Mutual Devouring

On the other side.

Su Mian accompanied Qi Chuan back to the university.

They found a bench by the roadside and sat there, letting the wind blow over them for a good while. Only then did the feeling of nausea in their hearts dissipate a bit, but the moment they closed their eyes, that spray of red and white matter was still there.

It was too bloody!

“Do you still want to eat later?”

Su Mian asked his friend, successfully causing him to dry-heave again. Qi Chuan waved his hand frantically: “…Stop talking, I really don’t want to vomit anymore!”

“Alright.”

Su Mian shrugged. Actually, he felt like he had mostly recovered, but in order to act more like a normal person, he deliberately put on a miserable expression as well.

Then he looked around.

“Do you think the police uncles will come looking for us later?”

“Why would they look for us…”

Qi Chuan responded subconsciously, then suddenly paused. After stopping his dry-heaving, he said thoughtfully: “Actually, it’s hard to say.”

After all, the situation just now was strange no matter how you looked at it. That emaciated middle-aged man was like a starving ghost reincarnated; the moment they didn’t let him eat, he suddenly exploded, even biting a chunk out of the restaurant owner’s neck.

And then there was someone who actually opened fire in the crowd!

None of this was normal, so it would be perfectly normal for police uncles to come to their door to understand the situation or tell them not to talk nonsense.

And in fact, that was exactly the case.

They didn’t even have to wait very long.

They had just finished talking about this for a few minutes when two “uncles” dressed in black clothes spotted them from a distance.

One of them first lowered his head to look at his phone, then looked up a few times as if confirming something, before leading the way over.

As they approached, the leading middle-aged man revealed a kind smile.

“You are Student Qi Chuan and Student Su Mian, right?”

Seeing the two young men nod, he pulled out his ID while smiling and said: “Hello, we are from the police station. Do you have some time? We have something we’d like to understand from you. Don’t be afraid, it will only take a few minutes.”

“Is it because of the restaurant just now…?”

“Yes.”

After receiving an affirmative reply, Qi Chuan and Su Mian exchanged a look, both somewhat surprised by the speed of the police station. How long had it been? They had even investigated their names!

Although they guessed someone might come to understand the situation, they truly hadn’t thought it would be this fast.

But they were just part of the crowd of onlookers, so they had nothing to feel guilty about. They weren’t too nervous about the police uncles coming to find them.

In short, after confirming the IDs were correct, the two officers took them to a nearby empty classroom and carefully asked about the situation at the time.

This included why they were there, what they saw, and how they left afterward, etc.

To this, neither Su Mian nor Qi Chuan had anything to hide. They told the truth, saying they had just gone there to eat after class let out at noon, and they hadn’t expected to encounter such a thing. They also hadn’t taken any photos or videos.

The two plainclothes policemen didn’t say much either; they just checked their phones as a matter of routine. After confirming that no pictures or videos of the scene were left, they returned the phones to them.

Then, they simply explained the situation at the time.

According to the two police uncles, the man just now had severe bulimia and mental illness. He was supposed to be cooperating with treatment at a nearby psychiatric hospital, but he accidentally got lost today, stole someone else’s clothes, and unexpectedly mixed into the big-eater competition.

The disease flared up during the competition, eventually leading to him turning violent and hurting people, and he just happened to be seen by a passing police officer.

That officer had just started the job not long ago and lacked experience. In his nervousness, his pistol misfired and blew the man’s head off.

As for why a small pistol could blow a person’s head apart like a watermelon?

Uh, don’t ask about police matters!

In short, this conversation didn’t last too long. They didn’t even make Su Mian and the others go to the station to do a formal statement. The two black-clad uncles just told them to forget about this matter as soon as possible and to keep it strictly confidential, as spreading it would have a very serious impact.

The two policemen’s attitude was very good, but the subtext was also very clear—the two of you are already on the list at the police station, so just act as if nothing happened. Once the news leaks, they will be coming back.

The two police uncles came and went in a hurry. They left quickly after finishing the questions, presumably because they had other things to be busy with.

But this wasn’t something Su Mian and the others should care about.

Watching the police leave, Su Mian turned to look at the pale Qi Chuan beside him and asked: “It looks like there’s nothing for us to do. Are you going anywhere later?”

“I have classes in the afternoon.”

Qi Chuan shook his head.

Although his state was very poor and he really wanted to ask for leave, unfortunately, exams were coming soon. Asking for leave at this time was not a good idea.

Having no choice, Su Mian could only say: “Alright then, I’m heading back? Oh right, if you have time, let’s have dinner together. My treat—I’ll buy you some jellied bean curd (doufunao).”

“Blegh… screw off!!”

Leaving the campus, Su Mian originally wanted to find a random place to call out his other self to ask about the situation. But for safety’s sake, he eventually held back and chose to ride his bike back to his rental house.

Back home, after closing the door, he immediately went to the bathroom mirror.

This time, the other self did not choose to avoid him. The black hair of the boy in the mirror quickly turned silver-white, his pupils turned crimson, and his handsome face became exquisite and demonic.

In the blink of an eye, the succubus appeared in the mirror.

She blinked her eyes, her expression becoming vivid, and then she spoke immediately without needing to be asked: “It was a demon.”

“He really was a demon!?”

“No.”

Facing Su Mian’s surprise, the girl immediately shook her head. “I mean he had the power of a demon on him. He was just a human contaminated after being stained by demonic power; at most, he counts as a Fiend.”

“Fiend?”

Su Mian was thoughtful. He wasn’t confused about the existence of Fiends because this wasn’t the first time he had heard this word.

A so-called Fiend was a human bestowed with power by a demon. This bestowal could be active or passive; it could make a person powerful, or it could turn a person into a corrupted monster!

He had once asked if he counted as a Fiend, but the other self had told him very clearly that Fiends were originally humans who were converted into Fiends after accepting demonic power.

As for him, he was born with demonic power. So, despite having a portion of human blood, he was a pure and genuine demon.

The other self had once given Su Mian a crash course on this basic knowledge. But because there were absolutely no examples to serve as a reference, hearing her say it in the past always made it feel like a setting in a fantasy story or some kind of legend.

Today was the first time he had encountered a real Fiend!

And since there was a Fiend around, it also meant—

“There’s actually a demon near the school!?”

Su Mian showed a strange expression. For a moment, he didn’t know whether to be surprised or startled, or perhaps more excited?

After all, if there were other kindred nearby, first it could prove that he was indeed not an isolated case. Then, perhaps he could try to communicate and see if he could figure out exactly what was going on with himself.

However, to this, the girl in the mirror rolled her eyes: “Aren’t you one?”

“I mean other demons!”

“Then you’ll probably be disappointed. Even if there really are other demons, I don’t suggest you contact them rashly.”

Su Mian showed a puzzled look.

“Why?”

Regarding his confusion, the girl in the mirror slightly curled the corners of her mouth and smiled meaningfully. She said slowly: “Because eating one’s own kind can make a demon even more powerful.”

“…”

“Mutual devouring is the simplest way for a demon to become strong. Although not all demons like this method—after all, there are different types of demons with different personalities—there is no doubt that most demons do not resist this method.”

“Even compared to humans, in the eyes of a demon, their own kind is actually much more delicious!”

The self in the mirror was full of smiles, and even those eyes were faintly glowing. Seeing this, Su Mian couldn’t help but frown: “So you mean, rashly contacting them might lead to us being eaten by other demons?”

The succubus did not answer immediately.

The crimson pupils of the girl in the mirror stared straight at the Su Mian outside the mirror, her expression stranger than ever before.

And then, after a long while…

“It’s the first time I’ve discovered we have a talent for telling cold jokes.”

Ah?

Su Mian blinked his eyes with a look of total confusion. When did he tell a cold joke?

The boy outside the mirror was full of incomprehension; the girl inside the mirror sighed: “It’s the other way around.”

“The other way around?”

“I said you got it backward. Why would you think we are the prey? If you truly encounter other demons, what you need to consider isn’t whether you’ll be eaten by the other party, but how to hold yourself back from eating them!”

Su Mian fell into silence. He didn’t know where the other self got such strong confidence, as if other demons were just a side dish.

Could it be that other demons are actually very weak?

That shouldn’t be the case.

Unable to figure it out, Su Mian didn’t bother thinking about it further. Instead, he asked: “Then if I eat other demons… what will happen?”

Other demons devouring each other makes them more powerful, but what about himself? What changes would appear on him? Just becoming stronger, or…

“Don’t you know the answer very well?”

The girl in the mirror laughed out loud.

“Devouring other demons can also make us more powerful. But more importantly, doing so will greatly accelerate our awakening process!”

“That’s why I’m reminding you to try and stay away from them. Otherwise, if you can’t hold back, the ordinary life you hope for will completely leave you~”

“…”

Put this way, contacting other demons indeed required caution, otherwise, it might bring some unnecessary trouble. However, all of this had a prerequisite—that is, there really are other demons nearby.

Setting aside whether to contact them or not, at the very least, he had to first determine if there were any.

Although he encountered a Fiend today, Su Mian had lived nearby for so long and hadn’t been able to discover anything abnormal. So he suspected that this Fiend’s appearance here might just be some kind of accident.

Of course, these were all just guesses. Whether there was anything abnormal required looking around the vicinity again to be certain.

Finally, he thought to himself.

“No day like today.”

Since there was nothing to do today anyway, Su Mian thought for a short while and decided to first go to that restaurant and its vicinity to see if there were any clues.

Although there was official intervention and the possibility of leaving useful clues was small, what if? Moreover, he could use the power of a demon; perhaps he could observe from a different perspective.