I Want to Devour You

Under the dual assault on his body and mind, Ren Tao's face twisted into a savage grimace, and his state of mind began to warp.

This was a world where the strong preyed on the weak. To survive, he had to fight through blood.

Either you devoured me, or I devoured you!

He had originally felt a trace of fondness for the Sea Witch and had been reluctant to strike. But now...

"Sea Witch, do you realize that everything you're doing is courting death and asking for suffering?"

Ren Tao's voice rang through the seawater, piercing the roar of the waves and the "Sea Ghost's Roar" to reach the Sea Witch's ears with perfect clarity.

It was as though, at that moment, he was the one truly possessed by an evil spirit.

Beneath the surface, bloody waves surged, and piranhas scrambled out of the spray, fleeing swiftly in every direction.

Countless golden threads emerged in a dense mass. Ren Tao's body seemed to have become a spool, twisting and turning as the threads shot outward. Every golden thread pierced a piranha's body without fail, and some skewered several fish at once, turning them into strings of fish.

The blood grew thicker. The once-inky whirlpool suddenly turned a vivid red, with wisps and flecks of golden light rippling through it.

The sight was dazzling and mesmerizing.

The Sea Witch froze for a moment. Ren Tao's ferocity frightened her, and that fear also came from the piranhas in the water.

At that moment, they seemed to have encountered a terrifying harbinger of doom. They fled as fast as they could, yet still could not escape the fate of being impaled by the "Devouring Golden Threads."

An ominous premonition rose in the Sea Witch's heart, instantly giving her the urge to flee. Her connection to the Sea Ghost Whirlpool was severed at that moment. With her sense of it gone, she no longer knew what had happened.

Ren Tao's ferocity frightened her, but worse still was a tremor that came from deep within her soul. She began to regret provoking this "demon" in the water.

With a flick of the Black Flute and a sweep of her tail, the Sea Witch swiftly retreated several dozen meters.

But when she looked behind her, nine Evil Spirit Orcas had already lined up to block her retreat. Their mouths gaped open, baring sharp fangs, as though they were all mocking her.

"I'm not fighting anymore!"

Although the Sea Witch was a formidable fighter, she was, after all, a Mermaid Princess. She had grown up pampered and spent years living carefree on Sea God Island. Bloodthirsty combat was simply not in her nature. Seeing things take a bad turn, her first thought was not to fight Ren Tao to the death, but to lay down her weapon and surrender.

This surprised Ren Tao. His eyes had already gone red with killing intent, and he had unleashed the Devouring Golden Threads and Dragon Blood Killing Array, breaking free of the seawater's restraints and preparing to deliver a lethal counterattack against the Sea Witch.

But as he rose out of the sea, he caught sight of her panic-stricken expression.

She looked just like the girl next door who had run into a creepy old man!

"Do you think I'll let you go just because of that?"

Ren Tao beat his wings and flew into the air, looking down at the Sea Witch from above.

Although he had broken free of the Sea God's restraints, he had hardly come through unscathed. Without the power of his Evolution Domain, which had blocked the seawater's crushing pressure and formed a field of its own, he might have capsized in a gutter today. Now, he no longer dared enter the sea, afraid that the Sea Witch might catch him off guard and hit him with another attack.

"You will!"

The Sea Witch pursed her lips. "You let Xiao Wu go before. The Shrek Seven Devils slaughtered your clan, and you still didn't kill her. There's no grudge between us, so why make things difficult for me?"

Ren Tao paused. With the "Sea Ghost's Roar" gone, his bloodlust was suppressed, and reason once again gained the upper hand.

The Sea Witch had committed no great evil, nor had she taken part in the battle that wiped out the Evil Spirit Orca Group. There really was no hatred between them.

If I didn't need the power of your bloodline...

"You won't do anything to me, because you don't want to fall out with Sea God Island yet. If the High Priestess really loses her temper, you won't be able to withstand her!"

The Sea Witch smoothed her hair, a gesture she made when trying to feign composure despite her unease. Still, he had to admit that her reasoning made sense.

"So? Why should I let you go? What benefit can you offer me?"

Ren Tao thought it over and simply dropped the pretense. There really was no need for them to fight to the death. At most, this was a conflict of interests. If the benefit was great enough, letting her go would be no trouble.

Provided he first devoured the Mermaid Clan's genes, of course. Devouring a small amount would not kill her.

"I saved you. Does that count as a benefit?"

After a brief pause, the Sea Witch raised her head to look at Ren Tao. "Don't tell me you didn't know. The Shrek Seven Devils were nearby just now. They only retreated because I came!"

"You..."

Ren Tao frowned. If that was true, then everything made sense.

The Sea Witch had unleashed her ninth Soul Ring's ultimate move right from the start, acting as though she intended to fight to the death, yet afterward she had seemed like an entirely different person. Had she only come to fish for information from him all along?

She had been certain he would not turn against Bo Saixi, and therefore would not dare do anything to her.

"How did you know the Shrek Seven Devils were nearby? Can you see through the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud?"

"There's a natural resonance between the Sea God's Light and the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud... Don't get any ideas about this ring. All the Sea God's Light inside it has already been used up!"

Ren Tao shifted his gaze away from the ruby ring.

"Why did you save me?"

"Is this a new round of questions and answers?"

The Sea Witch was quick-witted and eloquent, refusing to yield an inch.

Looking into her large, clear eyes, Ren Tao suddenly felt rather helpless.

Although this was a world that "devoured people," the values of his previous life were deeply rooted. Had the Sea Witch kept resisting stubbornly, things would have been simple. But now she looked utterly harmless and appealed to both his feelings and his reason. If he insisted on making things difficult for her, wouldn't he be "fighting without honor"?

But if I just let her go back like this, what would become of my dignity as the Evil Orca King?

What should I do?

Ren Tao felt a headache coming on. On one hand, his desire to devour her would not fade. On the other, the Sea Witch truly bore him no ill will and had even saved him. Well, half-saved him. Even if the Shrek Seven Devils had ambushed him, he would not necessarily have feared them.

"Rather than wasting time here with me, why not think about why Tang San and the others went out to sea? If he really obtains a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and a Soul Bone, there'll be another bloody battle between you!"

Watching his expression gradually soften, the Sea Witch breathed a sigh of relief. She immediately brought up Tang San's hunt for Soul Beasts, hoping to send Ren Tao away.

The Sea Witch's words gave Ren Tao an idea, and he said mildly,

"But wouldn't it already be too late for me to chase them now? The ocean is so vast, and I don't have the Sea God's Light to track them... Why don't you lead the way?"

"What do you mean?"

The Sea Witch's face fell. Suddenly, she felt as though she had lifted a rock only to smash her own foot. Why had she blabbed about the resonance between the Sea God's Light and the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud?

"The Sea God's Light is all used up. I can't find them now either!"

"I really can't do it!"

The Sea Witch was still making a final attempt to resist, but the Evil Spirit Orcas had already begun slowly closing in.

"Let's introduce ourselves again. My name is Ren Tao. What should I call you?"

Ren Tao hovered in midair, a red-and-gold halo spreading several dozen meters around him, blazing like a miniature sun.

An eerie, unfathomable aura blanketed a vast stretch of sea, pressing down so heavily that the Sea Witch almost felt she could not lift her head.

But that did not mean she would submit. As the Mermaid Princess, a once-in-a-century genius of the Mermaid Clan, and an esteemed Sacred Pillar Guardian Douluo of Sea God Island, she had ample pride.

"You can't treat me like this!"

The Sea Witch angrily raised her head and glared at Ren Tao.

"Why not? The conflict between the Sea God and me was irreconcilable to begin with. Even if you saved me, I still want to devour you..."

Ah!

Realizing he had misspoken and realizing she was in danger, Ren Tao and the Sea Witch both froze.

I received a tip from a reader yesterday. It made me so happy!

The support in the comments moved me, too. Having readers thoughtfully engage with and interpret the scenes and sentences I put my heart into writing gave me the joy of feeling understood.