"Um... if I said I'm a bit confused about the situation myself, would you believe me?"
The demoness explained, looking at Wu Shuang.
But the latter... naturally wouldn't believe a single word out of her mouth. His face was filled with suspicion and disgust, with a sliver of fear hidden deep in his eyes.
"Sigh..."
The demoness sighed and lowered her head. She seemed to have guessed this outcome and appeared quite helpless.
"You can speak?"
Wu Shuang suddenly asked. The demoness responded with a nod, indicating that she could.
"Why did you attack me?"
"Uh... it was probably out of biological instinct... Just like if you were starving and suddenly saw a huge chunk of bread, you'd definitely bite into it frantically and refuse to let go."
"Then why did you save me?" Wu Shuang pressed on, his face remaining cold.
"Well..."
The demoness didn't know how to explain it for a moment. She couldn't very well say... she was afraid the "bread" would die, so she hurriedly revived him, intending to raise him for a while until he grew nice and plump before taking another big gulp, turning him into a long-term meal ticket.
Even if that wasn't strictly her true intention, she did want to do that, and she had no choice anyway. Thus, any explanation would only make things worse, rendering it impossible to pivot the conversation toward mutual benefit.
After a dozen seconds of silence, the demoness suddenly raised her head, abandoning all pretense of deep thought to put on a pitiful, deeply apologetic expression.
"Um... if I said it was all a misunderstanding before, that I didn't mean to, and it was all due to uncontrollable forces... could you forgive me?" she probed cautiously.
"Sure."
"Sigh, I knew it wouldn't be that sim—huh?!"
The demoness froze mid-sentence as if her brain had glitched, staring at him in disbelief, her eyes wide and strikingly captivating.
"You... you really forgive me?"
"Really."
Wu Shuang nodded, forcing a tight smile.
"That's wonderful! As long as you understand..."
The demoness was overjoyed, while Wu Shuang smiled and nodded.
The binding hair gradually loosened until it completely released him. The demoness then began explaining her predicament, smearing ointment on him as she talked.
"Actually, I have amnesia. I don't know why I'm here or why I'm just a head.
"When I woke up, I only felt hungry, so I bit you. But I'm clearheaded now, thanks to your Humanity restoring my sanity.
"If you put it that way, I can't thank you enough... Hey!!"
The demoness was interrupted before she could finish.
Having regained his freedom, Wu Shuang couldn't be bothered to listen to a word she said. Seeing no handy weapon nearby, he snatched up the lantern and hurled it right at the demoness. However, he failed to hit his mark as she reacted just in time.
A massive cluster of hair whipped forward, wrapping around Wu Shuang and the incoming lantern, bringing everything to a temporary standstill.
"Didn't you say you forgave me?" the demoness asked, looking somewhat indignant.
"You nearly drained me dry, and you still have the nerve to bring that up?!"
Wu Shuang growled angrily, exerting more force, wishing he could smash this dead head to pieces.
The two scuffled right then and there. Though it was two hands and two feet versus hair, the latter held its ground remarkably well—the sheer volume of hair was astounding. They tumbled off the stone pedestal onto the floor, locked in a stalemate.
During the struggle, however, the lantern couldn't take the pressure any longer. Kerosene spilled out and, ignited by the odd angle, quickly sparked a sizeable blaze. It scorched some of her hair, but those strands were swiftly severed and replaced by fresh locks.
The fire began to spread. Wu Shuang felt the heat as a chunk of his own hair singed and curled up. The situation was dire—the cellar was about to catch fire.
"Let go! Put out the fire first!"
"Okay!"
Faced with a shared crisis, the two immediately agreed, disengaging and stepping back to put out the flames.
Fortunately, they had collected plenty of rainwater during the earlier storm; otherwise, things would have gotten out of hand, as the fire was spreading fast.
After splashing several jars of water onto the blaze, the fire was finally extinguished. They escaped the danger of being burned alive, though both ended up with soot-blackened faces, looking thoroughly disheveled. The demoness in particular looked like a beggar, her fair face smudged with dirt from rolling around on the floor.
Once the conflict subsided, Wu Shuang cooled down. He knew he was utterly helpless against this demoness—especially since all his weapons had been confiscated, and his shovel was wedged against the door as a latch. Even if he could get his hands on them, he probably couldn't beat her.
Assessing the situation quickly, he glanced upward at the darkness creeping into the cellar like black oil. Realizing he had been unconscious for a considerable while, he pulled out his Hero Handbook without hiding it to check his physical status.
Health: 79%. Not bad.
But Humanity... 56 points?!
Wu Shuang's eyes widened in shock.
He had at least 120 points of White Humanity before this. He had almost been sucked dry by this demoness!
No wonder he felt like he couldn't remember many things, as if he had amnesia, and was a step slow in responding. He was showing signs of turning into a living corpse. Dammit!
Wu Shuang cursed in his heart, but the demoness's voice piped up ill-timed, right next to his ear.
"Oh... so this is the Hero Handbook. You really can just pull it out of thin air."
The demoness remarked, giving Wu Shuang a scare. He looked over to find that she was using her hair to prop up her head, leaning right beside him to look at the handbook without him even realizing it.
"You..."
Wu Shuang hastily recoiled. He hadn't expected her to even know about the handbook... Wait!
"Did you absorb some of my memories?"
Wu Shuang asked with a cold face. Taking her silence as tacit agreement, she asked directly:
"What's written on it? It looks blank to me. How are you doing?"
She spoke as if out of concern, but Wu Shuang felt only disgust. After all, he had nearly been killed by this thing.
"Thanks to you, I lost over seventy points of Humanity. I'm not far from turning into a living corpse."
Wu Shuang snapped, not bothering to hide it. At the same time, an ill-timed system warning chimed in his ear—his Humanity was draining further, down to 55.
"It's that serious...? I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean to."
The demoness apologized repeatedly, but Wu Shuang wasn't buying it.
If apologies actually worked, crime wouldn't exist in this world—everyone could just say sorry after the fact.
Wu Shuang didn't give her a pleasant look, staying fully on guard. He stole occasional glances at the weapons under her control, his mind racing with ways to counterattack and break free.
"Hey!"
"I've apologized so many times, told you it wasn't on purpose, and even applied medicine for you! Can't you be a little less petty?!"
The demoness grew annoyed as well, seeming to feel Wu Shuang's hostile gaze, which Wu Shuang found almost laughable.
Fuck, that ointment was his stuff in the first place, and she had used it all up! She had the nerve to talk like that?
"What on earth will it take for you to forgive me?!"
The demoness demanded angrily, which amused and infuriated Wu Shuang all at once.
"You've got to be out of your mind. You practically drained all my Humanity and almost killed me, yet you expect forgiveness? Why don't you give my Humanity back to me then, you monster?!"
he snapped back.
Realizing she was in the wrong, she looked away. With her face smudged with dirt, she bit her lip, somehow exuding a pitiful vibe as if she were the aggrieved party.
Wait, no.
This woman was dangerously bewitching.
Wu Shuang quickly averted his eyes.
However, the demoness seemed to reach a decision. Muttering in a voice as quiet as a mosquito's buzz, "Fine, I'll give it back... honestly," she caught Wu Shuang's attention.
"What are you mumbling about? Haven't had enough yet?"
Wu Shuang hadn't heard clearly and spoke guardedly. She looked up at him and yelled:
"I said I'll just give it back to you! Honestly!"
With that, a surge of silver-white hair whipped around him, instantly wrapping around Wu Shuang's head and holding it firmly in place.
He tried desperately to fight back, but he was a second too late. The perfect—well, slightly dirty—exquisite face enlarged before his eyes, leaning closer and closer until their lips met.
Wu Shuang experienced a soft touch on his lips unlike anything he had ever felt before. His eyes widened like brass gongs, his cheeks rapidly flushed red, and at the same time, his Humanity began to rise.
Rate on N.U.
