In the empty living room, the curtains moved without wind, rising in a slight arc.
In the darkness, the silhouette of the furniture stood silent as tombstones.
The cold marble tiles reflected the moonlight from outside, like a frost-covered mirror.
An extremely faint sound of breathing emerged, with no clear source.
The sound echoed in the spacious living room with an invisible flow.
Wherever it went, the temperature seemed to silently drop a few degrees.
In a dimension imperceptible to ordinary humans, a terrifying "entity" wandered around.
Its vision contained no color, only an expanse of blood-red.
The entire world seemed to have fallen into Hell, soaked in a congealed blood mist.
The walls, the furniture, the floor... Google seaʀᴄh novel[f]ire.net
All objects looked dull gray-red, like long-dried blood stains, emanating a decaying air of deathly stillness.
Only the living beings, in its perception, would transform into bright clusters of heat.
Once, this large house had many such clusters, lively and delicious.
In the cold and dark world, like flickering candle flames, they allowed it to experience a long-lost warmth.
But now, most had vanished, locked away in a place it instinctively loathed.
It drifted through the darkness, as if patrolling its domain.
Searing red eyes pierced through walls, able to "see" the few weak lights in the servants’ quarters, flickering in and out during sleep.
An impulse born of instinct wildly urged it to pounce and devour those clusters completely.
Yet it was restrained by another deeper thought, suppressing the temptation to rush forward.
Its gaze clung to those lights, full of greedy desire.
Ultimately, it turned around, silently floating towards the guest room area on the second floor.
It seemed to be searching for a specific target, passing through closed room doors one by one, circling and lingering in the empty rooms.
Suddenly, it stopped.
As if sensing an aura that made it uneasy, yet full of fatal allure.
Through several walls, it unexpectedly "saw" an unprecedented cluster of light.
The core of that cluster was an extreme red, with edges vaguely exuding a pale golden hue.
Like the sun hidden below the horizon at dawn, about to pierce through the endless darkness.
The light seemed infused with infinite life force.
Just perceiving it from afar made its ethereal body feel an almost tangible craving and shiver.
"Huh... huh... huh..."
Its breathing suddenly became heavy, like a dying beast seeing the elixir of life.
Yet simultaneously, an instinctive fear made it hesitate to advance.
The light was too intense, causing it unease, even some pain.
But the temptation was immense.
Ultimately, hunger defeated fear.
It hesitated no more, transformed into a gust of dark wind, swept through the corridor, and went straight through the wall ahead, breaking into the room where the cluster of light was.
Upon entering, it immediately "saw" the man sitting cross-legged on the floor.
The man’s face was calm, his eyes closed, breathing long and deep, as if in deep sleep.
It was the vigorous blood and energy emanating from him that formed the nearly tangible bright red light.
This light, to the entity that broke into the room, was like a traveler in the desert, waterless for three days, seeing a clear oasis.
The darkness dispersed slightly, and its form began to vaguely appear in the air.
A distorted shadow, twisted from countless black smoke, floated midair, greedily watching its prey.
As long as it devoured this man...
As long as it claimed his flesh for itself...
Perhaps it could grow a new body...
Even... break free of that devil’s control!
This faint yet intense thought instantly filled its consciousness.
It hesitated no more.
The shadow emitted a silent shriek, transformed into a chilling wind, and fiercely pounced at the sleeping man!
Just as it was about to touch the man’s body.
A layer of pale golden flame suddenly burst from the man’s body without warning, instantly enveloping him.
Like pouring oil onto ice, as soon as the shadow touched the golden flame, the contact point was scalded and vaporized by the terrifying heat, emitting swirls of smoke.
A shriek filled with malice and pain abruptly echoed in the room.
Fang Cheng, sitting cross-legged on the floor, suddenly opened his eyes.
In the depths of his dark pupils, flames seemed to be burning.
He grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp white teeth, his voice cold and taunting.
The shadow, scorched by the golden flame, emitted miserable wails, its ethereal form twisted violently, terror-stricken like meeting a natural enemy.
No longer did it have a trace of greed, only the purest fear remained.
The shadow suddenly shrank back, as if struck, it instantly flew through the thick wall, fleeing outside.
In the room, the ear-piercing shriek abruptly ceased.
On the bed, Lin Chuqiao and Bai Ling breathed steadily, still in deep sleep.
Evidently, the sound emitted by the shadow earlier existed only on the mental level, not disturbing them.
Fang Cheng glanced at the two women without a moment of hesitation, his figure flashed and appeared by the window.
With a light push of his hand, the window slid open silently, the night wind carrying the damp chill of the grass and trees streamed in.
In the next moment, he leaped lightly from the second-floor window like a lynx.
His feet landed on the soft lawn without making a sound.