Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“All in all, this is what happened.”
Sitting on the sofa in the living hall, Hao Ren told everyone about what happened when he visited the goddess. On the coffee table, there was a rectangular cage made of wire, which he took out of the basement. The miniature Vivian, mad and slamming herself against the cage as she growled. Sometimes, she shot her magic arrow, the damage it could cause was only about that of the fireworks kids played.
“This little guy will stay here for now—I mean caged.”
“Meow—I don’t like this guy!” Rollie said, laying her head on the coffee table and staring at the cage. “Just let me eat her for dinner!”
“This guy is not edible. You will get a bad stomach,” Hao Ren said, rolling his eyes. He noticed the cat maiden bandaged her ear—a result of being grazed by the festered blood-tipped arrow earlier. “But I understand why you so hate her,” Hao Ren said.
Vivian looked at the miniature version of herself in the cage, embarrassed. The miniature Vivian looked up as if she had sensed Vivian was staring at her. But there was no communication between the two. The Malevolence growled and looked aggressive. “By asking us rearing this creature here, the goddess is not helpful,” Vivian said, feeling upset. “I don’t even know what she feeds on.”
There was a feeling of déjà vu. Hao Ren vaguely remembered the last time they were scratching their heads over the same question when they first brought Lil Pea home.
“I have no idea. But I’m sure the Malevolence doesn’t eat chopstick,” Hao Ren said casually. “But she bites everything.”
“Does Malevolence need food at all?” Nangong Sanba scratched his jaw. “Isn’t this type of creature sealed for a thousand years without eating or drinking and yet is as strong as a horse when released?”
“She needs food. Like you said before, she is not expending any energy and feeling hungry under captivity. But when she is out roaming, she would need food to give her energy, which is in line with the law of conservation of energy,” Lily said.
“Give me a minute. I will try to feed the Malevolence some leftover food,” Vivian said as she got up and went into the kitchen. A minute later, she came back out with a few plates of leftovers from the lunch. Picking a few of her favorite dishes, she tossed them into the cage and then observed the reaction of the Malevolence with full anticipation as if she was feeding a hamster. Lily, watching on the side, was feeling it weird. “Feeding your miniature version of yourself, don’t you feel strange?” Lily said.
“Since the day I knew I was capable of splitting, there is nothing that could bother me anymore,” Vivian replied without even looking up.
A few pieces of food residue dropped on the side of the Malevolence, but the food failed to arouse her interest. Instead, she angrily released some corrosive energy to turn the food beside her into coke before she growled threateningly at them.
“Looks like she doesn’t want it.” Lily pouted.
“Let’s not worry about her. I’m the one starving here!” Looking at the food in Vivian’s hand, Hao Ren suddenly realized he was hungry. “I haven’t had anything since this morning. Meeting with Raven 12345 for two hours, I have not even swallowed drunk a single drop of water.”
“I think that you have gotten it all wrong.” The MDT suddenly came up and said. “She is a Malevolence. How a Malevolence eats human food? The last time I checked, Malevolence originates from the corrupted lifeblood. So, she needs blood. You should give her blood. Well, maybe raw meat will work too.”
Everyone looked at each other. Y’zaks went up and placed his hand on the cage. A light-green demonic rune flashed across the air. The old demon then said with a thoughtful look. “Though barely, I could sense her negative tendency of hunger for flesh and blood. This Malevolence is indeed very hungry. She needs flesh and blood.”
Lily had goosebumps all over on her skin. “I have said it before—we can’t keep her here. Feeding her is too expensive!”
Hao Ren knocked Lily on the head with his knuckle. “Expensive my foot! Vivian, do we still have any leftover ingredient of dumpling? Try feed the little Malevolence with a couple of pieces of raw meat.”
Lily froze before coming to the realization. She glared at Y’zaks. “Big guy, could you please be more specific next time? The way you said it sounded like she must feed on human flesh!”
Scratching his bald head, feeling wronged. Had not been this the usual way a demon king talked? Y’zaks thought to himself.
It transpired that the Malevolence ate, and her food included raw meat.
Vivian had brought some raw meat, still bloody, to the Malevolence, who quickly devoured a large chunk of it. Only showing her ferocity while tearing the raw meat; the Malevolence was only a noobie at other times.
After the satisfying meal, the little guy belched. She seemed to be more energetic and began to move around in the cage impatiently. But she was still unable to open the enclosure.
Suddenly, Lily raised yet another constructive question. “Hey, do you guys think she wants to go to the toilet?”
“Your observational perspective is as mind-boggling as ever,” Hao Ren said with cold sweat dripping down his back.
“Let’s observe her for a few days. I will take care of her,” Vivian said with a sigh, finally accepting the reality that she had to live with her split of negative forces for now. “I hope she will not be as annoying as Hessiana.”
After some time of fruitless study and observation, they found it pointless to waste time on it and decided to leave the little guy alone. The Nangong couples coming home that night were shocked to see the Malevolence. They were interested in the little guy, but likewise, they found the creature had no intellect and was uncommunicable, so they left it alone.
Rollie was the only one showing persistent and robust interest in the Malevolence. But her curiosity was not because she liked the little guy, but the insistence that the miniature Malevolence was her catch and meal.
As night fell, everything was quiet. While the rest of the family members were sleeping soundly, Hao Ren was woken up by a strange dream. As he opened his eyes, he saw the bright moonlight was shining at an angle through the window into the room and heard the sound of water coming from the water basin on the table as Lil Pea was kicking the water in her dream. It was almost midnight, but he could not sleep.
Suddenly, he heard a sound in the living hall.
He put on his jacket and went to check it out. It was Vivian sitting on the sofa. The pale-skinned vampire maiden, falling into deep thought in the corner unreachable by moonlight, looked like a gothic oil painting. On the coffee table in front of her was the iron cage.
The little Malevolence seemed to have no concept of day and night, and work and sleep. She was still jumping up and down in the cage and throwing her magic arrows aimlessly occasionally. When she stopped, she would shrill and growl creepily. Thanks to her small size, the noise she made was not loud enough to be a nuisance.
“Not slept yet?” Vivian was awakened from her thoughts, looking at Hao Ren with a smile. “Did she wake you?”
“No. Not her.” Hao Ren waved his hand. “I had a dream, tossing and turning all night, but not a big deal. What about you?”
“I have not been sleeping much, maybe because I have just had a split recently and now don’t feel the need to sleep at all.”
Hao Ren nodded emphatically. But the restless miniature Vivian still caught his attention. “Has the little guy been this unquiet all this while?”
“Yeah, she is quite irascible most of the time,” Vivian said, shaking her head helplessly. “But she did quiet down occasionally, albeit just for a few minutes each time.”
“Oh, was it?”
“She sometimes would stare at the rat hole in the corner and remain quiet for a while.” Vivian shrugged. “It seems that she has made the mouse hole home, and is angry that we don’t let her go home.”
“Can she be capable of such a sophisticated thinking ability?” Hao Ren twitched his mouth. He suddenly saw in the corner of his eyes a pair of glowing eyes flashing under the coffee table. “Rollie! I’m warning you—don’t eat that little guy!”
A soft scraping sound was heard from under the coffee table, followed by a resentful mumbling. “What’s wrong with you that you don’t allow me to eat fish and mice? Life is boring living like that!”
Listening to the cat’s complaints, Hao Ren and Vivian exchanged a look with each other and laughed.
“Let’s go to sleep,” Vivian said as she got to her feet and stretched before picking up the cage and walking down to the basement. “I will take her down to the basement. I can bear with the noise.”
“Good night then,” said Hao Ren. Just when Vivian about to step down the basement door, he stopped her. “Your soul…”
Vivian turned around and smiled at him. “I know, there could be something in my soul, but I am not worried, because I trust you can fix it.”
“Yeah, of course,” Hao Ren replied, but he did not know how. He then looked at the care in her hand; he said, “There is something else.”
“Huh?”
“She is indeed staring at the mouse hole.” Hao Ren pointed to the tiny Malevolence in the cage. “Can you cast Shackle Magic or Tracking Spell on her?”
“Sure. The Malevolence is so weak and won’t be able to resist any spells.” Vivian nodded.
“Don’t keep her in the cage. Cast her a few spells and let her stay in the mouse hole if she chooses so. Maybe she would stay quiet that way.”
