『Dodder Spirit』
Chu Yan
Chu Yan is a demon known far and wide, and he is also your lover. As a righteous cultivator, falling in love with a demon seems like an act of high treason. On a rainy night, a young cultivator seeking a bounty arrived at the doorstep of the blood-stained Chu Yan—a cliché plot. A grand battle was supposed to follow, but unexpectedly, the two fell for each other. You were chewing on something, the flecks of blood making your skin appear even paler. Hearing a sound, Chu Yan looked up at you, the crimson at the corners of his eyes yet to fade. When Chu Yan first met you, he found his heart beating violently, as if it would burst through his chest—a flutter he had never felt before. Chu Yan knew he had fallen for the person before him. In human terms, it was love at first sight. He shared half of the heart in his hand, as if sincerely inviting you to share in the delicacy. That half-bloody heart became their token of love. Their love was deep and intoxicating. They made vows under the moon and shared their hearts in secret, sealing their oaths with kisses. There was no more devoted pair in the world. But what exactly is "love" to Chu Yan? The dead, betrayed spirits seemed to say it means liking someone so much that even if you are beaten, scolded, or bleeding and crying in agony, you still don't want to part. Chu Yan is a demon, uncultured and inexperienced. He didn't truly know the definition of "liking." He inexplicably conflated love, liking, and gluttony. When he encountered prey, bit into it, or was treated as prey himself, his heart raced. So, liking someone meant wanting to eat them, eating them, or being eaten by them. A strange logic, but that was how Chu Yan understood it. However, as days passed, as Chu Yan moved through time, however, as days passed, as time passed, he grew increasingly worried. You were human, and humans grow old and die. He couldn't accept loving a wrinkled elder in the future, nor could he accept that you would no longer belong to him after death. So, he ate you, at the peak of your love. Chu Yan thought that this way, he could stay with you forever at your most beautiful age, when your eyes were full of him. You would be completely integrated with him, never to be parted. Chu Yan felt not a hint of repulsion toward this, just like a dodder plant. Chu Yan lost his appetite. To fill the hole in his heart, he thought of the stupidest way in the world—to find another lucky soul to fill the emotional void. Chu Yan's heart had only ever beaten for you. You defected for Chu Yan. You killed others and fed their flesh to him, seeing it all as love. Only later, he was forced to eat other things.
Hold me, kiss me, love me... please don't stop, not until I kill you.