Neither of them spoke again.
As time passed, every hair on Su Mu’s body slowly stood on end, yet he still did not move away. He parted his lips, wanting to say that he needed to use the bathroom—but the thought that Luo Beiyao might follow him made his heart tighten, and he pressed his lips together, remaining silent.
It was clearly the same face as always, yet somehow, Luo Beiyao felt… different.
Su Mu swept his gaze around, only to discover that Lu Shuangshuang and Jiang Sheng—who were supposed to be standing watch with Luo Beiyao—had both collapsed to the side, fast asleep.
“Did you do this?” Su Mu withdrew his gaze and asked flatly.
Luo Beiyao did not answer.
Dark, phoenix-like eyes flooded with ever-growing negative emotions. He clenched his fingers hard, as if suppressing something. Only when wisps of black mist began to coil around his body did he finally lift his eyes to look at Su Mu, his voice icy and sharp.
“Come here.”
Su Mu frowned slightly.
He studied the turbulent aura rolling around Luo Beiyao like heatwaves. Whatever state Luo Beiyao was in now clearly did not allow Su Mu the luxury of hesitation. In the end, he still walked over—and, as expected, the moment he got close, he was swept into Luo Beiyao’s arms with one hand.
“Hiss—”
The instant their bodies touched, Su Mu felt something invisible rush toward him, clinging greedily to his body. He could not see anything, yet a burning pain spread across his skin, as if something alive were gnawing at his flesh, coveting the blood and muscle beneath.
Luo Beiyao rested his chin atop Su Mu’s head, buried in soft strands of hair. His eyes were tightly shut. No one could know what kind of fierce struggle he was waging at that moment against the other presence inside his own heart.
A heart demon was a trial every cultivator had to face on the path of cultivation.
After all, very few people could truly be without emotion, without desire, without obsession. And a heart demon, stripped to its core, was nothing more than desire.
When obsession ran too deep, when it took root and sprouted in the heart, a heart demon was born.
Once formed, it would grow alongside that obsession. Cultivators plagued by heart demons would inevitably be affected in their cultivation—at best, slowing their progress, at worst, being devoured by it and losing their sanity entirely.
Su Mu’s pale fingers curled slightly.
He could clearly feel that some unseen force from Luo Beiyao’s body was gnawing at his skin. Catching sight of the back of his hand—already flushed red—his expression grew increasingly grave.
Staying close to Luo Beiyao was clearly not a wise decision.
It wasn’t just that he couldn’t win in a fight—sometimes, he didn’t even have room to resist.
Su Mu was certain that Luo Beiyao carried many secrets he didn’t know. He couldn’t say precisely what they were, but he knew one thing for sure: Luo Beiyao was far more than just a superpowered ability user. His strength had already far surpassed that of the first-generation enhanced individuals.
For example, subduing Su Mu’s movements without even using Spiritual Field suppression. Or opening a door Su Mu had locked from the inside without damaging it in the slightest. Or the instinctively terrifying aura emanating from Luo Beiyao right now.
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The burning pain on Su Mu’s body intensified.
He flexed his fingers, barely resisting the urge to push Luo Beiyao away. After all, he had no idea what exactly was biting into him, nor whether it would cause lasting harm—
Just then, Luo Beiyao suddenly released him.
A crackling bolt of lightning tore through the air, slashing toward the withered grass not far behind the vehicles.
The thunderous explosion jolted everyone in the convoy awake—and also served as a warning to the mutated beasts lurking in the grass.
Though they hesitated, unwilling to advance, the hunger in their eyes for fresh flesh was impossible to hide. In the dried grass, countless pairs of red beast eyes gleamed densely, enough to make one’s scalp prickle with dread.