For just one second, Bai Youwei thought the look Shen Mo turned on her was the same look one gives to food.

But thankfully it was only a single instant. He recovered his clarity quickly, wrapped his arms around her, and murmured soothingly: “It’s alright… I’m alright now…”

Bai Youwei buried her face in Shen Mo’s chest, her hands trembling.

She didn’t dare think about what would have happened if, in that one second, Shen Mo had failed to come back. If, in that one second, he had tried to eat her.

She didn’t dare think about it.

Bai Youwei clutched at Shen Mo’s clothes and silently pushed him farther away, not wanting him to see any more of what was happening…

Marc, whom she had just beaten senseless with a stick, was already crawling shakily back. He seized Dylan’s bloodied arm and resumed devouring it ravenously.

Even with his whole body aching, he had to eat. Even with his teeth broken, he had to eat. Even at the risk of dying, he still had to eat.

Du Lai suddenly strode over!

“Du Lai!” A’Shalina was startled and reached out to stop him, but couldn’t hold him back.

They could only watch as Du Lai walked up to Marc and wrenched Dylan’s mangled body away from him!

Marc was nothing but skin and bone; he was no match for Du Lai. He flung himself at Du Lai and let out a piercing shriek: “GIVE HIM BACK TO ME!!!”

Du Lai stumbled half a step. The stench of blood hit him straight in the face and nearly robbed him of his reason.

Just as everyone thought Du Lai was going to fight Marc for the body, he kicked Marc away, gripped the corpse, walked to the door, wrenched it open, and hurled the body outside with all his strength.

Everyone exhaled in relief.

Marc, however, erupted like a madman, charging at the door to try to get the body back!

Du Lai blocked the doorway and refused to let him pass. Marc broke down completely, sobbing and screaming: “Why did you throw him away?! Why did you do that?! If you’re not going to eat him, let me eat him! He’s already dead! HE’S DEAD! WHY WON’T YOU LET ME EAT?!”

His weeping turned to rage. He fought Du Lai with furious hatred: “What right do you have to throw him away?! WHAT RIGHT?! Do you know how long I’ve been starving?! You bastards! Either take me out of this godforsaken place or LET ME EAT MY FILL!!!”

Marc seized Du Lai’s wrist and bit down viciously!

“I’m going to eat you! I’m going to—”

THUD!

Leonid struck him hard at the back of the neck from behind. Marc crumpled instantly to the ground.

Du Lai pulled his hand back and with swift movements tore off a strip of cloth, winding it tightly around the wound on his wrist.

Leonid caught sight of the dark red spreading at the wound site and couldn’t stop his throat from swallowing involuntarily. He muttered: “Why didn’t you hit him back?”

Du Lai only shook his head and said nothing.

The truth was, because Marc was covered in so much of Dylan’s blood, and Du Lai had been so close to him, the stench of blood filled his every breath. His heart was pounding furiously and his mind kept surging with waves of pressure. Just keeping his sanity was already a struggle — he simply had no capacity left to retaliate.

A’Shalina covered her nose and mouth and said: “The two of you… move away from him, please.”

Leonid glanced down at Marc on the floor, his expression complicated. He turned and walked back. “That smell really is unbearable…”

Bai Youwei said to Shen Mo behind her: “Wait for me here a moment.”

Shen Mo was silent for a moment. He glanced at Marc, not far away, then nodded once. “Alright.”

Bai Youwei took a deep breath and walked toward Marc.

“Weiwei-jie…” Chen Hui’s face showed worry.

Bai Youwei glanced back at her, hesitated two seconds, then said: “You come too. Everyone else, stand back.”

Bai Youwei and Chen Hui walked up to Marc and crouched down. They ripped open his blood-soaked clothes, stripped them away, and burned them.

Then they took several bottles of water from the mountain spirit’s magic satchel and poured them over Marc, rinsing away the remaining traces of blood.

When that was done, the two of them worked together to drag Marc to the fireside so he wouldn’t freeze to death.

Throughout the whole process, Shen Mo, Du Lai, Leonid, and A’Shalina all stood far back, keeping their distance.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to help — they were simply afraid that if that pale expanse of flesh came too close, they would lose control.

—