see food. Although there were still quite a lot of stock on the shelves, whenever they pass by, they would just pounce on it and snatch, leaving the few policemen inside being unable to do anything.

The cashier wasn’t safe either. Those who wanted to escape without paying tumbled together with the volunteers. A few who were waiting in line started to grab the food in their trolleys to satisfy their roaring hunger too.

The roller shutter door of the supermarket was closed. There were only a few of them who retained their rationality and were waiting for the police squad to arrive.

There were more people who started to get hurt in the supermarket. When the first one to drink human blood and eat human flesh appeared, piercing screams and terrified shouts resonated the air.

“Someone got killed!”

“Eating people; wow! Zombies are here!”

“Wait, there really are zombies? Hurry, run fast!”

What zombies, there are only humans that were too hungry and wanted to drink blood.

Xiao Mo disdained in his heart. As for why he was certain it was not the work of zombies, there were people who craved for blood, because he too also craved for a sip or two, thinking that it could curb his hunger.

“This mad woman is eating humans; she’s eating people! She really is eating people! Wah!”

“Beat her! Quickly bash her to death!”

“That person on the other side is also eating humans! Beat him up! Bash him!”

Loud screeching, panicked footsteps, people from the freezer aisle started rushing out, while the ones outside were trying to go in to see what was happening. The two group collided, making the screaming and crying even more unbearable.

The few police who were held on by the people heard that there were mad people eating and fighting for human’s meat. They could not be bothered by the hungry ghosts anymore, and rushed towards the freezer aisle together.

Xiao Mo was eating as he walked. The minuscule rational part of his mind told him to avoid the freezer aisle, even though the tantalizing smell of blood leaking from that area was making his saliva flow unconsciously.

At the same time, the CCTVs at all corners of the supermarket was recording the chaos happening at all times.

Xiao Mo had already erased the mission from his mind, his memory was occupied with only his craving for food. He hugged tightly onto his stash of food as he walked. He just reached the snacks section when he finished his stash.

The dried beef had mostly disappeared from the shelves, and only one pack of it was left. Seeing the only pack left, Xiao Mo speedily stretched out his arm and grabbed hold of the last pack.

“Ah yo! I saw it first!” one middle-aged lady was a little slower. She was so angry that she lifted her hand and attempted to scratch him.

Xiao Mo didn’t want to fight her, so he turned and bolted away.

“Bang!” He collided on the back of a youth who was pushing a trolley.

The youth turned around and lifted a wine bottle he was holding, about to hit Xiao Mo’s head.

“Hi! Hey, Xiao Zhou, it’s me!” Xiao Mo saw that it was someone he knew. He shouted as he held onto the wine bottle that was about to reach his head.

The hair stylist Xiao Zhou saw that it was someone he knew. He panted heavily, “Oh, it’s you. I was so scared, I thought it was from the group of those mad people.”

Xiao Mo’s stomach was already filled with plenty of food, his rational had also started to recover. Even though it was unfitting of the surroundings, he still smiled brightly, “Xiao Zhou, are you stupid, why would you fight with these mad people just for some unpaid goods?”

Inside Xiao Mo’s heart, he refused to recognize himself as the same as the mad group of people. He lectured with a straight face, “They are mentally unsound, so when they hurt you, at most, they will get locked up for a few days. But, if you hurt them, or if there is any serious injury, you not only need to compensate them, you also need to answer the court. Say, is it really worth it? Might as well find a place to hide, the police will be coming soon.”

Xiao Zhou was shocked by his speech. Yes, why did he think of using the wine bottle to hit those people? He had not paid for the items in his shopping cart, so technically they are not his yet. So why was he guarding it? If it was snatched, he could just go get some more.

Was he similar to those mad people? Looking normal on the outside but mentally unstable? Other people wanted to eat, but he wanted to kill people?

Due to the rapid development of the move culture, people were exposed to all kinds of movies and other sources of fiction.

In this quarantine zone, Xiao Mo was not the only one who covered up that he got sick and recovered. Hair dresser Xiao Zhou was also one of them; he was one of those who could produce golden nuggets, but he managed to conceal it from the others and till now, no one knew about his ability.

Xiao Zhou thought a lot; the more he delved, the more frightened he got. He felt that he was going to transform into something non-human. There were eight octopus arms and three eyes on his head. His body transformed into wholly metallic and he started a killing spree, even killing the Xiao Zhang, the woman he loved. Then, the excitement woke him up and he was too heartbroken and got caught by the army. He was then tied to the table and his body was dissected for research; or he was locked in a secret laboratory and was used for illegal research, all kinds of research.

Xiao Zhou was shaken by his own thoughts, he pushed his trolley and dashed towards the cashier, totally forgetting to answer Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo found his reaction odd. He stared at his disappearing back as Xiao Zhou ran away. He then shrugged, turned around and continued his forage for food.

“Xiao Mo!” The kid’s scream rang through the air. The Mother of Gluttony was currently staring at him, was it because he was small and was a good target for her?

The kid scampered towards Xiao Mo.

“Xiao Hong!” Xiao Mo turned towards the scream.

“Old Xiao save me! That mad one wants to eat me!”

Xiao Mo saw the woman that was chasing Xue Li Hong.