Chapter 123: Lock the Door, Release the Chicken!

Su Mei Mei looked absolutely miserable. Her body was swollen with over 30 large, purple-yellow lumps, making her look significantly larger. The biggest lumps were the size of fists, and even the smallest ones were as big as walnuts. Especially on her face, the swelling was so severe that her eyes had disappeared beneath the puffiness. Some of the lumps were getting even larger, and Jing Shu could see fluid building up inside them.

Jing Shu didn't fully understand the science behind this, but she hadn't expected the bee stings to be so potent. Clearly, using her chicken, which had already built some resistance, as a test subject hadn't been enough to gauge the full effect. Jing Shu was very pleased with the results, although she wondered if the effects might include lasting damage.

"Is that you? You b*tch!" Su Mei Mei screamed upon hearing Jing Shu’s voice. Her words were slurred and unclear due to the swelling in her face. She flailed her arms wildly and accidentally slammed into the edge of the guardroom's table, causing her to fall. As she hit the ground, one of her swollen lumps burst, spilling yellow pus everywhere, and she let out another pained scream.

"It hurts so much!" Su Mei Mei whimpered, now with exposed flesh where her skin had torn.

Jing Shu looked on, feeling a pang of sympathy for the pain, though her tone remained indifferent. "See? That's what they call karma. So, who else wants to visit my house now?"

The three others who had accompanied Su Mei Mei were also covered in swollen lumps, though not as severely as Su Mei Mei. Still, their large, swollen stings were on the verge of bursting. The sight terrified them—none of them had ever seen bees this deadly before.

"You... just wait!" Su Mei Mei seethed with hatred, her mind boiling with thoughts of revenge. She had plotted a thousand ways to take Jing Shu down, but being stung by bees on her way to carry out her plan had never crossed her mind.

In the end, Su Mei Mei had to call her father to come pick her up, and the other three, limping and swollen, headed home. In the sweltering heat, with no available medicine to treat their bee stings, Jing Shu simply shook her head and left them to their own fate.

Half an hour passed, and the group chat remained silent. Someone finally spoke up.

- Zhang Bing Bing's First Husband: "So, what happened? Did they have a lot of eggs and vegetables in there?"

- Zhang Bing Bing's Second Husband: "Yeah, are they keeping it all to themselves? No word yet."

- Shi Zi: "We got stung by some damn bees on the way. Su Mei Mei got taken to the hospital, and we're all swollen up."

- Wang Xuemei: "Serves you right."

Jing Shu knew that Su Mei Mei’s remarks earlier in the day would make some people envious, especially since food was scarce in the neighborhood. While a few families, like "Young Lady with Baby" and Wang Qiqi, still had some reserves, eggs and fresh vegetables were too tempting to ignore.

At dinner, the topic naturally came up, and Jing Shu’s mother was furious, cursing Su Mei Mei for being so shameless. "We've cut ties with her, but she's still looking for trouble. Just like her heartless father—a real ungrateful wretch!"

Suddenly, Jing Shu's phone alarm went off, signaling that someone had approached the villa.

"Even if that woman didn’t kill my mother, she’s definitely involved. I swear, I’m going to kill her. And then we’ll split the food. You guys take most of it, and I’ll take a smaller share," Zhou Pan Cheng whispered to his companions. As soon as he heard there was food in the villa, he contacted his buddies, all of whom were seasoned criminals, well-versed in robbery. They had worked together many times and knew exactly what to do. Lately, though, they had all been starving, unable to find anything of value to exchange for food.

"Let’s kill them first and then take the stuff."

"Next time, call us when you have another good lead. I heard the government and those rich people are hoarding all the food, leaving nothing for us."

"Hey, the door’s open—saves us the trouble. Let’s go."

In the pitch-black night, the group stepped through the villa gate. But just as they entered, they heard a loud bang. The door had slammed shut behind them.

"Who's there?!"

The group froze in terror, turning to see glowing green eyes in the darkness. Moments later, blood-curdling screams echoed from the villa.

...

When Jing Shu’s phone alerted her to the intruders, she checked the infrared monitors. She saw five men approaching, armed with tools and weapons. "Looks like some people, probably encouraged by what Su Mei Mei said earlier, are here to rob us."

Jing Shu’s grandmother’s hands shook, memories of the last attack flooding her mind.

"Don’t worry, it’s only a few people. I’ll activate the traps," Jing Shu reassured her family, heading toward the courtyard. But before she could even open the traps, she saw something unusual.

The The Fat Chicken, which had been growing more cunning lately, had used its beak to open the gate, allowing the intruders to enter. As Jing Shu frowned, trying to figure out what was going on, the chicken flapped its wings and closed the door behind them, its eyes gleaming with a bloodthirsty glint. It looked at Jing Shu, as if waiting for her command.

Jing Shu realized the chicken wanted permission to attack, and she gave the order. What happened next was astonishing.

The chicken launched itself at one of the men, its claws sinking into his head as it viciously pecked at his eyes, gouging one out and swallowing it whole. The chicken, now more excited than ever, moved on to the other eye.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

"Ahhh, my eyes!" the man screamed.

Panicked, the others swung their weapons at the chicken, trying to fend it off.

The chicken dodged a knife but took a blow from a hammer. Shrieking in anger, it flapped its wings and attacked another man, ripping into his eyes.

In no time, the fight was over. Though the men had initially tried to resist, the chicken quickly blinded each of them, pecking their eyes out and even eating part of their brains. Soon, the courtyard was silent. Jing Shu approached the scene, finding the men lying lifeless on the ground, their empty eye sockets staring up at nothing.

In the darkness, the chicken stood tall, radiating an intimidating aura. It let out a triumphant cluck, clearly proud of its handiwork.

"The Fat Chicken?" Jing Shu called out.

"Cluck cluck!" What?

Jing Shu noticed something strange in the chicken’s eyes. After a moment, she realized what it was: the chicken’s eyes no longer looked like those of a mere animal. They had become more human, more intelligent.

Eyes are the windows to the soul, and through the chicken’s eyes, Jing Shu could see emotions and thoughts that were almost human. It finally dawned on her what had been off about the chicken recently: it had reached a bottleneck in its evolution, and by eating human eyes, it had broken through the barrier between animal and human intelligence.

Jing Shu examined the spot where the chicken had been hit with the hammer. Its thick skin had absorbed the blow without so much as a scratch.

After snapping a few photos, Jing Shu disposed of the bodies. She realized that tonight’s events presented an opportunity to send a message to the group chat, to dissuade others from coveting what wasn’t theirs.

- Jing Shu: "@Everyone, a group just tried to rob my house. Five people. If you’re missing anyone, feel free to come claim them."