ATAVID CH8: Feeding With One’s Own Body

Jiang Qunyu didn’t expect the situation to develop like this.
The two of them swapped back again.

It wasn’t until he turned back into a soul body that he realized being a ghost was truly great.
The pain spreading across his chest had completely vanished, and Jiang Qunyu almost wept tears of joy.

As for Wei Xun, the look he was giving Jiang Qunyu right now was exceedingly unfriendly.
Jiang Qunyu actually felt a rare bit of guilt. He coughed lightly, “You should go in quickly.”

Wei Xun’s face was so black it looked ready to eat someone. He cast a cold side-glance at Jiang Qunyu, turned, and entered the inner room.
Out of subconscious habit, Jiang Qunyu followed him.

Wei Xun abruptly stopped in his tracks.
Caught off guard, Jiang Qunyu bumped into his back.

“What exactly do you want to do?” Wei Xun’s voice suppressed a storm-like anger.
Jiang Qunyu looked up strangely, “Naturally, I’m following you in.”

Wei Xun was momentarily speechless: “…”
Suddenly, without any warning, he bent over and began to dry heave, his beautiful brows tightly knitted together, his knuckles turning white from clenching.

Jiang Qunyu: “Did I provoke you or offend you?”

Wei Xun slowly straightened up.
Because of the medicinal pill, even though his face had been deathly pale from excessive blood loss just a moment ago, a thin layer of crimson now dyed his cheeks.
He stared at Jiang Qunyu, his words seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth one by one.

“You’re saying,” Wei Xun paused slightly, his expression gloomy, “You want to go in together with me, is that right?”

The words in Jiang Qunyu’s throat just got stuck there.
Inexplicably, even though he had clearly gotten off Wei Xun’s body, his entire soul body still felt a frantic, burning sensation right now.
He guiltily scratched his nose and silently took half a step back.

“You go in,” Jiang Qunyu lowered his head, his eyes darting everywhere, and said very considerately, “Don’t worry, I won’t peek, let alone eavesdrop. I’ll keep watch for you outside.”

Wei Xun’s hand, which was about to close the door, paused.
He gritted his teeth, his voice terrifyingly deep: “Scram!”

What did Jiang Qunyu dare to say? He shot a swift glance at Wei Xun, turned around, and muttered, “Dog temper.”
Bang—
The door was heavily slammed shut behind him.
This was enough to show just how angry he was.

Just thinking about what Wei Xun was doing inside right now made Jiang Qunyu uncomfortable all over.
He floated up to the ceiling beam, then felt it was inappropriate, so he simply transformed back into a ball of black mist, shrinking listlessly into a corner without a single sound.

He wasn’t sure if he had seen wrongly, but Wei Xun’s earlobes had been so red, red enough to drip blood.
He didn’t know how long Wei Xun would take, but no matter how you put it, he was the villain top in a restricted novel. If it weren’t for the author doting on her favorite son, but rather letting the readers choose, perhaps this novel wouldn’t be a traditional “chasing the wife in the crematorium” plotline.
It would probably turn into a “changing tops” novel.

He surely wouldn’t stay inside until dawn, right?
Jiang Qunyu started feeling sour again.
He even maliciously cursed inwardly: Holding it in for a long time is good; it’s best if he actually holds it in until he gets some kind of dysfunction.

But unexpectedly, after only fifteen minutes, the door to the inner room was pushed open.
Hearing the commotion, Jiang Qunyu thought he had misheard, and the ball of black mist almost fell off the ceiling beam.

That fast?
He hadn’t really become dysfunctional, had he?
Of course, he didn’t dare ask this out loud.

The two had a tacit understanding regarding what had just happened, but the atmosphere inexplicably became bizarre.
Like the residual heat steaming off a dying campfire, it wrapped thickly in the air, so hot it almost melted his misty body.

They tacitly remained silent.
Jiang Qunyu closed his eyes to count sheep, wishing there was some kind of spell that could instantly make someone fall into a deep sleep.
Below the beam, Wei Xun lay on the bed with a pale face, his eyes closed, thinking about who knows what.

Jiang Qunyu tried his best to ignore the presence of another person in the room.
When he counted to the thousandth sheep, he still couldn’t fall asleep.
He quietly opened his eyes and peeked down.
Only to be caught off guard, crashing straight into a pair of pitch-black eyes.

Jiang Qunyu: “…”
The youth was surrounded by churning hostility, like an evil ghost crawling out of hell. The eerie chill seeped up the pillar thread by thread, like an invisible spider web, slowly wrapping around Jiang Qunyu on the beam.

Jiang Qunyu’s scalp went numb. This was what it was like sharing a room with a half-ghost in the dead of night; you always had to be on guard against sudden scares.
He had a strong premonition that this despicable man was definitely scheming some vicious idea again.

Jiang Qunyu’s mind sharpened.
For the first time since transmigrating, he seriously thought about countermeasures.
He couldn’t continue being this passive.

Although his original goal was to let Wei Xun kill him seven times, return to his own body, and then find a small sect to peacefully be a senior brother, enjoying the feeling of junior brothers and sisters chasing after him calling him “Eldest Senior Brother” every day.
But looking at these past two times, after every death there would be a period where Wei Xun could do nothing to him, and he couldn’t die either.

Previously, his original thought was to just coast along and wait for death.
But now, this despicable Wei Xun had completely infuriated him.
He definitely had to torture him.

What’s more, the way Wei Xun looked at him now was becoming increasingly cold and sinister; who knew if he was secretly plotting some even crazier move.
Although Jiang Qunyu couldn’t die right now, he didn’t want to wake up every day having to be on guard against the day this person suddenly went crazy and stabbed him a few more times.

Wait until tomorrow, when he woke up tomorrow, he would go see if there were any mental cultivation methods suitable for soul bodies.
If he had cultivation, he would have a bit more confidence in dealing with this lunatic.

Thinking like this, Jiang Qunyu gradually felt sleepiness sweep over him.
He closed his eyes and, not long after, fell completely asleep.

The next day, when Jiang Qunyu woke up, he realized he had somehow possessed Wei Xun’s body again.
Jiang Qunyu: “…”

He originally thought it was Wei Xun secretly swapping them at night again, but to his surprise, he searched inside and out and couldn’t find Wei Xun anywhere.
“This despicable man didn’t actually die, did he?” Jiang Qunyu said with full malice.
It would be best if he really died.

But despite thinking this way, Jiang Qunyu didn’t genuinely believe it.
If Wei Xun died, it was more likely that he would turn to ashes along with him.

Jiang Qunyu propped himself up into a sitting position, a bizarre feeling causing his expression to change slightly.
He lifted the blanket to take a look.
Upon seeing this, his expression became even more bizarre.
It was a bit red. Perhaps it was because of too much force in his hand, or a lack of technique. In short, the skin was even rubbed raw, with a slight stinging pain.

A weird thought flashed through Jiang Qunyu’s mind.
Could it be that Wei Xun hadn’t even used his hands before?
Jiang Qunyu got up and went to the inner room to wash up.

The more he thought about it, the more likely he felt it was.
The Wei Xun of the past was the Lingxiao Sect’s bright, clear, and prodigious junior brother, and he cultivated the Path of Ruthlessness.
The Path of Ruthlessness sought to sever mortal ties and extinguish all human desires.
But a person is born in the world; interacting with others gives rise to emotions. How could one truly achieve ruthlessness? This path itself went against the heavens.

However, those who cultivated the Path of Ruthlessness had a cultivation speed beyond ordinary people. Therefore, even knowing the Great Dao was difficult, many still forged ahead to cultivate it.
Once on this path, before reaching the Soul Formation stage, one must achieve absolute lack of love and desire.
Upon breaking through the first layer of the Soul Formation stage, disciples of the Path of Ruthlessness could choose to switch paths or continue cultivating the Path of Ruthlessness.
After choosing to switch paths, they could possess the desires of an ordinary person, just like regular cultivators.

Wei Xun was Wei Lan’s direct disciple, so naturally, he walked the same path Wei Lan once walked.
His cultivation talent was extremely high, born with an innate sword bone. At only twenty years old, he was already at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage.
Ordinary cultivators at his age would only be at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Unfortunately, due to the accident in the secret realm, he lost all his cultivation and his spiritual root was destroyed.

Thinking of the current Wei Xun, Jiang Qunyu couldn’t imagine at all what he looked like before.
Aloof and untainted by the mundane, bearing the posture of an immortal?
Anyway, it definitely wasn’t like this right now, giving off a chilling, ghostly aura.

“What are you thinking about?” A gloomy voice sounded by his ear.
Black mist wrapped around him like a living creature, thread by thread, almost eating away and devouring Jiang Qunyu.

“You’re going to mind what I think about too?” Jiang Qunyu snapped in a bad mood. “Are you sick in the head?”
Wei Xun said sinisterly, “I’m not that free, but you are not allowed to have me in your head.”
When he spoke, he was very close. Even though he was a soul body, Jiang Qunyu still felt as if there was some icy breath blowing by his ear, chillingly creepy.

Jiang Qunyu naturally wasn’t stupid enough to tell him that what he was thinking about just now really did involve him, and it was even the question of whether he could actually get it up or not.
He was certain that if he truly said it out loud, Wei Xun would definitely grab him and throw him into the refining furnace again today, and then pull him out and dunk him in the water.

“Bah, bah, bah,” he turned his face away with a look of disgust. “What you’re saying is truly unlucky.”
Wei Xun’s pitch-black, cold eyes stared at Jiang Qunyu’s face, seeming to judge the truthfulness of his words.
After a long time, he finally withdrew his gaze, walked slowly to the bed, sat down, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.

“Hey,” Jiang Qunyu, seeing his indifferent appearance, asked: “Aren’t you going to explain? Didn’t we swap back last night? Why is it still me this morning?”
Hearing this, Wei Xun lifted his eyelids, his thin lips parting. “Aren’t you my inner demon? Isn’t your goal to possess my body? Why do you have a reluctant face?”
He didn’t answer Jiang Qunyu’s question, but instead asked his own doubt.

Jiang Qunyu choked.
Wei Xun continued asking: “Or could it be you never intended to possess me at all?”
He seemed puzzled, “Then what exactly do you want? What do you want to get from me?”

This wasn’t the first time Jiang Qunyu felt Wei Xun was difficult to deal with.
His mind raced, and he began to make things up: “I naturally want your body, but I’m not in a hurry. With my current capabilities, I can’t possess you anyway.”
Jiang Qunyu pretended to be fierce, “It’s you, you despicable man! You stabbed yourself, so you should bear the pain of the wound yourself, why drag me into it. I don’t want to get on your body right now!”
“Despicable man, despicable man—”

Wei Xun didn’t get angry; it was as if he had become a different person. He hooked the corners of his mouth slightly, letting him curse.
Jiang Qunyu cursed for a while, seeing no reaction from him.
Normally, Wei Xun would probably have already stood up with the Soul-Devouring Sword in hand; today was very strange.
Or rather, had he overlooked something?

The next instant, Wei Xun said with a half-smile: “But I already healed that wound with demonic breath last night.”
As his words fell, a deathly silence fell over the cave.
The string in Jiang Qunyu’s mind snapped with a smack, his mouth faster than his brain: “I’m not talking about that spot!”

“Then which spot?” Wei Xun shot back without thinking.
As soon as the words left his mouth, both of them froze simultaneously.

No matter how mature they acted, they were ultimately just youths who had just passed their crowning ceremony (age 20).
Although they forced a calm facade, the area from the base of their ears to their necks had already turned red. Yet neither was willing to show weakness first, only glaring fiercely at the other.
It was as if the fiercer they glared, the more they could conceal that bit of embarrassment.

Days passed by just like this.
At first, Jiang Qunyu wasn’t used to it, because he always woke up on certain mornings to find that he had possessed Wei Xun’s body again.
He always felt that Wei Xun did it.

Therefore, one day he stayed awake for an entire night, just to see if it was really Wei Xun playing tricks behind his back.

Wei Xun lay on the bed, eyes closed, trying his best to ignore Jiang Qunyu’s gaze that seemed intent on burning two holes through his body.
The gloomy aura around him grew heavier and heavier. Thick black mist almost wrapped around Jiang Qunyu’s wrists, attempting to manifest physically and strangle him.

Unfortunately, Jiang Qunyu was his inner demon to begin with. He absorbed that black mist into his body, and his originally heavy eyelids instantly felt lighter.
Jiang Qunyu: “Thanks, I feel much more energetic.”
Wei Xun: “…”
He silently turned his head to the side, his pitch-black eyeballs rolling in the other direction.

“Why haven’t you fallen asleep yet?”
Jiang Qunyu hypocritically advised, “Just pretend I don’t exist. Close your two eyes, stretch your legs, and go to sleep.”
Wei Xun pulled at the corners of his mouth without emotion, “That’s being dead.”
“Oh, right, sorry.” Jiang Qunyu said, “Mainly because when you usually sleep, you look pretty much dead anyway.”

Wei Xun remained expressionless: “You always fall asleep before I do every time.”
Jiang Qunyu: “I saw it when I woke up in the middle of the night.”
“Then go into my sea of consciousness,” Wei Xun took a step back, not wanting to have an argument with him right before sleeping.
“I went there last time,” Jiang Qunyu said, “Nothing happened.”

“Have you ever thought that subconsciously, you naturally want to possess me and take my place?” Wei Xun sneered lightly. “That from start to finish, you’re the one who wants to get on my body?”
Jiang Qunyu immediately denied this statement, “It was clearly you who lured me onto it.”

Wei Xun fell silent for a moment and stopped responding to him.
The person who usually slept perfectly straight turned over for the first time, turning his back to Jiang Qunyu, and closed his eyes to sleep.

Jiang Qunyu was still forcing himself to stay alert, dead set on finding out the reason why he would get onto Wei Xun’s body.
In the latter half of the night, everything was completely silent.

Unknowingly, it was already the following summer at the Lingxiao Sect.
Wei Xun’s cave was far away from the Lingxiao Sect’s main peak. Moreover, because he previously cultivated the Path of Ruthlessness and didn’t need to interact much with others, his cave was right at the top of the mountain peak.
This peak was planted with many century-old green pines. The night wind blew through them, and waves of pine soughing washed over, rustling continuously as if breathing.
The silver bell hanging from the eaves outside the cave swayed slightly. The cold moonlight poured down through the gaps, landing on the bluestone slabs, spreading a patch of fragmented chill.

Heavy sleepiness ate away at Jiang Qunyu’s reasoning.
At first, he was sitting by the bed, but later his body tilted more and more, more and more, until he leaned against the bed.

Logically, Wei Xun should be the one anxious.
Wasn’t Wei Xun worried that one day, he would completely replace him?
It was one thing that he wasn’t anxious, but he even slept so soundly.
If he didn’t lack a physical body, he absolutely would have yanked Wei Xun up and fought him.

The more Jiang Qunyu thought about it, the angrier he got.
He didn’t notice at all that the black mist surrounding him was quietly blending with the demonic breath leaking from Wei Xun’s body, becoming indistinguishable from one another.

Ding—
The silver bell under the eaves chimed again, exceptionally abrupt in the silent night.

A draft swept through the hall, and Jiang Qunyu jolted awake.
Opening his eyes, he was scared out of his wits.
He had turned back into a ball of black mist again.
And uncontrollably moving toward Wei Xun, like a person long-thirsty throwing themselves at a clear spring, impatiently pressing against Wei Xun’s body, eagerly and almost greedily licking the skin Wei Xun had exposed.

Jiang Qunyu: “!”
Fuck!
What was he doing to Wei Xun?!

Jiang Qunyu was stunned; the entire ball was written all over with disbelief.
Wei Xun actually wasn’t wrong at all; he really was the one moving closer by himself.

Jiang Qunyu desperately tried to break free, but his soul body was as immobilized as if it had been nailed down.
He truly couldn’t accept that the one who just did such a thing to Wei Xun was actually himself.
Could it be that he had also developed an inner demon?

However, this thought didn’t last long. Jiang Qunyu zoned out slightly, a misty daze spreading over his eyes again.
So fragrant, so fragrant, so fragrant…
Why was Wei Xun so fragrant?
He couldn’t help wondering to himself, what scent of soap did Wei Xun use to bathe today?
He had clearly stayed in that same pool of warm water, yet not half a bit of such a fresh rhythm clung to him.

Why? Why did Wei Xun’s scent make his heart itch so much?
Wei Xun smelled so good, he really wanted to go up and take a bite.

Jiang Qunyu’s eyes completely glazed over. Uncontrollably, he pressed his entire ball against the side of Wei Xun’s neck, gently rubbing against that patch of warm skin.
A vague thought still swirled at the bottom of his heart. He heard himself repeatedly murmuring in his mind: Be careful, must be careful, movements must be gentle.
Lick bit by bit, to be stained with Wei Xun’s scent… only at night, quietly, cannot be discovered…

Jiang Qunyu rolled around Wei Xun’s neck, finally getting the whole ball completely smeared with Wei Xun’s scent.
Not enough.
Still not enough.

If…
He paused. If only I could take a bite of Wei Xun. I don’t want a lot, I’ll just lick a little, just a tiny bit of blood is enough.

Gulp—
Jiang Qunyu subconsciously swallowed his saliva.

Ultimately unable to resist, he lowered his head and bit extremely lightly on the side of Wei Xun’s neck.
A tiny bead of crimson blood oozed from the small wound. He immediately buried his entire ball of mist over it, carefully and meticulously licking it clean, not leaving behind even a trace of the blood’s scent.

Only after a long while did he slowly lift himself up. His soul body melted softly, sprawling over Wei Xun, as warm as if it had soaked up enough winter sunlight, so satisfied he almost sighed in contentment.
Inner demons, inner demons… so it turns out they need to be fed by their original host.

Jiang Qunyu thought groggily, Tomorrow night… I will bite Wei Xun again.

Almost at the exact same moment this thought flashed through his mind, Jiang Qunyu snapped awake.
He froze first, then with a look of despair, slid off Wei Xun’s body, landing on the ground with a plop.

He was doomed.

Support me on Ko-fi