Chapter 10:  That person… isn’t tasty.

Wu Zhu’s eyes were bloodshot, and he was practically salivating at the thought of devouring A Shang right then and there.

But he knew he couldn’t. He was too hungry, and she was far too small to fill his stomach. Eating her would only make him hungrier.

He had waited tens of thousands of years, and finally, a living person had come who could help him break the seal.

Once the seal was broken, he could finally escape!

As he thought this, a glint of excitement flashed in Wu Zhu’s eyes, and the grip on A Shang’s neck tightened unconsciously.

“Woman, I’ll give you a chance. Pull out that sword up there, and I won’t kill you. Otherwise, I’ll swallow you whole,” Wu Zhu growled, trying to sound menacing.

A Shang stared into his crimson eyes and suddenly let out a laugh.

Hearing her laugh, Wu Zhu looked at her as if he’d seen a ghost. “What are you laughing at?”

“Go ahead and swallow me if you want,” A Shang said, closing her eyes as if ready to die.

Wu Zhu: “?”

This was the first time he had ever seen someone so eager to die. Had the outside world changed so much during the tens of thousands of years he had been imprisoned here?

“Do you really think I won’t swallow you whole?” Wu Zhu said, opening his mouth wide as if to devour her in one gulp, but he stopped at the last moment.

As A Shang had anticipated, he didn’t eat her.

A Shang knew that if he had truly wanted to eat her, he wouldn’t have kept her alive until now. He wouldn’t have saved her after she fell off the cliff, as if afraid she might die here.

A Shang could feel traces of someone having repaired her meridians. She had been puzzled earlier—why would he save her when they were strangers?

Now, looking at the sword suspended above the man’s head, A Shang understood.

He must have been sealed here for many, many years. From being unruly and defiant at first, to having his spirit worn down by time, he had bent under the weight of isolation. That was why he saw her, who had suddenly fallen into this place, as his only hope.

After an unknown amount of time, as the two of them remained locked in a stalemate, the man suddenly spoke in a low voice, “Please.”

A Shang was taken aback. “What?”

“Please!” The man suddenly raised his voice, clutching A Shang’s leg and wailing, “Please, sister! Good sister! Kind benefactor, just let me out! It’s been tens of thousands of years—I’ve been trapped here for tens of thousands of years! All alone, with nothing else, just silence…”

Perhaps overwhelmed by the unbearable loneliness of those countless years, the man broke down, grabbing his hair and turning it into a bird’s nest as he howled:

“Please, please let me out! As long as you let me out, I’ll do anything! I’ll serve you, be your slave, anything! Please! Good sister! Waaah…”

A Shang watched him cling to her leg and sob uncontrollably. After a moment of thought, she asked, “Why were you sealed here?”

Hearing this, Wu Zhu’s wailing paused for a moment, and then he spoke in a calm tone, “My name is Wu Zhu. The books you cultivators study should have records of my deeds.”

Wu Zhu.

A Shang thought carefully. Wu Zhu, the ancient ferocious beast, known for his cruel nature and fondness for devouring humans. He once overturned the three realms and brought chaos to the mortal world, until he was subdued by the Heavenly Emperor, his body dismembered and sealed across the eight directions.

Seeing the expression on A Shang’s face, Wu Zhu knew she must have read about his past deeds.

Realizing she wouldn’t help him break the seal, Wu Zhu’s grip on her skirt gradually loosened.

His voice was flat, almost devoid of emotion, as he said, “It’s been tens of thousands of years. Don’t you cultivators preach compassion and the belief that those who repent can be forgiven? I’ve been imprisoned for tens of thousands of years. Isn’t that enough to atone for my sins?”

A Shang looked at him and corrected him, “Compassion is a teaching of monks.”

Wu Zhu: “…”

A Shang had never intended to help him break the seal in the first place. Now that she knew he was the ancient ferocious beast who had once brought chaos to the world, she was even more determined not to release him.

“You can leave,” Wu Zhu said.

A Shang was somewhat surprised.

Wu Zhu continued, “I’ve already undone the formations. If you keep walking straight, you’ll find your way out. If you have any conscience, could you come back to visit me sometime? I want to eat something—anything. Roast chicken, roast duck, or even suckling pig would be even better.”

He had been starving for tens of thousands of years.

Although he wouldn’t starve to death, the torment of constant hunger without relief was unbearable.

After Wu Zhu finished speaking, he heard the sound of the girl turning to leave.

He listened as her footsteps gradually faded away until they disappeared completely.

Once again, silence enveloped him, and the endless, hopeless loneliness of the darkness closed in.

Once again, he was alone…

Shouldn’t he have gotten used to it by now?

For tens of thousands of years, he had endured this endless solitude.

“Tap, tap…”

The sound of footsteps, which had disappeared earlier, suddenly grew closer again. Wu Zhu, who had been hanging his head low, abruptly opened his eyes and looked up. To his surprise, he saw the girl who should have left now returning.

The sword light he had once loathed now spilled down from above her, and in that detested light, he actually saw something resembling hope.

Wu Zhu: “You…”

“Give me a reason,” A Shang said, her gaze fixed on him, each word deliberate. “A reason to make me believe that after I release you, you won’t bring disaster to the mortal world again.”

Wu Zhu stared into her eyes, thinking carefully before replying, “I can become your contracted spirit. From now on, I will only listen to you.”

A contracted spirit must serve its master wholeheartedly, belonging entirely to them without any disloyalty. If it betrays this bond, it will be utterly destroyed.

A Shang: “Alright.”

The process of forming a contract was simple, and Wu Zhu was sincere in his desire to become her contracted spirit. He knelt before the girl and, without hesitation, took out his demon core, offering it to her with both hands.

A Shang pricked her finger and let a drop of her blood fall onto his demon core.

The red blood dripped onto the golden demon core and was quickly absorbed. Then, the golden core merged into A Shang’s body.

Wu Zhu bowed his head with utmost reverence and uttered two words to her: “Master.”

“All I need to do is pull it out, right?” A Shang said, reaching out to remove the golden sword suspended above Wu Zhu’s head. The moment she pulled it out, the red talismans around them shattered into nothingness, dissolving into the air.

The golden sword, having fulfilled its duty of ten thousand years, turned into fragments of light and vanished.

“It’s… it’s done?” Wu Zhu stared in disbelief as the talismans that had suppressed him for millennia disappeared, along with the oppressive force that had bound him.

A Shang nodded. “It’s done.”

In the next moment, she felt a tight grip around her waist as she was suddenly lifted into the air and carried away at incredible speed.

“Hahahaha, hahahaha! I’m out! I’m finally out! Hahahaha! Ten thousand years! Ten thousand years!” Wu Zhu, holding A Shang, raced through the bustling corners of the world, his laughter echoing with unrestrained joy.

To the naked eye, it was impossible to keep up with their speed. People who were nearby only felt a sudden gust of wind blow past them, and by the time they realized what had happened, the food they had been holding was already stuffed into Wu Zhu’s mouth.

For A Shang, it felt like the blink of an eye. By the time she regained her senses, she was back at the place where she had originally fallen off the cliff.

Beside her, Wu Zhu patted his round belly as he lay on the ground, letting out a satisfied burp.

“So full.”

At some point, he had transformed into his human form, but he wasn’t wearing any clothes. He lay there sprawled out on the ground, right in front of A Shang.

A Shang: “…”

Just as A Shang was about to tell him to put on some clothes, she suddenly noticed a figure in white not far away.

He stood there, unmoving, as if he had been there for a long time.

Wu Zhu noticed A Shang’s gaze and followed it, his eyes landing on Xie Hengyu, who exuded an intoxicating aura.

Even though Wu Zhu had just eaten his fill after tens of thousands of years of starvation, he couldn’t help but lick his lips, his eyes gleaming as he murmured:

“He smells so good. He looks delicious.”

Hearing this, A Shang stepped on his foot, stopping him from crawling over to devour Xie Hengyu.

That person… isn’t tasty.