The Taste of Trust

Li Chunsheng stood in the kitchen, a cleaver in his hand, lost in thought.

‘Do I really have to do this?’ He gazed at the cleaver’s blade, a hint of hesitation clouding his expression.

Although he had experienced an unexpected healing of his injuries during a previous incident…

Whether he had truly acquired a wound-healing ability remained, in fact, an unknown.

What if the ability wasn’t inherent but originated from an external source? Perhaps, when he wasn’t aware, that Investigator Liao had bestowed upon him a healing-type ability.

‘No, that’s not right. Such rapid healing is a miracle beyond the reach of ordinary people, requiring at least a Bronze-tier ability. Investigator Liao certainly doesn’t possess such power.’

Embarrassingly, Li Chunsheng was actually quite afraid of pain. If he were to truly cut himself and the wound didn’t heal, he would likely endure several days of agony, not to mention the added expense of buying bandages. What a loss that would be!

And so, Li Chunsheng remained frozen in place.

Noticing her junior hadn’t moved for a while, Liuxia, who was busy cooking, called out with a maiden’s request: “Chunsheng, could you help me chop the cabbage~?”

“Please~” The young woman made a pleading gesture towards Li Chunsheng from the stove, looking utterly adorable.

As the beautiful young woman she now was, Liuxia possessed a delicate frame and a melodious voice. If she earnestly asked any man for a favor, it was doubtful many could refuse her.

However, Liuxia, having once been a man, had always been too shy to request help from others; indeed, even when he did, it often led to nothing but self-inflicted humiliation.

Consequently, the young woman was accustomed to quietly shoulder every burden herself. It was only with her childhood friend and junior that Liuxia dared to make requests, unafraid of being rejected or disliked.

Such was the deep, brotherly trust shared between them.

“Ah, alright!” Preoccupied with his thoughts, Li Chunsheng habitually agreed to his senior’s request, completely oblivious to Liuxia’s charming demeanor.

‘Forget it, I’ll just make dinner first…’ Li Chunsheng thought to himself, then began awkwardly chopping the cabbage.

*Clang, clang.* His knife skills were truly dreadful, resulting in uneven and unsightly pieces.

“Hiss…” Li Chunsheng gasped, sucking in a sharp breath. He saw a gash on his finger, from which blood began to drip.

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake! I cut my hand. Now I’ve managed to wound myself even without trying.’

‘Come forth, my infinite potential!’ Li Chunsheng stared intently at the wound on his finger, hoping to witness the healing miracle reappear.

Yet, nothing happened. No matter how wide Li Chunsheng’s eyes strained, the wound showed not the slightest change, as if the healing miracle he had encountered before had merely been a dream.

‘Was it truly just a dream? But then, the undeniable fact that my senior transformed into a beautiful young woman and is staying at my house… what exactly is going on?’ Deep disappointment welled within Li Chunsheng.

At that moment, Liuxia, who had been simmering soup, noticed from the corner of her eye that her junior had been still for a considerable time. Puzzled, she glanced over and, upon seeing Li Chunsheng’s injured finger, her heart gave a sudden leap.

That leap wasn’t born of alarm, but rather… from another, more ineffable desire.

‘Blood. It’s blood.’

Liuxia’s heart throbbed rhythmically. The tiny bead of blood on Li Chunsheng’s fingertip captivated the young woman’s gaze, as if it were the most precious jewel in the world.

Undeniably, her heart was now consumed by a “hunger” for Li Chunsheng.

Perhaps because she had recently licked the bloodstains from Li Chunsheng’s clothes, and her body had attained a certain degree of satisfaction, Liuxia was still able to retain some semblance of rationality.

Consequently, this rationality swiftly brought with it a profound sense of guilt for Liuxia.

‘How could I possibly feel such hunger for a junior who trusts me so completely?’ Liuxia was filled with self-reproach. ‘Could it be that I’ve truly become a monster, inside and out?’

Yet, the guilt born of her rationality could not suppress the incessantly growing hunger within her.

Soon, this hunger twisted Liuxia’s thoughts, causing the young woman to rationalize: ‘Yes, Chunsheng trusts me so much, so… if I take this opportunity to drink a little blood, it won’t matter, right?’

In the very next moment, Liuxia’s body moved, guided by this burgeoning desire.

“Oh dear—Chunsheng, how could you be so careless?” Liuxia gently approached Li Chunsheng, her eyes downcast, and with a tone of feigned concern, she took his injured hand.

“Uh, no need… I can just handle it myself…” Li Chunsheng’s voice carried a hint of disappointment, but Liuxia no longer possessed the extra rationality to notice it.

The young woman now desired nothing more than to drink that sweet, luscious blood.

In Liuxia’s downcast eyes, chaos and madness swirled, hidden within her pupils. She murmured, “That simply won’t do; it must be tended to immediately…”

‘This blood is mine,’ the young woman thought to herself.

Without further hesitation, Liuxia opened her crimson lips and enveloped the blood-beaded finger. The taste that made every cell in her body sing with joy instantly flooded the young woman’s mind.

“Eh… Senior, you don’t have to…” Liuxia could no longer hear Li Chunsheng’s embarrassed, shy voice.

Her subsequent actions no longer required thought; they were purely instinctive.

Her tongue swept across the broken skin, carrying away the sweet, metallic blood, and with it, all of Liuxia’s consciousness. In that moment, she was nothing but a bloodthirsty beast.

Yet, Li Chunsheng noticed none of this. He merely marvelled that his senior, who had doted on him since childhood, would take such a small cut so seriously.

It never occurred to him that Liuxia might harbor motives that were far from innocent.

Such was the deep, brotherly trust shared between them.

Soon, the blood on the wound was licked clean, and no fresh blood continued to flow. Liuxia’s rationality began to return.

‘What… what have I done?’ Profound regret filled the young woman’s heart. Even if everything appeared normal on the surface, her motives were twisted. Could someone like her, a monster, truly remain by her junior’s side?

On the surface, however, Liuxia maintained her cheerful and gentle demeanor, smiling as she returned to finish cooking the remaining food.

In truth, in her dazed state, she failed to notice Li Chunsheng’s pupils abruptly contract as he gazed at the injured hand he had just lowered.

‘This… it’s healed?’ Incredulously, the wound that had been bleeding profusely just moments ago had now closed completely, with the skin restored to its original state.

What’s more, he had vaguely sensed that when the wound healed, his ‘Gold Content’ figure had subtly shifted.

‘Could it be…’ Li Chunsheng cast a stunned gaze towards Liuxia, who was still cooking.

If his suspicions were correct, then the source of the previous healing miracle actually stemmed from their intimate connection, with neither party being dispensable.

‘If I get injured again, Senior will probably tend to me with such meticulous care, just like before, won’t she?’

も見ながら美少女模样的学長, found their previous interaction somewhat ambiguous. He swallowed hard and thought, ‘I’m sorry, Senior! To better protect you in the future… I must now take advantage of your trust in me.’

The door to a new world was opening before him, a man who had lived an ordinary life for over twenty years. What transmigrator could possibly abandon such an opportunity?

This miraculous pattern, for whatever reason, absolutely had to be mastered!

Soon after, Liuxia heard a cry of pain emanate from Li Chunsheng’s direction once more.

“?” Liuxia turned her head in confusion, only to see that all ten of Li Chunsheng’s fingers were cut.

‘Why would chopping vegetables result in so many injuries!?’ A sliver of rationality briefly surfaced within the young woman.

However, this rationality only held on for a moment longer before once again collapsing.

“You truly… are impossible…” Her words were laced with suppressed madness.

The previous scene replayed itself in the kitchen, but this time, within the simultaneously downcast and concealing eyes of the two ‘brothers’, each harbored desires the other could never have imagined.

Neither of them, however, would ever believe this to be the truth.

For such was the deep, brotherly trust shared between them.

Yet… this relationship was undoubtedly destined to change from this moment forward, wasn’t it?