Chapter 17: The Door

All the sounds mixed together, frantic thoughts wrestling and tearing against the silver fox’s last vestiges of reason. Yu Sheng heard Hu Li’s pained whimper beside his ear, but in his mind, a cacophony of even more chaotic, deranged voices roared—the nearly失控 appetite of the demon fox, an excruciating hunger that felt like gouging out one’s heart, the seduction of dark chaos, and… a cry urging him to run.

Yu Sheng took a sharp breath, crouched low, and dashed toward a gap between the demon fox and that monster. But he didn’t flee as Hu Li urged him to. Instead, he grabbed a broken slab of blue stone from the ground, hugged it to his chest, and charged straight at the monster’s side.

Of course he knew he still probably couldn’t beat the monster, but he also understood that with mere human legs, escape was simply impossible. On top of that, obstacles of crumbled walls were everywhere, and the only open exit leading out of the ruined temple was blocked solid by the monster’s massive body. In this situation, reckless flight would only get him killed faster.

Better to grit his teeth and charge. He couldn’t win, but since he wasn’t afraid to die, he had a chance to trade something for the monster’s life—and if by luck the monster got distracted, maybe Hu Li could free herself from that terrible restraint. She was still struggling to hold on to her sanity; if she got loose, there might be a counterattack…

All these thoughts flashed in an instant. Yu Sheng knew his plan wasn’t well thought out, but he had no room to consider more. With no other choice, he went all out. That body of his erupted with a strength that even he found puzzling, hurling the heavy stone slab like a cannonball at the flesh-and-blood beast.

The next second, he had no time to check the “results” of his strike. A huge warning sign rose from the depths of his heart—he “saw” the monster’s counterattack a second early—and he hurled himself to the side.

A whip-like black shadow slammed into the very spot where he’d stood. It was a serpent tail that had split off from the monster’s surface in an instant. Earth and stone erupted; the solid blue stone and broken tiles were all pulverized into dust. Midair, Yu Sheng felt a powerful shockwave, and fragments of rock rained down on him like bullets, clattering with a sound like steel striking stone.

But he ignored the pain. After landing, he rolled quickly, dodging the serpent tail’s pursuit. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced toward Hu Li.

The silver-white fox was struggling violently among countless black spikes and bone fragments. The ghostly blue flames near her tail flickered wildly, as if they might explode out of control any second.

Yet she was still trapped tightly—those restraints seemed custom-made for her. Yu Sheng’s interference had been completely useless.

In fact, from a single glance Yu Sheng could tell that this fox girl was many times stronger than him, yet she had no chance against that monster. There was clearly a very obvious… “counter” between them.

But at the very beginning, on the empty ground outside the temple, she had still charged over without hesitation, trying to “save” him—even though her rescue attempt failed, she had genuinely intended to help.

That memory flashed by. Yu Sheng clenched his teeth hard, wanting to charge again. He could try the old tactic of exchanging his life for a piece of the monster, gnaw off a part.

He didn’t know where his extra strength and healing ability came from, but he remembered that before those changes first appeared, he had bitten a piece of flesh off the monster.

He wasn’t sure if the two were actually linked, but with no other path, and since he wasn’t afraid to die, he might as well test every wild guess that came to mind.

“Don’t… worry about me!” At that moment, Hu Li’s voice came again. “It can’t kill… me. You, run!”

“Don’t worry, it can’t kill me either,” Yu Sheng spat out a mouthful of bloody spittle—an injury from when a flying stone had hit his chin earlier. He turned his head to glance at the silver-white fox, a cheerful smile on his face. “Later, I might die, but don’t worry—I’ll come back for you.”

Hu Li’s struggling paused for a moment, as if she were momentarily confused.

But Yu Sheng didn’t explain. He simply strode toward the monster. His steps were light, and the smile on his face grew more pronounced.

There was a kind of joy in that smile, like someone going to a banquet.

“Aren’t you the type that likes to urge people to eat?” He muttered to himself, looking at the flesh-and-blood beast ahead. “Fine, your daddy’s coming to eat!”

He leaped into the air, pouncing like a starving wolf toward that feast table.

The dozens of eyes all over the flesh monster quivered violently. For the first time, a hint of hesitation and… cowering appeared in those chaotic, mad eyes.

From its many mouths came vague roars, and then several whip-like “serpent tails” covered with black scales split from its piled-up body, stabbing at Yu Sheng in midair.

Yu Sheng felt his body pierced—fatal wounds, maybe multiple. He could feel his life slipping away, warm blood draining the vitality from within.

But that indescribable… “appetite” surged up from the depths of his heart. He ignored the pain, ignored all the resistance and unease against death. He grabbed hold of one serpent tail that had pierced his abdomen, grinned, and lowered his head to bite down—

The monster let out a strange, piercing screech, violently thrashing the serpent tail as if trying to shake off a deadly poisonous insect clinging to it.

But Yu Sheng clung to that tail for dear life, refusing to let go no matter how hard it jerked. He was slammed into the ground, then into a collapsed wall nearby, but his tough body wasn’t injured by the lethal impacts. Instead, the pain only sharpened his awareness.

Just then, the serpent tail lifted high again, aiming for a large gap in the temple wall.

A strange golden light suddenly flashed across the edge of his vision.

Amid the roaring wind, Yu Sheng lifted his head with difficulty and saw that golden light rapidly approaching. Before he could make out what it was, he instinctively raised an arm to block.

His hand caught something—a handle.

Yu Sheng: “…?”

A faint creaking sound mixed with the wind. In his mind, the image of a door abruptly appeared—an ordinary-looking door, leading somewhere, leading to…

The moment a spontaneous location popped into his head, he pulled the door open.

The next second, Yu Sheng and the black-scaled serpent tail were pulled through the door in an instant. Then, with a harsh screech, the door slammed shut.

The serpent tail of the flesh monster was severed cleanly by the door that had appeared and vanished. A cacophony of maddening roars echoed through the valley. The wound seemed to drive the monster insane; it raged through the ruins of the temple, rampaging, frantically devouring everything in sight—even parts of its own body. After who knows how long, it gradually calmed down. Its body once again dissolved into a dark, shadowy form, melting bit by bit into the night.

The black spikes and bone fragments disappeared silently. The battered silver-white fox fell to the ground, motionless, as if dead.

After a few minutes, Hu Li slowly opened her eyes. She stared blankly at her surroundings; the golden-red pupils seemed to have completely lost all human-like spirit.

A long while later, her gaze finally focused on a certain spot in the ruins.

It was the steps where “Benefactor” had sat with her before.

She dragged her enormous fox body over there, slowly. She saw the scattered plastic bags and leftover vegetable scraps beneath the steps, bent her head down, and while whimpering, swallowed everything into her stomach.

But she was still starving.

That seductive voice, like an undying demon, whispered to her from the deepest pit of her hunger—

“Eat. You know where there’s still stuff to fill your stomach…

“You buried them in the woods…

“Bones, flesh, and blood…

“Go, eat. Once you eat, you won’t be hungry anymore…”

The fox lowered her head, making sounds like sobbing whimpers, then curled up under the steps, slowly stretching out her neck to gnaw at the broken bricks and tiles nearby. She also dug up dirt and rotten wood from under the ruins, shoving them slowly into her mouth, chewing over and over.

“I’m not hungry… I’m not hungry… Someone gave me food… He’ll be back soon to bring me more… I’m not hungry…”

She kept gnawing like this until, as she had done many times over the years, she gradually lost consciousness.

The sensation of falling endlessly jolted Yu Sheng awake from his haze. The feel of the door handle still lingered in his hand, but the next second he realized he had crossed some boundary.

He opened his eyes in astonishment, finding himself lying by the side of a road. In his line of sight were familiar streetlights, utility poles, and the old, low buildings along Wutong Road.

No. 66 Wutong Road stood there not far ahead, its aged facade and gate looming in the pale morning light.

With difficulty, he turned his head and saw the fading afterimage of a door slowly dissipating. Deep within that afterimage, he could vaguely make out that valley shrouded in night, the ruins of the temple, and…

The white fox struggling to move among the rubble.

Yu Sheng tried to reach out toward the fox.

But the last traces of the shadow vanished before his fingers could touch them.

A note on the future update schedule: From now on, Monday through Friday will always be double updates, while Saturday and Sunday will be single updates. This old geezer’s ( ) limit has been reached…