Chapter 45: Reaping the Benefits While Others Fight

Her soul seemed frozen, like falling into an ice hole in winter; at first she could still feel the cold, but within moments, even sensation vanished.

Stagnant and icy, she sank deep into the sea floor, struggling to swim upward, yet an invisible force dragged her down.

"What delicious souls!" Amy exclaimed. "So pure, filled with pain, having endured torment... oh~~ wonderful, there are two souls!"

Amy's excited voice echoed in her mind, and she suddenly snapped back to awareness.

"Fool! Coward! Hurry and help! If you don't wake up soon, our nest will be seized!" Yang Yi's other personality—it, shouted viciously.

"Don't bother..." Amy's tone was extremely cheerful, no longer listless as before. "Once I invade the sea of consciousness, this is my home ground; this is our race's trait!"

"Get out! You maggot from another world! This is my territory! Even if that useless coward Yang Yi dies, I will take over this body!" The other personality was furious.

Yang Yi's body seemed to become a battlefield; the other personality, which originally held half the ground, under Amy's provocation, transformed into Xiong Xiong flames, rushing forward and, leveraging home-ground advantage, tightly wrapped that mass of black energy.

But that energy chuckled, allowing itself to be wrapped; the black mist-like energy formed thin threads, staining the flames like black ink soaking into clear water.

"Bai Chi! Are you just waiting to reap the benefits?" The other personality's voice was somewhat indistinct, seeming to have adopted Amy's tone.

Yang Yi remained silent, watching the struggle between the two sides.

Amy's power trait was similar to infection; even a strong, muscular bodybuilder could be infected by a tiny common cold virus. The virus was small, visible only under a microscope; the bodybuilder was strong, yet could not resist the virus's invasion.

If she had not figured out how to counter this trait, no matter how fiercely she lunged forward, she would be eroded by Amy's power.

"Damn it! Coward! Maggot! Bai Chi! Fool..." The other personality cursed loudly, not knowing whom it was scolding.

Amy chuckled; the area of black mist grew larger and larger, and the small portion of burning flames even turned into black fire.

Yang Yi thought rapidly.

Amy's fear just now did not seem fake; then what was she truly afraid of? Why did she become arrogant after drilling into her body?

She recalled when she first entered Amy's bedroom, sensing gloomy and chaotic dark matter energy; at that time, what feeling surged within her body?

When she extracted Amy's infection energy from Zhang Zhang Ningning's body, besides telekinesis, what else had she used?

Hunger.

She felt hunger because the infection energy she extracted contained a trace of Zhang Zhang Ningning's life force.

Yang Yi felt a sudden realization in her heart.

The black mist had almost dyed half of the flames black; Amy's chuckling grew louder and louder, becoming increasingly arrogant.

"So delicious! So pure! After eating these two souls, I will undergo a rare evolution..."

Suddenly, it shuddered all over, as if a small animal had been spotted by a fierce beast.

It hurriedly looked at Yang Yi, who had been observing from the side, only to find that a vortex like a black hole had formed there, and its black mist body was being involuntarily sucked toward it.

"No! No! What is this? Let go of me..." The black mist gradually detached from it, thread by thread being sucked into the black hole, like a range hood sucking away cooking fumes.

"My lord! Spare me! I was wrong! I will tell you everything! A trace of your power made me feel a sense of déjà vu, reminding me of an evil god, so I was so afraid..." When only the last wisp of black mist remained, Amy's shrill voice resounded throughout the entire sea of consciousness.

The vortex slowed its rotation; Amy breathed a sigh of relief, just about to utter more tempting words, but saw the vortex suddenly open wide, swallowing all the black mist clean.

"I gave you a chance before," a low whisper came from the vortex. "I will not give anyone a chance to deceive me twice..."

"Damn fool! Why didn't you act sooner?" The other personality asked weakly, its tone venomous and angry.

It slowly took human form, also resembling Yang Yi, but with a completely different aura. If Yang Yi was reserved, calm, and full of deep thoughts, then she was unrestrained, wild, and without any scruples; anyone with eyes would not mistake the two.

"Reaping the benefits while others fight," Yang Yi said.

"Bai Chi, you clearly know we are intimately connected, twin-born; if I am severely injured, you will also be affected..."

"I am happy," Yang Yi said.

Amidst its vicious curses, Yang Yi felt a joy she had never experienced before.

Returning to reality, Yang Yi's body had a momentary feeling of fullness, but not the satisfaction of eating delicious food; rather, it was the bloated feeling of being forced to swallow a handful of guanyin earth.

It had no nutrition, tasted terrible, and was poisonous; its only function was to alleviate some hunger.

Judging by the current situation, the number of soul-parasite demons was not large; if she met any in the future, she must catch a few. If she ever became truly starving and couldn't hold on, perhaps they could be used to stave off hunger.

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

"Uncle John! Aunt Joan! How are you?" Zhang Zhang Ningning cried out in panic.

The couple lay prostrate on the ground, motionless.

Yang Yi followed the same method, extracting wisp after wisp of black mist from their bodies; this was the seed "Amy" had sown. If left unchecked, it might grow on its own into a new soul-parasite demon.

The two groaned and woke up, but ignored themselves, instead rushing immediately to Amy's bedside: "How is my Amy..."

John and Joan looked despairingly at their twenty-year-old daughter on the bed; her hair had turned completely white, her skin was withered and full of wrinkles, resembling a sixty or seventy-year-old old woman.

John placed his trembling hand under Amy's nose, testing for breath, and finally felt a faint airflow; Joan leaned her head close to Amy's chest, straining to hear her heartbeat.

"Mother, Father..." Amy's voice was weak, but her opened eyes had regained clarity.

"Finally awake, finally recognizing mother and father..." John was overjoyed.

"As long as she is alive... as long as she is still alive..." Joan hugged her daughter and wept voicelessly.

Yang Yi's expression had originally been cold, but as this scene came into view, her eyes suddenly felt inexplicably sour.

Is this the normal relationship between parents and children? So there really are people in this world who are deeply loved by their parents unconditionally...

Suddenly, a vague impression floated in her mind: a weary back placed her before a mottled iron gate and left directly... Years later, after she became famous, that middle-aged woman came to her door, reaching out and shouting: "Yi Yi, Yi Yi, I am your mother..."

Yang Yi took a deep breath; nausea rose in her stomach, and her heart grew restless. For some reason, this scene of huddled weeping made her feel displeased, so she turned and walked out of the bedroom.