Chapter 27: The First Hunt

Out.

“Suisui, do you want an apple?”

“Apple? What’s that?”

“It’s this red fruit. Mommy knows you like it, so she bought it especially for you.”

“Yay, yay! I want to eat it, hehe.”

“Then it’s settled. As long as Suisui is a good girl and listens, Mommy will buy you an apple every day, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Come on, let’s pinky swear… a hundred years… no going back, if anyone breaks it—”

“SUI!!!”

A furious shout yanked me out of the darkness.

It hurts…

It hurts so much…

“Ugh…” I bit down hard, but the pain was unbearable.

I saw Lu Xiu. He was holding me.

“Lu Xiu… it hurts…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay… don’t worry.”

He spoke as he rummaged in his pocket, pulling out yellowed paper, shattered bottles, a stopped Brass Pocket Watch… a pile of useless odds and ends spilled out.

But his movements grew more and more frantic.

“Gah—”

A huge mouthful of blood clogged my throat. I tried to breathe, but even my nose was filled with congealed, broken blood.

I couldn’t speak anymore.

My body felt hollow, like something was missing.

“Damn it!” Lu Xiu yanked his pocket fiercely, then scooped me up and rushed downstairs.

“Hold on, backup’s almost here. Just a little longer. Don’t fall asleep.”

I wanted to speak, but I had no strength.

My unfocused gaze drifted over his shoulder and saw those severed limbs far away—they looked so familiar…

It was only then that I realized—

Oh, that was my lower half.

I’d been torn apart.

Split in two.

Above the sky, the figure hanging upside down still swayed high, as if it had fused with the backdrop of the gloomy heavens.

“Suisui, do you like this new schoolbag?”

“I like it!”

“Then you have to be good at school, and listen.”

“Mm! Suisui will be good!”

“It’s her, it’s all her fault!”

“No, it’s not my fault, I didn’t…”

“It’s her, I saw it with my own eyes!”

“I really didn’t…”

“I’m so hungry… Mommy… I’m so hungry…”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… it wasn’t me…”

“It’s so dark… so scary…”

“Mommy… Suisui misses you…”

“Suisui… isn’t a bad child…”

Gurgle

Is that an apple?

“Sui? Sui?!”

It’s Haicao Tuan’s voice…

I struggled and forced my eyes open.

An arm was held up to my mouth, a knife wound bleeding freely, blood trickling into my mouth.

It was Lu Xiu’s blood.

So, it wasn’t the taste of Haicao Tuan after all…

I looked around. The cramped space let in only a few strands of light, but they illuminated nothing.

It was so dark here.

I was a little scared.

My body still hurt.

Am I going to die?

But I don’t want to die…

There are still so many things I haven’t eaten.

I want an apple.

Dazed, I saw him pull out a glowing stone from his pocket and stuff it into my mouth.

Gulp

So bitter…

Next came a small Jade Pendant, which he also pushed into my mouth.

None of these tasted good…

Boom boom

The ground suddenly shook. Lu Xiu immediately scooped me up.

All I could hear was the patter of his running steps.

But… my body was suddenly so warm.

I couldn’t help but say.

His arms around me went suddenly stiff.

“Sui?”

I responded hazily.

That warmth inside me made me forget the pain, but what accompanied it—

Was endless hunger.

I was so hungry.

So hungry… so hungry…

So, so, so, so hungry…

“So hungry—”

The childish voice was suddenly mingled with another, lower and insatiably hungry.

“So hungry…”

I opened my eyes, my hand tightening on his shoulder, nails digging into flesh and drawing bright red blood that smelled delicious.

I want to eat…

Eat him…

Eat him, eat him, eat him.

A command echoed in my mind.

“Eat you—”

I opened my mouth and bit his arm hard.

Blood instantly flooded my mouth, metallic and thick, as his pained groan rang out.

“Sui!”

The familiar voice scolded me.

It overlapped with the memories in the chaos.

I froze.

It was Lu Xiu’s voice… I bit him… he’ll shock me…

If I get shocked, there’ll be no milk tea or apples.

Can’t bite people…

I loosened my jaw.

“Tch… that really hurts… my arm almost went useless…”

He carried me into a room, slumped against the wall, panting.

“…Haicao Tuan?”

I sat on him and looked at him.

“Should I be grateful you remembered me instead of eating me?”

Even though his face was pale, he still managed a smile.

I lowered my head and looked at my body.

My lower half was still there.

I still had legs, and the huge mouth on my stomach was quietly closed…

“Though I hate to admit it… maybe those guys at the White Tower weren’t wrong… your body has gotten unbelievably strange.”

He looked at me, his eyes full of complicated emotion.

I didn’t understand…

But anyway—

“I’m so hungry. Super, super hungry.”

“I know…”

“Once we get out of here… the ritual’s been broken, the curse is fading, now, we can leave.”

As he spoke, he tore off the wrinkled yellow talisman on his body.

“I don’t think I can move anymore… You go first… Tell Qu Le, the demon in this case is Pseudo-Calamity Class… have him send more people while the demon’s still weak.”

I just stared at him, hunger churning in my belly, making it hard to think about anything else.

I only cared about one thing right now.

I spoke.

“I want to eat it.”

“Cough, cough… are you delirious from the fever?”

Hearing me, he coughed hurriedly, wiping away fresh blood from the corner of his mouth.

“I’m not delirious, I want to eat it…”

I’m hungry, I want to eat it; it hit me, I want to eat it; it hurt you, I want to eat it.

Most importantly—

If I kill it, I can ask for a jumbo, apple-topped Ku Yan Huo Village milk tea.

“So, I want to eat it.”

This wasn’t a request, nor a question. It was my declaration.

He was silent for a while, then spoke. “You’ll be killed.”

“No I won’t. If I eat fast enough, I won’t die.”

“At most, I can shoot three times, but there’s no guarantee I won’t hit you too.”

“Then I’ll eat you.”

He actually laughed.

“We’ll both be finished.” I added, “We’ll go stroll by the yellow river together.”

“It’s Huangquan, dummy!”

He scolded me with a laugh, bracing himself on the wall and trying to get up, but slid down weakly. That’s when a hand steadied him.

I propped him up, frowning. “You’re heavy.”

“Then don’t help me.”

“No way I’m listening to you.”

So, step by step, I helped him, stumbling toward the door, climbing the cracked stairs, ascending to the rooftop stained with blood.

To face the battlefield we left unfinished last time.

And for me—my very first hunt.