Journey to the End of the Night
Chapter 178 - 178 176 Blood with Sugar

178: Chapter 176: Blood with Sugar 178: Chapter 176: Blood with Sugar Baili An only felt blood energy swirling and filling within him, instantly replenishing the spirit he had exhausted last night.

It would probably take drinking the fresh blood of five Jin Shengs to achieve such an effect.

The blood of Fang Geyu seemed somewhat extraordinary.

Baili An licked his lips and earnestly said to her, “Thank you.”

Fang Geyu took a light sip of the top-quality Cold Mist Tea in her cup, barely wetting her lips.

She snorted lightly and said, “Thank me for what?

I’m not worried about you.

I’m distressed for my little Lin Yuan.

If you return to the Mountain Realm on an empty stomach, in the end, you’ll still have to drink Lin Yuan’s blood to extend your life.

Hmph, you are nothing but a loathsome bug that lives on other people’s fresh blood, and yet you have the nerve to sit in the position of the mountain master.

If you had any shame, you’d hand over the Mountain Seal to me right away, make me happy, and then maybe I would consider keeping you, this little corpse demon, around.”

Her tone was almost like charity, her mouth curling into a scornful smile.

When she glanced at him, her gaze was even more profound and malevolent than the malice Li Xuan showed when he saw a corpse demon.

Yet the words she spoke…

“Hmph, I am aware that that old codger Li Xuan hastily set up an array the night you were taken away.

I imagine he did not skimp on the threats when you ascended the mountain last night either.

But after all, you are still one from my Mountain Realm, my little cat or little dog.

If others saw you, they would have to treat you with respect and care, let alone when you are such a large figure.”

The girl’s eyes shone coldly, “The person I, Fang Geyu, choose to protect, is not someone others can gossip about.”

Once again, the unicorns in the creek bowed their heads quietly to drink.

The sweet, rich scent of the young girl’s fresh blood still lingered in Baili An’s mouth.

He subconsciously pursed his lips, his eyes flickering, and said, “Miss Fang, are you treating me as one of your own?”

“Ha?” Fang Geyu instantly became stern, her exquisite face hardened.

A pair of clear black and white eyes gazed at Baili An like dead fish, and with a roll of her eyelids, she said, “Which of your ears heard me say I consider you one of my own?”

Baili An held an empty cup in his hand, the edges of the cup still trailing with several pearl-like droplets of blood.

He honestly licked the edge of the cup and said, “Miss Fang knows I am a corpse demon, yet you don’t share the same prejudices as Li Xuan, and you even fed me your blood.

Li Xuan, knowing I am a corpse demon, thinks it a taboo to even speak to me, but you waited here for me…”

Though licking the cup was inelegant, he still bowed his head deeply, cleaning the fresh red from the cup.

He, Lin Yuan, Lin Guiyuan, and Jin Sheng had once gone through life-and-death hardships together.

Lin Yuan and Jin Sheng could give him their blood without reservation due to the trust between comrades.

And Sister Wen, his close friend, had past experiences and memories unknown to him; he could not remember anything about her.

Yet she treated him exceedingly well, so well that it felt somewhat unreal.

Even for a moment, he felt like a thief clutching at emotions and memories that did not belong to him, pulling at that little bit of sunshine and warmth, accepting her kindness.

Because he did not know whether, as a corpse demon reborn and having lost all past memories, he was still the ‘him’ from before.

The soul beneath this body, whether it was still the same vivid soul from those years.

He was Baili An, but also Si Chen.

Yet he had not a single memory from his human life.

When with Wen Hanwei, he did not even know what expression to wear to make her believe he was the man from her memories.

Now, this casually given cup of blood from Fang Geyu was an unhesitant gift.

Without any exchange of interests, without any particular care.

No expectations, no demands.

A simple act, neither warm nor cold nor deliberate, broke the world’s prejudice.

This world was not merely black or white.

As he held the crystal cup against his lips, he could not help but reveal a small, pleased smile and murmur, “You are really kind.”

The smile was still tinged with a trace of remaining redness, but it did not seem bloody.

It was as if he were starving and had finally received a piece of sugar meant just for him—his contentment seemed timid, clumsy yet treasured.

The slightly damp mountain wind seemed to disorder for a moment, lifting the clothes and hair of the two in the Cold Pavilion.

The elegant and noble Mithril pendant in the girl’s hair danced with the wind, emitting a crystal-clear and melodious sound.

Tilting her head in one hand, she hummed lightly, her eyes impatiently seeming to search for her Unicorn.

She grumbled discontentedly, “What’s the fuss?

It’s just a cup of blood.

The new master of the Mountain Realm is not much after all.”

A rosy hue arose delicately on her snow-white earlobes, pale and astonishingly beautiful under the daylight.

Perhaps the sunlight was too bright, for normally it went unnoticed that there was a tiny cinnabar mole on her delicate earlobe, like an erroneous dot on flawless porcelain.

Such a small thing, yet now it appeared almost glaringly radiant.

Her fingers drummed impatiently on the stone table.

She seemed to speak out of dissatisfaction, or perhaps muttering to herself, “Putting on the guise of an innocent white fox, when you’re clearly no good—last night, you tormented Jiujiu so badly, yet now you put on this simplistic, innocent facade.

What’s the matter with you?”

“Ah?” Baili An raised his head and coughed lightly, his nose slightly red, “Miss Fang, you…”

Fang Geyu turned and glared at her once, “I returned to the mountain last night, thinking of finding Jiujiu, but who would have thought that the two of you would have gotten so sickeningly intimate so quickly.

Rotten boy, you’ve got some nerve, huh?

To flirt so thoroughly with the jewel of Lihe Sect right under so many watchful eyes.

Hmph, some seem like a white rabbit, but in reality, they are a little hungry wolf.”

At times like these, Baili An certainly couldn’t explain that it was actually Jiujiu who dragged him to bed.

Out of options, he simply adopted the guise of a little hungry wolf, and with a wry smile, he said, “You returned to the mountain just last night?

I thought Miss Fang had been staying all along at Lihe Sect.

Why did you return last night?”

His gaze suddenly moved, landing on the sword lying across her lap.

The sword body was sleek and long; both the hilt and the scabbard seemed not to be forged from ordinary mithril, iron, or copper.

The daylight on the sword occasionally revealed extraordinary silk patterns like flowing fire.

At a glance, the sword seemed like a mystic fragment from a foreign star, naturally cleaved with celestial fire.

Despite its lavish elegance, the sword did not lose a sense of natural harmony.

If one must say there was a sign of human craftsmanship, it would be the blue gemstone embedded in the hilt.

At a glance, one could see a distinguished style, as if emphasizing the finishing touch.

At that moment, the gemstone on the sword was slightly dim, with visible scratches from which flecks of light were escaping, clearly losing a considerable amount of Spiritual Power.

What was even more strange was that the sword did not seem to be affected by the gem’s damage; on the contrary, the sword’s power seemed to have increased threefold.