Chapter 16: Hunger

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

Yu Sheng also sat on the steps of the ruined temple with his head drooping—he was truly injured; the Fox Spirit Young Lady had torn off a large chunk of skin and flesh with a single bite!

He knew that canines guarded their food, but he hadn't expected the Fox Spirit to make such a fuss when guarding her food!

"Benefactor..." Hu Li finally spoke from the side, the white fox sounding as if he were about to cry, "I'm sorry, I... I couldn't hold back, I hurt you again..."

"Yes, you hurt me again, but much less than the first time we met." Yu Sheng sighed with no hope left, looking at the bloodstains on Hu Li's corner of the mouth, thinking thankfully it was only a bite; the subsonic headbutt from when he first met this Miss had caused wounds far worse than this, that was amputation below the neck...

After hearing this, Hu Li only tilted his head in confusion; he clearly still couldn't recall what Yu Sheng meant by "the first time we met"—Yu Sheng had already hinted at asking several times, and she always had a similar reaction.

"Benefactor, you said... we really met once outside the ruined temple before?"

"You have no impression at all?" Yu Sheng couldn't help but frown, "I was fighting a messy-looking thing at the time, you rushed over saying you wanted to help, and then 'Bang'—my vision went black, and when I woke up I was here, while you were wandering outside."

Hu Li squinted his eyes, as if trying hard to recall something; a moment later, a pair of furry ears on his head slowly drooped down along with it, seeming that the process of recollection was quite difficult.

Yu Sheng then looked down at the wound on his hand.

The place bitten by Hu Li was healing, at a speed visible to the naked eye; countless tiny buds grew between the torn flesh and blood, and the blood seemed to have an independent life, wriggling and patrolling within the gaps of the wound; he... even felt he could hear the faint sounds coming from the wound, that was muscle tissue regenerating, broken skin adhering, everything... was returning to its intact state.

Within a few minutes, he could no longer feel pain, only a slight numbness and itch lingering around the wound.

This wasn't normal; he certainly knew human wounds couldn't heal at this speed, but compared to a rapidly healing wound—coming back to life was even more abnormal.

The changes in his body made him feel somewhat uneasy; although for now these changes seemed like "good things," he always worried there was some unknown hidden danger behind these changes, or rather... a "cost."

Humans instinctively resist the unknown and loss of control; for the current Yu Sheng, his own body was gradually becoming the greatest unknown in his heart.

But just then, a strange sensation suddenly interrupted Yu Sheng's thoughts—he couldn't say what that feeling was about; he just felt as if he heard some sound, or some thoughts suddenly "invading" his mind, some... thoughts and memories not belonging to him; he felt a small part of his mind become uncontrollably restless, and then, he felt that within that small restless thought, there was another thought—

Mom is gone, Dad is gone, Uncles and Aunts are all gone, very dark, poisonous, cold, scared, hungry, very cold, very hungry, very hungry, fruits are poisonous, tree bark can't be eaten, leaves can't be eaten, dirt can't be eaten, stones can't be eaten... can't eat, none can be eaten, hungry, very hungry, very hungry, very hungry...

An overwhelming hunger, almost as if crushing the will, swept through Yu Sheng's mind; although it was just a thread of foreign information breaking into his mind, he still had the illusion that his reason was about to be completely swallowed by that hunger; this chaotic thought stirred up a roar in his mind, and when it finally gradually weakened, Yu Sheng slowly regained his thinking and slowly raised his head to look at Hu Li sitting beside him.

The fox demon girl was slowly licking her lips; Yu Sheng saw his own blood wriggling on Hu Li's tongue as if it had life, seeping into her skin, seeping into her teeth, seeping into... her soul.

Hu Li noticed the gaze beside her; she licked the last bit of blood clean from the corner of her mouth, raised her head to look at Yu Sheng, and showed a simple, harmless, goofy smile.

However, as Yu Sheng looked at her, it was as if he were looking directly at her soul; he saw... that part already on the verge of madness, saw the chaotic hunger beginning to surge and grow deep within that smile.

She was very hungry, she was still very hungry, hungrier than she appeared, even... hungrier than she herself felt.

"Benefactor..." she looked cautiously at Yu Sheng's pocket, a goofy smile on her face, "Do you still... have food? I feel... my stomach doesn't hurt, but I'm still... a little hungry."

Yu Sheng felt a little chill on his back; he seemed to vaguely think of something, and at the same time, he was even more curious about the process of "reading" information in his mind just now.

Why... did he see Hu Li's thoughts and memories?

He thought of the scene he just saw: his blood quickly seeping into the other party's skin.

Was it because of this?

And just then, he noticed Hu Li's expression on her face changed rapidly several times.

As if suddenly remembering something, her eyes were somewhat dazed; immediately the daze turned into shock; Hu Li slowly stood up from the steps, staring blankly at Yu Sheng, as if "re-cognizing" the person in front of her; then she suddenly shook her head, and with disbelief raised her finger pointing at Yu Sheng: "Benefactor... you... you aren't dead?!"

Yu Sheng was stunned for a moment.

Hu Li then raised her hand and pressed hard on her forehead; her body swayed unsteadily; the chaotic, conflicting memories made her already unstable mind teeter on the brink of collapse; then, she finally began to recall those "truths" that had once disappeared from her memory—

She recalled her first "meeting" with Yu Sheng, recalled her terrible "mistake" at that time, recalled the "Benefactor's" dismembered appearance, recalled the warm fresh blood of a living person, and then... that blood gradually turned into nothingness, the remains vanished, the process of Yu Sheng's "death" dissipated from her memory...

She slowly steadied her body, her gold-red eyes murky and confused, muttering to herself: "Ah, I remember, Benefactor, we just... met, in the open ground outside, I accidentally... but..."

She hesitated and stopped; the latter part of her words turned into mumbled gibberish; her muddled mind seemed to be gaining the upper hand, causing her thoughts to quickly plunge into chaos.

Yu Sheng blinked; clearly, Hu Li remembered her first meeting with him, and also remembered the process of that subsonic headbutt; he didn't know how the other party suddenly recalled all this again; perhaps this was also related to him suddenly seeing Hu Li's thoughts and memories just now—but clearly now was not the time to investigate the cause of this matter.

Hu Li's state was obviously not right; her body swayed unsteadily again, as if she would lose balance in the next second.

Yu Sheng instinctively took half a step forward, but the other party's reaction in the next moment made him forcibly stop. Hu Li raised her head, her gold-red eyes seemingly filled with bloodlight; she stared fiercely at Yu Sheng, emitting a low, beast-like growl from her throat.

She gradually bent her waist; the messy tail behind her slowly spread out; the fox tails flaunted themselves in the night, growing, with azure flames leaping and burning at the end of every tail.

In a beast-like posture, she recklessly released the aura of a predator.

The hunger was growing wildly in those eyes filled with bloodlight; through some vague connection, Yu Sheng even seemed to be able to hear the voice constantly echoing in the girl's heart—

Benefactor, you smell so good...

Yu Sheng swallowed with difficulty, slowly taking half a step backward, and just at this moment, the corner of his eye finally noticed a certain... shadow behind Hu Li.

It was a massive shadow; it spread from the darkness, slowly approaching behind Hu Li; the fox demon's azure spiritual fire flickered in the night; illuminated by the firelight, that shadow gradually took shape—as if countless grotesque and twisted beast limbs were haphazardly fused together; on a flesh-and-blood mass several meters high grew crisscrossing mouths, eyes, and sharp claws, like the embodiment of hunger and predation; this monster emitted an urging, low, muffled roar behind Hu Li.

Amidst those muffled roars and urgings, Hu Li's body crouched lower; silver-white down covered her skin; her face deformed, sharp teeth grew, human features rapidly receded; in almost the blink of an eye, the girl who always smiled goofily disappeared—a massive silver-white demon fox stood in the night; the azure fox-tail spiritual fire illuminated the crumbling ruins of the ruined temple, and Yu Sheng's face.

Yu Sheng heard a voice, carrying strong temptation and a power that pierced the mind, coming faintly—

"Eat... eat it, and you won't be hungry anymore...

"Feed...

!.

"Feed, we together...

"You're hungry, eat..."

Yu Sheng initially thought what he heard was Hu Li's inner thoughts, but soon he realized that was actually the voice Hu Li heard—the true source of the voice was that messy-looking monster.

It was urging Hu Li to feed, urging the fox demon girl to yield to that hunger; the tone was as if waiting for something it had cultivated for a long time to bloom and bear fruit.

Yu Sheng wanted to shout out a warning, to warn Hu Li not to be tempted by that voice, because he had already vaguely guessed certain truths, but before he could open his mouth, he felt that terrible... hunger coming from deep within Hu Li's mind.

That hunger was enough to swallow all reason, blocking out all external sounds.

He could only smile bitterly and spread his hands in front of the demon fox.

"Let me tell you, later your mouth and stomach won't match up; next time we meet you'll just be embarrassed..."

After saying this sentence, he acted as if he had finished his last words, gritted his teeth and set his face, assumed a military boxing stance with a lunge and lowered waist.

Military boxing of course couldn't beat a nine-tailed demon fox (or maybe seven-tailed or eight-tailed), but military boxing could let him die with a bit more dignity.

And what if? His physique had inexplicably strengthened a lot; Yu Sheng felt that maybe he could land a punch on Hu Li's nose before dying, making her ache for a long time...

This boring thought flashed through his mind; the next second, he felt a fierce wind rush towards his face; the massive body of the silver-white demon fox suddenly leaped into the air—the violent wind pressure made Yu Sheng instinctively close his eyes.

The death he had expected did not descend.

Yu Sheng opened his eyes in confusion.

He saw the silver-white demon fox twist its body in midair and then pounce fiercely upon the nauseating monster—she let out a roar of rage so intense it nearly sounded like wailing, then opened her mouth to gnaw at the monster.

Yet the next second, countless black keratinous spikes and black bone fragments erupted from Hu Li's body, piercing her form at various points, impaling and nailing her firmly in midair.

Yu Sheng watched this scene in shock, seeing the silver-white demon fox struggle to turn its head in the air; golden-red blood flowed from wounds all over her body, steaming beneath the night sky.

"Benefactor... run quickly..."

{You smell so good... }

"I am not yet a monster..."

{So hungry... }

"Run!"

{Run! }

(End of this chapter)