Chapter 1

Meng Ruji sat on the broken wooden doorstep and took a bite of the green and yellow fruit. The mixture of her salty tears finally made it less difficult to swallow.

She ate while crying, her face expressionless. After filling her hungry stomach, she finally looked up at the moon, which was misty and green—the same color as her face.

"Ah..." She sighed and glanced down at her once luxurious clothes. Time had worn them out, leaving them frayed and rotten in places. A few shining gold threads remained, hinting at the grandeur of the past.

"Maybe... it's time to move on to the afterlife."

As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes again.

Why...

Why on earth?

Why would she, once a "demon king," be reduced to tears by life? She had been trapped in this hellhole for half a month, still unable to adapt to the harsh, poor life here.

Meng Ruji turned sideways, reaching for the broken water bowl beside her to drink, but before she could, a sack was thrown to the ground in front of her with a heavy thud.

Startled, Meng Ruji looked at the sack, then at the man standing behind it. Her gaze traveled up his long legs, thin waist, broad chest, and finally rested on his face.

The young man was about seventeen or eighteen years old, with sharp features and a cold, murderous air. His black pupils were dark and unreadable. The green moonlight penetrated the mist and fell into his eyes, making him appear even more mysterious.

His messy hair and dirty skin only added to the impression of a beast in the dark night—bloodthirsty, dangerous, and deadly.

This face was enough to make even Meng Ruji, who had seen many beautiful things in the world, feel a momentary flutter in her heart. But after so many days of heartache, Meng Ruji was already tired.

Yes.

This boy, with only his good looks to offer, was the root of her current misery! The cause of her poverty! The reason for her hard life!

It was because he...

stole her inner elixir!

Meng Ruji wiped away her tears and looked at him with lifeless eyes. "I told you many times not to run around, Mu Sui."

Mu Sui—that was the only thing the boy remembered about himself.

"I didn’t go far," Mu Sui's voice was hoarse, mature beyond his years. "I remember what you said." When he spoke to Meng Ruji, the dangerous aura around him dissipated, and his gaze softened, becoming as clear as that of a small animal.

Meng Ruji had grown used to this look over the days. She continued eating the fruit with a look of despair, then glanced at the sack on the ground. "What is this?"

"Food."

At the mention of food, Meng Ruji's dead, calm eyes immediately lit up. She was surprised. "You managed to get food? I've been around here, but I've never seen any large prey."

Meng Ruji quickly finished the fruit and reached out to untie the sack. "Where did this sack come from?"

Mu Sui drew his sword and sharpened it against the scabbard twice, as if preparing to kill something. "He brought it himself."

Meng Ruji sneered. "This prey is so considerate, bringing a sack along?" But when she opened the sack, she was stunned.

"What is this?"

"Food."

There was an unconscious man lying inside!

Meng Ruji pointed at the middle-aged man in the sack and scolded Mu Sui angrily, "Can this thing be eaten!?"

Mu Sui looked at her, puzzled. "Why can't it be eaten?" He reached out to grab the man's neck, ready to drag him out and kill him.

Meng Ruji quickly grabbed his hand. "Where did you kidnap him from!?"

"He was alone."

"Listen to yourself! Send him back!"

Meng Ruji was at a loss. She had been a monster for many years, but she wasn’t purely monstrous. Deep down, she still believed she was human.

Mu Sui looked at Meng Ruji, his face unhappy.

"Send him back!" Meng Ruji ordered.

Mu Sui made a dissatisfied sound, sheathed his knife, then stuffed the man back into the sack and dragged him away.

"Don’t eat him secretly!" Meng Ruji called after him.

To prove he hadn’t eaten the man, Mu Sui didn’t go far. He simply raised his hand and tossed the sack and the man away.

Such a short time wasn’t enough for him to eat anyone. Mu Sui clapped his hands and walked back, still glaring at Meng Ruji with an unhappy expression.

Meng Ruji held onto the broken wooden door sill, blocking his way inside.

Mu Sui stood at the door for a long time. "I didn’t eat him."

"Don’t kidnap people next time!"

Mu Sui was silent for a moment, then turned his head away, clearly upset.

"Mu Sui!"

"He was left alone."

"Whether he was left alone, it doesn't matter! Frost or rain, you can’t kidnap and eat people!"

Mu Sui still didn’t say anything.

"If you kidnap someone again, I won't let you eat any of the fruits I pick! I won't let you drink a single bowl of water! And don't even think about sleeping in the shabby house I found! You'll have to sleep outside..."

"I won’t tie you up anymore!" 

Mu Sui cut off Meng Ruji’s words. Despite a trace of lingering anger, his voice softened. "I won’t tie you up anymore..."

Meng Ruji sighed deeply, letting her hand fall away from the broken door frame, and stepped aside to make room. "Come in."

Mu Sui entered the house with a brooding expression, but he didn’t go far. He paused beside Meng Ruji, then moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her.

He had been running around outside, and his chest was still filled with the cold wind from the forest. Meng Ruji was suddenly enveloped in a cool embrace, leaving her momentarily stunned.

Mu Sui rested his head on her left shoulder, rubbing his cheek against hers. His embrace soon warmed.

"You can’t lock me out," Mu Sui whispered in her ear, his voice a mix of unconscious grievance and reluctant playfulness.

His messy hair, like the fur of a big cat, brushed against Meng Ruji's cheek, tickling her.

Meng Ruji raised her right hand to push his head away. "If you don’t tie people up or try to eat them, I won’t lock you out."

"No more," Mu Sui murmured, pushing against her hand and continuing to rub against her ear. "No more eating."

Over the past few days, Meng Ruji had grown accustomed to his animal-like behavior, although Mu Sui was much larger than any ordinary animal. Meng Ruji used to raise cats and dogs in Hengxu Mountain, and while other kittens would roll around in her arms, Mu Sui preferred to roll around with her. 

It was strange—just half a month ago, when they first met, Mu Sui didn’t act like this at all...

Meng Ruji took a fruit from her arms and stuffed it into Mu Sui's mouth. "You can't go without eating. I didn’t make much today, and there’s nothing else, so just eat the fruit."

She slipped out of Mu Sui's embrace and went into the house to get more fruit from the broken bamboo basket. Mu Sui followed closely behind.

Meng Ruji handed him the bamboo basket, and he took it obediently.

Meng Ruji sat down on the side of the shabby house, where there was still plenty of space inside, but Mu Sui didn’t want to go far. He sat next to Meng Ruji, holding the bamboo basket and began to eat the fruit.

Mu Sui was always hungry and ate a lot, but he wasn’t picky. He ate whatever was given to him, consuming everything, including the skin and the core.

"Mu Sui," Meng Ruji called out to him.

Mu Sui looked at her.

"Have you ever eaten people before?"

Mu Sui bit into the fruit in his hand, thought for a moment, and shook his head. "I don’t remember."

As expected, Meng Ruji nodded and took a fruit to eat with him. "It’s better not to eat them."

"You don’t like eating people, and you don’t want me to eat them. So, I won’t," Mu Sui promised, focusing on his fruit.

Meng Ruji nodded. This boy was wild, but at least he listened to her.

After finishing the fruit, Mu Sui lay down on the ground, rested his head on Meng Ruji's legs, wrapped his arms around her waist, and closed his eyes, falling asleep. 

The entire bamboo basket of fruit was now empty. Meng Ruji looked down at the sleeping Mu Sui and sighed. "You look about seventeen or eighteen, weigh maybe a hundred pounds, yet you eat enough for dozens... Why don’t you gain any weight?"

She glanced at Mu Sui's chest and abdomen. His clothes were as tattered as hers, with glimpses of skin showing through.

In addition to the scars on his skin, the outline of well-defined muscles suggested he was physically well-trained.

"What is your origin...?"

Meng Ruji reached out, her fingertips resting on his chest. Amidst the sound of his vigorous heartbeat, she could still feel a familiar power.

It was the power of her inner elixir, now buried within this young man...

"I don’t know when I’ll be able to leave this cursed place. I don’t know if I’ll ever get my inner elixir back..."

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