Mistress, Don't Be Afraid—I'm Blind

"Junior Sister!"

You Su shouted, interrupting Junior Sister's feeding motion.

"Senior Brother, you're awake!" Junior Sister pulled back the hand pinching the rotten flesh. Her fish eyes widened round with delight.

She stood beside You Su's bed like a mountain of rotting meat.

Am I awake... or did I fall asleep again? But hadn't Mistress already slit my throat?

As he thought this, You Su suddenly felt something strange at his neck. It was as if something was crawling over it... a great many things, more than one... It was a little itchy, and a little painful...

You Su reached up to feel it. His hand came away slick and greasy. He hurriedly raised the hand he had touched with, only to find a fat flesh worm clinging to it!

You Su immediately panicked, his heart skipping half a beat. He wanted to cry, but had no tears. He desperately wanted to fling his hand, to tear every one of those worms off his neck! He wanted to curse that monster Junior Sister to her face!

But he could not do that. He could only pretend nothing was wrong and scrape the worm-covered hand against the edge of the bed.

"Junior Sister, what are these things on my neck? They feel so strange." You Su's face was sickly pale as he asked anxiously.

"Senior Brother, these are Golden Silk Silkworms Mistress specially found for you. They're repairing your wound. There was a little misunderstanding between you and Mistress just now... but it's all fine now. Be careful not to knock the Golden Silk Silkworms off."

As she spoke, she picked up the silkworm You Su had secretly scraped onto the floor and carefully placed it back over the wound crawling thick with flesh worms. Feeling the worms gnawing at him, You Su practically wanted to die.

"Oh, right, Senior Brother! You still haven't taken this Spirit Solidifying Pill! Your wound may be fine, but you lost quite a bit of blood and vital energy. This pill will replenish it." As she spoke, Junior Sister once again brought that piece of rotten flesh to You Su's lips.

A chill ran through You Su from head to toe. He hurriedly said, "Wait, Junior Sister! I can take the medicine myself. Cough, cough... Senior Brother is a little thirsty. Could I trouble Junior Sister to boil a kettle of hot water?"

At this, Junior Sister's six symmetrical fish eyes narrowed slightly as she stared fixedly at You Su. You Su crossed his eyes a little, blurring his vision to avoid meeting her gaze.

Only after staring for a long while did Junior Sister look away. She placed the rotten flesh onto a plate on the bedside table. "Then I'll go boil some water. Don't try any tricks, Senior Brother." Only then did she squirm out of the room, looking back every step of the way.

You Su struggled upright and leaned against the headboard, tensely considering how to deal with that piece of rotten flesh.

Should I throw it away, or hide it? Will Junior Sister find out? Do I really have to eat it? No! Absolutely not! This doesn't look like something a human could eat at all!

You Su made up his mind and was just about to lift the quilt stuffing to hide it beneath the bedboard when he abruptly sensed something was wrong!

The light shining into the room suddenly darkened over a vast area! Something enormous had blocked it!

A guilty feeling, like that of a thief caught in the act, suddenly rose within You Su. He slowly turned his head to look.

Eight gigantic tentacles that blotted out the sky and covered the earth surrounded him, stirring restlessly. The tentacles were a dim, dusky red, yet dripped with verdigris-green viscous fluid and were covered in exaggerated, trumpet-shaped suckers. Each one twisted carefully, like eight venomous snakes locked onto their prey and waiting to strike, their bodies gleaming with dark, dangerous green phosphorescence.

You Su followed the tentacles to their source and saw a snow-white immortal gown, ethereal as clouds. The owner of that gown was not a holy immortal maiden, but a filthy, malformed mass of dark-red flesh.

The flesh over her entire body flowed without cease, like a grotesque vortex. Only at the place where her head should have been were two things that could be called "eyes"—two light clusters that had never shifted position. You Su merely glanced at those clusters, and could no longer look away.

Through those eyes, he seemed to see people setting themselves on fire with torches in hand; people crazily swallowing those things; and people weeping tears of blood as they trembled and drove daggers into the hearts of their loved ones.

She seemed to be the source of all delusions.

"Did you see it?"

Mistress's voice was hollow and insubstantial. It did not come from before him, but rang directly in You Su's mind.

Coming back to himself, You Su shifted his gaze aside and said in a trembling voice:

"Mistress, don't be afraid. I'm blind—what could I possibly see...?"

"Then do you want to see?"

"O-of course."

"Then eat the Spirit Solidifying Pill."

Mistress's tone brooked no doubt. You Su even felt that if he showed the slightest hesitation, the neck that had only just been reattached would immediately be severed again.

Just as You Su was at his wits' end, the eight terrifying tentacles suddenly retracted, drawing in their imposing presence as they coiled beneath Mistress.

"Mistress, why are you here?"

Junior Sister had returned.

Carrying a kettle of hot water, Junior Sister sensed the strange atmosphere in the room and hurriedly squirmed over to her Senior Brother's side. "Senior Brother, Mistress didn't do anything to you, did she?"

You Su silently smoothed down the rumpled bedsheet. "No. Mistress only came to check on my injury."

"That's good. Mistress didn't mean to hurt you before. There was a misunderstanding between you two. You won't blame her, will you?"

"Hehe... How could I blame Mistress?" You Su forced a smile.

Junior Sister was reassured. She poured You Su a bowl of hot water. Though it was summer, faint white steam still rose from it; it had clearly just been boiled. Junior Sister thoughtfully tried to blow it cool for him, but seemingly underestimated the power of her mouthparts. The fishy, foul-smelling cold breath she blew carried saliva into the bowl, and even splashed some hot water onto You Su's hand, scalding him so badly he jerked.

"Ah! Senior Brother, I'm sorry!" Junior Sister hurriedly set down the bowl and wanted to grab You Su's hand to inspect it, but seemed wary of something and did not dare touch him.

This monster Junior Sister doesn't dare touch me. Is she afraid she'll expose me if she does?

"It's fine." You Su rubbed the scalded spot himself.

"Come, Senior Brother. Take the medicine first, then drink some water. Ah..."

Junior Sister pinched up the wriggling piece of rotten flesh in one hand and held that bowl of murky hot water in the other. You Su watched the rotten flesh draw near in utter despair. His mind was nearly blank, yet he instinctively clenched his teeth shut.

Suddenly, an irresistible voice rang out in You Su's mind. It was Mistress's voice!

"Eat it."

Within the illusory scene behind Junior Sister, the eight tentacles once again hung suspended in the air, dancing wildly! Poised to strike!

You Su steeled himself, closed his eyes, and thrust his head forward of his own accord.

Without even chewing, You Su swallowed the rotten flesh whole. Anger and grievance surged through him. Even as his face twisted hideously, a vengeful thought suddenly sprang into his mind! He shot out a hand and grabbed Junior Sister's plump hand!

You like putting on an act, huh? Let's see how you keep acting now!

"Ah! What are you doing?"

What do you think I'm doing!

Wait! This feel... skin like congealed cream, soft as boneless flesh, slender enough to fit in one grasp... You Su opened his eyes, only to find that familiar chaos again!

The young girl pulled free the wrist You Su had grabbed. Her face flushed red with embarrassment as she said indignantly, "You were sleeping perfectly well. I only pinched your cheek—was... was such a huge reaction really necessary?"

Ji Lingruo then fled outside in a fluster. Before leaving, she muttered, "What a grudge-holder."

Before You Su could stop her, a fierce wave of nausea swept over him. He began to retch and cough violently, only easing slightly after coughing up faint streaks of blood. Bracing himself with one hand, he laboriously reached into his robes with the other and pulled out the Evil Warding Token.

At this moment, the Evil Warding Token was not only pitch-black all over—it was scorching hot, like a red-hot ember.

You Su panted heavily, utterly ignoring the searing pain in his palm as he clenched the Evil Warding Token tightly, as though he wanted to embed it into his flesh.