The Supreme Soul, Starting with Death

Upon hearing this, Gu Shi finally seemed to understand.

So, the "everyone" the boy was talking about who had no food didn't include himself? And in order to protect this "everyone" who didn't have him, the boy was even willing to give his own life to get the "monster's" help?

What the heck? Is the first person I've ever met in this world this selfless?

Wait a minute, speaking of which, this child doesn't seem to be an ordinary person at all. His spiritual power level is exceptionally high, and the fragrance emanating from his soul almost made me lose control of my appetite.

Could it be that in this world of death gods, the more abnormal a person is, the higher their spiritual talent? Or conversely, the higher their spiritual power, the more abnormal their mind?

After a brief recollection, Gu Shi realized that throughout the entire Bleach series, there were actually very few Bleach captains who could be considered normal people. Each of them was incredibly unique, and even those who seemed to be normal each had their own firm and unwavering beliefs, which could perhaps be interpreted as "excessive obsession."

Shaking his head, Gu Shi put aside the conjecture that could not be confirmed for the time being and patted the boy's head with his paw.

"Alright, although the reason is a little different from what I guessed, since you're the first person I've met since I became like this, I'll do you a favor for free. Give me directions, and I'll come over and kill those ronin for you in a bit. Now, let's continue chatting for a while."

Having become a ghost, Gu Shi spoke of killing without any psychological burden. The boy, who looked no more than eleven or twelve years old, did not seem to think there was anything wrong with Gu Shi's words, and his face was filled with an extremely happy smile.

Afterwards, the boy, though still a little reserved, chatted with Gu Shi for most of the night as Gu Shi had requested, talking about a lot of trivial things that Gu Shi wasn't really interested in.

As the eastern sky began to glow a hazy white, Gu Shi felt that his humanity had been thoroughly solidified during the night's conversation. He interrupted the boy, who was about to continue, stretched lazily on the ground, leaving two deep, huge claw marks on the ground near the wooden house window, and then prepared to set off to fulfill his promise.

"Lord Yokai, will you come looking for me again tonight?"

The boy leaned against the broken window, his eyes filled with anticipation, as if chatting with the inhuman monster all night was an extremely precious experience for him.

Gu Shi tilted his head and thought for a moment, then finally said, "We'll see," before turning and leaving.

Tonight, he will come to this village again. If he can remain unaffected by the boy's fragrance, he will leave immediately. But if he still shows signs of losing control of his appetite, he will spend the whole night chatting with the boy to train his ability to control his appetite.

So, it all comes down to "we'll see how it goes."

Following the boy's directions, Gu Shi quickly found the group of ronin samurai. As he had expected, these bandits, whom the boy had described as terrifying, were actually just short guys, some even shorter than his forearm. The samurai swords they carried looked quite old, making Gu Shi suspect that they would likely break when they struck his bone armor.

Dealing with such a group of thin and short guys wouldn't take much effort at all. Moreover, the Hollow is a pure soul life form, while the spiritual power of these ronin is only at the level of ordinary people, and they can't even see Gu Shi, who is a Hollow.

Therefore, when some of them collapsed to the ground, spitting blood, the ronin, unable to see the enemy, could only cry out and flee.

Throughout the entire process, the only thing that bothered Gu Shi was that after these people died, their souls would leave their bodies, and the fragrance emanating from the depths of their souls would become more pronounced without the obscuring effect of their physical bodies, causing his appetite to surge again.

However, until he tore apart the last ronin's body, Gu Shi stuck to his principles and did not consume the soul of anyone. After he finished, he decisively ran back to the mountains and forests and quietly waited for the night to fall.

Chapter Four: Death Girl

On the second night, Gu Shi once again poked his head into the still unrepaired window and saw the boy who was not asleep, sitting by the window with wide eyes waiting for him.

The enticing aroma once again filled his nostrils, and Gu Shi couldn't help but swallow hard, forcibly restraining himself from taking a bite immediately. After the boy greeted him happily, he quickly regained his composure and completely suppressed his surging appetite.

"Alright, little guy, you can rest assured. Those ronin samurai won't bother you anymore. Keep chatting with me tonight."

As he spoke, Gu Shi shifted to a slightly more comfortable position and sat down, resting his large head on the window frame. He seemed somewhat lazy and closed his eyes slightly, quietly waiting for the boy to speak.

When the boy heard that the bandits who had been troubling the village had been eliminated, his smile was incredibly bright, almost reaching his ears. He quickly and carefully moved closer to Gu Shi's head and continued to tell him the story he hadn't finished telling last night.

"Your head looks really weak, that's really strange. Aren't you hungry?"

Suddenly, in the pitch-black night, a third voice, different from Gu Shi's and the boy's, rang out. A sense of crisis that pierced to the bone made Gu Shi's eyes widen. Without hesitation, he tried to get up and run away, but in the next instant, a heavy pressure suddenly appeared on his left shoulder, pressing Gu Shi, who had just stood up, back down.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. If I wanted to, you would be dead already. You like chatting with people, right? Come on, add me, let's chat slowly."

A teasing voice rang in Gu Shi's ears. He could even feel a warm current gently tapping his cheek. After struggling for a moment and confirming that he really couldn't break free, Gu Shi helplessly turned his head to look at his side. The first thing he saw was a slender, fair hand that seemed completely unrelated to the word "strength," gently resting on his left shoulder.

Following the arm, Gu Shi finally saw the person's appearance clearly. She was a woman with fair skin, or rather, deathly pale skin, like a corpse. Although her appearance could be described as beautiful, her deathly pale skin gave her beauty an eerie, inhuman feel.

However, what really caught Gu Shi's attention, even more than the eeriness, was the other person's all-black, kimono-like clothing and the samurai sword slung across their waist.

grim Reaper!

After learning that he had transmigrated to the world of Bleach, Gu Shi had imagined this day and even secretly wondered under what circumstances he would encounter which Grim Reaper, and whether it would be an "acquaintance" from the manga. But he never expected that he would actually meet a Grim Reaper on the very second day after transmigrating.

Wow, am I about to die right after transmigrating?

but……

So this is what the real Grim Reaper feels like. It smells nice, actually.

Thanks to the negative emotions he lost during the ethereal transformation, Gu Shi only tensed up for a moment before regaining his optimism. He took a deep sniff of the Grim Reaper's scent beside him and grinned happily.

"How strange. Your scent is even stronger than this little guy's, yet it doesn't whet my appetite. Not bad, not bad at all. By the way, what do you want to talk about? The little guy was just telling me stories about climbing trees when he was little. Are you interested in that too?"

Gu Shi's reaction was clearly somewhat unexpected by the Death Girl. She paused for a moment, loosened her grip on Gu Shi's shoulder, and the mockery in her smile faded slightly.

"Instead of that, let me tell you something. Today I discovered that several more souls in my area suddenly needed soul burial. If that were all, it wouldn't be a big deal; dead people happen every day, it's nothing unusual..."

Seeing that Gu Shi had no intention of running away, the Death Girl simply let go of her hand on Gu Shi's shoulder. This Hollow was not small; even when sitting, she had to stand on her tiptoes to hold onto his shoulder. Since he was so obedient, she was too lazy to continue in this awkward position.

Besides, with her mastery of the Ghost Path, even if a Hollow of this strength wanted to escape, a Binding Path would be enough to immobilize him completely, so there was no need to worry about any accidents happening.

After releasing her hold on Gu Shi, the Death Girl continued to speak with a smile.

"But to my surprise, according to those people's descriptions, they were actually killed by Hollows. What's even stranger is that the Hollows that killed them didn't consume their souls. Can you tell me what happened?"

Having fully grasped the disparity in strength between the two sides, Gu Shi had no intention of trying to escape again, and simply nodded in realization.

"I see. So you saw the souls of those ronin samurai? But your question is strange. I was human before I became like this. How could I eat people just because my appearance changed?"

Gu Shi's candid answer surprised the Death Girl once again.

Logically, after a newly deceased soul falls into the state of "Hollow", its self-identity should immediately change, and it should believe from the bottom of its heart that it is a completely different life form from humans, and it should no longer have any empathy or pity for its former kind. So why does this Hollow still consider itself human?

Moreover, the newer a Void is, the stronger its appetite should be. Only after it has devoured a certain number of souls and stabilized its form with the spiritual power it has absorbed will its appetite gradually become controllable, and it should regain its rationality and thinking ability.

This ethereal being's spiritual energy was weak and loose, and it looked like it had only been ethereal for no more than three days. It actually restrained its cannibalistic desires simply because it considered itself human.

strange!

unreasonable!

as well as……

interesting!

The death girl, who had originally just wanted to kill some time, was now completely interested. She had never seen anything so outrageous in her family's records before, and she felt even more that her decision to apply to be stationed in the mortal world was indeed wise. With a happy smile on her face, she slapped Gu Shi's arm a few times.

"Haha, you're right. My question was a bit strange. Tell me more about why you can control your appetite. Is it out of pity? Or sympathy?"

Gu Shi looked at the girl who was facing death with some pity. This girl was beautiful and quite strong, so why was she not very bright?

"Well, I killed them with my own hands."

Even after all this, do you still think I would pity or sympathize with them?

Chapter Five: Persuasion and Suicide

The Death Girl's excited expression faltered slightly, but she immediately smiled again, as if Gu Shi's blunt answer had only excited her more.

"Yes, yes, I didn't think it through. So, what exactly is your reason for suppressing your appetite? Can you tell me?"

"It's nothing, I just find cannibalism disgusting. If they were to become ethereal and humanoid monsters immediately after being killed, I would definitely start eating them on the spot."

Gu Shi didn't think there was anything to hide about his thoughts and gave a very straightforward answer.

The Death Girl seemed not to have expected Gu Shi's answer. She was slightly taken aback, narrowed her eyes and pondered for a moment, then suddenly abandoned Gu Shi and turned to look at the boy on the other side of the window.

From the moment the Grim Reaper girl appeared, the boy wisely kept his mouth shut, sitting quietly without moving, not daring to disturb the conversation between the "monster" and the newcomer. When he saw that the Grim Reaper girl had noticed him, the boy became even more nervous, and his body sat up even straighter.

"Don't be nervous, little guy. You're not even afraid of Hollows that eat people, so why should you be afraid of Shinigami whose duty is to protect ordinary people?"

The Death Girl smiled and tried to comfort the boy. It was clear that she was trying to soften her expression and words, but her attempt was unsuccessful. Against her deathly pale skin, her smile only became more terrifying, and her tone still carried an undisguised arrogance.

From the boy's increasingly tense body, the Death Girl had already seen her failure. She pursed her lips slightly in displeasure, but immediately pretended nothing had happened and continued speaking to the boy.

"Little one, look how thin you are. Life must be very hard for you, right? How about improving your life?"

At this point, the Death Girl paused, remaining silent for a moment, giving the boy time to respond.

However, to the girl of death's surprise, the boy's personality seemed a bit strange. He was not afraid of the hideous and terrifying "monsters", but when facing the well-dressed "master" who seemed to be a nobleman, he was extremely nervous and did not dare to say a word.

Feeling slightly awkward without anyone to play along, the Death Girl coughed briefly after a short silence and continued speaking as if nothing had happened.

"Let me be frank, your spiritual talent is quite good. If you go to Soul Society, becoming a Shinigami will definitely be no problem. As long as you don't slack off, you can train for a few years and you can definitely become a seated officer. If your Zanpakuto is effective enough, you might even have a chance to become a vice-captain."

As they were talking, the Death Girl noticed that the boy's clear eyes were filled with confusion. He clearly hadn't understood a word she was saying. Somewhat discouraged, she stopped talking again, reorganized her thoughts, and then continued to try to persuade him, unwilling to give up.

"To put it simply, you have the talent we value. If you come to our side to develop your career, as long as you are willing to work hard, you will definitely be able to live a good life. Being able to eat and drink your fill is just the bare minimum. All kinds of wealth and power that you cannot imagine right now will be within your reach."

With such a straightforward explanation, the boy finally understood what the Death Girl meant, and a look of longing and disbelief unconsciously appeared on his face.

Seeing that the boy finally reacted, the Death Girl breathed a sigh of relief and quickly pressed her advantage, continuing her deception.

"Not only that, once you become the Grim Reaper, protecting your family and friends will not be a problem if you want to. You can easily improve their lives and ensure that they can live a prosperous life, both before and after death, and have enough to eat every day."

Upon hearing this, the longing in the boy's eyes could no longer be concealed. If it weren't for his continued awe of the Grim Reaper girl who resembled a noble lord, he probably would have already begged her to send him to that magical Soul Society.

The Grim Reaper girl wasn't lying. The fragrance emanating from the boy's soul strongly attracted Gu Shi, proving that he indeed possessed considerable spiritual talent. Once they arrived in Soul Society, he would definitely be able to obtain what the Grim Reaper girl had promised, as long as he was willing to work hard.

What the Grim Reaper girl didn't tell the boy was that after death, a person's soul goes through "soul burial" to the Soul Society, where they lose almost all of their memories from their previous life and begin a completely new life. At that time, he might not even be able to remember his own name, let alone his family and friends.

Having laid enough groundwork, under Gu Shi's curious gaze, the Death Girl finally extended a formal invitation to the boy.

"How about it? Tempted? If you want to escape your current impoverished life and live a life where you can eat your fill every day, why not end your life now? I am the Grim Reaper, and I can immediately perform a 'soul burial' for you and send you to the Soul Society."

"Besides, I have pretty good connections. If I hold a 'soul burial' for you, as long as I give the word, the people in Soul Society who are responsible for receiving souls will try their best to take good care of you. If you died at another time and another Shinigami held a soul burial for you, you wouldn't have such a good deal~"

The Death Girl's words were full of temptation. If the boy could remain rational, he should have considered why she was taking such good care of him. What did he have that she valued? Were there any hidden traps behind these seemingly attractive conditions?

Unfortunately, the boy was just an ordinary boy who grew up in a small village. He had never encountered such a temptation before. The windfall of "being able to eat his fill every meal and make his family live a good life" had completely overwhelmed him. Now, his mind was filled with thoughts of wild vegetables and brown rice that he could eat as much as he wanted, and he had no time to think about anything else.

After the death girl extended the invitation, the boy, who was not particularly afraid of death and dared to make a deal with a "monster," did not hesitate for even a moment. He looked around and decisively picked up the wood-chopping knife he usually used and slashed it hard at his own neck.

Under the moonlight, a brilliant red bloomed like fireworks. The boy's emaciated body collapsed onto the cold floor. A soul with the exact same appearance as him stood beside his body, but didn't even glance at it, as if it were just trash he had casually discarded. He stared fervently at the Grim Reaper girl, hoping that she would quickly send him to the Soul Society, a paradise-like place.

However, the moment the boy made his choice, the Death Girl had already looked away, seemingly having completely lost interest in him, and was only excitedly staring at Gu Shi beside her, who had begun to tremble slightly.

Without the constraints and obstruction of his physical body, the fragrance within the boy's soul erupted completely, an alluring aroma dozens of times stronger than before, rushing into Gu Shi's nose like living creatures, igniting his barely suppressed appetite.

Chapter Six: The Lock of Cause and Effect

It smells so good!

So hungry!

I want to eat!