Chapter 45: Reap the Benefits of Others

Her soul seemed frozen solid, like winter falling into an ice hole—at first she still felt the cold, but soon even sensation vanished.

Heavy, icy, she sank into the deep ocean floor, struggling to rise, yet an invisible force dragged her downward.

“Such a delicious soul!” Amy exclaimed. “So pure, filled with pain, forged through torment… oh~~ wonderful! There are two souls!”

Amy’s jubilant voice echoed in her mind, and she suddenly snapped awake.

“Fool! Coward! Get over here and help! If you don’t wake up, our nest will be taken!” Yang Yi’s other personality—it—shrieked venomously.

“Stop wasting your energy…” Amy’s tone was gleeful, no longer sluggish. “Once I’ve invaded your mind sea, this is my domain—it’s our species’ trait!”

“Get out! You alien worm! This is my territory—even if that useless coward Yang Yi dies, I’ll take over this body!” The other personality raged.

Yang Yi’s body became a battlefield; the other personality, already holding half the ground, erupted into roaring flames and surged forward, wrapping the black energy tightly in its home-ground assault.

But the energy laughed merrily, letting itself be enveloped—black mist coiled into fine threads, staining the flames like ink dripping into clear water.

“Idiot! Are you waiting to reap the benefits of others’ strife?” The other personality’s voice grew faint, tinged now with Amy’s tone.

Yang Yi said nothing, silently watching the struggle.

Amy’s power resembled infection—a strong, muscular giant could still be brought low by a tiny cold virus; though the giant was powerful, he couldn’t resist the virus’s invasion.

If she couldn’t find a way to counter this trait, even her fiercest charge would be corroded by Amy’s power.

“Damn it! Coward! Worm! Idiot! Fool…” The other personality cursed wildly, unsure whom she was cursing.

Amy giggled, the black mist expanding—nearly half the burning flame turned black.

Yang Yi thought rapidly.

Amy’s earlier fear hadn’t been fake—so what was she truly afraid of? Why had she grown bold the moment she entered Yang Yi’s body?

She recalled the gloomy, chaotic dark matter energy she’d sensed when first entering Amy’s bedroom—what feeling had surged within her then?

When she extracted Amy’s infection energy from Zhang Ningning’s body, besides mental force, what else had she used?

Hunger.

She had felt hunger, because the extracted infection energy carried a trace of Zhang Ningning’s life force.

Yang Yi’s mind stirred with sudden understanding.

The black mist had nearly dyed half the flame black; Amy’s laughter grew louder, more brazen.

“So delicious! So pure! After consuming these two souls, I’ll undergo a rare evolution…”

Suddenly, it shuddered violently, as if a small animal had been locked onto by a predator.

It frantically turned to look at Yang Yi, who had been watching—only to find a vortex like a black hole forming there, its misty body being helplessly sucked inward.

“No! No! What is this? Let me go…” The black mist peeled away from it, strand by strand, drawn into the vortex like a vacuum sucking up smoke.

“My lord! Spare me! I’m sorry! I’ll tell you everything! Your faint power felt familiar—it reminded me of a demon god, so I was terrified…” As the last thread of black mist remained, Amy’s shrill voice rang through the entire mind sea.

The vortex slowed slightly; Amy sighed in relief, ready to offer more tempting words—when the vortex suddenly opened wide and swallowed every last trace of black mist.

“I gave you a chance before,” a low whisper emerged from the vortex. “I won’t give anyone a second chance to deceive me…”

“Damn fool! Why didn’t you act sooner?” The other personality asked weakly, voice venomous and furious.

Slowly, it took human form—identical to Yang Yi’s appearance, yet utterly different in aura: if Yang Yi was reserved, calm, and burdened with thought, this one was outward, reckless, and utterly unbound; anyone with eyes could tell them apart.

“Reap the benefits of others’ strife,” Yang Yi said.

“Idiot, you know we’re bound together, twin souls—one suffers, the other suffers too…”

“I’m happy,” Yang Yi said.

Amid its venomous curses, Yang Yi felt more elated than ever before.

Back in reality, Yang Yi’s body felt a momentary bloatedness—not the satisfying fullness of a meal, but the forced, suffocating fullness of having swallowed a handful of clay.

No nutrition, foul-tasting, toxic—its only use was to dull hunger slightly.

Judging by current observations, soul-parasite demons are rare; next time she encounters one, she must capture a few—when hunger becomes unbearable, they might serve as emergency sustenance.

For non-human species, she had no moral scruples.

“Uncle John! Aunt Joan! How are you?” Zhang Ningning cried in panic.

The couple lay prostrate on the floor, motionless.

Yang Yi did as before, drawing out thin threads of black mist from their bodies—the seeds Amy had sown; left unchecked, they might grow into new soul-parasite demons.

The two groaned and stirred awake, but ignored their own condition, rushing straight to Amy’s bedside: “How is our Amy…?”

John and Joan stared in despair at their twenty-year-old daughter—her hair had turned completely white, her skin shriveled and wrinkled, resembling a woman of sixty or seventy.

John placed a trembling hand beneath Amy’s nose, testing for breath—finally sensing a faint airflow; Joan pressed her ear to Amy’s chest, straining to hear her heartbeat.

“Mom… Dad…” Amy’s voice was weak, but her eyes, open now, were clear.

“You’ve come back to your senses… you recognize us at last…” John exclaimed in delight.

“Alive… you’re still alive…” Joan clutched her daughter and wept uncontrollably.

Yang Yi’s expression had been cold, but witnessing this scene, her eyes suddenly stung.

This is what normal parent-child love looks like? So there truly are people in this world loved unconditionally by their parents…

Suddenly, a hazy memory surfaced: a weary back turning away after placing her before a rusted iron gate, walking off without looking back… Years later, when she became famous, a middle-aged woman appeared, reaching out and calling: “Yiyi, Yiyi, I’m your mother…”

Yang Yi took a deep breath, nausea rising in her stomach, irritation swelling in her heart—this scene of weeping embrace suddenly repulsed her. She turned and walked out of the bedroom.