Hu Li sat on the steps of the ruined temple with her head bowed, looking a little hurt.
Yu Sheng also sat on the steps of the ruined temple with his head bowed—he was really hurt. Miss Fox Immortal had taken a big chunk of flesh and skin off him with that bite!
He knew that canids were protective of their food, but he didn't expect a fox immortal to be like this when protecting her food!
"Benefactor…" Hu Li on the side finally spoke, the white-haired fox's voice sounded like she was about to cry. "I'm sorry, I… I couldn't help it, I hurt you again…"
"Yes, you hurt me again, but it's much lighter than when we first met," Yu Sheng sighed with a sense of hopelessness, looking at the blood on the corner of Hu Li's mouth. He thought to himself that it was lucky it was just a bite. When he first met this girl, the subsonic headbutt had caused a much bigger wound. That was an amputation below the neck…
But after hearing this, Hu Li just tilted her head in confusion. She obviously still couldn't remember what Yu Sheng was talking about when he said "first meeting"—Yu Sheng had already asked her indirectly several times, and her reaction was always the same.
"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 and said you wanted to help, and then 'bang'—I blacked out, and when I woke up, I was here, and you were wandering around outside."
Hu Li squinted her eyes, as if trying hard to remember something. After a moment, the furry ears on her head also slowly drooped, as if the process of remembering was quite difficult.
Yu Sheng looked down at the wound on his hand.
The place where Hu Li had bitten him was healing at a visible speed. Countless tiny sprouts grew between the torn flesh and blood, and the blood itself seemed to have a life of its own, writhing and patrolling in the cracks of the wound. He… even felt that he could hear tiny sounds coming from the wound, the sound of muscle tissue regenerating, the sound of broken skin sticking together, everything… was returning to its intact state.
In just a few minutes, he could no longer feel any pain, and only a slight itching remained around the wound.
This wasn't normal, of course he knew. A human's wound couldn't possibly heal at this speed, but compared to the rapidly healing wound—dying and coming back to life was even more wrong.
The changes in his body made him feel a little uneasy. Although for now, these changes all seemed like "good things," he always worried that there were some unknown hidden dangers behind these changes, or rather… a "price."
People instinctively resist the unknown and the out-of-control. For the current Yu Sheng, his own body was gradually becoming the biggest unknown in his heart.
But just then, a strange feeling suddenly interrupted Yu Sheng's thoughts—he couldn't say what that feeling was. He just felt that he seemed to have heard something, or some thoughts that had suddenly "invaded" his mind, some… ideas and memories that did not belong to him. He felt a small part of his mind become uncontrollably restless, and then, he felt another thought within that small restless thought—
Mom is gone, Dad is gone, uncles and aunts are all gone, it's very dark, there's poison, it's cold, I'm scared, I'm hungry, it's very cold, I'm very hungry, I'm very hungry, the fruit is poisonous, the bark can't be eaten, the leaves can't be eaten, the soil can't be eaten, the stones can't be eaten… can't be eaten, none of it can be eaten, hungry, very hungry, very hungry, very hungry…
An overwhelming, almost mind-crushing hunger swept through Yu Sheng's mind. Although it was just a wisp of external information that had entered his mind, he still had the illusion that his sanity was about to be completely devoured by that hunger—this chaotic thought roared in his mind, and when it finally gradually weakened, Yu Sheng slowly regained his ability to think and slowly looked up at Hu Li sitting next to him.
The fox demon girl was slowly licking the corner of her mouth. Yu Sheng saw his own blood writhing on the tip of Hu Li's tongue as if it had a life of its own, seeping into her skin, into her teeth, into… her soul.
Hu Li noticed the gaze from the side. She licked the last bit of blood from the corner of her mouth, looked up at Yu Sheng, and gave a simple and harmless, silly smile.
However, when Yu Sheng looked at her, it was as if he was looking directly at her soul. He saw… the part that was on the verge of madness, saw the chaotic hunger begin to surge and grow deep within that smile.
She was very hungry, she was still very hungry, even hungrier than she looked, and even… hungrier than she herself felt.
"Benefactor…" she looked at Yu Sheng's pocket cautiously, a silly smile on her face. "Do you still, have any food? I feel… my stomach doesn't hurt anymore, but I'm still, a little hungry."
Yu Sheng felt a little chill on his back. He seemed to have vaguely thought of something. At the same time, he was even more curious about how he had "read" the information in his mind just now.
Why… did he see Hu Li's thoughts and memories?
He thought of the scene he had just seen: his blood quickly seeping into her skin.
Was it because of this?
And just then, he noticed that the expression on Hu Li's face changed rapidly several times.
As if she had suddenly remembered something, her eyes were a little dazed, and then the daze turned into astonishment. Hu Li slowly stood up from the steps, staring blankly at Yu Sheng, as if "re-recognizing" the person in front of her. Then she shook her head violently, pointing at Yu Sheng with disbelief, "Benefactor… you… you're not dead?!"
Yu Sheng was stunned for a moment.
Hu Li raised her hand and pressed her forehead hard. Her body swayed, and the conflicting memories made her already unstable mind teeter on the verge of collapse. Then, she finally began to recall the "truth" that had once disappeared from her memory—
She recalled her first "meeting" with Yu Sheng, recalled her terrible "mishap" at that time, recalled the "benefactor's" dismembered appearance, recalled the warm blood of a living person, and then… the blood gradually turned into nothingness, the remains disappeared, and the process of Yu Sheng's "death" dissipated from her memory…
She slowly stood up straight, her golden-red pupils chaotic, muttering to herself, "Ah, I remember now. Benefactor, we met just now, in the open space outside. I accidentally… you… but…"
She hesitated, the second half of her words becoming a muddled mutter. Her confused mind seemed to be gaining the upper hand, and her thoughts quickly fell into chaos.
Yu Sheng blinked. Obviously, Hu Li had remembered her first meeting with him, and also the process of the subsonic headbutt. He didn't know how she had suddenly remembered all this, perhaps it was also related to him suddenly seeing Hu Li's thoughts and memories just now—but now was obviously not the time to investigate the reason for this.
Hu Li's condition was obviously not right. Her body began to sway again, as if she would lose her balance in the next second.
Yu Sheng subconsciously took half a step forward—but the other party's next reaction made him stop in his tracks.
Hu Li raised her head, her golden-red pupils seeming to be filled with bloodlight. She stared at Yu Sheng, a low, beast-like growl coming from her throat.
She gradually bent her waist, and the messy tails behind her slowly spread out. The fox tails flared in the night, growing, and a faint blue flame jumped and burned at the end of each tail.
In a beast-like posture, she freely released the aura of a predator.
Hunger was growing madly in those eyes filled with bloodlight. Through some faint connection, Yu Sheng could even seem to hear the voice constantly echoing in the girl's heart—
Benefactor, you smell so good…
Yu Sheng swallowed hard, slowly taking half a step back. And at this moment, the corner of his eye finally noticed a… shadow behind Hu Li.
It was a huge shadow. It spread out from the darkness, slowly approaching Hu Li from behind. The fox demon's faint blue spiritual fire swayed in the night. In the reflection of the firelight, the shadow gradually took on a contour—as if it were a chaotic mixture of countless ferocious and twisted beast limbs. A ball of flesh and blood several meters tall grew with crisscrossing mouths, eyes, and claws, like an incarnation of hunger and predation. This monster let out a low, muffled roar behind Hu Li, as if urging her on.
And amidst those muffled roars and urgings, Hu Li's body crouched even lower. Silver-white fur covered her skin, her cheeks deformed, sharp teeth grew, and her human features quickly receded. In almost the blink of an eye, the girl who was always smiling foolishly disappeared—a huge silver-white fox demon stood in the night. The faint blue spiritual fire of the fox tails illuminated the dilapidated ruins of the temple, and Yu Sheng's face.
Yu Sheng heard a voice, with a strong temptation and a power that pierced the mind, faintly coming—
"Eat… eat it, and you won't be hungry anymore…
"Eat…
"Eat, together…
"You're hungry, eat…"
At first, Yu Sheng thought he was hearing Hu Li's thoughts, but he soon realized that it was actually the voice Hu Li was hearing—the real source of the voice was that messy-looking monster.
It was urging Hu Li to eat, urging the fox demon girl to succumb to that hunger. The tone was as if it was waiting for something it had cultivated for a long time to blossom and bear fruit.
Yu Sheng wanted to shout and remind Hu Li not to be seduced by that voice, because he had already vaguely guessed some of the truth. But before he could speak, he felt the terrible… hunger coming from the depths of Hu Li's mind.
That hunger was enough to devour all reason and block all external voices.
He could only smile wryly and spread his hands in front of the fox demon.
"I'm telling you, your mouth and stomach will be out of sync later. You'll be embarrassed when we meet next time…"
After saying this, he seemed to have finished his last words. He steeled his heart, his face sinking. He bent his knees, lowered his waist, and took the starting stance of military boxing.
Of course, military boxing couldn't beat a nine-tailed fox demon (or maybe a seven- or eight-tailed one), but military boxing could let him die with some dignity.
And what if? His constitution had inexplicably become much stronger. Yu Sheng felt that maybe he could punch Hu Li on the nose before he died and make her sore for a long time…
A boring thought flashed through his mind. In the next second, he felt a strong wind rush towards him. The huge body of the silver-white fox demon suddenly leaped into the air—the intense wind pressure made Yu Sheng subconsciously close his eyes.
The expected death did not come.
Yu Sheng opened his eyes in confusion.
He saw the silver-white fox demon turn its body in the air, and then pounced on the disgusting monster—she let out a roar that was almost a sob of rage, and then opened her mouth to bite the monster.
However, in the next second, countless black keratinous spikes and black bone fragments burst out from Hu Li's body, piercing her body everywhere, piercing and nailing her to the air.
Yu Sheng watched this scene in astonishment. He saw the silver-white fox demon turn its head with difficulty in the air. Golden-red blood flowed from the wounds all over her body, steaming in the night sky.
"Benefactor… run…"
{You smell so good…}
"I'm not a monster yet…"
{So hungry…}
"Run!"
{Run!}