Das Grab von Qin Shi Huang

Kapitel 5

Jin Feifei nodded shyly, then reached into her purse. Everyone craned their necks, waiting to see what would happen, but to their surprise, she pulled out a medicine bottle, then swallowed a capsule with some orange juice. "I'm full," she replied with a smile.

"Seriously? Just one capsule for lunch?" Bai Min thought for a moment, then realized, "That makes sense. Apparently, quite a few people take vitamin pills to prevent weight gain after dieting." "You, Jin Feifei," she thought to herself, gritting her teeth. "You've got guts! Giving up your beloved fried chicken to maintain your figure! You're ruthless!" She quickly called out to everyone, "Come on, come on, if she won't eat, we'll eat it ourselves!" She smacked her lips as she ate, as if it were incredibly delicious.

"It smells so good," Jin Feifei said, staring intently at them as they ate heartily. "I wouldn't even dare to touch fried food like this now—I'm so envious of how you guys can eat like that and still have such great figures."

Was she implying that everyone's eating habits were unseemly? Bai Min was about to retort when Zhao Shasha asked seemingly casually, "Does Shuai Bufan know you only take pills? Didn't he say anything?"

“Him? I know him,” Jin Feifei said, her face flushed with a rosy glow. Her bright black eyes sparkled with a dreamy, girlish light. “He knows I like to eat this kind of thing but I’m too scared to, so he always buys it for me to smell.”

"I see." The members of the "Handsome Guy Protection Team" nearly lost all their morale upon hearing this. "Listen," Ma Yan said to Bai Min, and indeed to all the "team members," "Even if Jin Feifei had liposuction or some other cosmetic surgery, she's now spending all her time drinking water and taking pills to maintain her figure. Just her willpower alone puts me to shame. Since she's gone to so much trouble to be with the handsome guy, why don't we just let them be together?"

"What nonsense are you spouting! How can you give up so easily?!" Bai Min was furious. "Back in the day, we've been through much tougher times!"

“But we were young and confused back then!” Ma Yan retorted angrily. “It’s not too late to turn back now!”

"Hmph," Bai Min sneered, "You're not regretting what you did back then, are you, class monitor? Don't forget, you were the one who led us to snitch to the teacher! Now, if you kneel before her, maybe she really will forgive you..."

"Stop talking!" Zhao Shasha slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "Can't you two stop arguing and calm down?"

*Knock knock knock knock* Someone was banging on the door. It was Jin Feifei, calling them to come eat. Tonight it's a buffet.

It's the Last Supper.

Bai Min walked past Ma Yan with her head held high, saying sarcastically, "I will definitely succeed, former 'captain'!"

Zhao Shasha helped Ma Yan up and wiped away the tears on her face. "Class monitor, what can I say to you? It's precisely at times like this that we need to work together." She gently smoothed Ma Yan's disheveled hair. "The handsome guy belongs to all of us. No one can have him all to themselves, right?"

Ma Yan stared into her eyes, her gaze cold and calm. "Yes," she murmured to herself, a chill creeping down her spine.

The buffet was a success. Shuai Bufan recounted amusing anecdotes from military academy, making the girls giggle with delight. Jin Feifei sat beside him, occasionally serving him food and offering a gentle smile. Although she had paid for the buffet, she only ate one pill and didn't touch the chicken, duck, fish, or meat on the table. As the atmosphere grew lively and convivial, two waiters suddenly approached.

"Excuse me, which one of you is Mr. Shuai Bufan?" the waiter asked.

Shuai Bufan was somewhat taken aback. "What is it?"

"This is your Häagen-Dazs 'Cupid' cake," the waiter said respectfully, presenting the cake. "Is it alright to put it here?"

Just as he was wondering what was going on, the girls, led by Bai Min, stood up in unison, each holding a full glass of wine.

"This is a small token of our appreciation as classmates," Bai Min said loudly, raising her glass. The other girls followed suit, exchanging winks and glances. Suddenly, Bai Min shouted, "One, two, three!"

"I wish you happiness!" the twenty-four girls shouted in unison.

Jin Feifei blushed and hurriedly reciprocated with a toast. Upon opening the cake, they saw a heart-shaped cake with bright red strawberries spelling out "LOVE," and the snow-white cream looked incredibly tempting. "This is an ice cream cake, eat it quickly before it melts!" Bai Min quickly divided the cake, giving the "LOVE" sign to Jin Feifei and Shuai Bufan, half each.

Jin Feifei stared at the cake on the plate, her eyes vacant as if she were gazing into thin air. Bai Min couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh my, it's so delicious! It truly lives up to its reputation! Jin Feifei, why aren't you eating any?"

Jin Feifei, why aren't you eating? From the eyes of those twenty-four girls, and from Shuai Bufan's eyes, Jin Feifei clearly saw this question.

She recalled that restless afternoon when her crush, Shuai Bufan, decided to meet her. Overwhelmed with anxiety, she wandered aimlessly through the streets, eventually ending up at a place advertised as "Master of Astrology and Tarot," a place called "The Astrology Hall with Flesh and Blood." She had only intended to try her luck, but the handsome, pale astrologer's prediction of her fate was remarkably accurate! Yes, she was obese, she was gluttonous, and her uncontrollable throbbing in her esophagus was like her uncontrollable longing for Shuai Bufan! She knew perfectly well that she wasn't good enough for him…

She ran out of the astrology shop crying. As night fell, when the astrologer went out to take out the trash, he was surprised to find the desperate, helpless, overweight girl still standing under the eaves, silently sobbing…

"Want a beautiful body? That's easy." After listening to her tearful complaint, the astrologer calmly replied, "But I won't help you for nothing."

"All you need to do is sign a contract with me..."

Volume One: The Seven Deadly Sins - Gluttony: The God of Love is Named Twenty-Four (Part Five)

The contract stipulated that she could not eat anything from the human world, except for drinks and pills given to her by the astrologer. She could drink, but absolutely could not eat. She had tried all sorts of drinks, from plain water to juice, even bubble tea and thick milkshakes with fruit chunks—basically anything that could be swallowed without chewing. Everything she was doing now, this so-called abstaining from food and only taking pills, was nothing more than an extreme method to maintain her slender figure. Aren't many female celebrities like this? "Eating like a bird," exercising frantically, going to saunas, to transform every last bit of fat in their bodies into beautiful curves, so that their bones are directly and tightly enveloped by their skin—whenever she was so hungry that she was dizzy and seeing stars, and all that remained was a blur, as long as she pinched her slender calves, tapped her flat stomach without an ounce of excess fat, and stroked her waist that looked so thin it seemed about to break, her heart would be filled with supreme pride and joy. Sometimes she even doubted whether that strange astrology shop really existed, whether the so-called "contract" was a complete fabrication, and whether her beautiful face and figure, like a fashion model, were actually gifts from heaven.

And she, Jin Feifei, was born to be this beautiful.

"Jin Feifei, there's ice cream in this cake. If you don't eat it soon, the ice cream will melt," Zhao Shasha said.

She stared at the sweet-smelling cake with a look of deep resentment. The snow-white cream looked so tempting, yet so disgusting. Her vision blurred; just as Zhao Shasha had said, the cream seemed to be melting, then grotesquely flowing onto the ground, dripping wet and lunging at her like a terrifying monster. The cream's color gradually changed, no longer snow-white, but a murky, dark yellowish-brown, like lard. In her eyes, it wasn't a cake at all, but a huge, utterly repulsive lump of human fat!

She nearly vomited. At that moment, Shuai Bufan stared at her with astonishment in his bright eyes.

"What's wrong, Feifei?" he asked. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, no, no," she shook her head repeatedly, afraid of affecting Shuai Bufan's mood. "I was a little distracted just now, I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Shuai Bufan smiled slightly and handed the cake to her. "Here, have something to eat. This is their kind gesture."

“That’s right, that’s right,” Bai Min chimed in, “Eat it while it’s fresh, or it won’t taste good.”

Jin Feifei was still hesitating, "But... such a high-calorie food..."

"Let's make an exception today!" Bai Min said. "A piece of cake won't make you gain much weight. How about we go for a run together tonight and burn off the calories from the cake?"

Shuai Bufan also spoke up, "Feifei, just one bite, okay?"

Jin Feifei had no choice. Everyone held their breath, twenty-five pairs of eyes staring intently at her as she used a fork to put a small piece of cream into her mouth.

Just one bite. Only one bite.

A slice of cream. Just one slice.

The cool cream melted gently on her tongue, its refreshing and smooth texture lingering in her mouth. She instinctively pressed her palate against the roof of her mouth, but the delicate cream had already silently melted in her throat and heart, sliding down like silk with the aroma of strawberries.

It's so delicious!

Her hands trembled violently as she stabbed the cake a second time with the fork. She was so excited that she could barely hold the fork, so Shuai Bufan smiled and fed her a bite.

"Is it good? Do you want some?" he asked.

She was too excited to speak, only nodding vigorously. Her eyes were fixed on the cake; nothing else mattered. The fork was too small! She abruptly shook off Shuai Bufan's hand, and with both hands like a tiger pouncing on its prey, grabbed a clump of cream and threw it into her mouth.

She chewed voraciously, her mind preoccupied with her own grievances. How much delicious food had she sacrificed to lose weight, starving herself and harming her health? And what was the result? All just to please a man? How could she have been so foolish?

Handsome men or delicious food, that is the question. —Anu from The Legend of Sword and Fairy

She wolfed down her food, forgetting to take her fingers out of her mouth. With the cream in her mouth, her fingers crunched and crackled, a sound that sent chills down one's spine. All twenty-four girls were stunned, as was Shuai Bufan. He finally realized what was happening, grabbed Jin Feifei's arm, and shouted, "Eat slower! Take your hands out!"

However, Jin Feifei ignored her. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed violently, her fingers splattering from her mouth onto the table, landing starkly on the messy white cake. Her bare, fingerless hand scooped up cream like a spatula and brought it straight to her mouth. As she tilted her head back and opened her gaping maw, a round ball rolled onto the table.

It was a dark blue glass ball, as deep and bright as a grape. Shuai Bufan picked it up and was surprised to find that it matched the hollow in Jin Feifei's eye socket with astonishing accuracy.

Jin Feifei looked out through her only remaining eyeball. The cake was all gone, and the cream had been licked clean. However, in front of her were twenty-five enormous, fleshy-yellow creatures, timidly moving backward. Little did they know that they were emanating a sweet and alluring scent unique to their flesh. Even if they tried desperately to conceal it with their fur and cloth, how could Jin Feifei, a gourmet, not smell it?

"That taste is absolutely intoxicating!" she grinned maliciously, taking a huge drag...

The astrologer stood expressionless outside the cafeteria window. The lights in the cafeteria had just gone out, followed by a woman's screams and the sounds of fighting. Then, the sounds of the living were shrouded in the aura of death... Now it was finally quiet, no, perhaps deathly silence would be a more accurate description.

“You’re just in time this time,” said the doll named “Maya”, who was still sitting on the astrologer’s shoulders. She was now restlessly swinging on her toes. “You’ve hit the jackpot, a full twenty-six!”

The astrologer gently corrected her, "Twenty-five. You forgot, men are not within my scope of protection."

"Hmph, you really are a shameless pervert!" Maya grabbed the astrologer's hair hard. "I'm going to uphold justice on behalf of the moon and eliminate you in the name of the girls!"

"Destroy me?" The astrologer gave a bitter laugh for the first time. "That's exactly what I've been longing for, Maya." He brushed aside his half-black, half-white yin-yang hair, revealing a section of pale, bloodless neck skin. "Come on, kill me, as long as you... have the ability."

Maya stared at him blankly, then suddenly bit his neck. Blood trickled down her lip, staining it red. Her cat-eye eyes shone brightly.

"One day I will kill you with my own hands, because no one but me can hurt you."

She loosened her teeth, licking her lips as if savoring the taste. "Now, let's deal with the soul of that 'glutton' first."

Shanghai Express, October 7th: A strange incident occurred yesterday at a large department store. Several months ago, the company lost a complete mannequin, along with its matching wig and glass eyeballs. Yesterday, the company's night watchman found the missing mannequin standing in the center of the company's first-floor pool, with only one glass eyeball missing and four broken fingers on its right hand.

Strangely, Manager Sun from the company claimed that based on the tag on the mannequin, it was undoubtedly the one the company had lost. However, Manager Sun said, "I don't understand what's going on. The figures of mannequins are all made according to international human body standards, and this one is no exception, just like all the other mannequins. The mannequin's face is also a standard expressionless face."

"But why is this model's belly so big, like a pregnant woman's, yet she has such a satisfied smile on her face, as if she just ate and drank her fill?"

Book One: The Seven Deadly Sins - Envy: The Eyes of the Dead (Part 1)

I saw myself in the eyes of the dead.

Beneath my feet was a sheer cliff, and above me, the sky was an unchanging, gloomy, and lifeless gray-blue. So I spread my arms, letting the wind billow and fill my sleeves. White clouds rushed upwards from my sight, and I pretended not to hear the whistling wind in my ears, stretching out my hands, hoping to grasp the air for a moment.

The feeling of freedom is wonderful!

Then I heard a dull thud, like a truck unloading a sack of rice, weighing dozens of kilograms, crashing to the ground. My vision jolted violently, then gradually blurred—something shattered before my eyes, and I slowly went blind. Patches of white vision peeled away from my retina, and my eyeballs became faintly blurred with blood. For some reason, I suddenly became unable to move, not even having the strength to get up. I thought I heard a woman scream, and felt some people gradually gathering around me, chattering—then, I saw a pair of women's feet.

Size 36, red sheepskin high-heeled sandals. Each toe was meticulously maintained, each toenail adorned with a black lotus pattern. I knew these feet all too well. Through my bloodstained gaze, I looked up, slowly climbing along the curves of my body, and finally, I saw my own face.

A face so shocked it was almost deathly pale.

When I woke up, I was drenched in sweat. It was pitch black, and my roommates were all fast asleep, except for her. The pale moonlight shone on her empty bed, making the pure white sheets look like a dead fish turned upside down, a gruesome sight. I instinctively closed my eyes.

She died.

Just two days ago, my best friend and roommate of four years, Anya, jumped from the top floor of the school library and died.

Anya is a well-behaved and quiet girl who has never caused her family any worry since childhood. She effortlessly gained admission to a prestigious university and smoothly entered into a happy relationship. Her boyfriend is in our class, handsome, academically excellent, athletic, and exceptionally considerate towards her. With the consent of both sets of parents, they got engaged this May Day and are said to be getting married soon. Honestly, happiness seems to have been destined to surround her, never showing any favor to me. While she and her boyfriend are enjoying their bliss, I've encountered one worse man after another, constantly being pursued and dumped, repeating the same repetitive, mechanical cycle. To be honest, I am a little jealous of her.

However, on the night of our graduation dinner, when everyone jokingly asked her when she was getting married, her face suddenly darkened, and she nearly dropped her wine glass—although she immediately pretended to be drunk, my eyes and my intuition told me that things weren't so simple. Later, everyone was busy toasting, and no one noticed when she disappeared. When I went to the restroom, I suddenly heard a low, suppressed, muffled sob coming from inside.

"Who is it?" I wondered. Graduation inevitably means going our separate ways, and sadness is unavoidable, but surely not someone would hide in the bathroom and cry alone? I pricked up my ears, making sure it wasn't my imagination, and then gently pushed open the bathroom door—

In that instant, we looked each other up and down, and before I could even call out, she had already swayed and straightened up, brushing past me.

"No!" I hugged her tightly, and her petite, frail body slumped into my arms. The strong smell of alcohol almost made me faint on the spot. I stroked her hair and asked her what was wrong. She shook her head, saying nothing, just shaking her head.

She kept shaking her head. Tears streamed down her cheeks, forming a long river on my vest.

She didn't go back to her dorm that night because she said she didn't want to. We booked a room at the tallest hotel in the city, and I stayed with her, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the stars all night long.

Perhaps, there's also the moon.

As dawn broke, I helped her into the taxi. She was as docile as a kitten, falling into a deep sleep in my arms. Looking at her bittersweet sleeping face, I was filled with a sigh.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes.

"Where am I?" she looked around frantically. "I need to get off! Oh my god, we've missed it!"

"What's wrong? I'll take you back to your dorm right away." I tried my best to persuade her to calm down.

"Let me out of the car! Driver, quick!" she cried, struggling to break free from me while frantically pounding on the car door. "Let me out!"

She must have gone mad. The driver had to stop, staring in disbelief as she, who had just been as listless as a cat, leaped out of the car like a whirlwind and ran straight across the street. I hurriedly followed behind her, watching as she disappeared into a dark shop.

"Astrology, Tarot—he's an expert in everything." I noticed a yellowish piece of paper pasted on the shop door, with eight crookedly written characters. What kind of place is this? A fortune teller? The morning mist was gradually thickening, and I couldn't even see how deep the shop was. So I called out, "Anya!"

There was no reply. My voice seemed to be sucked into an unfathomable black hole, silent and without a single answer. Suddenly, I felt a chill run through me and shivered. "Anya!" I called her name and rushed inside. However, my steps abruptly stopped.

She was smiling. She nodded repeatedly, then covered her mouth with the back of her hand as if someone had known her secret, laughing softly. From her eyes, swollen like peaches, shone the same gentle, confident light she used to have. Every now and then, she would look up, as if confirming something, and speak quickly.

However, there was no one in front of her at all!

Book One: The Seven Deadly Sins - Envy: The Eyes of the Dead (Part Two)

I could see it clearly: her every move seemed to be a pleasant conversation with someone, but there was nothing in front of her except for the air! She laughed at the air, she nodded at the air, and she even spoke to the air!

"Really?" she said with relief, her face beaming. "Now I can rest easy!"

A sense of dread rose from the soles of my feet. I rushed over and pulled her to my side, desperate to get as far away from that eerie place as possible. Anya offered no resistance, letting me drag her to the doorway. She simply waved behind me with a grin: