"Do you dare?"
The man on the other side gnashes his teeth, tearing at the chunks of meat, red juices flowing from the gaping holes, his eyes glinting with a spark, as if one could hear the crackling restlessness.
A fork is waved in front, like a trident about to pierce the prey's entrails, the tip dangerously close.
Suddenly, a gluttonous hand lunges forward, sweeping everything off the table, both dry and wet, leaving only sticky, glistening clumps behind, looking quite lascivious.
The man leaps onto the table like a beast, crushing the pools of strong-smelling liquid, indifferent to the filth staining his body.
His tongue, stained a vivid red from the man's lips, flicks out, licking around, clearly unsatisfied.
In an instant, the man is close enough that their noses almost touch, just a step away from mingling saliva, sharing the even more pungent stench of chewed-up muck.
Like the scattered bits on the ground, which from a distance resemble piles of maggots, the man looks disdainfully at the scraps, exhaling hot breath as he leisurely says, "I bet you wouldn't even dare to think about it."
The man's mocking tone is like a swarm of ants stirring up an itch.
"Get yourself dirty, become like me."
Greed, anger, ignorance, sloth, doubt.
Life is delightful.
──
He closes his eyes.
Then opens them.
The table is neatly set, delicacies displayed.
He is dressed formally, sitting upright, without a hint of indecency.
He picks up the cup, the black liquid slips through his teeth and down his throat into his belly.
Inspired by two images posted by Yu Xi on Weibo on July 17, 2020. (Image One, Image Two)
The moment I saw them, a strong urge to write surged within me, as if it were clamoring to come out, a rare burst of creative energy.
It can be considered a story told through images.
It can also be said to be a sister work to “Magic. God”.