Chapter 11: Greedy/ Insatiable

The speed at which the monster was growing was accelerating.

This was bad news that kept Ming Ci on edge.

Of course, he knew the monster would gradually grow, but he didn’t expect it to happen so quickly, nor did he expect its shrinking limit to change.

Now, even its smallest form was so conspicuous. If another month passed, it would be hard to predict what it would grow into.

Just the thought of it made Ming Ci feel anxious involuntarily, with a sense of urgency as if being chased by a countdown to death.

“Xiao Hong.”

He lowered his gaze to the brand on his wrist and asked softly, “How big will you grow in the future?”

“Umm…”

The monster pondered slowly for a moment, then answered after a while, “Xiao Hong doesn’t know.”

Ming Ci pursed his lips slightly, the tip of his right finger rubbing against the brand, feeling its smooth but strange texture.

The monster’s excited mood had not yet subsided, and it couldn’t help but extend its fine tentacles, licking his fingertips stickily, not even missing the gaps between his nails.

“…”

Ming Ci’s scalp tingled instantly, and he quickly withdrew his finger.

“Ming Ci, I want to eat… I like being fed… Give me some more… Ming Ci…”

Its tone became even stickier and more eerie, and its words sent shivers down Ming Ci’s spine.

Whenever he tended to relax his vigilance, the words and actions of the monster would remind him.

—It was a downright dangerous creature, a greedy predator.

Ming Ci felt uneasy all afternoon and in the evening cooked egg noodles, but he had no appetite as he held the chopsticks.

He ate a few mouthfuls of food tastelessly, but couldn’t eat under the incessant background noise. He returned the bowl to the kitchen.

Then he sat on the sofa, holding his cheeks in his hands, silent for a moment, and whispered softly, “Stop it, Xiao Hong.”

“Can you be quiet for a little while?”

The monster wasn’t so obedient, like an insatiable beast, wanting more after tasting a bit of meat.

With a low, hoarse, and eerie tone, it imitated the tone of Xiao Mi when she acted coquettishly, humming and moving from Ming Ci’s wrist to his palm without permission, protruding fine, warm tentacles, greedily licking his cheeks.

Ming Ci shook off his hand like an electric shock, his face looking particularly unsightly for a moment.

He frowned, staring at the red “little brush” in his palm, strongly tempted to grab a lighter and burn it.

The impulsive thought was quickly suppressed by Ming Ci.

He gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, “Xiao Hong, you’re not allowed to run around, you can only stay in the designated place I specify, understand?”

“The designated place,” the monster repeated slowly, then asked, “Where?”

Ming Ci patiently pointed to his wrist. “It’s here for now. Also, retract these tentacles of yours, and stop licking me all the time.”

The monster didn’t think its behavior was a problem, so it asked in confusion, “Why?”

“Because,” Ming Ci replied slowly, emphasizing each word, “I… hate… being… licked.”

“Hate?”

For the first time, the monster heard this word from Ming Ci’s mouth, feeling strange and curious, “What is hate?”

“Hate means not liking something, really not liking it.”

As soon as Ming Ci finished speaking, he realized that its understanding of ‘like’ might be wrong too, so he added, “It’s like how you feel about fire.”

The monster, still vividly remembering the pain of being burned by fire, suddenly realized, so its feelings towards fire are also called hate.

But why did Ming Ci hate being licked?

Xiao Mi often licked him, he didn’t stop her, and he even liked Xiao Mi, raising her.

The monster couldn’t understand, no matter how much it thought about it, its linear and simple thinking became a mess. It asked in confusion, “Xiao Mi licks Ming Ci, Ming Ci likes Xiao Mi. If I lick Ming Ci, why hate it?”

“Ming Ci likes me, raises me, if licked, why hate it?”

Ming Ci’s expression changed slightly.

The monster not only absorbed knowledge from him but also imitated people and animals around him. It actually thought that by imitating Xiao Mi, it would receive the same treatment.

How should he explain this?

Could he tell the monster that Xiao Mi is a harmless and cute pet cat, while you are a dangerous and terrifying monster?

Perhaps explaining it all would be in vain because the monster simply couldn’t empathize, couldn’t understand the natural fear humans have of it, and therefore couldn’t grasp the underlying reasons for this double standard.

Thinking of this, Ming Ci evaded the main issue and answered cunningly, “Because Xiao Mi is very obedient and well-behaved, so I don’t hate it licking me. But you’re not obedient, always running around, of course, I’ll hate you.”

“Very obedient and well-behaved…” The monster thought about his words and retorted loudly, “Xiao Mi is not obedient now, it doesn’t listen to Ming Ci!”

Ming Ci: “You’re right, it’s not obedient now, so I sent it away. Do you want me to send you away too?”

The monster immediately replied, “No! I want to be with Ming Ci, don’t want to leave.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the “little brush” in his palm suddenly reverted to a smooth little brand, quickly returning to the inside of his wrist, quietly staying still.

Ming Ci quietly breathed a sigh of relief, turned to the kitchen, and brought out the cold egg noodles.

With peace finally restored, his mood relaxed slightly, and he leisurely finished his dinner.

That night, the monster remained silent, allowing Ming Ci to enjoy a rare good night’s sleep.

It wasn’t until the next morning when he naturally woke up that he heard it murmuring.

“Ming Ci hates… but I’m obedient… very obedient, Ming Ci doesn’t hate… so I can…”

Ming Ci’s eyelids twitched as he suddenly exclaimed, “Xiao Hong, what are you saying?”

The monster seemed to have no habit of hiding its thoughts. Whenever Ming Ci asked, it answered frankly.

“Xiao Hong says that Ming Ci doesn’t hate, so, I can lick, and I can also go in.”

A sense of inexplicable crisis emerged in Ming Ci’s heart. He sat up abruptly, turned his wrist over, and stared at the monster vigilantly, “Go in where? What do you mean?”

The crimson branding began to heat up, just like when it tasted blood yesterday afternoon. Its voice became particularly sweet and sticky, “I want to go into Ming Ci’s… and eat Ming Ci’s…”

Because it didn’t know how to describe it in words, the most crucial word was left unspoken.

This ambiguous statement fell on Ming Ci’s ears like a bloody proclamation.

A chilling sensation of imminent danger surged up his spine. His throat moved slightly, and he squeezed out a voice from his dry throat, “Go into what of mine? Eat what of mine?”

“Um…” The monster hesitated and explained vaguely, “Go into Ming Ci’s, inside the body, and eat… inside… um…”

Ming Ci took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and said, “I understand.”

The faint blue veins on his neck protruded slightly. After a dozen seconds, unable to contain his emotions, he pinched the branding tightly with his fingertips and asked, “Isn’t the blood I gave you enough? Why do you want to go into my body to eat?”

The monster replied matter-of-factly, “Because I’m growing up, so I need to eat.”

Ming Ci didn’t know if it meant that eating would help it grow or if it had to eat after growing up.

In any case, the result was the same: mere blood feeding was no longer enough to satisfy the monster. It wanted to burrow into his body and devour him from the inside out.

With the crisis looming, for a moment, Ming Ci even thought about running to the police station and stabbing himself in front of everyone.

But he also knew very well that self-destructing wouldn’t save him. The outcome might be even worse than death.

“In Ming Ci’s chest, inside,” the monster’s words faltered. After thinking for several seconds, it stuttered to express its meaning, “The heart speeds up, the blood gets hot, very fragrant.”

Ming Ci understood what it was saying.

Whenever his emotions were too excited, his heartbeat would accelerate, blood flow would increase, and his body temperature would rise… in its perception, it became even “more fragrant” and tastier?

“Fragrant,” Ming Ci’s eyes darkened, his tone tinged with sarcasm, “So you even know the word ‘fragrant’.”

Of course, the monster knew. Over the past two months, while perching on Ming Ci’s body, it had heard humans talk about how food smelled good, how flowers smelled good, and how clothes sprayed with perfume smelled good.

“Fragrant means… makes people want it,” it affirmed.

Ming Ci silently lowered his eyelashes, biting his lip.

Thump, thump, thump…

His gaze fell blankly on the corner of the bed as he counted his heartbeats until his heart rate gradually slowed down, and his emotions reluctantly calmed down.

The monster parasitizing on Ming Ci’s body was keenly aware of the changes in his physiological reactions. It could clearly sense his heartbeat becoming calmer, blood flow slightly slowing down, and body temperature returning to normal.

“It’s slower now.”

It asked curiously, “Ming Ci’s heart always speeds up and then slows down, why?”

Ming Ci didn’t want to deal with the monster at all, but it kept pestering him with endless questions in his ears, making his head feel like it was about to explode.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he replied, “Because I’m happy. Can you shut up now?”

Happy?

The monster reviewed all its past memories and quickly found a relevant segment associated with this word.

“The heartless brat, just because I’m not dead yet, you’re happy, huh?” shouted a human named Ming Hui.

Then Ming Ci’s whole body became very hot, very fragrant, and in a tone it couldn’t describe, he replied, “Yeah, as long as you completely disappear from my sight, I’ll be happy.”

So, Ming Ci being happy would make him feel hot and fragrant… Being happy was a good feeling.

The monster silently pondered.

Buzz, buzz, buzz—

The phone on the bedside table suddenly vibrated, the screen lit up, showing an unknown number calling.

Ming Ci’s dark eyes glanced aside, watching it vibrate for dozens of seconds before automatically hanging up.

But soon, the unfamiliar number persisted and called again, the phone buzzing continuously.

Ming Ci pinched his temples, reached out for the phone, and answered, “May I ask who’s calling?”