Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 132

Ye Zhou grows increasingly restless as Cao’er still hasn’t returned. He wants to go look for Sarah, but what matters more right now is Cao’er’s safety and whatever news she has uncovered. There are no streetlights in the town, and the faint glow from house windows isn’t nearly enough to illuminate the streets.

Even with a telescope, Ye Zhou only manages to catch a glimpse of Cao’er when she first leaves the house.

Then, he sees all the residents step out onto the street at the same time.

He watches as Cao’er runs outside and is quickly led into an alley by the old woman. The two of them speak for a while, and then Cao’er obediently follows her.

Ye Zhou, who can see but not hear, suddenly realizes with regret—he has forgotten to equip Cao’er with a micro camera.

He curses himself for being careless and anxious.

“Let’s head in now.” Ye Zhou turns to Zou Ming, frowning, the telescope still in his hand. He has been standing there since day turned to night. Though his body is tired, his nerves remain taut.

It would be better if he went in himself.

At least we wouldn’t be sitting here helplessly.

But Zou Ming disagrees. “Let’s wait a bit. Cao’er knows what she’s doing. She has a gun. She won’t be easily taken hostage.”

Ye Zhou purses his lips and raises the telescope again.

But Cao’er and the old woman have already turned a corner—one the telescope can’t see.

Ye Zhou mutters, “We wait until dawn. If she doesn’t come out by then, we’re going in and dragging that dwarf out.”

Although Ye Zhou believes that torture is uncivilized, once the people around him are in danger, his bottom line becomes irrelevant.

Zou Ming nods and doesn’t argue. He knows exactly what kind of person Ye Zhou is.

Fortunately, they don’t have to wait long. Just before sunrise, when the sky is barely light, Ye Zhou sees a flickering beam of light in a window—it flashes three times.

It is the signal they agreed on earlier. Cao’er is telling them where she is and to come straight to the house.

“Let’s move before the roosters crow,” Ye Zhou says, quickly packing up.

He won’t feel at ease until he sees her.

Zou Ming silently helps pack. He doesn’t let Ye Zhou carry anything. Ye Zhou tries to grab the bag, but can’t outmatch him, so Zou Ming carries the load.

Luckily, the city wall is low and unguarded—after all, it isn’t wartime. The town’s defenses are nearly nonexistent. In a place this small, war renders any defense meaningless.

Everyone in the town is still asleep. In a time without electric lights or entertainment, people live by the sun—rising and resting with it.

And kerosene isn’t cheap. In a pre-industrial age, all oil is expensive.

Ye Zhou and Zou Ming climb the wall easily and slip into the town.

There are no patrols, no watchmen, no lights. It isn’t hard to find the house that signaled them.

Though they don’t know the full situation yet, Ye Zhou already has a rough idea why Cao’er obediently follows the old woman.

Because she isn’t treated as “prey”—she’s been recruited as a new member by the hunters.

Ye Zhou is just about to knock gently when the door opens from the inside.

Cao’er peeks out with a kerosene lamp in hand. Seeing Ye Zhou clearly, she steps aside and opens the door fully. Once Ye Zhou and Zou Ming enter, she checks the surroundings and quietly shuts the door.

Still uneasy, she drags a cabinet over to block it.

After securing the entrance, she places the lamp on the table. It’s her first time seeing a kerosene lamp. The novelty lasts all of two minutes before fading. If she isn’t worried that a flashlight would be too bright, she wouldn’t use it at all.

Ye Zhou sits down. Finally, his heart settles.

Zou Ming pulls water and bread from his bag.

Ye Zhou hasn’t eaten all night, too anxious about Sarah and Cao’er. Now that things seem safe, hunger hits him, but he doesn’t start eating. He waits for Cao’er to speak.

She sits across from them and, after a moment of thought, says seriously, “I think everyone here is a human trafficker. They trick relatives and villagers into coming, drug them, and once the people fall asleep, someone comes to take them away. But they didn’t tell me where they’re being taken. Probably hard labor?” she guesses, then frowns. “But there are kids too. I doubt children could do hard labor.” A second later, she smacks her forehead. “I’m stupid. Of course—it’s because kids are in demand. People are always looking to buy children.”

Ye Zhou shakes his head. He combines Sarah’s background with what Cao’er has uncovered and quickly reaches a conclusion:

This isn’t just a town of traffickers.

This town exists to provide fresh blood—for vampires.

And the people here? Ghouls, or puppets, under their control.

They lure in loved ones and friends just to keep their own comfortable lives. The moment they compromise once, it becomes easier to compromise again, and again, and again.

Life here must be significantly better than elsewhere—why else would so many people throw away their conscience just to keep living like this?

“Forget business for now.” Ye Zhou isn’t thinking about trade anymore.

There’s something more urgent.

“Sarah is here,” he tells Cao’er. “We have to find her.”

Cao’er freezes. “Didn’t sister return to her dimension? She came here secretly? Why do we need to find her? Shouldn’t she be looking for us?”

Ye Zhou patiently explains Sarah’s situation in this world.

Cao’er listens in disbelief. Her mouth falls open slightly. “Her… hands and feet were broken?”

She can’t process it.

Sarah has always been strong. No one could bully her. She did whatever she wanted. She was everything Cao’er aspired to be.

But now the Lord Immortal is telling her that Sarah has been abused, crippled—forced to crawl on the ground.

“Sister…” Cao’er whispers. “Where might she be held?”

She jumps up, fired with determination. She finally has a chance to repay Sarah.

Ever since Sarah arrived at the supermarket, she has been the kindest to Cao’er—taking her in, teaching her, caring for her.

Cao’er has always felt she could never return the favor. Sarah was too powerful—no matter how hard Cao’er tried, she could never catch up.

Now she has the chance—but she can’t feel happy about it.

She sniffles. Though no tears fall, her eyes are red.

“I saw her in the alley behind the castle,” Ye Zhou says, tapping the table with his fingers. “Zou Ming and I can’t stay here long. We’ll enter again through the city gate tomorrow. We’ll assume new identities,” Ye Zhou adds.

Two men aren’t likely to be targeted as prey. If they’re strangers with no ties to the town, it might even increase their chances of being lured in.

The town is full of elderly and weak people—likely because they can’t survive elsewhere. Becoming a ghoul under vampire control is the only way to get by.

And with no other options, people throw themselves wholeheartedly into that role, linking their survival with the vampires’ success.

Cao’er nods, though she is clearly nervous. “The dwarf told me that the Duchess lives in the castle. She warned me not to go near the three alleys around it. Only the Duchess’s servants are allowed there. She said people in the castle always watch those alleys. If someone enters—They’ll catch them. She didn’t say why, but since they’re leech monsters… they probably catch them to drink blood.”

Ye Zhou: “…”

To this day, Cao’er still doesn’t know the term “vampire.” To her, they are “leech monsters.”

They are both bloodsuckers, but the difference between them is enormous.

“Then we’ll go at night,” Ye Zhou says. “This town’s been peaceful too long. They’ll be more relaxed at night.”

Ye Zhou doesn’t believe that the most dangerous place is the safest. If they try in daylight, they’ll be caught—not just by castle servants, but by passing townsfolk.

Night is safer. Even if spotted, no one would see their faces clearly.

“Tomorrow night. The sooner, the better,” Ye Zhou says softly. “As soon as we find Sarah, we leave.”

If Sarah vanishes just after their arrival, even an idiot would start making connections.

Cao’er asks hesitantly, “Lord Immortal… can sister’s hands and feet heal?”

Ye Zhou nods. “Of course. If they couldn’t, the Sarah you remember wouldn’t be alive and well. Let’s go,” Ye Zhou says, standing up. “Be careful. We’ll come find you tomorrow night.”

They need to act before dawn.

In a pitch-black cellar, Sarah lies flat on the ground. Her eyes haven’t regenerated, and most of her ears have been cut off.

She can’t hear. She can’t see. Her chest and stomach, sliced open, slowly rise and fall. Her organs spill out and now lie beside her, connected only by fragile threads of intestine.

Her world is absolute darkness.

In that windowless cellar, she is like a corpse that can still breathe.

Before she loses her hearing, she hears her so-called brother say:

“Stop struggling.”

“Why can’t you just die?”

“Aren’t you ashamed of your bastard blood?”

Sarah opens her mouth, tongue half regrown, and tries to scream for help.

But she can only manage a series of muffled cries.

Someone…

Please…

Someone save me…

I’ll do anything.