Wu Yue’s days in the human realm were nothing short of leisurely. He ate, he slept, and then he ate again, living more comfortably than a pig, while Meng Huaize was the one suffering.
Wu Yue ate, and Meng Huaize had to provide the food for him. Wu Yue slept, and Meng Huaize had to accommodate him with a place to rest.
Three days later, Meng Huaize, who had once boldly promised Wu Yue that he’d buy him meat and find new trinkets every day to ensure his own survival, sat in a chair, looking utterly defeated, holding his now-empty purse.
“Why don’t you just kill me!” he said in despair.
Wu Yue had just finished a meal and was now sunning himself in the courtyard. The garden, full of medicinal herbs planted by Meng Huaize, was lush and vibrant, filling the air with a refreshing, herbal fragrance.
Wu Yue narrowed his eyes and stretched. The sunlight gleamed off his black fur, making it look sharp and sleek, like the finest black blades. He was no longer the small wolf cub from a few days ago but had now grown into something much closer to the imposing black wolf Meng Huaize had first encountered on Mount Chuanji.
The black wolf strode toward Meng Huaize, his golden eyes sharp and proud. “You want me to kill you? Are you serious?”
As the wolf drew near, Meng Huaize instinctively began to back away, but the emptiness of his purse gave him a sliver of courage. He protested pitifully, “Meat is expensive! I can’t afford to feed you every day. All the savings I’ve worked so hard to collect are almost gone!”
And that wasn’t all—the wolf was incredibly domineering.
Meng Huaize, a doctor, usually earned just enough to make ends meet by treating patients. But ever since the wolf had arrived, he hadn’t dared to open his doors while Wu Yue was awake, for fear of anyone seeing the spirit. By the time Wu Yue was full and ready to sleep, Meng Huaize still couldn’t do anything productive. Every day at noon, he was forced to lie in bed, offering himself up for Wu Yue to drain his spiritual energy, unable to earn a single coin. The meager savings he had painstakingly built up over the years had been drained dry by this troublemaker.
“If this keeps up,” Meng Huaize lamented bitterly, “you won’t even need to kill me. I’ll starve to death first!”
“Starve to death?”
“I’m a human, not a spirit. Humans need food to survive. If we don’t eat, we die.” Meng Huaize felt utterly helpless, explaining such basic facts to the wolf spirit. Read this novel at novelping(.)com for the best experience.
Predictably, the wolf spirit couldn’t comprehend the mundane struggles of mortals—things like food, money, and emotions. Before Meng Huaize could even finish his complaint, Wu Yue, without any warning or sense of fairness, scooped him up with one paw and threw him onto the bed again.
In the beginning, Wu Yue had still been a small wolf cub, and Meng Huaize could bear his weight. But the wolf had grown rapidly over the past few days. Now, if Wu Yue pressed against him as closely as before, Meng Huaize would likely faint on the spot and end up at the gates of the afterlife.
Fortunately, the spirit had gained some understanding of just how fragile humans could be, and spared Meng Huaize’s life by no longer lying on top of him entirely. Instead, he settled for wrapping a paw around Meng Huaize, finding a comfortable position, clearly ready to nap and continue absorbing spiritual energy.
Meng Huaize’s face flushed red as he struggled. “Let go of me!”
But his resistance was nothing more than a minor nuisance to Wu Yue. When lying down, the wolf was nearly as long as Meng Huaize from head to toe, and far more muscular. If Wu Yue truly wanted to restrain him, there was no escaping.
“Fine,” Wu Yue muttered sleepily, “if that’s the case, then we won’t eat meat anymore.”
To him, food was not a necessity; it made little difference whether he had it or not.
Meng Huaize immediately stopped struggling.
Hearing the wolf say this with such understanding made Meng Huaize feel a twinge of guilt, as if he owed Wu Yue something.
“Well, you don’t have to go that far,” Meng Huaize whispered. “Having meat every few days as a treat would be fine.”
Wu Yue rested his large head on Meng Huaize’s chest, already dozing off as he continued to draw energy from him.
Meng Huaize: “…”
He couldn’t help but feel like a nursing mother at that moment… Wait, no! A gentleman must mind his thoughts and words! Meng Huaize shook his head furiously, embarrassed by his own wayward thoughts, his face burning bright red as he broke into a sweat. This story is hosted at NovelPing.
Wu Yue, meanwhile, was completely unaware of the turmoil going on inside Meng Huaize’s head. Over the past few days, though his inner core had yet to return, having Meng Huaize nearby and absorbing his spiritual energy had provided enough to sustain him. While it wasn’t as effective as the full integration of his core, it wasn’t entirely useless either.
However, the spiritual energy that passed through Meng Huaize’s body inevitably absorbed some of his essence before entering Wu Yue’s own, creating a subtle, almost imperceptible connection between them. Meng Huaize, being a human, was completely unaware of this bond, but Wu Yue could feel it quite distinctly.
It was a drowsy afternoon in late spring, the heat making everything sluggish. After stewing in his embarrassment for a while, Meng Huaize eventually drifted off to sleep as well. The weather had turned increasingly warm, and with Wu Yue holding him so closely, his thick fur pressed against Meng Huaize’s body, the added sunlight streaming into the room made Meng Huaize sweat even in his sleep. His forehead was covered in beads of perspiration as he unconsciously tried to wriggle away from Wu Yue in search of coolness, though his attempts were futile.
Wu Yue opened his eyes, watching the faint threads of golden light between them. While Meng Huaize could only see this light faintly at night, Wu Yue saw it clearly, even in daylight. The energy between them was growing stronger, bright enough that it seemed to scatter the surrounding sunlight.
With one paw resting on Meng Huaize’s chest, Wu Yue could feel the inner core within Meng Huaize’s body—his core—resonating in response. His golden eyes glimmered like twin gemstones as he raised his paw, drawing out a glowing strand of light that connected to Meng Huaize’s chest.
Meng Huaize frowned in his sleep, letting out a low groan of discomfort.
Wu Yue’s gaze lingered on his face for a moment, and then, unexpectedly, he withdrew his power. The golden thread dimmed, and the connection between them became weaker. With the spiritual link reduced, the sunlight returned to the room, once again filling the space.
One aspect of this subtle bond between them was that Wu Yue’s murderous intent toward Meng Huaize had lessened significantly from when they first met.
After a few days of recovery, Wu Yue’s strength had not yet reached its peak, but he had regained enough power to retrieve his core from Meng Huaize. However, doing so would almost certainly kill him.
To Wu Yue, this was just a fragile human. A few days earlier, he wouldn’t have hesitated to take Meng Huaize’s life. But now, at least for the time being, Wu Yue had no desire to end it.
Wu Yue had always lived a solitary life, wandering freely without ties to anyone or anything. This was the first time he had ever formed a connection with another being, and it intrigued him. The feeling was strange, yet he didn’t entirely reject it.
Perhaps it was all because of the inner core, he reasoned.
He stared at Meng Huaize for a while, observing the peaceful rise and fall of his chest as he slept. After a moment, Wu Yue lowered his head and lay back down, closing his eyes once more.
Despite his usual nature, this newfound connection brought a faint sense of novelty—something he hadn’t experienced in his long years of roaming alone. Yet, in his usual detached manner, he let the thought pass and drifted back into the comfortable warmth of sleep, feeling that, for now, it wasn’t so bad to stay by this human’s side a little longer.