In darkness, it’s easy to lose track of time. 

Ever since Hulü Yan lost sight of the light, he could no longer feel the passage of time. 

He didn’t know where he was, but the bone-chilling cold gnawed at his broken body every moment, like a torn ragged bag leaking the last bits of life force. 

Scarlet blood flowed from his empty eye sockets, leaving two vivid trails on his pale face—his eyes had been gouged out. 

He opened his mouth, struggling to breathe, but there was nothing inside—his tongue had been cut out. 

He had no hands, only one right leg left, barely supporting him as he painfully and slowly dragged himself forward. 

Every inch he moved felt like rolling on the edge of a knife, the piercing pain biting into him like a gaping maw. 

The ground beneath him was so cold, as if covered in frost, lingering even a moment longer could cost him his life. 

He used all his strength to move forward. 

In a daze, he seemed to hear the words that woman once said to him. 

“You shouldn’t have been born into this world, look at how many people you’ve killed.” 

“Your death would be my relief.” 

“Why do I have to become like this because of you? How much do I owe you? Why don’t you just kill me, I really can’t hold on anymore, sob sob sob…” 

In the darkness, the woman’s figure appeared, lying on the ground, barely clothed, her exposed white skin covered in ambiguous red marks and shocking bruises from whips. 

The woman slightly raised her head, glaring at him with eyes full of hatred, each word she spat out like a poisoned needle: “Why don’t you just die?” 

He squeezed out a muffled, hoarse wail from his throat, like a bird that couldn’t fly over the snowy plains, falling onto the white snow, flapping its wings, making a final, pitiful struggle. 

He couldn’t move anymore, curling up his only right leg, the life force in his body completely drained. 

No sound could escape his throat anymore. 

In a haze, Hulü Yan felt a warm hand caress his cheek. 

The touch was gentle, as if handling a precious, fragile item. 

So warm… 

He had never been treated like this before, not even by the mother he had known for nearly ten years. 

Soon, the hand left his cheek, carefully helping him up. 

He caught a faint scent of flowers. 

Hulü Yan stared blankly with his empty eye sockets. 

The person fed him some pills, bandaged his wounds, and wrapped him in warm clothes. 

The rare warmth dispelled some of the cold. 

When the person’s palm pressed against his back, he suddenly felt a weak but warm spiritual energy entering his body. 

The spiritual energy coursed through him, spreading like a network of fine blood vessels. 

Using the spiritual energy as a medium, his senses unconsciously followed this path, quickly diving into the other person’s body… without the other person realizing or reacting. 

Then—

Thump thump—

He heard the other person’s heartbeat. 

Thump thump—

Thump thump—

That, that is…

Thump thump—

Thump thump—

His heart!

His eye sockets widened suddenly, scarlet blood gushing out like a spring, rushing out of the dark eye holes. 

His heart was inside that person’s body. 

–

Mi Lu finished wrapping Hulü Yan in clothes and was about to lift him when, unexpectedly, Hulü Yan bit his neck, sharp teeth piercing through the three layers of clothing Mi Lu had wrapped around himself, breaking his fragile skin. 

Mi Lu never expected that Hulü Yan, who seemed to be hanging by a thread, still had the strength to bite him. 

The key point was—

Biting was one thing, but why was he sucking blood too?!

Was this kid part mosquito?

Mi Lu’s body convulsed with pain, and he was about to push Hulü Yan away when his heart suddenly contracted. 

In the next instant, a sharper pain exploded in his chest, spreading to his limbs with lightning speed. 

So, so painful…

Mi Lu’s vision went black, and he almost fainted from the pain. 

His already pale face lost all color in an instant, as if he were being controlled, his limbs numb and immobile, only the piercing pain pounding heavily on his nerves. 

In just a moment, cold sweat covered his face. 

Even more terrifying—

His spiritual energy was also being subtly drained by Hulü Yan…

Clearly, Hulü Yan noticed this too, and after tasting the sweetness, he greedily, hungrily, and eagerly sucked Mi Lu’s blood. 

If it weren’t for Hulü Yan’s incomplete body, Mi Lu was a hundred percent sure he would be sucked dry by Hulü Yan. 

Not just his blood, but his spiritual energy too. 

Help…

He wanted to atone, but he didn’t want to die so soon!

He had only been reborn for a few days!

Just when Mi Lu thought his reckless NPC self was about to meet his end in a foreign land, he and Hulü Yan were separated by a pair of strong hands. 

The pain tightly gripping his heart suddenly vanished. 

Mi Lu collapsed to the ground, momentarily forgetting how to breathe. If he could see his own face, he would know that at this moment, his complexion was paler than a corpse. 

Sweat soaked the hair on his forehead, and his limbs remained numb. 

The rogue cultivator came over and pulled him up from the ground. 

His legs trembled, and with the rogue cultivator’s support, he barely managed to stand against a nearby boulder. He quickly looked at Hulü Yan. 

Hulü Yan, wrapped in the clothes Mi Lu brought, lay on the ground in a sorry state, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth—all Mi Lu’s blood. 

The rogue cultivator had gone on patrol nearby, intending to give Mi Lu and Hulü Yan some alone time, but upon returning, he witnessed such a shocking scene. 

The rogue cultivator glanced at Mi Lu’s neck, “Did he bite you?” 

Mi Lu’s mouth was dry, unable to speak, so he closed his eyes in response. 

The rogue cultivator took out a hemostatic pill and fed it to Mi Lu. After Mi Lu rested, he saw Mi Lu take out several spiritual pills from his storage bag and swallow them all at once. 

Once Mi Lu swallowed them, the rogue cultivator asked, “What do we do with him?” 

Although Mi Lu was slightly better than a moment ago, the excessive loss of blood and spiritual energy made his already unwell body even worse. He propped himself up on the boulder with one hand, hoarsely saying, “Take him back.” 

The rogue cultivator asked, “Are you sure?” 

Mi Lu nodded. 

The rogue cultivator wanted to say more, but seeing Mi Lu’s determination, and since he was just doing his job for money, he closed his mouth awkwardly. 

Mi Lu took out several sections of white lotus root he had prepared from his storage bag, holding them as he walked to Hulü Yan’s side. 

The rogue cultivator, worried that Hulü Yan might harm Mi Lu again, guarded him vigilantly. 

Hulü Yan seemed to sense Mi Lu’s location, turning his head, his empty eye sockets staring directly at Mi Lu. 

No, this wasn’t staring. 

Because Hulü Yan’s eye sockets had no eyeballs. 

Yet Mi Lu couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. 

This illusion made his scalp tingle, goosebumps rising all over, and his hands holding the lotus root trembled slightly. 

Mi Lu originally planned to take out the lotus root after leaving the Han Tu Abyss, but since Hulü Yan had shown killing intent towards him, he changed his plan. 

He didn’t know if these lotus roots could alleviate some of Hulü Yan’s hostility towards him. 

At least let Hulü Yan know he was here to save him. 

Mi Lu quickly arranged the lotus roots, placing talismans on each section, with the last talisman placed on Hulü Yan’s chest. 

He closed his eyes, his lips moving, murmuring softly. 

The soothing incantation slipped from his lips, wrapped in a slight spiritual energy, like a gentle veil, slowly covering Hulü Yan’s body and the lotus roots placed at his limbs. 

Before long, the lotus roots began to change. 

Their shapes transformed into hands and feet, the pale skin wrapping around like climbing vines. 

Finally, the once incomplete Hulü Yan had complete limbs. 

But they only looked complete. 

After finishing the incantation, Mi Lu had used up most of his spiritual energy. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, rested for a moment, then reached out to help Hulü Yan dress. 

Although Hulü Yan’s wounds had stopped bleeding, his face and body were covered in large patches of dried blood, looking dirty, messy, and pitiful. 

Without getting close, the nauseating metallic smell was evident. 

Mi Lu didn’t dare use a cleansing spell casually, so he just picked up Hulü Yan. He wasn’t very strong, but fortunately, Hulü Yan was much lighter than his peers, making it easier to carry him—though it was still quite a struggle. 

He took a deep breath and nodded to the rogue cultivator, “Let’s go.” 

The rogue cultivator asked, “Need help?” 

Mi Lu shook his head. 

He was worried that Hulü Yan might bite someone else’s neck on the way, and if he bit the rogue cultivator’s neck, the rogue cultivator might just throw Hulü Yan away. 

Don’t be fooled by Hulü Yan’s future world-destroying abilities; right now, he was just a kid missing limbs. 

Mi Lu looked down at the child in his arms, only to meet Hulü Yan’s empty eye sockets. 

Hulü Yan’s face was always turned towards him. 

Mi Lu noticed the bloodstain at the corner of Hulü Yan’s mouth that hadn’t been wiped away, and his neck throbbed with pain. He instinctively leaned his head back a bit to avoid Hulü Yan biting his neck again. 

Even with the right direction, it still took them three to four days to leave the Han Tu Abyss, and with Mi Lu’s slow pace, stopping every few steps, it stretched into five or six days. 

They traveled by day and rested by night. 

When the first ray of sunlight outside the abyss fell on Mi Lu, he felt as if a lifetime had passed. 

He looked at Hulü Yan in his arms. 

Hulü Yan seemed to feel the warmth of the sunlight on his face, finally turning his face away from Mi Lu after three or four days. 

The bright yellow sunlight illuminated the blood and dirt on Hulü Yan’s face, the blood water in his gouged eye sockets pooling into a drop of blood-red tear, slowly trailing down. 

It fell on Mi Lu’s sleeve. 

The white sleeve was soaked with blood. 

So close, Mi Lu couldn’t bear to look anymore. 

He turned his head, about to take a step, when he suddenly heard the rogue cultivator’s low voice exclaim, “Someone’s coming!” 

The rogue cultivator quickly walked over, pushing Mi Lu towards the flying boat, “Hurry, hurry, they’re not friendly, we need to leave quickly.” 

Without thinking further, Mi Lu hurriedly carried Hulü Yan onto the flying boat with the rogue cultivator.