Chapter 16: Hunger

Chapter 16: Hunger

Hu Li sat on the steps of the ruined temple with her head drooping, looking somewhat hurt.

Yu Sheng also sat on the steps of the ruined temple with his head drooping. He was genuinely injured. That bite from Miss Fox Immortal had torn away a large chunk of flesh and skin!

He knew that canines protected their food, but he had never expected a fox immortal to make such a commotion when guarding food!

“Benefactor...” Hu Li finally spoke from beside him. The white-haired fox sounded as though she was about to cry. “I’m sorry. I... I couldn’t hold back. I... I hurt you again...”

“Yes, you hurt me again, but it’s much lighter than when we first met.” Yu Sheng let out a lifeless sigh and looked at the bloodstains at the corner of Hu Li’s mouth. Fortunately she only bit me once. When we first met, that near-supersonic headbutt left a much bigger wound. That was practically decapitation from the neck down...

However, upon hearing this, Hu Li merely tilted her head in confusion. She still clearly could not remember the “first meeting” Yu Sheng was talking about. He had already tried asking indirectly several times, and she had reacted much the same way every time.

“Benefactor, what you said... did we really meet before outside the ruined temple?”

“You don’t remember at all?” Yu Sheng could not help frowning. “I was fighting some hideous thing that looked like a nightmare. You rushed over saying you wanted to help, then Bang! Everything went black. When I woke up, I was here, and you were wandering around outside.”

Hu Li narrowed her eyes as though trying hard to remember something. After a moment, even the fluffy ears atop her head slowly drooped, as if the process of recalling was extremely difficult.

Yu Sheng lowered his head and glanced at the wound on his hand.

The place Hu Li had bitten was healing.

At a speed visible to the naked eye, countless tiny buds sprouted between the torn flesh. The blood itself seemed to possess an independent life, writhing and roaming through the gaps in the wound. He even felt as though he could hear faint sounds coming from within it. Tissues were regenerating. Broken skin was knitting itself together. Everything was returning to its intact state.

Within just a few minutes, he could no longer feel pain. Only a faint numb itch remained around the wound.

This was not normal. Of course he knew that. Human wounds could not heal this quickly.

But compared to rapid healing, coming back from the dead was even less normal.

The changes in his body filled him with unease. Although they all appeared to be “good things” for now, he could not shake the worry that some unknown danger, or perhaps a hidden “price,” lay behind them.

People instinctively resisted the unknown and the uncontrollable. For the current Yu Sheng, his own body was gradually becoming the greatest unknown in his life.

Yet at that moment, an unusual sensation suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

He could not describe it.

It felt as though he had heard a voice, or perhaps certain thoughts had suddenly invaded his mind. Thoughts and memories that did not belong to him.

A small corner of his consciousness stirred uncontrollably.

Then he sensed another consciousness within that agitated fragment.

Mom is gone. Dad is gone. Uncle and Auntie are gone too. It’s dark. Poisonous. Cold. Scared. Hungry. Very cold. Very hungry. So hungry. The fruit is poisonous. The bark can’t be eaten. The leaves can’t be eaten. Dirt can’t be eaten. Stones can’t be eaten... Can’t eat them. None of them can be eaten. Hungry. So hungry. So hungry. So hungry. So hungry...

A hunger so overwhelming it seemed capable of crushing the mind itself swept through Yu Sheng’s consciousness.

Though it was merely a sliver of foreign information intruding into his mind, he still felt as though his sanity was about to be completely devoured by that hunger.

The frenzied thoughts roared through his head.

Only after they gradually weakened did he slowly regain the ability to think and lift his gaze toward Hu Li beside him.

The fox spirit girl was slowly licking the corner of her mouth.

Yu Sheng saw his own blood writhing like a living thing upon her tongue, seeping into her skin, into her teeth, into... her soul.

Hu Li noticed his gaze.

After licking away the last trace of blood, she raised her head and looked at Yu Sheng, revealing a simple and harmless silly grin.

Yet as Yu Sheng looked at her, it felt as though he were staring directly into her soul.

He saw the part of her that was already approaching madness.

He saw the frenzied hunger stirring and growing beneath that smile.

She was hungry.

Still hungry.

Far hungrier than she appeared.

In fact... even hungrier than she herself realized.

“Benefactor...” She looked carefully toward Yu Sheng’s pocket, wearing that foolish smile. “Do you have any more food? I feel like... my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore. But I’m still... a little hungry.”

A slight chill crept across Yu Sheng’s back.

He felt as though he had vaguely grasped something.

At the same time, he was even more curious about what had happened when he had seemingly “read” information from her mind.

Why...

Why had he been able to see Hu Li’s thoughts and memories?

He recalled what he had just witnessed, his blood rapidly seeping into her skin.

Was it because of that?

Then he suddenly noticed Hu Li’s expression change several times in rapid succession.

It was as though she had abruptly remembered something.

Confusion flashed through her eyes, then transformed into shock.

Slowly rising from the steps, Hu Li stared blankly at Yu Sheng, as though she were recognizing him all over again.

Then she suddenly shook her head and pointed at him in disbelief.

“Benefactor... y-you didn’t die?!”

Yu Sheng froze.

Hu Li raised a hand and pressed hard against her forehead.

Her body swayed.

The chaotic and conflicting memories made her already unstable mind teeter on the edge of collapse.

At last, she began recalling those “truths” that had once vanished from her memory.

She remembered her first “encounter” with Yu Sheng.

She remembered that terrible “accident.”

She remembered the Benefactor shattered into pieces.

She remembered the warmth of a living person’s blood.

Then...

The blood gradually dissolved into nothingness.

The remains disappeared.

The events of Yu Sheng’s “death” faded from her memory.

Slowly steadying herself, she muttered through dazed golden-red eyes,

“Ah... I remember now. Benefactor, we met just now, on the open ground outside. I accidentally...”

She hesitated and stopped.

The latter half of the sentence dissolved into an incoherent mumble.

Her muddled mind seemed to be gaining the upper hand, plunging her thoughts rapidly into chaos.

Yu Sheng blinked.

Clearly, Hu Li had remembered their first meeting. She had also remembered the near-supersonic headbutt.

He had no idea why she had suddenly recovered those memories.

Perhaps it was related to the strange connection that had allowed him to see her thoughts and memories.

But this was obviously not the time to investigate the cause.

Something was clearly wrong with Hu Li.

Her body began swaying again, as though she might lose her balance at any moment.

Instinctively, Yu Sheng stepped forward half a pace.

But her reaction in the next instant made him stop cold.

Hu Li lifted her head.

Her golden-red eyes seemed filled with bloody light.

She stared fixedly at Yu Sheng while a beast-like growl rumbled from her throat.

Slowly she bent down.

Behind her, the tangled tails gradually spread outward.

The fox tails unfurled, expanded, and flourished beneath the night sky.

Ghostly blue spiritual flames danced and burned at the tip of every tail.

In the posture of a wild beast, she released the aura of a predator without restraint.

The hunger within those blood-filled eyes grew wildly.

Through a faint and indistinct connection, Yu Sheng could almost hear the voice constantly echoing in the girl’s heart.

Benefactor, you smell so good...

Yu Sheng swallowed with difficulty and slowly retreated half a step.

Then, from the corner of his eye, he finally noticed a certain... shadow behind Hu Li.

It was a vast shadow.

Spreading from the darkness, it gradually approached behind her.

The ghostly blue spiritual flames of the fox spirit flickered in the night.

Illuminated by their light, the shadow slowly revealed its outline.

It looked like countless savage and twisted beast limbs fused together at random.

A mass of flesh several metres tall grew mouths, eyes, and claws in tangled profusion across its surface.

It resembled the embodiment of hunger and predation itself.

Behind Hu Li, the monster emitted urging, muffled growls.

Amid those hoarse prompts and indistinct roars, Hu Li lowered herself even further.

Silver-white fur spread across her skin.

Her cheeks distorted.

Fangs lengthened.

Human features rapidly retreated.

In the blink of an eye, the girl who always wore a silly smile disappeared.

A gigantic silver-white demon fox stood beneath the night sky.

The ghostly blue spiritual flames upon her fox tails illuminated the collapsing ruins of the temple and Yu Sheng’s face.

Then Yu Sheng heard a voice.

Filled with powerful temptation and a force that seemed to pierce the mind, it echoed faintly.

“Eat...

“Eat it, and you won’t be hungry anymore...

“Feed...

“Feed, together with us...

“You’re hungry. Eat...”

At first, Yu Sheng thought he was hearing Hu Li’s inner thoughts.

But he quickly realized that these were actually the voices Hu Li herself was hearing.

The true source of the voice was that grotesque monster.

It was urging Hu Li to feed.

Urging the fox spirit girl to surrender to her hunger.

Its tone sounded as though it were waiting for something it had cultivated for a very long time to finally bear fruit.

Yu Sheng wanted to shout a warning.

He wanted to tell Hu Li not to be deceived by that voice, because he had already vaguely guessed part of the truth.

But before he could speak, he felt the terrifying hunger rising from the deepest depths of Hu Li’s mind.

That hunger was enough to devour all reason.

Enough to drown out every outside voice.

All he could do was smile bitterly and spread his hands before the demon fox.

“I’m telling you, when this is over, your mouth and your stomach are going to disagree with each other. Next time we meet, you’re going to be really embarrassed...”

After saying that, as though delivering his final words, he steeled himself, hardened his expression, sank his stance, and assumed the opening posture of military combat fist.

Military combat fist certainly could not defeat a nine-tailed demon fox, or perhaps a seven-tailed or eight-tailed one.

But military combat fist could at least help him die with some dignity.

And who knew?

His physique had mysteriously become much stronger.

Yu Sheng felt that perhaps, before dying, he might manage to punch Hu Li right on the nose and make it ache for quite a while...

That ridiculous thought flashed through his mind.

In the next second, a fierce gust struck his face.

The massive silver-white demon fox suddenly leapt into the air.

The violent pressure of the wind made Yu Sheng instinctively close his eyes.

The death he expected never arrived.

Puzzled, Yu Sheng opened his eyes.

He saw the silver-white demon fox twist her body midair and pounce instead upon the disgusting monster.

With a roar so furious it was almost a cry of grief, she opened her jaws and bit into the creature.

Yet in the very next instant, countless black chitinous spikes and black bone fragments erupted from within Hu Li’s body.

They pierced through her from all directions and pinned her firmly in midair.

Yu Sheng stared at the scene in shock.

He saw the silver-white demon fox struggle to turn her head.

Golden-red blood flowed from wounds all across her body, steaming beneath the night sky.

“Benefactor... run...”

{You smell so good...}

“I’m still not a monster...”

{So hungry...}

“Run!”

{Run!}