The Price of Consumption

“Are you angry?” Zhuo asked nervously.

“Not at all,” Yuan Anqing replied, his tone placid.

Zhuo seemed to realize this was a trap, speaking directly, “You’re trying to fool me.”

Yuan Anqing truly wanted to give Zhuo’s head a good pounding, but now that his physical attacks could actually hurt Zhuo through the contract ring, he couldn’t resort to violence. “Are you really alright? If I recall correctly, you haven’t consumed any raw Savior flesh since you devoured your Father-Body and Mother-Body as an infant.”

“They were inferior Differentiated Beings. Corrupted Saviors,” Zhuo corrected him stubbornly. “They weren’t truly alive anymore. I’m not cheating on you.”

“Regardless of whether that counts as cheating on our no-eating-Saviors pact, did you have any particular physical sensations when you consumed your progenitors back then?” Yuan Anqing inquired.

“I don’t know. I was too young, and my mind wasn’t clear,” Zhuo admitted. He only knew what he had eaten, but he couldn’t truly describe his state during that period. After all, he had instincts but no rationality then. “However, digesting them took a very long time. It made me sleep.”

Yuan Anqing grew even more concerned.

Zhuo, however, saw no issue. “There won’t be any problems now!” he declared with utmost confidence.

Yuan Anqing still found it unreliable. “You’re not feeling uncomfortable?”

Zhuo desperately felt like vomiting, but he straightened his back to prove himself. “Not uncomfortable! Not uncomfortable at all!”

Chen Jiao raised an eyebrow from the side. She had seen Zhuo’s clenched fists trembling behind his back. Zhuo hadn’t fully hidden his hands, so his unnatural stiffness was obvious to an outsider. Yuan Anqing, meanwhile, was focused entirely on Zhuo’s face, creating a blind spot in his vision.

But Chen Jiao had no intention of exposing the monster; it wasn’t her business if he wanted to play tough guy.

The lead guard looked somewhat helpless. After all the effort the authorities took to find a small sample of the corrupted meat, hoping Yuan Anqing could safely neutralize it, Zhuo had just swallowed it raw in one gulp. “If Zhuo experiences any unusual reactions later, we hope you two will inform us.”

“Inform us in detail,” Chen Jiao added dryly. “If there’s any sickness or pain, it can be dealt with sooner.”

Yuan Anqing looked at Chen Jiao.

Chen Jiao smiled, her lips curving. “Because if something truly happens to Zhuo, Mr. Yuan… then you’ll really get angry, won’t you?”

Zhuo’s expression changed. He frowned fiercely at Chen Jiao, silently mouthing a lethal threat behind Yuan Anqing’s back.

Chen Jiao wasn’t afraid of him. She knew perfectly well that as long as Yuan Anqing was standing there, Zhuo wouldn’t dare to act out. “Your angry face must be quite terrifying to him.”

Zhuo bared his fangs at her.

Chen Jiao watched Zhuo and merely shrugged. Yuan Anqing followed Chen Jiao’s gaze, and the previously snarling Zhuo instantly retracted his aggressive posture, becoming a picture of docility.

His speed was remarkable; the moment he sensed Yuan Anqing turning his head, he immediately changed his demeanor to that of an innocent puppy.

Yuan Anqing didn’t notice anything amiss. “I won’t get angry with you, Zhuo. But if you’re feeling unwell, you must tell me.”

“I know!” Zhuo nodded immediately, signaling his utter trustworthiness.

“Are you truly fine?” Yuan Anqing asked again.

“Fine!” Zhuo shook his head vigorously. He felt he just needed a little time to digest the disgusting energy.

However, this time Zhuo was mistaken. When he devoured his progenitors, he was in a chaotic state, devoid of self-awareness. After being sated, he had no complex desires whatsoever; he couldn’t even be considered a person.

But now, Zhuo was brimming with human desires and fears. Therefore, in terms of qualifying as an all-consuming, unbothered monster, the newborn Zhuo was far more “perfect” than the current Zhuo.

That very night, Zhuo was plagued by horrible nightmares from the indigestion. The dream was absurd: Zhuo dreamt he suddenly reverted to his true form in bed and accidentally crushed Yuan Anqing to death while rolling over in his sleep.

The next day, Zhuo was in terrible shape. On their way to the office, Zhuo only ate twenty shumai dumplings—less than half his usual breakfast amount.

At his workstation, Zhuo couldn’t concentrate. He would stare blankly at his monitor for a bit, then glance frantically at Yuan Anqing, needing to confirm that Yuan Anqing was still alive and that the crushing weight of his dream wasn’t real.

Yuan Anqing had noticed Zhuo’s abnormality early on, but Zhuo was very good at finding excuses. One moment he would say the shumai wasn’t tasty, the next he’d claim he was just looking at Yuan Anqing out of pure affection.

Zhuo usually enjoyed staring at Yuan Anqing, but in the past, after gazing at him, he would return to the CAD exercises Yuan Anqing had assigned him. This time, however, when Zhuo wasn’t staring at Yuan Anqing, he was merely daydreaming miserably.

“Are you in a bad mood?” Yuan Anqing asked Zhuo during their lunch break.

Zhuo shook his head.

“If you’re in a bad mood or feeling unwell anywhere, remember to tell me early,” Yuan Anqing said, rolling his chair beside Zhuo’s. He glanced at Zhuo’s monitor, which was already in sleep mode, then reached out to gently stroke Zhuo’s horns and face. “If you’re uncomfortable, it makes me uncomfortable too.”

“Don’t be uncomfortable,” Zhuo quickly said, leaning into the touch. “I’m really not uncomfortable.”

Yuan Anqing pursed his lips, finally letting out a soft sigh. He knew Zhuo was definitely hiding his indigestion from him, but forcing him now wouldn’t make the stubborn monster reveal any information.

Zheng Xiao’an, eating quietly at a nearby desk and watching the interaction between the two adults, felt a pang of profound envy.

They had friends who communicated like that. Staying with these two for too long made it easy to harbor unrealistic, romantic fantasies about intense relationships. One was a world-ending monster, the other a god-like Savior. Brought together, loving passionately, bound by death and rebirth. It seemed as if it was meant to be this way naturally.

Zheng Xiao’an was deep in thought when Yuan Anqing spoke, shattering the romantic illusion. “You eat first. Let me see your math test paper.”

“Ah? Oh, okay.” Zheng Xiao’an had already figured out Yuan Anqing’s temperament. This Savior was actually very gentle; he rarely got angry and wouldn’t lose his temper even when tutoring a student as untalented as them. Moreover, Zheng Xiao’an could actually understand what he taught. It was just that Yuan Anqing had been a bit too aloof at first, not as approachable as the talkative, cheerful Zhuo.

Yuan Anqing massaged the tip of Zhuo’s tail with one hand while critically reviewing Zheng Xiao’an’s test paper with the other.

Zheng Xiao’an opened their lunchbox. They were no longer afraid of Yuan Anqing’s academic scrutiny; they knew Yuan Anqing wouldn’t show them a stern face over a failed derivative.

The meal was mostly prepared by Zhuo, with Yuan Anqing only assisting, and Zhuo’s cooking skills were excellent. After taking a bite, Zheng Xiao’an looked up. Yuan Anqing was focused entirely on the test paper, while Zhuo rested his heavy head on Yuan Anqing’s lap, seeking comfort like a giant, sulking dog.

It was quiet, with no extraneous sounds in the office. They looked like a family. A very peculiar one.

“You should be able to keep up with the pace when you return to school,” Yuan Anqing said, handing the test paper back to the teenager. “I’ll go over the errors with you again tonight.”

“Okay,” Zheng Xiao’an smiled gratefully at him.

“Aren’t you eating?” Yuan Anqing asked Zhuo.

Zhuo’s head was still down, buried in Yuan’s lap as if he intended to suffocate himself. “I’m not very hungry.”

Yuan Anqing stroked the back of Zhuo’s head again. “Then I’ll feed you. Will you eat?”

Zhuo quickly sat up, his red eyes shining as he stared at Yuan Anqing, but he soon realized a logistical flaw. “You don’t have as many hands as I do. If you feed me, what about you?” Yuan Anqing was the one with the bleeding ulcer.

“I’ll eat by myself, then,” Zhuo decided, not wanting Yuan Anqing to worry about his diet. “Just pretend you’re feeding me.”

“Are you sure?” Yuan Anqing asked.

“You already offered to feed me,” Zhuo nodded smugly. “You’re not someone who lies or fools people. As long as you offered, I feel energized.”

Yuan Anqing felt a complicated mix of emotions. “You’re quite good at fooling people yourself.” Zhuo spouted sweet nothings effortlessly, yet he didn’t seem to feel much embarrassment about it himself. He wasn’t intentionally trying to flatter; he was merely speaking his mind.

And precisely this blunt honesty made Yuan Anqing’s heart soften the most.

Zhuo thought Yuan Anqing’s comment about ‘fooling people’ referred to his secret indigestion deception. He didn’t know how much Yuan Anqing had seen through, but he had to grit his teeth and keep up the act. Those dead Saviors’ meat was no good; it would lead Yuan Anqing down a path of no return if he touched it.

Zhuo ate when he said he would, finishing all the remaining food in the large insulated container.

After that, Zhuo’s eating habits seemed to return to normal. The reason for saying “seemed” was primarily because the old Zhuo would often demand extra snacks beyond his main meals, and the portions wouldn’t be small. But recently, none of the snacks at home had been touched, save for a few by Zheng Xiao’an. Zheng Xiao’an’s consumption couldn’t compare to Zhuo’s, so it wouldn’t mislead Yuan Anqing’s calculations.

Yuan Anqing grew increasingly worried, but unlike Zhuo, he didn’t suffer from sleep problems. In fact, Yuan Anqing had been sleeping exceptionally well lately. He always felt he must have dreamt—that a gentle yet powerful presence had soothed him in his sleep. Yet, each time he opened his eyes, the memories of the dream would vanish completely, leaving only a subtle sense of peace lingering within him.

Zhuo, however, was miserable; his dreams grew more and more extreme. From nightmares of Yuan Anqing’s sudden death, to existential dread over whether Yuan Anqing was even real, to fears that the ‘Yuan Anqing’ by his side was just a hallucination and that the reality where Zhuo had nothing was the true world.

Zhuo despised that nightmare world where he had nothing. It was empty and desolate, with everyone left with only despair and fear. This had once been Zhuo’s longed-for perfect future, where the world was destroyed by his hands, and Zhuo perfectly completed his “mission” as a monster.

But Zhuo now disliked this “mission”—intensely so.

He sat amidst the ruins in his dream, watching the people weeping and wailing, and Zhuo suddenly found their appearances truly unsightly. They looked better when they smiled.

But Zhuo couldn’t manage to kill them now, because Zhuo himself was crying.

He couldn’t find Yuan Anqing’s whereabouts in the dream. It was as if Yuan Anqing’s existence was merely a fleeting hallucination he had while sleeping. When he woke up in the nightmare, he still had to face all this chaos alone.

Zhuo had once sought out Bai Tian in the dream, wanting to ask if Bai Tian knew anything about Yuan Anqing. But Bai Tian’s gaze held nothing but fierceness and hatred.

Bai Tian’s wife had died. Killed by Zhuo.

Zhuo couldn’t ascertain Yuan Anqing’s whereabouts. Dream-Bai Tian continuously cursed and even attacked him. Of course, Bai Tian couldn’t break through Zhuo’s physical defenses, but Zhuo showed not an ounce of a demon lord’s aura; he almost fled with his head in his hands.

Finally, Zhuo found an empty cave to hide in. He covered his head, growing sadder the more he thought about it, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Yuan Anqing…” Zhuo truly couldn’t adapt to this chaotic, lonely world. “Bai Tian hit me. Boohoohoo.”

[Then go kill him,] a dark voice emerged in Zhuo’s mind. [Kill everyone who dares to ride roughshod over you.]

Zhuo froze for a moment, then cried even louder. “I don’t want to!! I just want Yuan Anqing! Boohoohoo!” He didn’t want to attack anyone; he just wanted his domestic life back.

[Yuan Anqing never existed,] the voice sneered.

“Boohoohoo, WAAAH!” Zhuo was too sad. He cried while lying on the cold ground, preparing to sleep. If that person had never existed, he’d rather abandon the real world entirely; he would go find Yuan Anqing in his dreams.

[Get up and slaughter them!] the voice sounded a bit anxious.

Zhuo could sense that the voice originated from his deepest, primal destructive urges—the corrupted Savior meat he had consumed. But Zhuo had no interest in destruction right now. “Don’t bother me. I’m going to sleep.” He was going to find Yuan Anqing.

[What’s fake is fake in the end!]

“I like him, so he’s real to me,” Zhuo cried, squeezing his eyes shut. “Stop bothering me. You’re annoying.”

[…]

Meanwhile, Yuan Anqing was also dreaming.

However, unlike Zhuo’s despair, Yuan Anqing stood in a vast, empty space, like the boundless starry sky. He felt no solid ground beneath his feet; his entire being was floating.

There was no wind, no particular scent; it was deathly silent yet seemed brimming with vitality.

“Do you like it here, child?” The voice Yuan Anqing had once detected in Chen Jiao’s memories sounded again.

“Who are you?” Yuan Anqing frowned, looking around.

“Aren’t you looking at me?” the voice countered gently.

Looking at it?

Yuan Anqing surveyed the twinkling starlight around him. “Are you these things?”

“Yes,” the voice replied with a hint of amusement. “You’ve asked me this many times already.”

Yuan Anqing suddenly realized, “I’ve been dreaming of you all this time?”

“It’s me.”

Yuan Anqing felt something warm brush past his side, and then the voice spoke again. “This time when you wake up, you will still forget me.”

“Why?” Yuan Anqing didn’t understand.

“Because your current, mortal self cannot comprehend what I am,” the voice was very gentle. “I told you this when you first dreamt of me.”

Yuan Anqing’s brow furrowed slightly. He disliked this feeling of being out of control. “If I don’t remember anything, then what’s the point of me dreaming of you?”

“You merely accidentally touched upon the rules of the universe. My connection with you is very close,” the voice said. “Honestly, we had a very pleasant chat the first time you dreamt of me.”

“Is that so?” Yuan Anqing didn’t fully trust the entity.

“You could actually choose to remember, but you felt that our conversation wasn’t very important.” After the entity finished this sentence, Yuan Anqing felt something tap his forehead.

“I actually don’t mind discussing repetitive topics with you. I’ve seen too much repetition,” the voice continued. “Most things in this world repeat; breakthroughs and true innovation are rare.”

“But perhaps you should look at something else now.”

The surrounding scene shifted. The twinkling stars vanished, replaced by dark, damp rock walls.

Inside a cave, someone was sobbing loudly.

“Zhuo?” Yuan Anqing recognized the pitiful voice instantly.

How could Zhuo be here?

Yuan Anqing called out several times, but the voice reminded him, “Your little monster cannot hear you.”

Yuan Anqing could only follow the sound. When he saw Zhuo huddled in the deepest part of the cave, anger and sadness surged within him almost simultaneously. Zhuo always found a way to make himself appear pathetic, despite his massive size and aggressive features.

“What’s wrong with him? Why are his eyes closed?” Yuan Anqing reached out to touch Zhuo, but his hand passed straight through Zhuo’s forehead. They were like beings from different dimensions, completely unable to touch each other.

Yuan Anqing heard Zhuo muttering his name, and his heart tightened.

“He underestimated the influence of the corrupted Saviors’ flesh and overestimated his own biological tolerance,” the voice explained. “Theoretically, your little monster’s power has grown stronger; he has human desires now, and his strength has gradually increased with his protective instincts for you.”

“But too many human desires also create weaknesses. He’s being interfered with by the resentment in the meat.”

“Is there a solution for being interfered with by resentment?” Yuan Anqing stared intently at Zhuo’s crying face.

“His consciousness is saving itself; he just needs to return to his original state,” the voice said softly. “If only pure destructive urges remain, he won’t be interfered with by human grief.”

Yuan Anqing froze.

“But he’s unwilling to abandon his human emotions for you, which is why he’s been trapped for so long.”

“Is there any way other than returning to his original state?” Yuan Anqing asked urgently.

“You are a Savior, aren’t you?” the voice reminded him.

Yuan Anqing paused slightly, then understood. “Will I still remember this solution when I leave here?”

“If you want to remember, you can recall the general idea.”

Yuan Anqing understood. He wanted the voice to let him wake up, but the moment that thought arose, everything around him vanished.

Yuan Anqing woke up in the middle of the night, tightly embraced by Zhuo. Zhuo slept peacefully, not at all like someone troubled by nightmares.

Yuan Anqing pressed his temple, then reached out to push Zhuo’s chest. “Zhuo. Wake up.”

Zhuo’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Wake up,” Yuan Anqing continued to push.

“Yuan… Anqing,” Zhuo mumbled, beginning to call his name in his sleep.

“It’s me,” Yuan Anqing responded.

Then Zhuo’s eyes snapped open. “YUAN ANQING!!” His panicked shout nearly gave Yuan Anqing a heart attack.

But before Yuan Anqing could react, he was crushed in Zhuo’s desperate embrace.

“Boohoohoo! Yuan Anqing! Boohoohoo!” Several more arms extended from Zhuo’s back, all together restraining Yuan Anqing, preventing him from leaving. “Yuan Anqing! Waaah!”

Zhuo’s eyes were wide, and his tears were large, splattering directly onto Yuan Anqing’s face. The little anger Yuan Anqing had felt completely dissipated.

He recalled Zhuo’s pitiful muttering of his name in the dream, complaining that Bai Tian was going to beat him. Yuan Anqing found it somewhat amusing. It was Zhuo who had previously boasted about eating everyone, and now it was Zhuo who dreamed he was beaten and fled in disarray.

“There, there,” Yuan Anqing gently patted Zhuo’s broad back to soothe him.

“Are you the real Yuan Anqing?” Zhuo asked, pulling back slightly.

“What about me isn’t real?” Yuan Anqing countered.

Zhuo couldn’t answer. He touched Yuan Anqing’s face, his shoulders, his arms, yet couldn’t confirm anything.

Yuan Anqing had no choice. He cleared his throat and adopted his strict, managerial tone. “Alright. You fooled me earlier, saying Savior flesh wouldn’t affect you. If I hadn’t discovered the problem today, how long would you have kept it a secret?”

Zhuo’s body stiffened. Yuan Anqing even heard a sharp gasp.

Then the mattress beneath them trembled violently; something shot out from the covers.

“Don’t run away!” Yuan Anqing quickly grabbed his wrist to stop him.

With a heavy thud, Zhuo fell off the bed to the floor.

Yuan Anqing quickly turned on the bedside lamp, seeing Zhuo rapidly scramble backward on all fours, not stopping until he reached the corner of the room, where he tried to squeeze even further into the wall.

Yuan Anqing walked toward Zhuo. With each step Yuan Anqing took, Zhuo trembled.

Yuan Anqing: “…You knew this was wrong. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I’m not wrong! Those two corrupted Saviors would have harmed you!” Zhuo still didn’t believe he had a problem, even though his current mental state was clearly chaotic. If that power could torment him like this, what would happen if the fragile Yuan Anqing came into contact with it?

“They wouldn’t harm you?” Yuan Anqing knelt down in front of him.

“They wouldn’t!” Zhuo declared unequivocally, trying to sound full of confidence.

If Yuan Anqing hadn’t just seen Zhuo’s pathetic, cowardly demeanor in the dream, he might have actually believed him.

“Your mouth is really stubborn,” Yuan Anqing said, reaching out to pinch Zhuo’s cheek.

Zhuo flinched and quickly closed his eyes, bracing for a hit.

However, Yuan Anqing didn’t smack his head. Yuan Anqing merely sighed, “If I hadn’t found out, how long were you planning to endure it? Until you completely couldn’t distinguish between dreams and reality?”

Zhuo didn’t speak, because he himself didn’t know.

“Are you determined to worry me to death?” Yuan Anqing asked him.

“I… I don’t want to worry you to death!” Zhuo quickly explained, panicked. “I was afraid something would happen to you!”

“So you want to play the lone hero? You want to sacrifice yourself?” Yuan Anqing asked him coldly.

“I won’t sacrifice myself, I…”

“What guarantee do you have?!” Yuan Anqing interrupted him. “What guarantee do you have that you’ll stay alive and well?!”

“This is irresponsible,” Yuan Anqing said, pointing and tapping Zhuo’s forehead. “Not reporting a medical problem immediately, and dragging it out, is highly irresponsible.”

Zhuo wanted to argue, but he didn’t know what to say.

“I probably know how to solve the problem,” Yuan Anqing said. He then pried open Zhuo’s mouth and inserted his index finger.

Zhuo’s eyes widened, looking innocently at Yuan Anqing. His lips closed slightly, and his sharp canines lightly grazed Yuan Anqing’s fingertip—a habitual action. “What are you doing?”

“Bite,” Yuan Anqing commanded with a single word.

Zhuo’s eyes grew rounder. He quickly pulled Yuan Anqing’s hand back out of his mouth. “Are you also unable to distinguish between illusion and reality?!”

“No. The flesh of those dead Saviors can affect you, so my blood as a living Savior can certainly affect you,” Yuan Anqing said logically. “Pure mental soothing isn’t deep enough to purge the corruption.”

“It definitely won’t work! It’s not like I haven’t eaten it before!” Zhuo retorted.

When had Zhuo eaten it? Yuan Anqing paused. After realizing what kind of “fluids” Zhuo had “eaten” previously, Yuan Anqing uncharacteristically blushed a little. “That’s different! That’s protein!”

“Meat is also protein! I ate the meat of those two Saviors!” Zhuo yelled.

“These two are also different! If you eat that stuff, I won’t suffer any loss!”

“Why do you insist on suffering a physical loss?!”

Their bedroom door was suddenly knocked upon. Zheng Xiao’an’s voice from outside asked hesitantly, “Excuse me, is something happening?”

“Perfect. Zheng, bring me a sharp fruit knife from the kitchen, quickly,” Yuan Anqing called out, pressing Zhuo firmly to the floor. His physical strength wasn’t great, but he could mentally compel Zhuo not to move.

“Don’t bring it! Don’t you dare bring it!” Zhuo yelled at the door.

However, Zheng Xiao’an had been there for a few days; they knew very well whose orders to actually follow in this household.

Yuan Anqing found it amusing. “Now you’re using that logic to condemn me?”

“You’re forcing me to hurt you!” Zhuo pleaded. “This is meaningless!”

Whether it was meaningful would be clear once he drank the blood.

Yuan Anqing waited until Zheng Xiao’an tentatively handed the fruit knife through the cracked door, then immediately sliced his own palm. He then forcefully shoved his bleeding fingers into Zhuo’s mouth.

Zhuo tried to struggle, but his teeth were too sharp, and he feared potentially enlarging Yuan Anqing’s wound if he thrashed. Finally, he was forced to swallow. The warm blood slid down his throat.

Savior blood was an unparalleled biological delicacy for Zhuo, but Zhuo didn’t want to savor this taste.

As the blood entered Zhuo’s body, the chaotic feeling in his mind immediately began to dissipate. Clearly, the blood of Yuan Anqing, a living, sane Savior, had a potent purifying effect.

Yuan Anqing knew the blood was effective from Zhuo’s stunned expression. He breathed a sigh of relief, then reined in his aggressive demeanor.

Yuan Anqing released Zhuo and stood up. “Believe it or not, I actually don’t blame you. I know what you were thinking.”

Zhuo didn’t respond.

“I worry about you too, just like you worry about me,” Yuan Anqing continued.

Zhuo still didn’t respond.

Yuan Anqing looked down at Zhuo, who still had a trace of bright red blood at the corner of his mouth.

Zheng Xiao’an was also standing awkwardly by the doorframe. Yuan Anqing waved them off. “Go to sleep. Thank you for your trouble tonight.”

“Oh, okay,” Zheng Xiao’an nodded, then turned and practically fled.

And after Zheng Xiao’an left, tears once again streamed from Zhuo’s red eyes.

Zhuo slowly slid down to the floor, covering his face with his massive hands. “I’ve harmed you!” His voice was so mournful, like someone wailing at a grave. “I’ve harmed you!” Zhuo repeated.

Yuan Anqing looked down at his sliced palm, confirming the wound was tiny and already nearly healed due to his Savior biology. “Not to that extent…”

“I drank your blood! I actually drank your blood! And it worked!” Zhuo continued to break down, horrified by his own relief.

“There, there,” Yuan Anqing quickly comforted him. “It’s alright, really. I don’t mind this.”

“I mind!” Zhuo choked out. “I’ve harmed you.”

Yuan Anqing double-checked that he had no other wounds. “You’re exaggerating.”

“Does it hurt?” Zhuo released his hands and looked at Yuan Anqing with tear-streaked cheeks.

However, before Yuan Anqing could answer, Zhuo’s emotions collapsed again. “Of course it hurts! What kind of stupid question was that?! Boohoohoo!”

Yuan Anqing truly had no recourse. He could only try to embrace Zhuo’s large head.

However, Zhuo’s emotions erupted once more. “I drank your blood, and you’re still hugging me! What kind of monster have I become?!” He sounded as if he had committed some colossal, unforgivable sin against humanity.

“There, there. You meant well,” Yuan Anqing soothed.

“Even with good intentions, I still messed up. No decent person would do something like this,” Zhuo continued to be sad.

“Those so-called ‘people’ have done far more bad things than you,” Yuan Anqing didn’t know how to comfort him anymore; Zhuo’s logic had become a miserable circle. “How can you feel better?”

“Are you still comforting me?” Zhuo’s lips trembled.

“No. I mean, uh, I’m getting revenge on you,” Yuan Anqing said quickly, fearing that if he said ‘comfort,’ Zhuo would completely shut down from guilt.

Zhuo thought for a moment, then offered, “Just beat me up.”

“I can’t hit you,” Yuan Anqing reasoned. He could truly hurt Zhuo now through the contract ring, and he didn’t dare to strike him hard.

Zhuo misunderstood. “What am I supposed to do if you’re always so kind? You’ll get taken advantage of.”

“Taken advantage of? By who? If I let you be, and something serious truly happened to your mind, that would be me being taken advantage of.” Yuan Anqing reached out and flicked Zhuo’s forehead lightly. “Alright, that counts as a beating. Don’t mention it again.”

Zhuo was still blaming himself.

“Are you very idle right now?” Yuan Anqing asked him.

Zhuo: “Not exactly idle, I just feel that your treatment of me isn’t quite…”

“Can’t sleep?” Yuan Anqing interrupted him.

This time, Zhuo nodded miserably. “Can’t sleep.”

“Alright then,” Yuan Anqing leaned in and kissed Zhuo’s lips, licking away the dried blood at the corner of his mouth. “Let’s not sleep tonight.”

Zhuo was slightly stunned. “But you didn’t get eight hours of sleep just now.”

Yuan Anqing: “…”

He said no more. Instead, he grasped one of Zhuo’s horns, pulling the monster into a deep kiss, while his other hand had already found its way to the sensitive base of Zhuo’s tail.

“Mmph! Mmmph!” Zhuo’s eyes widened.

Yuan Anqing released Zhuo again. “Go on, cry.”

Zhuo: “Huh?”

“Cry. You look rather good when you cry,” Yuan Anqing said, touching the corner of Zhuo’s eye. “So tall and robust, yet you cry like a kitten.”

Cat… what? Zhuo didn’t react for a moment, only able to softly protest, “I’m a tough guy…”

“A tough guy, I know. What kind of tough guy is like you?” Yuan Anqing simply put his recently injured hand back into Zhuo’s mouth. “Come on, cry. Cry your heart out all at once, and let me see more of our ‘tough guy’s’ tender side.”

If Yuan Anqing said he wouldn’t sleep, then he wouldn’t let Zhuo rest that night. There were always more appropriate, more frantic, and less violent ways to vent stress.

At seven o’clock the next morning, Zhuo was lying like a corpse on the bed, while Yuan Anqing called in sick to work. “We’re going to Bai Tian’s place today.”

Zhuo’s tail tip lifted slightly, indicating he had heard.

“What’s wrong?” Yuan Anqing rolled over and patted Zhuo’s thigh. Zhuo was lying face down on the bed, and Yuan Anqing patted the back of his thigh, making Zhuo jolt.

Zhuo tilted his head slightly.

“Not sad anymore?” Yuan Anqing asked him.

Zhuo swallowed. “Were you really abstinent for the past thirty-five years?”

“What do you mean?” Yuan Anqing didn’t understand.

“I feel like you’ve been saving up all your energy just to mess with me,” Zhuo turned his head back around to bury it in the pillow.

Yuan Anqing was too terrifying in bed.

“I’m not sure, but your guess has a certain biological possibility,” Yuan Anqing joked, poking the base of Zhuo’s tail. Zhuo shivered. Yuan Anqing poked Zhuo’s spine. Zhuo shivered again.

“Stop playing,” Zhuo’s tail began to lightly tap Yuan Anqing’s hand, shooing him away.

“My finger is hurt, you know,” Yuan Anqing whispered into Zhuo’s ear. “You were crying so much yesterday; I thought you really minded.”

“You say you’re not a normal human, then you ask me to hit you,” Yuan Anqing feigned a sigh. “Yet you complain about everything when you sleep with me.”

“I didn’t complain about you!” Zhuo revealed his face again. “And this isn’t the same as you hitting me!”

“I enjoy it this way; it makes me happy,” Yuan Anqing poked Zhuo’s side again.

“It tickles!” Zhuo frowned.

“If you keep deliberating, I’ll tickle you,” Yuan Anqing began to roll up his sleeves.

Zhuo quickly sat up. “How can you be like this? I feel like I’ve treated you badly, and I can’t even reflect on it in peace?!”

“You treated me badly? Your protective instincts are overflowing!” Yuan Anqing was helpless. Zhuo had swallowed that strange, corrupted meat purely because he cared too much about Yuan Anqing’s safety.

And Yuan Anqing hadn’t forgotten how Zhuo looked in his dream. If Yuan Anqing truly disappeared, Zhuo probably wouldn’t be able to recover his former combative personality; he would only cry, preferring to search for Yuan Anqing in dreams rather than deal with the trivialities of reality.

This made Yuan Anqing increasingly concerned about his own life. That version of Zhuo was truly pitiful, and he didn’t want Zhuo to become like that.

Yuan Anqing developed a fear of death. He could no longer face it calmly as he once did, no longer seeing it as a form of “corporate rest.” This fear of death and his feelings for Zhuo were interdependent; the more he liked Zhuo, the more hideous and terrifying death appeared in his eyes.

After Zhuo stood up, Yuan Anqing hugged him tightly.

Zhuo said nothing, and asked nothing. He simply hugged back in silence.

Only after Yuan Anqing released him did Zhuo speak. “Next time there’s a problem, I’ll definitely tell you first.”

“I won’t scare you anymore,” Yuan Anqing offered a faint smile. “If you hide something from me again, I’ll truly get angry.”

Zhuo nodded.

While Yuan Anqing and Zhuo made their agreement, the troubles on the other side did not diminish.

Upon learning that even Zhuo couldn’t successfully digest the Savior corpses, Bai Tian felt his head ache immensely. After Yuan Anqing arrived at the government building, Bai Tian repeatedly said, “How could this be? It shouldn’t be. It was just a little meat; only a few grams were mixed into that minced flesh! The old Zhuo could digest two adults!”

These corrupted Saviors hadn’t undergone awakening; their abilities should have been similar to the ones Zhuo had eaten as an infant.

“It couldn’t be that one of them was a mental omnipotent like you, could it?” Bai Tian looked at Yuan Anqing.

Yuan Anqing shook his head. “It’s Zhuo who has changed. Zhuo has human desires now, and his emotions are easily influenced by the resonance.”

“Are you two dating?” Bai Tian asked bluntly.

“Probably,” Yuan Anqing glanced at Zhuo beside him.

Zhuo’s power was even stronger now, but as long as it wasn’t something that could harm Yuan Anqing, Zhuo was very willing to view it positively. He was now a positive and proactive monster.

“Then what about the others who ate the Savior meat?” Bai Tian rubbed his temples, feeling a massive headache. “They have the root of calamity within them. Even daily removal of desires is useless; the desires will quickly reform.”

“Chen Jiao and I can each donate some blood,” Yuan Anqing suggested. “Dilute it with water or drinks, and it should resolve their corruption issues if they consume it.”

“You want to give your blood to other people?!” Zhuo was shocked. “Can’t just Chen Jiao’s blood be enough? She doesn’t even work! What’s wrong with her giving a little more blood?!”

“She hasn’t undergone her first Awakening either; the purifying power of her blood might not be able to match mine,” Yuan Anqing reasoned. He had actually considered pushing this task to Chen Jiao, but after careful thought, he decided against it. “Just to be safe.”

“Hmm?” Yuan Anqing hadn’t considered a logistical question. “Would you give this to ordinary people?”

“We just want to know if this blood can act as a preventative measure,” Bai Tian said.

“What do you mean?! You want to use Yuan Anqing as a blood bank?!” Zhuo became instantly vigilant. Sure enough, his aggression was still present. As long as Yuan Anqing was alive, Zhuo’s aggression could be maxed out to protect him.

“Of course not! We need Saviors to live peacefully until their natural death.” Dead Saviors were a huge problem for this world. “A single drop of blood already has a significant purifying effect. This time, we won’t need that much at all. The rest might be stored to control the next poisoning incident.”

“But the effects might not always be positive,” Yuan Anqing said. He always felt that Saviors carried an inexplicable, eerie quality. “Who do you want to test it on?”

“Wait, I’ll report this first.” After receiving Yuan Anqing’s affirmative reply, Bai Tian immediately reported the news to his superiors.

He quickly received a reply.

They had previously arrested an old man from a radical resistance organization. The old man was extremely unstable; his wife, daughter, and son had all died. He was completely mad, having three violent episodes a day and requiring a straitjacket. However, the old man was indeed not an inferior Differentiated Being—he was just a normal human.

“You call this human experimentation,” Zhuo leaned over to look at the old man’s file.

“It is indeed human experimentation,” Bai Tian surprisingly didn’t deny it. “This man is responsible for over twenty human lives, all minors, and has already been sentenced to death.”

Yuan Anqing was indifferent; he didn’t care about the ethics of it.

A nurse from the basement ward came up, took a few drops of Yuan Anqing’s blood with a lancet, and took it away to dilute. Yuan Anqing, Zhuo, and Bai Tian sat in the office, waiting for news.

Just as Zhuo was almost done munching on the snacks in Bai Tian’s office, a phone call finally came through. Without Yuan Anqing needing to remind him, Bai Tian put it on speaker.

“This old fellow suddenly became… so serene,” said a woman on the other end of the line. “Before, his eyes were always fierce and hateful, but now he even looks a little tired.”

“Not an act?” Bai Tian wondered if it had simply exhausted the man.

“I don’t know. He mumbled a bunch of things, and we’re still investigating what he meant,” the woman had just said this when she suddenly gasped, “We found out! This old fellow wants to become a monk!”

The man had suddenly “seen the light” and attained complete enlightenment. He was no longer cynical about the world, nor did he cling to the violent beliefs he had championed his whole life.

Humanity’s ultimate destination was merely death; why desperately pursue illusory things and add to one’s worries? In essence, life in this world was but a dream. A bustling life was one life, a quiet life was another; why bother pursuing that bustle? Ultimately, when the grand dream ended, nothing could be taken with you.

“This old man looks at us like we’re a bunch of fools!” the woman said.

“He’s despising you?” Bai Tian wondered.

“No, he’s pitying us. Maybe he thinks he’s transcended the mundane world, while we’re still entangled in it,” the woman finally sighed. “Oh my god. It’s terrifying.”

Savior blood had a “transformative” effect on ordinary people, eliminating all worldly desires and turning them into lifeless, hollow, enlightened shells.

The woman complained for quite a while. After the call finally ended, Bai Tian said with lingering fear, “This stuff can’t be used on normal people.”

To suddenly sever all emotions and desires would truly lead humanity hand-in-hand toward extinction. Without desires, there was no difference between living and dying.

Yuan Anqing looked down at his healed hand.

Then Bai Tian’s phone chimed with an incoming message. Bai Tian looked down. “They said they tried Chen Jiao’s blood on others, and it had no effect.”

Only blood from someone who had undergone their first Awakening was effective?

Yuan Anqing stared at his finger, deep in thought. “Next time I’m attacked, if I flick some blood into their mouths, will they be too busy pondering the meaning of life to pursue me?”

Bai Tian: “…”

This suggestion, though absurd, actually seemed quite effective upon closer consideration.

“You don’t need to flick blood; I can just bite them to death,” Zhuo didn’t believe those guys would have a chance to pursue Yuan Anqing. “And you might not even get the blood into their mouths! Plus, cutting yourself would pain me.”

“We can’t let those lunatics from the rebel organizations know about this effect of your blood,” Bai Tian propped his head up, feeling helpless. “Several factions within the rebel organization are complete anti-human groups; they’d love for everyone to perish together. If they truly knew about your ability to induce ‘enlightened ego-death’, they’d only become more annoying.”

“That old man used in the experiment earlier was one of them.”

“Anti-human?” Zhuo asked. “Does everyone in those organizations have human lives on their hands?”

“Yes, the people in these radical organizations are all perverts. They have no discipline, and their hierarchy isn’t strict, but they are utterly insane mad dogs.”

“They are all products of distorted environments, worshipping only serial killers and the like. They are beings that even some moderate rebel organizations avoid like the plague.” For everyone to become monks was, in their view, also a form of destruction; they were the extremists among extremists.

“They worship extreme destruction, destroying themselves and others,” Bai Tian said, pointing at Zhuo. “The god in their minds should be someone exactly like Zhuo.”

Zhuo, who was reaching for a box of potato chips, paused. He then handed the box to Yuan Anqing. “Can you get some out for me? My hands are too big.”

“Can’t you just pour them out?”

“If I pour them out, there’ll be crumbs everywhere, and it’s so hard to clean up,” Zhuo had become much more domestic and cautious since he started sharing household chores. He wasn’t even responsible for cleaning Bai Tian’s office floor.

“My hands are too big too,” Yuan Anqing tried, unable to fit his hand inside the tube.

Zhuo began to fret. After a brief thought, he reverted to his original monster form, opened his gaping, fanged maw, and simply crushed the entire box of chips into his mouth, cardboard and all.

“Don’t eat too fast,” Yuan Anqing reminded him mildly.

Bai Tian: “…”

He had misunderstood; this current, domesticated Zhuo might not be appealing to the extremists after all.

“Stop talking about the extremists for now. Have the ones who threw the corrupted minced meat been caught?” Zhuo was still chewing the potato chips.

“Targets have been identified, and we’re preparing to close in,” Bai Tian nodded.

“Can you hand them over to me?” Zhuo’s current true form didn’t look as terrifying anymore with chip crumbs on his snout.

“Hand them over to you?” Bai Tian didn’t understand. “Do you want to keep them as pets?”

“I don’t want to keep them. They stole the minced meat to harm people, right? Since they wanted to harm people, they should be dealt with.” Zhuo’s tone was so matter-of-fact that only Yuan Anqing vaguely sensed something was amiss.

Bai Tian: “How do you want to deal with them?”

“I’m not very happy about them making me sick, so I don’t want them to be happy either,” Zhuo finally swallowed the potato chips. “They played a prank on me, so I want to play a prank on them too.”

“They deserve to die, right?” Zhuo’s voice carried a smile, and his massive body leaned towards Yuan Anqing.

It was only when Zhuo’s face reverted to his normal, handsome human form that Bai Tian realized Zhuo’s smile was exactly like the one he used when playing cruel pranks on his handlers years ago.

Only familiar individuals could discern the unsettling quality within it; the smile was both false and hypocritical. His pupils flickered with a crimson glow.

He was a monster. A man-eating monster.

“Some of them have already completely Differentiated into inferior beings; they’ve killed people, you know,” Zhuo still couldn’t get over his anger; he wanted violent retribution from the culprits who had made him worry about his Savior. “When you kill people, you should be prepared to be killed, right?”

Yuan Anqing’s absence would leave Zhuo utterly dejected. Therefore, Zhuo wouldn’t allow Yuan Anqing to disappear. He intensely loathed those excessive provocations, and he didn’t want to drink Yuan Anqing’s blood ever again.

Zhuo rubbed his cheek affectionately against Yuan Anqing, smiling brightly at Bai Tian. His tone was like a spoiled, innocent child. “Let me bite them to death.”