Chapter 367: The Lonely Soul
Little Blood Demon still had no fondness for Young Master Sang and the others.
Although it was honestly munching on duck blood, its scarlet eyes were glued to Young Master Sang as if even the slightest disturbance would send it bolting again.
But in fact, Young Master Sang couldn’t catch it. His hand passed right through it like it was air.
Eventually, the two could only crouch nearby, watching the little critter feast on duck blood.
“This child seems really hungry,” Shi Qingyan said softly, a hint of sympathy in her voice.
“Definitely. In a place like this, it’s hard to find even a living creature, let alone someone for the Blood Demon to feast on,” Young Master Sang shrugged.
“It feels like it’s quite pitiful, doesn’t it?” She attempted to reach out and stroke its hair but ended up touching nothing, sighing, “If only we could take it home and take care of it.”
“…Please, just get a pet from the mortal realm.”
“And,” Young Master Sang shifted his gaze back to the Little Blood Demon, “there’s no way to keep this little guy.”
“Hmm?”
“Have you noticed something odd about the way it eats?”
Shi Qingyan observed for a moment, then exclaimed, “It… isn’t actually swallowing the food!”
That’s right.
Even though the little blood demon was trying hard to eat the duck blood, a closer look revealed that the blood didn’t enter its body; it seemed to disappear the moment it touched its teeth.
“What’s going on?”
“I guess it can only interact with things like blood,” Young Master Sang said, tossing a stone into the duck blood.
Sure enough, when the little blood demon took a bite, the duck blood vanished, but the stone passed right through and fell out of its body.
Young Master Sang then squeezed a drop of blood from his finger and let it fall on the little demon’s head.
The moment its throat sensed the taste, it tilted its little head back, mouth wide open, waiting for the blood to drip in.
With that first drop, it made a blissful gurgling sound.
“…Just as I thought.”
Young Master Sang muttered, “It’s not really a Blood Demon.”
“…No. To be precise, it’s not the true form of a Blood Demon. It’s merely the lonely soul of a Blood Demon, condensed from its own bloodline powers.”
Yes.
From the very beginning, this little Blood Demon was just a wisp of a ghost.
Perhaps due to the nature of the Blood Demon clan, their own blood contained enormous energy and powers, so even as just a remnant soul, it could still hold onto its blood, resulting in this half-alive, half-dead state.
But to be strictly accurate, it was merely a remnant soul.
Not a physical entity, thus impossible to touch.
“Ah?” Shi Qingyan blinked, “Then where’s its true form?”
Young Master Sang’s gaze shifted back to the little cabin.
Earlier, while cleaning, he had noticed something.
In one corner of the bedroom, the floor was hollow underneath.
He and Shi Qingyan went over, pried the floor open, revealing stairs leading down to a basement.
The basement wasn’t deep, and after just a few steps, they found a pitch-black room.
Young Master Sang slowly snapped his fingers, illuminating the entire space with bright flames.
“…!”
Shi Qingyan’s eyes widened.
The room was empty.
The only thing there leaned against the wall.
…It was a skeleton.
Small in size, seemingly that of a child, sitting against the wall with a few shattered bones remaining nearby.
It had been dead for who knows how long.
“How could this…”
Shi Qingyan gasped in shock, covering her mouth, while Young Master Sang quietly approached, observing the skeleton and murmuring to himself:
“Nian Nian, this is what you meant by that phrase.”
“From the very start, you knew this Little Blood Demon was already deceased.”
“…Not just it.” Next to him, Nian Nian’s figure slowly appeared, silently adjusting her glasses and whispering, “In this world, there are no living Blood Demons left.”
“But the remnant soul of this Little Blood Demon lingers on its blood in a state of false death, so one cannot say the Blood Demon lineage has truly ended.”
“So, the question you posed back then, this system doesn’t have an accurate answer. All it can do is give you a riddle.”
Of course.
In reality, understanding it this way only scratched the surface.
But Nian Nian had no intention of sharing the other half with Young Master Sang.
Her gaze drifted absentmindedly toward the sky outside, soon snapping back.
“Is that so,” Young Master Sang sighed.
For a moment, he didn’t know whether to feel pity for the Little Blood Demon or for himself on this fruitless journey.
At that moment, they heard a sound at the door. The Little Blood Demon had somehow followed them to the dark room in the basement.
Upon seeing the skeleton, its body seemed to shudder.
Long after, it staggered over to the skeleton, mimicking its posture by sitting against the wall.
It was the first time Young Master Sang heard something resembling human speech from it:
“…Wait for Mama… to come back…”
That tender yet slightly hoarse voice made the entire room feel exceptionally quiet.
Honestly, seeing everything in this room, even if Young Master Sang and Shi Qingyan were dimwitted, they could piece together some of the story.
This place was inherently unlivable.
The lone surviving Blood Demon had been forced to hide in such an isolated area, inevitably struggling for survival.
Perhaps it had abandoned its child and fled, or perhaps something had happened during a food-seeking endeavor.
Regardless, in the end, its parents never returned. Only this lonely little Blood Demon was left, waiting here for them to come back.
…Until it starved to death.
“…So pitiful.”
Shi Qingyan’s expression was forlorn as she bit her lip and walked over to the Little Blood Demon, wanting to pat its head.
But once again, her hand passed right through it.
With a downcast gaze, Shi Qingyan retracted her hand, but suddenly heard the Little Blood Demon speak again.
“Thank you… for cleaning… the house.”
“The house is clean… Mama will be happy…”
Its voice was still so raspy and awkward.
Yet it held the innocence of a child.
Shi Qingyan said nothing, her eyes reddening slightly as she continued to stare at it.
“I… am so hungry…”
“…Why hasn’t Mama… come back yet…”
Shi Qingyan lowered her head, seemingly grappling with something fiercely.
After a long pause, she slowly extended her hand toward the Little Blood Demon.
“Shi Senior Sister—!”
Young Master Sang intended to step forward and stop her, but when the words reached his lips, he suddenly swallowed them back.
If this was Shi Senior Sister’s own choice, he had no right to interfere.
The Little Blood Demon gazed at Shi Qingyan’s finger, swallowing hard.
In a moment, it revealed a pair of tiny fangs and gently bit down on Shi Qingyan’s finger.
