Hunger

Huli drooped her head, sitting on the steps of the dilapidated temple, looking as if she were slightly injured.

Yu Sheng also drooped his head, sitting on the steps of the dilapidated temple—he was genuinely injured. The fox spirit lady's bite had torn off a large chunk of flesh and skin!

He knew that canids were protective of their food, but he hadn't expected the fox spirit to be like this when protecting hers!

"Benefactor..." Huli, sitting beside him, finally spoke. The white-furred fox sounded as if she were about to cry, "I'm sorry, I... I couldn't hold back, and I've hurt you again..."

"Yes, you've hurt me again, but it's much lighter than the first time we met," Yu Sheng sighed, feeling utterly resigned. Looking at the bloodstains around Huli's mouth, he thought that thankfully it was just a bite. The last time they met, her supersonic headbutt had caused a much larger wound, a wound that would have required amputation below the neck...

Upon hearing this, Huli merely tilted her head in confusion. It was clear she still couldn't recall what Yu Sheng meant by "the first time we met"—Yu Sheng had already subtly probed a few times, and she had given similar reactions each time.

"Benefactor, you said... did we really meet outside the dilapidated temple before?"

"You have no recollection at all?" Yu Sheng couldn't help but frown. "I was fighting a grotesque creature, and you rushed over, saying you wanted to help, and then—bang—my vision went black. When I woke up, I was here, and you were wandering outside."

Huli narrowed her eyes, as if trying hard to recall something. After a moment, the pair of fluffy ears on her head also drooped slowly, suggesting the process of remembering was quite difficult.

Yu Sheng lowered his head and glanced at the wound on his hand.

The bite mark from Huli was healing at a visible rate. Countless tiny buds were sprouting between the torn flesh and blood, and the blood itself seemed to writhe and circulate within the wound's crevices as if possessing a life of its own. He... could even feel as if he could hear faint sounds emanating from the wound—the regeneration of tissue, the rejoining of torn skin, everything... was returning to its pristine state.

Within a few minutes, he could no longer feel any pain, only a slight tingling sensation lingering around the wound.

This was abnormal, he knew that. Human wounds didn't heal at such speeds. But compared to the rapid healing, the resurrection from death was even more unsettling.

The physical changes filled him with a sense of unease. Although, from his current perspective, these changes seemed like "good things," he always worried about some unknown hidden danger behind them, or perhaps... a "price."

Humans instinctively resist the unknown and the loss of control. For Yu Sheng now, his own body was gradually becoming the greatest unknown in his mind.

But just then, a strange sensation suddenly interrupted Yu Sheng's thoughts—he couldn't quite describe the feeling. It was as if he had heard something, or perhaps some thoughts had suddenly "invaded" his mind, thoughts and memories that didn't belong to him. He felt a small part of his brain stirring uncontrollably, and then, he sensed another thought within that stirring segment of his consciousness—

Mom is gone, Dad is gone, aunts and uncles are all gone, it's very dark, poisonous, cold, scared, hungry, very cold, very hungry, very, 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 eat, can't eat anything, hungry, very hungry, very hungry, very hungry...

An overwhelming sense of hunger, almost as if it could crush his will, swept through Yu Sheng's mind. Even though it was just a wisp of external information intruding into his consciousness, he felt as if his own sanity were about to be completely devoured by that hunger. This chaotic thought roared in his mind, and when it finally began to subside, Yu Sheng slowly regained his ability to think and slowly looked up at Huli, who was sitting beside him.

The fox demon girl was slowly licking the corner of her mouth. Yu Sheng saw his own blood writhing on the tip of Huli's tongue as if it had a life of its own, seeping into her skin, into her teeth, into... her soul.

Huli noticed his gaze. She licked the last trace of blood from her lips, looked up at Yu Sheng, and offered a simple, harmless, goofy smile.

However, as Yu Sheng looked at her, he felt as if he were looking directly into her soul. He saw... the part of her that was on the brink of madness, saw the chaotic hunger beginning to surge and grow within the depths of that smile.

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

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

Yu Sheng felt a chill run down his spine. He seemed to have a vague idea of what was happening, and at the same time, he was more curious about how he had managed to "read" information in his mind just now.

Why... had he seen Huli's thoughts and memories?

He recalled the scene he had just witnessed: his blood rapidly seeping into the other party's skin.

Was it because of this?

And at that moment, he noticed Huli's expression change rapidly a few times.

It was as if she had suddenly remembered something. Her eyes held a hint of daze, which then turned into bewilderment. Huli slowly stood up from the steps, staring blankly at Yu Sheng, as if "re-recognizing" him. Then, she suddenly shook her head, pointing at Yu Sheng with disbelief, "Benefactor... you... you're not dead?!"

Yu Sheng froze for a moment.

Huli raised her hand and pressed it firmly against her forehead. Her body swayed unsteadily, the conflicting memories making her already unstable mind teeter on the edge. Then, she finally began to recall the "truth" that had once disappeared from her memory—

She remembered her first "encounter" with Yu Sheng, remembered her terrifying "mistake" at the time, remembered the sight of "Benefactor" being torn apart, remembered the warmth of living blood, and then... the blood gradually turned to nothingness, the remains disappeared, and Yu Sheng's "death" faded from her memory...

She slowly steadied herself, her golden-red eyes hazy, muttering to herself, "Ah, I remember now, Benefactor, we just met, in the open space outside, I accidentally... but..."

She hesitated and stopped, the latter half of her sentence turning into a mumbled mumble. Her muddled mind seemed to be taking over, causing her thoughts to quickly descend into chaos.

Yu Sheng blinked. Clearly, Huli remembered her first meeting with him and the supersonic headbutt. He didn't know how she had suddenly recalled all of this, perhaps it was related to him suddenly seeing Huli's thoughts and memories—but now was clearly not the time to investigate the reason for this.

Huli's condition was clearly not right. Her body swayed again, as if she might lose her balance at any moment.

Yu Sheng instinctively took half a step forward—but the other party's reaction in the next moment made him halt abruptly.

Huli looked up, her golden-red eyes seemingly filled with bloodlust. She stared intently at Yu Sheng, letting out a low, beast-like whimper from her throat.

She gradually lowered her body, the messy tail behind her slowly unfurling. The fox tail spread out in the night, growing, and ethereal blue flames leaped and burned at the tip of each tail.

In a beast-like posture, she unleashed the aura of a predator without restraint.

The hunger grew wildly in those blood-filled eyes. Through some faint connection, Yu Sheng could even seemingly hear the voice echoing in the depths of the girl's heart—

Benefactor, you smell so good...

Yu Sheng swallowed with difficulty, slowly stepping back half a step. Just then, his peripheral vision finally caught sight of a... shadow behind Huli.

It was a massive shadow, emanating from the darkness, slowly approaching behind Huli. The fox demon's ethereal blue spirit fire flickered in the night, and in the firelight, the shadow gradually took shape—as if countless ferocious, twisted beast limbs were haphazardly fused together. A mass of flesh several meters high bore crisscrossing mouths, eyes, and sharp claws, like an embodiment of hunger and predation. The monster behind Huli let out a low, muffled growl, as if urging her on.

And amidst those muffled growls and urgings, Huli's body lowered further. Silvery-white fur covered her skin, her cheeks contorted, sharp teeth grew, and human features rapidly receded. In the blink of an eye, the girl who always smiled goofily disappeared—a massive silver-white demon fox stood in the night, the ethereal blue spirit fire of her fox tail illuminating the ruins of the dilapidated temple, and Yu Sheng's face.

Yu Sheng heard a voice, carrying a strong seductive and mind-piercing power, faintly reaching him—

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

"Feed...

"Feed, together...

"You're hungry, eat..."

Yu Sheng initially thought he was hearing Huli's inner thoughts, but he soon realized that it was actually Huli hearing the voice – the true source of the sound was the monstrously disheveled creature.

It was urging Huli to feed, urging the demon fox maiden to succumb to the hunger, its tone as if it were waiting for something it had nurtured for a long time to finally bloom.

Yu Sheng wanted to shout a warning, to remind Huli not to be seduced by the voice, because he had already vaguely guessed some truths. But before he could speak, he felt that terrifying... hunger emanating from the depths of Huli's mind.

That hunger was enough to devour all reason and drown out all external sounds.

He could only offer a wry smile and spread his hands in front of Huli.

"I'm telling you, your mouth and stomach aren't going to match up later. You'll be embarrassed when we meet next time..."

After saying that, he acted as if he had delivered his last words. With a determined expression and a grimace, he dropped into a low stance, adopting the starting posture of military boxing.

Military boxing certainly couldn't defeat a nine-tailed demon fox (or perhaps a seven or eight-tailed one), but it could at least allow him to die with a bit more dignity.

And what if? His physique had inexplicably become much stronger. Yu Sheng thought that perhaps he could land a punch on Huli's nose before dying, making her regret it for a good while...

Such a trivial thought flashed through his mind. The next second, he felt a powerful gust of wind hit him as the silver-white demon fox's massive body suddenly leaped into the air – the intense wind pressure made Yu Sheng instinctively close his eyes.

The expected death did not come.

Yu Sheng opened his eyes in confusion.

He saw the silver-white demon fox adjust its body in mid-air, then violently pounce on the disgusting monster – she let out a roar of fury, almost a sob, and then opened her mouth to bite the monster.

However, in the next second, countless black keratinous spikes and black bone fragments erupted from within Huli's body, piercing her all over, impaling and rigidly nailing her in mid-air.

Yu Sheng stared at the scene in shock, watching the silver-white demon fox struggle to turn its head 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!}