Jing Shu found her pro-grade butchering tool, a steel awl thinner than a finger and about fifty centimeters long. She custom-made it in the Rubik's Cube Space. The awl had a blood groove, and in the space it could be used like a spear. It didn't hit as hard as a rifle, but with her mind guiding it, it pierced a pig's skull in an instant.
Traditionally, you kill pigs with a knife, just like Wei Chang said, tie the legs tight and hang them, drive the blade into the neck and twist so it dies faster. The pig can only shriek and thrash.
In industrial plants, it's usually an electric kill. They clamp both ears like headphones, shock the pig unconscious and pierce through, then the blood drains fast and clean. There's poison and gun methods too, but Jing Shu wasn't considering those. She was imitating the electric kill, stab through the brain for instant paralysis, then bleed it out, quiet, quick, accurate, steady.
Of course, to keep roasted pig brain tasting right, Jing Shu put in extra care.
She drew a deep breath. She knew she was strong, but she didn't know how strong. She was heading to America soon, and she needed a fresh read on her own power. Since that trip was essentially a steal-something mission, danger was inevitable, maybe even fights to the death.
She wouldn't expose her space powers. If she couldn't use poison bees or snakes and couldn't fire a gun, then in close quarters how would she kill fast, in one strike? Jing Shu figured practicing on pigs would help.
If you swing a knife and don't kill in one blow, the scream spooks everyone. Even if there's no one else, with her strength a slash could take half a shoulder, but you risk a desperate counterattack and a mess of blood.
Jing Shu preferred the kind where your hand moves, the target drops, and there isn't even a sound. It's practical for a chase or a stealth break-in that turns close quarters. She shook her head hard. Enough. Don't overdramatize. It might not be that dangerous.
"Let's test on you," Jing Shu said, walking at a lazy black pig with the awl. The others were either sleeping or snorting softly.
It was pitch-black, rain ticking steadily, her footsteps soundless as she slipped closer to the pen. Everything felt casual, ordinary.
She'd told Wei Chang she'd stun the pig. That was a lie. She was going to kill it right in the pen.
She reached the target, then took it off guard. She bent, gathered power, spun the awl, and drove it through the ear. Jing Shu used all her strength. There was a dull thud. The awl punched through the ear and slammed into the ground beneath. The pig's scream cut off mid-note. Jing Shu didn't pin it fast enough, so it bolted several meters and smashed into the wall, then crashed over. Blood pooled fast. The whole pen erupted.
"What a waste, there goes two rounds of spicy blood pudding," Jing Shu muttered, grabbing a bucket to catch the blood. The ruckus had the black pigs panicking.
"Illusion, activate."
In a blink, the pigs settled back into lazy calm, as if nothing had happened. You had to admit, the Rubik's Cube Space ability was insanely strong.
Jing Shu exhaled. She'd hit too hard. The blood-grooved awl buried into the ground, and because the blood didn't gush in an instant, the pig hadn't had time to reflexively fight back. It was just like with people. When you're struck hard, your limbs flail.
She kept learning and refining, treating each pig as a future target, even simulating counterattacks. Different angles, different force, how to use the least power to drop it without a sound.
After paying the tuition of more than forty pig carcasses, Jing Shu finally had it down. "If I ever have to kill a person, I need something even finer. The blood groove should be hollow. The faster the bleed, the faster the death."
She dubbed it the "silent close-quarters kill." She had plenty of other ways too, but more skills never hurt. In gun-happy America, her main weapon would probably be a firearm, so she might not use this much, right?
She didn't know that when it came time to steal, she'd not only use it, she'd use it to perfection. It'd even edge out Yang Yang's tranquilizer gun for speed. The two would work seamlessly, leaving everyone else stunned.
So when Wei Chang ran in and said, "Jing Shu, the water's halfway to a boil, but something doesn't add up. You said you'd knock the pigs out. How are you knocking them out? If you use a hammer wrong and they fight back, that's a disaster. If you, ah—"
He stopped cold. Rows of pig bodies lay lined up, each with a bucket catching hot, iron-smelling blood. A few hooves still twitched. In the dark, seeing Jing Shu's devilish smile, his calves started to shake.
"D-d-done already? H-how'd you do that?" Wei Chang lifted a hoof gingerly. No extra cuts anywhere, just a tiny blood-beading wound at the ear. You could call it near "no-trauma."
"Long story. You've just got to catch them off guard. By the way, I left two sows and one boar as breeders, the best three in the lot. The slaughter's finished. You can handle the rest." Jing Shu wiped the long awl clean against a hide until not a drop of red showed, then slid it behind her.
Wei Chang stared, mind blown. To punch through a pig's brain like that took monstrous force and perfect aim. If you missed, you'd have half-dead pigs tearing up the yard.
It flipped his world. Next door, Wang Mazi had slaughtered pigs for decades. His fastest was thirty minutes for one, with four or five helpers tying the hog down. Jing Shu had been gone barely over half an hour.
"Uncle, what's your plan for the rest? The skin, offal, meat and such?"
"Huh? Oh. The government's buying pigskin at a high price. I was going to sell the lot." He crouched to inspect a black pig, clicking his tongue. Incredible. Just incredible.
"Don't sell the skin. Save it for shoes and coats. Even if the sun peeks out tomorrow, there won't be cotton for the next three years. With sunlight fading, Earth's only getting colder. It's already happening. No one knows how low it'll drop." Jing Shu headed for the door. She'd said what needed saying. She'd only say it once.
"That works. Here's my thought. Besides pulling strings for oxytocin, I'll try to get more meds. Medicine's getting harder by the day. I'll trade for extra rice and flour too. In the apocalypse, food's always the most important. As for the remaining meat, we'll smoke-dry it and cure it as bacon. Save everything."