"It's disgusting ... "Qiao Jiajin frowned at the dirty stuff on the ground, "This pungent stench, it can't be excrement, can it?"
Excreta?
Qi Xia suddenly turned her head to look at Qiao Jiajin.
This was an interesting point of view.
In other words there were other people here besides the nine of them and the animal masks.
Or rather ... other 'things'.
This person or 'thing' looked like it had been living here for a long time, otherwise it wouldn't have been possible to leave excrement all over the place.
The crowd rummaged around and couldn't find any needles, thread or gauze at all. And there was no pharmacy or clinic to be seen outside the convenience store, so going out blindly to look for them, Han Yimo was afraid that he wouldn't be able to last that long.
"What can we do ...," Officer Li crossed his arms and looked helplessly at Dr. Zhao, seemingly seeking his opinion.
Before Dr. Zhao could say anything, there was a rattle behind the convenience store's cash register, and the door to the employee lounge slowly opened.
The nine people were startled and immediately took a few steps back to look at the slowly opening door.
A thin silhouette flashed out from behind that door.
Fixing their eyes on the door, the one who went out was actually a girl who was so thin that she couldn't be seen, and it was impossible to tell her age at all.
Her cheeks were deeply sunken, and her eyes bulged outwards, as if there was no meat left on her entire face.
She pursed her dry, cracked lips and looked curiously at the few people.
After a short period of time in a daze, she seemed to be reacting as if she had reacted, hurriedly organizing her dirty and tattered clothes, and speaking in a hoarse voice, she said, "Welcome to ... visit."
Welcome ... to visit?
Officer Li carefully comprehended the meaning of this sentence and seemed to understand it.
"Are you a ... store clerk?"
The girl nodded, "Uh-huh."
The crowd didn't say anything else because this matter revealed a wave of irrationality.
Not to mention why there were other humans here, even if she really was a 「store clerk」, why would she be working in a convenience store that was already completely dilapidated?
Seeing that the crowd did not make a move, the clerk could only tentatively say, "Please feel free to choose."
Although he said that, there was no room for "selection" here.
There were almost no merchandise on the shelves, and the only things that were there were rotting and covered in filth.
The store clerk's eyes were dull and dead looking at the few people.
The gaze scared a few of the girls a little.
"Any needles and threads?" Qi Xia asked the shopkeeper without changing his face.
"Needle ... thread?" The clerk's godless eyes moved slightly, then she stretched out her hand and simulated the action of threading a needle, "You mean ... this kind of needle and thread?"
Only then did the crowd realize that her hands were covered in dried black blood, which was appalling.
Qi Xia took another step forward and said, "It is this kind of needle and thread, do you sell it?"
"Liar, you ..." Qiao Jiajin thought he was the boldest person under the sky before he met Qi Xia, but now even he didn't dare to talk to this woman, "This woman isn't normal, can't you see? "
"So what if I can't see it?" Qi Xia said smoothly, "Our situation can't be worse than it is now."
The female sales clerk stayed in thought for a while longer, and all of a sudden, she opened the partition of the front desk and rushed out.
It was only then that the crowd got a full view of her.
She was wearing a dirty and fat white shirt that was as incongruous as clothes hanging on a hanger.
The shirt was smeared with something that felt like oil and blood.
This shirt almost reached her knees, and her lower body seemed to have no pants on, her thighs were all covered in dried blood.
Qi Xia frowned slightly and tried to take a step back, but was strangled by the shopgirl's wrist.
He felt like his wrist was wrapped around an old vine, dry and raw.
"I have it here!!!" The shopgirl opened her mouth, revealing yellowed teeth, "There's 'needle and thread'! You come with me!"
Her hand kept pointing towards the 'staff lounge' as if she wanted Qi Xia to follow her in.
The crowd was truly intimidated by her, just based on this woman's current behavior, walking in with her was really not a good idea.
"Forget it ... we're not buying!" Qiao Jiajin walked up and tried to pull the woman's hand away, "You let go first."
But the shopgirl acted as if she hadn't heard, pulling Qi Xia to move her feet while revealing a happy smile.
"There's "Needle and Thread" right inside this room! You come!"
Her strength was even greater than the two big men, Qiao Jiajin and Qi Xia, combined.
"Hey! Come help!" Qiao Jiajin yelled back.
Officer Li and Dr. Zhao came back to their senses and rushed up as well.
The female store clerk couldn't help but quicken her pace.
Qi Xia only felt a huge force dragging her down, completely unable to break free.
The duo was not far from that employee lounge, and now in six or seven steps they had already entered the room.
Dr. Zhao and Officer Li were pulling Qi Xia outwards, but they didn't expect the female clerk to suddenly let go.
"Ah!"
With a cry of surprise, several people almost fell down.
After each of them stabilized their bodies, they saw that the shopgirl didn't care about a few people, but instead turned back over and rummaged through the house looking for something.
The four men also surveyed the room in shock.
It was slightly cleaner than the outside, and there was a folding bed in the corner, the bedding was yellowed.
There was also a large spread of blood on it, which looked relatively fresh.
In another corner, a rusty iron pot was sitting on a simple stove, and something was cooking inside it with a grumble.
And the shopgirl, oblivious to everything, was rummaging around in an old chest.
"Where is it ... needle and thread ..." She kept throwing out the contents of the box, which contained cans, old magazines, and pots and pans.
Qiao Jiajin rubbed his nose and looked over at the iron pot.
"Speaking of which, I'm pretty hungry." He whispered to Qi Xia, "If only she wasn't a crazy woman, I'd like to ask her if she could let me dabble in a meal."
Zixia glanced at the iron pot, in which something white was cooking.
He was also feeling a little hungry.
"You dare to eat something from this place?" Officer Li asked, "Who knows how dirty ... that stuff is."
"But it smells good."
Qiao Jiajin was right, thanks to the blessing of this iron pot, the smell in the room actually smelled good, covering the stench.
"What are you cooking?" Qiao Jiajin asked boldly, it seemed like he really wanted to take a bite.
"Little piglets." The shopgirl replied.
"Little piglets?"
Qiao Jiajin became interested and was about to take a look at the iron pot when the shopgirl exclaimed.
"Ah! Found it!"
Only to see her turn around, holding an object in both hands, she said to the crowd with gusto, "Look! Needle and thread!"
Officer Li went up to take a look, and his face was a bit embarrassed.
It wasn't a 'needle and thread', but a rusty fish hook, plus a small bundle of messy fishing line.
He turned to look at Dr. Zhao and signaled to him with his eyes.
Dr. Zhao gave a slight thought, stared at the fish hook and fishing line and opened his mouth to ask, "Girl, are there any other needles and threads?"
"No more." The shopgirl shook her head, "Only this one, are you buying it?"