A Question of Meat

After arriving here, they had already eaten several meals prepared by the mother of the triplets.

　　Every meal had one thing in common: the ingredients were almost entirely vegetarian, with no sign of meat. 

　　An egg was considered a luxury. 

　　Xu had even complained about it, expressing her dissatisfaction.

　　However, today's meal was different.

　　Bright red meatballs floated in the pale soup. 

　　The meatballs had a beautiful, alluring deep red color. 

　　A rich aroma wafted into everyone's noses.

　　If they hadn't just witnessed such a horrific crime scene, they would probably all have a strong appetite.

　　"Eat," the woman said. "Why aren't you eating? I made this especially for you." 

　　Her hair was a little messy, and she had an unsettling smile on her face as she stood beside them and whispered, "It's delicious."

　　No one moved their chopsticks.

　　Although the meatballs in front of them were tempting, everyone couldn't help but think of a rather unpleasant question: 

　　what kind of meat were these meatballs made of?

　　"Why aren't you eating?" the woman continued to ask, puzzled. 

　　She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, picked up her chopsticks, and grabbed a meatball. 

　　"It's delicious."

　　She put the meatball in her mouth, her white teeth chewing on the red meat, looking extremely delicious.

　　Xu covered her mouth again, her expression suggesting that the scene was making her feel nauseous. 

　　The others didn't look too good either. 

　　But the woman didn't seem to notice, picking up the second meatball with her chopsticks and stuffing it into her mouth with a satisfied expression, swallowing it in large bites.

　　"Crunch, crunch." As the woman ate the meatballs, a sound similar to chewing on brittle bones came from her mouth. 

　　Xu couldn't take it anymore and rushed to the bathroom.

　　The others also left the table one after another, wanting to get away from the woman and the steaming pot of meatballs.

　　The woman saw their frightened expressions but didn't seem to understand why. 

　　She muttered to herself, "Is the food I made not to their liking? They all love to eat it."

　　No one spoke. 

　　At this moment, everyone missed the dry bread. 

　　At least there wouldn't be any problems with that.

　　The remaining two triplets reappeared during the meal. 

　　They stood hand in hand at the door, silently watching their mother devour the food.

　　Lin was closer to them and observed them for a while out of the corner of his eye.

　　He found that, as Nan had said, one of them had shimmering powder on her shoulder, and the other had it in her hair. 

　　Lin remembered that Nan had said that the one with the powder on her shoulder was Shi and the one with it in her hair was Tu. 

　　So, the girl who was killed must be their elder sister, Yi.

　　The twins were still elusive, appearing and disappearing. 

　　After standing at the door for a while, they vanished without a trace.

　　The lunch had made everyone extremely uncomfortable.

　　They had thought dinner would be better, but to their surprise, the woman brought out another pot of steaming bone soup at dinnertime.

　　The bones in the soup were stewed with radishes, and the rich aroma once again filled their nostrils.

　　They hadn't eaten anything all day, but their faces turned pale at the sight of the bone soup.

　　Xing couldn't help but curse under his breath, "I was craving meat so badly the past few days, and now it's all meat."

　　"You dare eat this meat?" Yao was also irritated. "Who knows what it's made of."

　　Seeing that they were still not moving their chopsticks, the woman didn't urge them anymore.

　　Instead, she picked up a spoon and started drinking the soup herself. 

　　Although no one had tasted the soup, they couldn't help but feel that it was delicious.

　　"It's so good," the woman praised. "It's a pity you're not eating it."

　　So, they went without food for the rest of the day, watching the woman eat a whole pot of meat and drink a large bowl of soup.

　　After the woman finished eating, they gathered together and silently ate their tasteless dry bread.

　　"That soup looked so good," Zeng said, feeling a bit nostalgic for the food on the table earlier. "Are you sure we can't drink it?"

　　"Who knows what that soup is made of." Yao said impatiently. "Is it that hard to hold on for a few days? When we get back to our own world, no one will stop you from eating and drinking whatever you want."

　　"Where's that little girl's body? Where did her mother take it?" Xu asked softly. 

　　She sniffed the air and glanced at the meat soup on the table as if unintentionally. "If we find the body, we can drink the soup, right?"

　　Lin looked helpless, thinking to himself that this girl was really something. 

　　Even if they found the body, he wouldn't want to taste the soup. 

　　No matter how good it smelled, who knows what the ingredients really were.

　　"Should we look for it?" Yao said. "I thought the triplets were the problem before, but now I feel like it's their mother."

　　"Why don't we look for the body first?" Nan suddenly suggested. "This house isn't that big anyway."