Why can't humans do it too?

Chapter 107 Blood Mist

"Huh? How many minutes has it been?" Xin Ke casually replied, adding a few pieces of dry firewood she had prepared before resting to the campfire, making the flames burn even brighter.

!!!

"...It's been several minutes and you still haven't woken me up?!" Suer shouted at Xin Kegan in a low voice. He wanted to glare at the woman, but he didn't dare to look away from the twisted monster.

He suddenly noticed another anomaly. This twisted vampire, which had been hiding in the darkness, was now openly present in the light of the campfire. It didn't even flinch when Xin Ke added firewood; its four spider legs trembled slightly as they touched the ground.

“I’m more curious whether it will actually come to hunt Mr. Monkey’s blood…and if it does overcome its fear and devour your flesh, then wouldn’t we have a chance to kill it? You don’t want it to keep following us, do you?”

"..."

Speechless, Xin Ke seemed to have no concern for these matters. She pulled a scorching piece of firewood, sparks flying, from the blazing campfire and, to Su Er's astonishment, threw it directly at the ugly monster opposite her!

Hehehehe!!!

An indescribable, piercing scream rippled through his eardrums. Suer covered his ears with one hand, clearly seeing the twisted monster come to life when the hot firewood struck it. The vampire's face on its back changed expression, its brows furrowing in pain, and its tightly closed mouth opened a crack, revealing a deep, dark hole.

Its scorpion-like tail thrashed wildly across the earth. It struggled, hesitating in pain. As its tail struck the rocks, raising clouds of dust, it sprang into the distance and vanished into the darkness, disappearing completely, along with the rustling sounds that had followed.

"...You actually threw it like that?" Only now did she belatedly feel the slight chill from her back. Suer turned her head and stared at Xin Ke in a hollow voice, saying, "Aren't you afraid it will pounce on you?"

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. The inscription spells that had been wrapped around Xin Ke's body had all disappeared. If that twisted vampire was enraged by the burning pain of the flames and chose to fight back, then the only thing that could serve as a shield would be Su Er's flesh and blood.

“No, it won’t do that now…” Xin Ke shook her head and said meaningfully to Su Er, “But if it drags on any longer, things might change…”

At least for now, it still shrinks back in fear of the flames and the stinging pain of burning, and it still follows its instinctive fear to avoid the presence of Suer.

Suer suddenly understood what Xinke meant.

"Have you rested enough?" Seeing that Suer had understood what she meant, Xin Ke clapped her hands in satisfaction and asked, "If you've rested enough, let's set off."

"Huh? Aren't you going to take a nap?" Su'er was already feeling heavy-hearted because of witnessing such disgusting things, but at this moment she was shocked by Xin Ke's request and didn't have time to think too much.

He should be on night watch for the second half of the night, and Xin Ke should rest for a while.

“The forest elves don’t have as strong a need for sleep as monkeys,” Xinke continued, gesturing for Suer to quickly squat down. “If we don’t leave while it’s still running away out of fear, it will be too late once it has completely overcome its fear of your flesh and blood.”

Silently, Suer felt the familiar weight pressing down on his back. Without extinguishing the flames, the two hurriedly continued their journey towards the forest elf territory.

We just need to find any forest elf, one that is benevolent towards both of us and can freely control spirits...

--------------

The burning piece of firewood that Xinke threw out must have indeed frightened the monster that the vampire had transformed into. The still-burning campfire also seemed to have served as a good distraction, as Suer hadn't heard that rustling sound for almost a day.

He said they rested for one night, but once they were on the road, he realized that they hadn't rested at that safe spot for very long.

“…Here it comes,” Su Er heard Xin Ke whisper in her ear as the arms around her neck suddenly tightened.

Although they had hoped for that, reality cruelly told Suer and his companions that they were not lucky enough to shake off the pursuit of that keen monster.

Not only Xin Ke noticed its arrival, but even Su Er, a mere mortal, could clearly smell the strong scent—the scent of blood.

It was an absolutely brutal massacre. The excessive blood intake was so great that it overflowed from the monster's body. Or perhaps it was the release of power, but even the air was filled with red mist. It was unclear whether the mist was flowing from the monster's body or if the mist that existed in this area had been infected.

At first, they could determine the monster's location by following the direction of the scent, but this judgment soon became inaccurate. It was as if they were walking in its spider web, and the entire area was its territory.

Some suspected that the blood-red mist might have some special purpose, but after covering his mouth and nose with the mask for a while, Suer gave up on this foolish act—his mask couldn't protect anyone.

The smell of blood was mixed with a foul odor, but Suer quickly lost the ability to detect anything special; his nose had adapted to the air.

There was a rustling sound, like the whispers that never cease during evening self-study unless the teacher appears. It was noisy, sometimes loud and sometimes soft. Something flashed quickly behind them, but when Su'er turned around warily with Xin Ke on her back, she saw nothing. The road she had come from was still the same road she had come from, nothing special.

The crimson mist created by the monsters mutated from vampires can be seen as a blatant display of power. It is both a demonstration against races that know they are not strong enough and an invitation to those powerful and keen-nosed demons who are not very intelligent... Perhaps there are also many creatures who are confident in their strength and eager to challenge everything.

Commonly known as a war maniac.

Such beings are never lacking in this never-ending war.

Sul kept moving forward, trying to escape the red mist before the attracted beings crushed the vampires, but the mist seemed to have no end.

Chapter 108 Out of Control

The only certainty was that the monster's sanity had not yet been restored. After all, such an ostentatious display of its existence was something even vampires who had grown significantly by absorbing large amounts of blood and souls would not dare to do, let alone a newly adult vampire like it.

That's too brave, absolutely too brave.

Sul tamped down the loose stones on the steep slope with his shoes to prevent slipping while going uphill. He carried Xinke on his back and climbed upwards with all his might, trying to get through this ring-shaped terrain that had been formed by some unknown impact.

He gradually got used to the rustling sounds. For someone like him who could barely hear in one ear, it didn't really have the effect of surround sound, and even the sense of terror lessened. He instinctively ignored it.

With their minds highly focused, in this blood mist that had begun to obscure their vision, there was no other sound except for the faint noises made by the monster. The howls of wild beasts that used to be heard from time to time had not been heard for a long time, as if there were no other living beings in this blood mist besides them.

"They're here!!!"

The sudden shout in his ear made the hairs on Su'er's body stand on end. It wasn't just simple fright; he could hear the whistling wind coming from his blind spot, and something was rushing towards him!

Instinctively, he lunged to the other side. Suer clearly felt something carrying a strong smell of blood rush past his head, and the stench, so strong it was almost tangible, made his vision go black.

Click!

Sliding down the slope of the crater, Suer finally managed to regain his balance by stepping on the loose rocks. He had seen what had attacked him; the sharp spider legs had pierced into the hard rock upon landing, stabilizing his balance. Compared to what he had seen before, the monster mutated from the vampire species was now even more disgusting.

Its body, already resembling a stitched-together monster, now had even more new flesh and blood inside, making it even smaller. But what made Suer want to vomit at just one glance was the area near its tail. Whether it was an injury sustained during the hunt after the retreat or not, it was now festering and oozing pus like a rotting wound. With each rise and fall of its body, it breathed out a large amount of thick, dark red blood mist, which then faded as it spread.

This must be the origin of the blood mist that covers such a large area. Suer seemed to understand something. This provocative scene was not deliberately created by the monster. In fact, it even resisted this loss. The face next to the bat's head, which originally belonged to the vampire, was now opening its mouth wide and constantly sucking air from the air, trying to draw the blood mist scattered in the air back into its body.

Unfortunately, compared to the amount lost, less than two-tenths was recovered.

Those eyes remained closed.

Pulling several spider legs that had gotten stuck in the rocks back out, the twisted monster turned to face Sul, where a red glow emanated from the bat head directly opposite it, poised to strike.

It could no longer tolerate it.

The constant loss of its essence left it feeling an immense emptiness. It needed to fill this void, to satisfy this emptiness, to nourish its body. The yearning for blood and soul completely overwhelmed its fear.

Having grasped this point as well, and understanding why the monster could no longer tolerate it and chose to attack here, Suer forced himself to calm down and focused all his attention on the monster's figure—to be honest, he had been praying that the monster would simply follow them until they reached their destination, but unfortunately, his prayers were in vain.

Whoosh!

So fast!

Suer could only dodge in the direction Xinke pressed on his head, his eyes unable to keep up with the monster's movements!

However, carrying someone on his back made his movements much clumsy. The leather armor tied to his left shoulder was easily flicked into the air. If he hadn't dodged quickly and Xin Ke hadn't leaned back on his back in time, his arm and Xin Ke's hand would have been flying in the air.

The spider's segments that swept past were already as sharp as knives.

"Blood, blood, blood!"

"Souls! You...souls!"

The bat head kept hissing incoherently, just a simple venting of its desires. Its huge scorpion tail, covered in snake scales, was swung in the air like a giant whip. It looked very clumsy, but in fact, it was incredibly agile.

Under such relentless and intense attacks, Sur could only desperately retreat backward, trying his best to dodge the attacks that whistled through the air. The death web woven from his tail and the pungent liquid flung from his poisonous barbs sizzled and corroded the surrounding rocks, creating pits as they landed on them.

Swoosh.

'It's over. '

When one foot slipped on the loose pebbles, and he felt his body tilting as he lost his balance, a chill ran through Su'er.

The next moment, he and Xinke on his back tumbled down the slope. The continuous spinning and the pain of their collision made Su'er's vision go black. The only saving grace was that there were no protruding rocks on the crater created by the impact, so the two of them wouldn't crash directly into the rocks and die.

However, before he could even stagger to his feet, the monster pounced down from above!

Unable to move Xinke, Suer could only roll downwards with her in his arms. Almost as soon as they left their original spot, the thick scorpion tail pierced the spot where they had just been standing. If they had been just a little slower, it would have impaled them both.

The agility was unbelievable. The twisted monster violently pulled out its tail, leaving no opening for Sul before attacking again. Blood mist spurting from its festering wounds drew a deep red line in the air.

"……ah!!"

Unable to endure this futile rolling, Xin Ke suppressed her screams, pushed off the ground with both legs, and flew to the side with Su Er. The wound that had not yet healed burst open because of this sudden force, and blood blossomed again, dripping and splattering within the short distance.

“血！！！”

It roared greedily and violently.

Chapter 109 Control

It growled repeatedly as if possessed, its tentacles striking each other back and forth with a crisp, clattering sound, like banging on bowls and chopsticks, dense and teeth-grinding.

The twisted monster's attack finally stopped temporarily. It trembled, its entire body and mutated limbs shaking. It lowered its body and approached the blood droplets that Xin Ke had dripped onto the ground, frantically sniffing them. It couldn't get enough of the smell and was completely intoxicated by it.

Click, click, click!

It stuck out its tongue and kept licking the blood that had dripped onto the rocks, but it was never satisfied. Under Su'er's dumbfounded gaze, the twisted monster directly gnawed at the blood-stained rocks, not letting a single drop go to waste.

His calves were tense uncontrollably, as if they would cramp up at any moment. This terrifying scene made Su Er hold his breath.

Fear, an instinctive fear of strange creatures.

That pitiful amount of blood was far from enough to satisfy the monster. After gnawing away a layer of the rocks beneath it, its greedy gaze once again fell upon Suer and Xinke. Its slightly lowered body gathered its strength, ready to pounce again at any moment.

They couldn't afford to get caught up in that rhythm again. If they were attacked by that monster with such a ferocious and dense attack, they probably wouldn't last more than a few seconds before they were cut into pieces.

Without hesitation, he raised his arm, and before the twisted monster could pounce again, Suer slashed his own arm, blood gushing out as he drew a bloody line in the air with his outstretched arm, slashing towards the monster.

The bloodline, which carried no power whatsoever, didn't even manage to cut the monster in half. It was more like a soft, gentle caress applied to its body and bat head, yet it produced a visible effect.

The twisted monster, which had been poised to pounce, suddenly stopped. One of its supporting hands was outstretched and raised high, trying to touch the blood that had fallen on it, but it couldn't reach it. It was anxious and agitated, like a child begging for candy but getting nothing. The monster jumped around impatiently, then suddenly pressed its chest and abdomen to the ground. Its four sharp, knife-like spider limbs twisted upwards in a strange way until they touched the blood.

It kept scrambling, the stiff bristles on its limbs making a tearing sound when they touched its skin. It even tore off its own flesh due to the excessive force, and the blood mixed with its flesh fell into the mouth of the bat's head. In fact, long before it impatiently attacked itself, a lot of the blood that had fallen on its head had already flowed into its mouth due to gravity.

Swallowing hard, Suer mustered his courage and suppressed his instinctive discomfort and fear as he approached the twisted monster. He did not choose to run away. He knew his physical limits perfectly well. His blood was not inexhaustible. If he could not completely eliminate this monster while he still had the chance, then temporarily running away would only be a slow suicide.

Stopping at a very close distance, Sull hesitated whether to feed the monster a piece of his own flesh and blood, just as he had done with Asano Shirasu, in order to deepen the mysterious connection brought about by this unknown magic.

He saw the clearly poisonous liquid from the mouth corroding the rock. The dagger he gripped was already pressed against the edge of the wound he had just made. Sul's hand trembled. He only needed to close his eyes and exert force to slice off that chunk of flesh, but would it work? Was this much flesh enough? Was it necessary? Or not?

It hurts so much, it hurts so much that I can barely hold the dagger. I can clearly see my hand trembling uncontrollably.

Before him, the twisted monster formed from the vampire had already devoured the blood that Sull had flung onto its head, along with its own flesh, and was now greedily sweeping away the blood-dripping ground, scraping off a layer completely.

In the few seconds that Suer hesitated, the monster had already swept away all the blood on the ground, and even crawled to Suer's side along the source of the blood, greedily staring at the hand, the hand that was hanging down and constantly dripping blood from its fingers to the ground.

If the vampire were still rational, it would never ignore the warning signs in its heart and let its instincts take over. But at this moment, the monster was completely overwhelmed by its instinctive greed and desire. It was fascinated and craved this blood, this strange allure.

Licking away, each time blood dripped from Suer's fingers, the twisted monster would lick away a layer of the blood-soaked ground. No, that was no longer enough. Like a hungry child, it suddenly opened its mouth wide, revealing three rows of fine, sharp teeth that caught directly beneath Suer's arm.