Unable to make any major movements, he bit the inside of his mouth, trying to stay awake as he was carried. He had no ability to resist before the thing abducted him, rushing up the mountain with him in tow. At least it brought him further away from Tian Zifu and Qin Sanhu.
Gu Changshou wasn’t sure if Qin Sanhu was still alive – the demonic cultivator was closer to the explosion – but he wasn’t in a state to consider the livelihood of others.
Frowning at the growing yin qi around them, he tried to stabilize his breath as they moved.
It was already heavy before, but now it covered them like a blanket, making it difficult to see several meters ahead. It was abnormally dense. And the person, or the thing carrying him, was also covered in it. In fact, yin qi seemed to flow towards it, converging around them, waiting to be absorbed.
Qingshui mountain was named for the crystal clear lake at the top. But these days no mortal dared visit the mountain since it was thick with yin qi.
Thirty years ago, some villagers began noticing something weird with the mountain. And after animals began refusing to go up to the mountains thirty years ago, they reported it the local sect, who sent people up.
His Tianmen Sect was a week’s journey away, but any possibility of demons or spirits concerned the cultivation world. Furrowing his brow, he tried to recall what his senior brother had reported. He had barely begun forming his golden core back then, and all thoughts were spent on cultivating so he could reach the nascent soul stage and roam around without consequence.
If he remembered correctly, senior brother He said it was formed by a yin gathering array, which he destroyed. But the accumulation of yin qi the years was too heavy and would take a long time to dispel naturally.
But that didn’t explain the person – or was it a creature – that saved him…
It was shrouded with yin qi, letting him catch glimpses of the dense purplish lines on its face. Wisps of black yin qi drifted out, floating freely around. Silvery long hair was untamed, flowing behind them in tangled mess. Mismatched patches of fur and cloth-like materials combined with a hunched over posture covered its body and limbs.
Gu Changshou wasn’t sure it was even human.
His conjecture was further solidified when the humanoid creature dropped him on the ground, and crouched down on all fours, leaning over to sniff him.
“…”
It had never smelled anything so good or felt anything like that before. It dissolved the chilling cold and replaced it with a cozy, comfortable relief. There was the fire that bad person had lit and shared that did something similar, but it hurt when it got too near to fire.
The human in front was different. Leaning over to sniff him again, it was drawn to something inside, dispelling the chilling cold in its body it had grown accustomed to.
Overwhelmed by instinct, it scratched at the folds in the thin layer shielding it from feeling more, trying to sense that sensation it experienced earlier.
“What are you doing?!”
Gu Changshou screamed, holding the shreds of clothing around his chest protectively, taken aback by the sudden turn of events. He didn’t expect to be dropped down, sniffed, and then suddenly have his robes mauled off. If anyone from the Tianmen Sect knew he acted like a lady about to be defiled, he would hear no end of it. 囧
The sudden words made its hands pause. It had been so long since anyone had made sounds directed towards it, it wasn’t sure what to do. Staring at the prone figure sending angry glares its way, a grimy finger eventually reached out and pointed down, lowering its head as it tried to recall how to make similar sounds in response.
“…warm… want…”
Warm?
Was it referring to his true yang body? Because of it, his temperature ran warmer than other people. Gu Changshou also cultivated in the corresponding yang technique, and his yang qi was a natural repellent to the cold yin qi around them.
“…want… warm…” It repeated the two sounds, unsure if the human understood. This person was weird, sitting there not saying anything.
Thinking again, it realized there was a smell of blood wafting out.
The human was hurt!
Leaning forward, it reached out with its hand, ignoring the human’s struggling, and wiped away some of the blood.
There was a pungent, disgusting smell masking the tempting fragrance, reminding it of something another dying human at the foot of the mountains left behind. There were many small bottles with weird round balls of something. Some of the balls smelled and tasted nice, but they were rather boring otherwise, so it left them with other things it found around the mountain.
“…stay.” Glaring at the human, it dashed back into the cave, not needing light to guide it through the dark interior.
“…”
Gu Changshou blinked, unsure of what to expect as he tried adjusting himself to be more comfortable. He wouldn't be able to go anywhere with one leg broken and the various other wounds he had anyway.
Minutes later, it returned with several things in its possession. Several pill bottles were placed in front of him, and pushed forward.
“…eat… help…”
Pill bottles?
Cautiously picking up the closest one, he uncorked the stopped and took a whiff. The refreshing scent of grasses filled his body, clearing some of the fog in his mind. Earth-grade qinshen pill! It was a good thing to deal with mental attacks, but it had no use for his injuries.
Checking the next three bottles in the same way, Gu Changshou was surprised at the high quality pills in front of him. They were all earth-grade, and rare pills! They would easily fetch a high price if auctioned off. What a pity they were left here.
The fifth time he opened the bottle, his eyes widened at the cold, refreshing scent that wafted his way, immediately dispelling fatigue and suppressing the qi-dissolving poison’s effect. Pupils dilating, he took a second look.
The antidote!
Ignoring how or where the antidote came from, Gu Changshou swallowed the pill, immediately feeling the effects as his qi slowly came back. Cycling his breath and going through one cycle of his cultivation technique to make sure the poison was gone, he breathed out and opened his eyes.
“Thank you.”
The shaggy head tilted, before pointing at the pill bottles again.
“I don’t need them. They’re not helpful.” He shook his head. As much as he wanted to keep the pills to himself, he wasn’t in a position to negotiate.
“…no… need?”
“Yes, no need.” He pushed the bottles back. But it refused to take them back, shoving them back in front of him the next moment.
“…need…”
…so it was giving them to him?
Hesitating, Gu Changshou silently picked up the bottles, placing them on the side, keeping a careful eye out as the beast-man watched. The unexpected bounty surprised him, but sadly none of them were any help for his remaining wounds.
It stood there, crouching down and watching him. He ignored the uncanny gaze, closing his eyes as he slowly took inventory of the situation inside his body.
After a long time, a hand reached out once again. He stiffened immediately, hypersensitive to what was going on as the dirty hand-paws – they looked like human fingers but it was hard to tell with poor lighting and being covered in yin qi – explored the area around his waist again.
Inwardly, he wondered if any nascent soul cultivator had ever been so openly molested by something not quite human. He could resist, but he didn’t want to risk worse consequences. The thread of qi he regained was not enough to protect himself, and he was still badly wounded. Not daring to move, he laid there, muscles clenched and bore with the indignity of being touched all over.
It seemed amicable enough for now, but who knew when it could snap…
This time it pulled back with blood-stained fingertips, taking a whiff, hesitating, and then licking the blood off. Eyes dilating, Gu Changshou wondered if he was going to be raised for his flesh. Had he only just escaped one enemy and landed in the hands of another?
Looking down at the red stains, it took a sniff. It smelled mostly the same as any other creature’s blood, a little less fishy than an animal’s though. But there was something else, urging it to taste. This was the first time something tempted it so much, so it obeyed that instinct.
A burst of warmth flooded its belly at the taste, radiating through its limbs for a moment before the sensation faded. It wanted more… needed more. Cocking its head, it licked the remainder off, humming unconsciously as it did so. It was so warm…
Reaching out, it was about to get more of that thing that made it feel so good, before it saw the defensive fear from the human. Looking down at its hand, it studied it for a moment, before realizing what it had done.
It didn’t want to scare the human, but that draw was undeniable… feeling that balmy, pleasant warmth, only to return to the original state moments later was worse than not knowing at all.
“…no… bad…”
Growling, it scratched the ground, trying to refrain from scaring the human. The others all fled and judging from the look this one had, this one would as well. It didn’t want this one to run away.
That tempting feeling was better than being next to the thing called fire…
Gu Changshou wanted to laugh at its conflicted expressions of longing and sadness as it looked at him and back down. The moment he did, it turned into a cough, his face turning serious as he wiped the coppery tang of blood away from his mouth.
It caught sight of him, greedy eyes studying his mouth for a moment, before running off, presumably to find something again. When it came back with a handful of wild grasses and herbs, it pushed it towards him, eyes beaming eagerly waiting to be praised.
“What’s this?”
Waiting for the human to move, it huffed when there was no action being taken. Frustrated that it had to show the human everything, it grabbed the herbs, making a show of chewing them, and gestured at the injured areas.
Chewing them like that…
Gu Changshou frowned at beast-man’s actions. He was no expert on medicinal herbs, some looked a bit familiar, but even he could tell the creature was sharing it with the intent of healing him. However, chewing them raw and using it like that was a waste. They should at least be boiled or something.
But he had no more time to think as the pair of hands reached out and pulled off his clothes. This time, a loud groan broke out as he his was manhandled, unable to resist when his upper robes were torn off and his top half was stripped bare. Before he could make sense of what was happening, the beast-man stuffed his mouth with leaves, before doing the same, chewing rapidly, before spitting them back out and rubbing them over his injured stomach.
“No! Ahh… stop…”
He yelled, half in pain and the rest in embarrassment, as hands patted him all over. Shivering, chills ran through him as the pair of cool, yin qi-covered hands ran over his bare skin. Despite how crude the actions were, the beast-man was surprisingly gentle in the amount of force it used.
When the hands reached for his pants, he snapped back to his senses. What dignity did he have left as a man if he was stripped bare by a wild man!
“No! I’ll do it!”
It looked at him in disbelief before trying again.
“Stop it – I’ll do it myself!” Swatting the wayward hands off, he repeated the gestures it made earlier, but this time around his legs, and it finally let go of his pants.
Sighing in relief, he bent his hands down to lower his pants before looking up.
“…this big brother, can you turn around?”
Of course, it didn’t move. Instead, it squatted there and watched, openly staring at him as if he was some dish about to be served.
But it did speak two more words. “…watch, heal…”
So now it wanted to watch?!
Gu Changshou was completely drained as he lay down. He shivered at the memory of stripping down and having to cover his wounds with chewed up herbs while it watched… At least it hadn’t done anything else and let him put his clothes back on.
Today was the worst. He was poisoned, attacked by a demonic cultivator, heavily injured, and then molested by that thing. Silently apologizing to his future partner for having lost his virtue to some wild beast-man in the mountains, he appraised the current situation.
That thing was at least somewhat intelligent. It gave him pills, brought herbs for the purpose of healing, and knew a few words, though not many. Whether it was human or something else, he wasn’t sure.
And it seemed drawn to his blood… If his blood was the price to pay for keeping it happy as he recovered, then so be it. He could afford such a small price as a nascent soul cultivator.1In contrast to before when his blood was wanted as a kid, his constitution's much stronger, and he can't really do much about the situation, which is why he accepts the idea of giving some.
Closing his eyes, Gu Changshou let fatigue pull him sleep. He would wait until his injuries were better before deciding what to do…
Not quite human, but I’m already in love...!! He’s soo, sooo fluffy?? Cute??
Thank you for the chapter!
You're very welcome! Didn't plan for him to be fluffy, more like shaggy, but I guess that works too. ?