Fleeing Famine with the Whole Village, I Cleared Out a Japanese Stronghold Along the Way

After three years of drought, corpses litter the land. Lin Zhaodi is beaten to death with a stick by her grandfather, Lin Laokou, then wrapped in a mat and thrown into a mass grave. All for a few silver dollars, he had planned to sell her to the enemy as a child bride.

When she opens her eyes again, she has a "black-hole space" in her mind. The whole village laughs at her wretched lot in life, but she touches her empty stomach and sneers. "A wretched life? Then I'll devour the heavens!"

While others farm, she devours the world. With a thought, any grain, guns, medicine, or blockhouse marked as "enemy supplies" becomes sustenance for her space. She devours a granary and grows matchboxes and glass jars; she devours an armory and spits out foreign rifles and sacks of cement. She even dares to haul away the stables, then releases a flock of fake pigeons to throw the enemy camp into chaos. She doesn't care about good or evil, only food: "I don't care if they're Japanese invaders or collaborators. If they've got food, they're good for something!"

While fleeing famine, she picks up Lu Yan, a scholar who has fainted from hunger. She eyes him like a meat bun, but he smiles gently. "Benefactor, I may not be able to lift a chicken, but I can keep accounts, falsify the books, and fill in the holes you dig." From then on, one of them devours warehouses while the other cleans up the mess. The enemy forces are bewildered: Where's the grain? The guns? The blockhouse foundations? The treacherous village head is scared out of his wits.

Lin Laokou returns to the village, starved into a beggar, and kneels to beg for a bite of braised pork. Lin Zhaodi holds out the bowl, letting him savor its aroma. Her eyes are colder than a blade. "Back then, you sold me for silver dollars. Now I'll let you smell the meat. Want a taste? Pay with your life!"

Later, tall buildings rise in the mountain valley, refugees have food, and children can go to school. Lu Yan asks whether she means to save the world. Chewing on a steamed bun, she says, "I'm not saving anyone. I just hate seeing food wasted on beasts." Yet whenever the nation is in peril, enemy warehouses are always emptied. People say a field-snail fairy lives in the mountains, but only Lu Yan knows the truth: she's no immortal. She's the living King of Hell, collecting debts on behalf of those starved to death, devouring the injustices of a chaotic age and bringing a hot meal to the people!