Chapter 011 Li Xiao's Independent Side Story - Heartless (Part 1)
01
Ghosts are always hungry, and no matter how much they eat, they can never feel full.
—I have never seen such a greedy and insatiable hungry ghost.
—They were absolutely starving.
Eating constantly, hunger, crying out of hunger, eating again...
And so it goes, day after day, in an endless cycle.
One day, this ghost encountered a cat that was on the verge of death.
"I...I'm so hungry, so very hungry—"
Large tears welled up from the depths of the ghost's sunken eye sockets as it cried out to the cat.
"Then you can eat me," the cat replied weakly.
The ghost tilted its head, briefly lost in thought.
Then, a strange light flashed in those dark, hollow eyes.
02
I never thought I would wake up again.
My body feels warm and cozy.
You can hear faint crackling sounds and smell the pleasant aroma of burning wood.
At this moment, his parched lips touched a little moisture.
Cats instinctively draw water from the source of life.
Gradually, the cat recovered and opened its eyes.
A suspicious dark shape was spotted in the blurry vision.
Gradually becoming clear, then frozen in time.
At first, he thought he had arrived at the gates of hell.
But he quickly realized that the guy had seen it before he passed out...
"You're awake."
As the ghost spoke, it excitedly twitched the corners of its mouth, its twitching, eerie laughter even uglier than crying.
—It's really ugly.
The cat thought that even among demons and monsters, it was considered ugly.
He opened his mouth and asked, "Why won't you eat me?"
—Was it out of kindness?
But do ghosts have hearts?
Maybe they just prefer live food.
The guy opposite me poked his cheek with his finger and slowly blinked.
"Want to be eaten?" The ghost shook its head from side to side. "Strange cat."
—I was called weird by some weird guy.
The cat suddenly felt like laughing, but—there was nothing left to care about. He turned his head to one side and said wearily, "Anyway, I'm going to die soon anyway."
"Why?" the ghost asked, "Aren't you still alive?"
The cat, with its eyes closed, meowed, "So noisy."
"But why? You haven't answered me yet."
The cat rolled over, pressed its paws to its ears, and said impatiently, "Are you a child? Asking all these questions. It's so annoying."
Why can't we just let him die peacefully?
—That's bad enough already.
After a long while, the ghost didn't utter another sound.
The cat guessed that the other party was probably angry.
—Fine, at worst I'll be swallowed whole. I don't have many days left to live anyway.
Just then, I heard a soft sobbing sound.
The cat opened one eye, looked around, and then opened both eyes.
"Why are you crying?" the cat asked in surprise.
The ghost sniffed and looked at him. That already unpleasant face, now covered in snot, became even uglier.
The ghost stammered, "I... I remembered that my father... he said something similar before. Back then, my mother would put her arm around my shoulder. I haven't seen my mother for a very, very long time."
"Father and Mother?"
The cat was surprised. Then it thought, since humans are born of human mothers and demons are born of demon mothers, then ghosts must also be born of ghost mothers—that's a lie.
03
The cat decided to stay at the ghost's house for the time being.
It was called a home, but it was nothing more than a small, empty cave.
It's a bit dirty and torn, but at least it can keep you out of the wind and rain.
Nowadays, all the cat has to do every day is lie down and recover from its injuries, and accept food from ghosts.
"Didn't you keep crying and saying you were hungry? Why did you share your food with me?"
"Anyway, I won't be full no matter how much I eat, so sharing some with you won't make much difference."
As the ghost answered, it put down the water. Recently, fetching water has become an additional activity on the ghost's schedule. It often crosses the mountain stream several times a day because cats are clean animals and need clean water for both eating and cleaning.
The cat felt uneasy looking at his meek and submissive demeanor.
He always felt that behind that honest face must lie a wicked heart.
The cat guessed that this guy was probably planning to fatten him up before eating him.
Can--
Why are you so good to me?
If it were him, he would never have put in so much effort for food that was already in his mouth.
The ghost asked in confusion, "Isn't it good to be alive?"
Yes, it's so good to be alive.
The cat once truly believed that, but alas, it no longer has a heart.
"If I really wanted to live like you, I'd rather be dead."
The cat muttered something, then caught a glimpse of the ghost laughing out of the corner of its eye.
—Sure enough, this guy is abnormal, or he's just an idiot.
04
The cat once had such a heart.
Even not long ago, his heart was still pounding in his chest.
--Why?
At that time, paralyzed by snake venom and unable to move, he could only question with his eyes.
The girl, also a demon, lowered her eyes, her blood-soaked fingertips trembling slightly.
"I'm sorry." Her small lips murmured the cruel words, "But you said, you said you would give it to me if I wanted it, so..."
So in the end, it was all my own fault?
He wanted to laugh, but he couldn't make a sound.
"I just want to save my husband. As long as I have this heart, he can live and stay with me forever."
A faint smile appeared on her tear-streaked face.
Cat's eyes watched as the girl carefully placed the still-beating heart into the box, her expression of preciousness a cruel irony.
"From now on, let's each be well and never see each other again."
The girl left those words behind and walked away, leaving him half-dead.
He should have felt pain, sorrow, and anger, but he didn't. At that moment, it seemed as if all his joys and sorrows had left with his heart that had been removed.
A white mist filled his vision, and he recalled the heavy snow when they first met, how he personally rescued the bloodied fox cub from a trap, but now it all seemed like a dream.
When I woke up, my identity had been switched.
There was no warm embrace ahead; certain death awaited him.
Their souls scattered and vanished, never to exist again.
05
The ghost asked, "Have you gotten fatter?"
Upon hearing this, the cat narrowed its eyes warily.
Why are you asking this?
—Finally unable to hold back any longer, is it time to reveal the truth?
The ghost replied, "I'd like to ask if you want to go out."
Where to?
"Go for a walk in the mountains and breathe some fresh air; you'll be healthier and recover faster."
The cat wondered if he had misheard. Had he just been invited by a ghost to exercise together?
Are there really ghosts in this world who are so particular about health preservation?
No, no, no—
Are you really a ghost?
The ghost blinked and tilted its head to look at the cat: "That's what everyone says."
"Everyone?"
"Those people who walk around in the mountains."
The cat probably meant those who were lost.
"When they see me, they all yell 'There's a ghost!'" the ghost recounted calmly, even yawning. "Some fainted, some turned and ran, and some tripped and fell repeatedly while running away, until they could no longer get up."
The cat chimed in: "And then you ate them?"
The ghost looked utterly astonished, even though its face was already strange enough.
The ghost asked, "Why should I eat them?"
—What reason do you have not to eat?
The cat was convinced that the other party was pretending to be stupid, and the little bit of goodwill it had built up before vanished instantly.
The ghost asked, "You really don't want to go out for a walk?"
In response, the cat rolled over and closed its eyes.
He lost the desire to talk and didn't want to see that hypocritical face anymore.
He has already paid a heavy price for his past gullibility.
There's no reason to fall for a scam again when you're about to die.
—Besides, it's such a monstrous thing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
