Chapter 15: Thirst

It was 7:00 in the evening.

Ming Ci sat in front of the computer, opening the document titled “New Student Orientation Guide,” carefully browsing through every page.

After reading through all the pages, he shifted his gaze and habitually glanced at the date and time in the bottom right corner of the screen.

August 24th.

Less than a week until the university enrollment.

Ming Ci felt as if there was a guillotine hanging over him in the void, and with the passage of time, it was slowly closing in on the end point of his destiny.

However, his anxiety and unrest had a sole culprit who remained oblivious.

It emerged from his collar on its own, coalescing into a soft crimson palm, naturally wrapping around his neck, feeling the slight vibration of his throat as he breathed.

This was the recent new amusement of the monster, transforming its body into human limbs, touching various parts of Ming Ci’s body, sensing the subtle changes in his physiological reactions.

For some reason, it particularly enjoyed taking the form of a hand and indulging in gestures like stroking and hand-holding.

If it weren’t for Ming Ci always stopping it, it could do this all day long, twenty-four hours a day.

“Xiao Hong.”

Ming Ci closed the laptop, reached out to grab the slippery warm hand, and pulled it away from his neck.

The monster obediently rested on his hand, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone, “Ming Ci, today too, touch and hold hands.”

Under the light, Ming Ci’s eyes lowered slightly, his thick black eyelashes casting a faint shadow beneath his eyes, his snow-white neck tinged with a hint of blush, the faint pink Adam’s apple gently moving, “First, release my hand and let it fall to the floor.”

The monster obediently complied, falling to the ground beside him.

“Go to the kitchen and get me an orange.”

“An orange?”

The monster knew what an orange was, but the kitchen was several meters away from the bedroom, and the oranges were in the refrigerator, so it had to open the fridge to get one.

It didn’t want to leave Ming Ci’s proximity, so it planned to extend itself in place, stretching out its long tentacles to grab it. But the next moment, Ming Ci said, “Don’t enlarge, use your current form to fetch it, like a human, using your… hands… to grab.”

The monster hesitated a bit, reluctant to move.

Ming Ci reminded, “You’ll get a reward for completing the training. Don’t you want my reward?”

“I want Ming Ci’s reward.”

The monster immediately responded, sluggishly moving away from his side. Once out of his line of sight, its speed suddenly increased. In a split second, it dashed to the refrigerator, quickly jumped onto it, opened the door, grabbed an orange, and ran back.

“Ming Ci, the orange!”

It jumped onto Ming Ci’s thigh, holding up the orange to show him.

“Not bad.”

Ming Ci took the orange and placed it on the table. Without waiting for it to be pleased, he said again, “You forgot to close the refrigerator door. Go and close it now.”

The monster paused. Just a short moment away from Ming Ci had already made it instinctively resistant and uncomfortable.

“Be obedient, go quickly,” Ming Ci urged.

“Umm…”

Reluctantly, it complied.

Two seconds later, the monster stopped at Ming Ci’s feet, its fingers tightly gripping his ankle as it loudly declared, “Ming Ci, I’ve closed it!”

“Very good. Now bring me the fruit knife.”

Ming Ci commanded again.

“The fruit knife.” The monster’s tone changed, revealing impatience and unease. “Ming Ci, I’ll fetch it here.”

Its fingers still held onto Ming Ci’s ankle, but its wrist began to deform, oozing out a continuous stream of bloody viscous fluid, winding its way out towards the door.

Ming Ci coldly vetoed, “No, for today’s training, you must maintain the form of a hand. You can’t fetch it like this.”

The monster was almost about to cry, pitifully saying, “Ming Ci, I can fetch it like this.”

“No, fetching it like this won’t get you a reward.”

“Sob… I want the reward.”

The monster choked back its tears, quickly running to the living room, grabbing the fruit knife from the coffee table, and swiftly returning to the bedroom.

It climbed onto Ming Ci’s leg, placing the fruit knife in his hand urgently, “I’ve brought it! Ming Ci’s reward!”

Ming Ci tugged at the corner of his lips, holding the knife to cut open the orange and handing it a slice. “Reward.”

“?”

The monster dumbly accepted it, pausing for a second before reacting, then said in a resigned tone, “I don’t want this. I want Ming Ci’s, this isn’t, isn’t Ming Ci’s reward.”

In its understanding, Ming Ci’s reward had to be something exclusively belonging to Ming Ci, flesh, body fluids, breath… touch, caress, embrace… these things were appropriate.

It had obediently completed the training. If the promised reward wasn’t given, then it would fetch it itself.

The monster threw away the orange, its body swelling and enlarging into a huge and grotesque hand. It clasped Ming Ci’s upper body, restlessly muttering, “I want Ming Ci’s things, Ming Ci’s reward…”

Ming Ci’s heartbeat slightly quickened. He didn’t expect it to be so naive but not easily fooled.

“I was joking.” He tilted his head, avoiding the crimson fingers that were about to press against his jaw, “I’ll give you the real reward now. Alright, let me go.”

The monster hesitated for a moment, but obediently let go, focusing intently on his every move.

Ming Ci guessed that what it most wanted now was probably flesh and blood. Feeding it would be the best reward.

The sharp blade sliced through his arm, and the wound quickly overflowed with fresh blood, gathering into a crimson stream, dripping onto the table.

“Xiao Hong, drink up and clean the table.”

Ming Ci paused, then stood up and continued, “Then we’ll proceed to the next training.”

The monster swept away the blood on the table, its gaze shifting to Ming Ci’s arm wound with a restless anticipation. “What’s the next training?”

“Let’s start with a little test. Stay here and don’t move.”

With that said, Ming Ci stepped out.

The monster immediately wanted to follow, but Ming Ci sternly admonished, “Don’t move, stay in the bedroom.”

“Ming Ci…”

“Be obedient, Xiao Hong.” Ming Ci closed the bedroom door. “We’re just separated by a door.”

The living room remained dark, with the light from the bedroom leaking through the gap under the door. From the faint glow, one could tell if it had slipped out from underneath.

“Ming Ci, I hate this, Ming Ci…”

The monster grew restless and kept calling out to him.

“Xiao Hong, don’t move. This is just a test, I haven’t left you.”

As Ming Ci spoke, he continued to step backward.

Until he reached the iron door, he noticed that the light from under the bedroom door had disappeared—it couldn’t resist flowing out from underneath.

Ming Ci took a silent breath and reached out his left hand voluntarily. “I told you, this is just a test. I’m right here, I haven’t left you.”

The bloodline wrapped around each of his fingers, eagerly embedding into his skin.

In the dim night, this pale, slender hand resembled cracked porcelain, eerie to the point of making one’s heart palpitate.

Ming Ci’s left hand hung at his side, while his right hand reached into his pocket for the keys to unlock the door.

“Ming Ci, I hate this test, don’t do this, I’m feeling very uncomfortable…”

It hadn’t recovered yet, its voice trembling with a hint of crying.

Ming Ci wasn’t sure if the monster would suffer any physiological harm from being too far away from him, but hearing it like this, he felt a twinge in his heart.

He closed the door, turned on the light, and examined his left hand. “Where are you feeling uncomfortable? Do you feel any pain?”

The blood-red thread slowly wriggled under his skin, gradually converging towards his arm.

“It’s not pain, I don’t know… I just feel uncomfortable…”

The monster looked bewildered and aggrieved. It didn’t understand where the discomfort came from, but it was certainly unbearable, worse than pain.

Ming Ci lifted his hand, gently brushing his fingertips over its body, then pointed to the oozing wound. “Come here.”

The monster nestled into the wound, licking the fresh, sweet blood, but still felt unsatisfied.

Deep in its soul, it felt like a void had been torn open, something beyond the host’s flesh and blood needed to fill it, something more precious.

It wanted to demand from Ming Ci, but it didn’t even understand what it was asking for.

Apart from the mysterious soul’s longing, its instinctual desire for the host was also growing stronger, eager for deeper contact.

The monster left the scabbed wound and slid onto Ming Ci’s shoulder, forming a soft and broad palm. Its fingertips touched his lips, probing inward with a poke.

“What are you doing!” Ming Ci trembled as if electrocuted, forcefully pushing away its fingers and then covering his lips.

It bluntly replied, “I want to feed you.”

Feed? Didn’t it just feed on blood?

Wasn’t that enough?

Ming Ci’s expression chilled, about to speak, when the monster’s voice rang out again, “I want to feed Ming Ci, give you something to eat, eat my flesh and blood.”

Being eaten, it was another form of entering the body.

Although the consumed flesh and blood would lose vitality, just watching Ming Ci swallow a part of it would temporarily alleviate its restless emptiness, making it feel satisfied.

Ming Ci’s pupils contracted, his lips cold as he said, “I won’t eat! Don’t touch my lips!”

He paused for a moment, his tone slightly softened. “Xiao Hong, I am human. I can’t eat strange things, especially not your flesh and blood. Do you understand? Don’t try to feed me in the future.”

The monster didn’t understand. Clearly, it had fed twice before, and nothing bad had happened.

Moreover, in its cognition, parasitic species nurturing the host was a natural instinct, something that should happen.

“Why not?” it asked.

“Because I am human, and you are a monster. It’s just not allowed.”

“But before—”

Ming Ci interrupted, gritting his teeth. “You are not allowed to feed me, understood?”

“Understood.”

The monster replied meekly.

When psychological needs couldn’t be met, physiological desires would become restless.

Since it couldn’t enter in the form of feeding, the desire for another form of entry would multiply.

Ming Ci was unaware that the monster was about to undergo its first special change in its growth period.

At nine in the evening, Ming Ci was browsing the internet for information while the monster obediently perched on his wrist.

“Ming Ci…”

It suddenly called out softly, with a lingering and sweet tone.

Ming Ci felt tingles all over and turned his left hand to look at it. “What’s up?”