Chapter 16: Hunger
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation.
Foxy sat upon the crumbling steps of the old, ruined temple, her head hanging low as though she felt deeply wounded inside. Her once-bright fur, mostly white but now dirty and dull, trembled slightly. It seemed as if she might begin crying at any moment.
Just beside her, Yu Sheng sat on those very same steps, his head bent forward too. However, unlike Foxy, he was truly hurt—there was a fresh wound where Foxy had bitten him, tearing skin and drawing blood. Yu Sheng had known that creatures like foxes guarded their food fiercely, but he had never expected a fox spirit to be so determined about it. She had bitten him, body and all.
At last, Foxy spoke, her soft voice trembling. “Benefactor…” She called him by that name so timidly. Her white fur seemed to bristle with sorrow. “I’m sorry… I just couldn’t hold back. I hurt you again.” Her words sounded small and ashamed.
Yu Sheng took a slow, careful breath. “Yes, you hurt me again,” he said with a tired sigh. “But it’s not quite as bad as the first time we met.” As he spoke, he noticed the blood staining Foxy’s mouth. It reminded him of their very first meeting—back then, she had crashed into him with such force that if he hadn’t been quick, he might have lost everything below his neck. Compared to that, a bite was almost a blessing.
But Foxy only tilted her head, looking puzzled. She clearly had no memory of this “first time” he kept mentioning. Whenever Yu Sheng tried to bring it up, she responded with the same confusion, as if those events were hidden behind a heavy fog in her mind.
“Benefactor,” Foxy asked, her voice hushed and uncertain, “are you certain we met before? Outside this temple?” Her golden-red eyes narrowed slightly, as if searching for some stray memory that refused to surface.
Yu Sheng frowned, looking carefully at her face. “Not even a hint of a memory?” he asked. “We really did meet. I was fighting some horrible, twisted monster. You jumped in to help, and then—bam—everything went dark. After that, I woke up here. You were just wandering about outside, as if nothing had happened.”
Foxy tried very hard to remember, her eyes squeezing shut, her ears drooping low. But after a few moments, she lowered her head, defeated. It seemed useless; she could not recall a thing.
Yu Sheng looked down at his wounded hand, trying to calm himself by focusing on it. He watched something impossible unfold: the bite mark was healing right before his eyes. New bits of flesh grew in place of the torn skin, and the blood seemed almost alive as it flowed and moved, stitching the wound back together. He could even hear it—a faint sound of tissues knitting themselves in perfect harmony.
Within minutes, the pain had faded to a gentle tingling, and the wound was nearly gone. This was far from normal. Yu Sheng knew human bodies did not heal this quickly. There was something strange about him now, something that had kept him alive when he should have died. It unsettled him. These changes, although helpful, made him uneasy. He worried that there might be a hidden cost, some unknown price to pay for this strange gift of survival and quick healing.
As he wondered about his fate, a peculiar feeling stirred inside him. It was as if he heard something that didn’t reach his ears but entered straight into his mind. For a moment, he sensed thoughts that weren’t his own, distant memories that did not belong to him. Part of his consciousness became restless, filled with confusion. Then, within that chaos, he caught a glimpse of a thought—terrible and desperate:
Mom is gone, Dad is gone, uncles and aunties are gone. It’s dark, poisoned, cold. I’m scared. Hungry. So cold, so hungry. The fruit is poisonous. Bark’s inedible. Leaves can’t be eaten. Dirt can’t be eaten. Rocks can’t be eaten—nothing can be eaten. Hungry. So hungry. Very, very hungry…
This hunger, this crushing emptiness, nearly drove Yu Sheng mad. Even though it was only a fragment of another’s memory, the raw hunger felt as real and painful as if it were his own. He could hardly think as the hunger roared in his mind, drowning out all reason. Slowly, gradually, it began to fade, letting him breathe again.
When he finally lifted his head, he saw Foxy, her delicate form beside him. He watched as she licked his blood from her lips. His blood twisted strangely on her tongue, sinking into her flesh and bone, disappearing into her very being. Foxy noticed him staring and licked away the last drop, then looked up at him and gave a silly, harmless grin. She seemed sweetly clueless, but Yu Sheng had begun to see something deeper and darker inside her.
He felt as though he could see her soul. Beneath her gentle smile and innocent eyes, he saw a great, gnawing hunger. Something inside her was starving. Even though she managed a lighthearted grin, that terrible hunger gnawed at her mind.
“Benefactor…” she said softly, her eyes sliding towards his pocket. She didn’t seem dangerous at that moment—she almost looked cute. “Do you… have anything else to eat? My stomach doesn’t hurt anymore, but I still… feel a bit hungry.”
A shiver ran down Yu Sheng’s back. He realized something was off. Why did she crave food, why did she stare at him so strangely? And that strange moment just now—he had slipped into her thoughts. Or had her thoughts slipped into him? He remembered the sight of his blood on her tongue. Could that be the reason he had glimpsed her memories?
Before Yu Sheng could speak, Foxy’s expression changed, as though some long-lost memory had suddenly burst free in her mind. She stood up slowly, staring at him as if he were a stranger. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She shook her head and pointed a trembling finger at him, her voice high and shaky.
“Benefactor… you… you’re not dead?!” she cried out.
Yu Sheng blinked, startled. Of course he wasn’t dead—he was right here. What was she talking about?
Foxy pressed a hand against her own forehead, swaying as though she might faint. Suddenly, it seemed her mind was overflowing with jumbled memories. She remembered their first meeting now—truly remembered it. She recalled the terrible accident, the way she had crashed into him, how his body was horribly wounded, how his blood had poured out. Back then, she had believed he had died. She had seen his remains vanish, thought he was gone forever. Now, seeing him alive, whole, and right before her eyes, it shook her to the core.
Her golden-red eyes grew cloudy, and she mumbled softly, “Ah, I remember now, Benefactor. We met outside… I… I made a mistake and…” She trailed off, her voice becoming nothing more than a faint murmur. The confusion in her mind grew so thick and heavy that it seemed about to break her once more.
Yu Sheng stood there, unsure what to do. He had no idea why she suddenly recalled the past at this very moment. Perhaps it had something to do with the strange link he felt earlier, the thoughts he shouldn’t have been able to sense. But this wasn’t the time to puzzle it out. Foxy’s body trembled, and she looked as though she might collapse at any second.
He stepped forward to catch her, but as soon as he moved, Foxy reacted fiercely. She lifted her head, and he saw that her golden-red eyes had changed, filled with a wild, bloody light. A low, threatening growl rose from her throat. It was more animal than human.
Slowly, she bent down, her posture turning feral. Her messy, silvery tail fanned out behind her, and Yu Sheng noticed a strange bluish flame flicker at its tip. There were multiple tails now, all dancing with eerie, ghostly blue fire. The air around her grew thick and dangerous.
Gone was the gentle fox girl who had seemed so sweet only moments before. In her place crouched a creature on the edge of madness, a predator about to pounce. Hunger gleamed in her bloodshot eyes. Through that strange bond, Yu Sheng thought he could almost hear her thoughts again:
Benefactor, you smell so good…
Yu Sheng gulped, stepping back carefully. He realized something else lurked in the darkness behind Foxy—a huge, creeping shadow. The glow of the blue fox fire shed just enough light to reveal a monstrous shape lurking in the temple’s gloom. It was enormous, several meters tall, and seemed made of twisted limbs, countless eyes, razor-sharp claws, and gaping mouths. This awful creature looked like hunger and hunting given a body, a hideous form that let out low, rumbling growls.
With each soft, urging sound the monster made, Foxy crouched even lower. Her silver fur spread quickly over her entire body, her face stretching into a sharp, fox-like muzzle, her fangs growing long and deadly. She transformed right before Yu Sheng’s eyes. In an instant, the cheerful young fox spirit girl had vanished, leaving behind a giant silver fox with multiple tails dancing like flames in the night. The temple’s broken walls and pillars were lit by that eerie blue light, and Yu Sheng stood, stunned and horrified, at the scene.
Then he heard a voice, a whisper that slid straight into his mind, so soft and yet so clear. He wasn’t sure at first where it came from.
“Eat… just eat, and the hunger will stop…”
“Eat, we’ll eat together…”
“You’re hungry… eat.”
He thought these terrible words came from Foxy, but as he listened, he realized it was what she was hearing. The voice belonged to that monstrous creature lurking behind her. It was urging her, pushing her toward some dreadful action. It wanted her to feed, to satisfy that endless hunger. Yu Sheng’s heart twisted with fear and pity. He wanted to call out, to shout at her not to give in, but he didn’t have the chance. He could feel that monstrous hunger inside her, a force so powerful it could wash away reason and memory.
Still, Yu Sheng managed a wry grin and opened his arms helplessly. “You know, if you do this, you’ll just regret it later,” he said quietly, as if speaking to the Foxy he knew was buried somewhere inside that raging beast. “Your stomach and your head will fight again, and I’ll be here, watching you squirm in embarrassment.”
He knew these words might be his last. He set his feet firmly on the ground and raised his fists, falling into a simple fighting stance. He stood no real chance against such a creature—be it a full nine-tailed fox demon or however many tails she had. But he refused to stand there and be devoured without a fight. If he had to die, he’d at least try to land one decent hit, even if it only gave her a sore nose.
A moment later, a fierce gust of wind whooshed as the silver fox leapt into the air. Yu Sheng closed his eyes, bracing for sharp fangs and final pain. But death did not come.
When he opened his eyes, he saw something unexpected. Instead of attacking him, the silver fox had twisted in midair and flung herself straight at the monstrous beast behind her. She let out a furious, heart-rending roar and sank her teeth into the creature’s foul flesh.
In that same instant, countless black spines and bony shards burst out from the monster’s body, piercing the silver fox’s form and trapping her there. She hung in the air, impaled by cruel spikes, golden-red blood dripping onto the broken stone floor below. Her blood sizzled and steamed under the moonlight, a terrible sight.
Yu Sheng stared in horror, hardly able to breathe. The silver fox turned her head toward him, blood still dripping from her wounds, her eyes filled with pain but also with a strange, fierce determination. She forced herself to speak, her voice trembling:
“Benefactor… run…”
And beneath those words, Yu Sheng could still sense the silent whisper of hunger and despair, echoing in her mind:
{You smell so good…}
But she fought against it, her voice shaking, “I’m not a monster… not yet…”
{Hungry…}
With all her strength, she managed one last cry, “Run!”
{Run!}