Above the altar, Bone Pills floated; in the livestock pens, kindling flames suddenly flared**
Lu Zhao jolted awake from unconsciousness. His head throbbed as if someone had struck it hard with a hammer. Before him stood rotting, blackened wooden fences, enclosing him on all sides beneath a narrow strip of sky. The oppressive space made it hard to breathe. The air reeked of pungent sourness and rust, mingled with a nauseating stench of blood. He realized he was inside a huge "meat pen," crammed in with people who were gaunt and hollow-eyed, like livestock awaiting slaughter. Low sobs could be heard from the human enclosure now and then, along with
After I Came Down the Mountain, My Senior Sisters Fought to Raise Me