Chapter 15

In ancient times, there were four fearsome beasts, and Taotie was one of them. Taotie’s original name was Chu Xuan. He was so greedy that he even devoured the sun and the moon. To punish him, the Mother Goddess took away his body, the one capable of digesting anything. She left behind a divine decree: when he could finally satiate his insatiable hunger, he could reclaim what was once his. He fed on the malice of the human world, later discovering that the malice of cultivators was far greater than that of mortals. "Especially your senior sister," he said, "Her malice is so thick, perhaps it could fill my hunger." "So I secretly followed her up the mountain, and then I met you." "I could smell the completely different scent from your senior sister on you." Taotie pressed tightly against me, his voice low. "At that moment, I wondered... if malice couldn't satisfy my hunger, could love?" "Xiaoxiao, every moment with you has been incredibly fulfilling. Every second of being with you makes the gnawing hunger inside me settle, even if just for a while." "So," Taotie grasped my hand firmly, his gaze intense. "Don't leave me. You wouldn't want to know what a starving Taotie could consume."