Chapter 824: Sharing

Upon hearing Di She's description, Qi Xia recalled the note he had seen before.

To make a "Yuan Zhu Min" gain "Hui Xiang," one needed to have it consume the eye of a "Hui Xiang Zhe."

Back then, "Tian She" had claimed this was the result of his research, but Qi Xia had never imagined that such a discovery came from such brutally absurd methods.

"You know..." Di She continued, "the 'Yuan Zhu Min' also need to eat. They live by instinct, and if they go without food for too long, they'll starve to death. So, if you put a group of hungry 'Yuan Zhu Min' together and add a little trickery, they'll end up eating each other."

After saying this, Di She let out a slow sigh, as if reminiscing about something utterly terrifying.

"My teacher had me rub spices on one of the 'Yuan Zhu Min,' like marinating meat for roasting, and then locked him in with seven other starving ones." Di She chuckled. "Qi Xia, guess what—out of those seven people, who was the first to start wanting to eat the one covered in spices?"

Qi Xia thought for a few seconds and said:

"None of these seven people chose to eat him."

"You even know that..."

"I can imagine it," Qi Xia replied. "The 'Yuan Zhu Min' survive by instinct, but 'wanting to eat people' isn't an instinct. In their subconscious, eating people isn't an option. So, I think the first one to start eating was the one who had been covered in spices—he began by gnawing on himself, right?"

"Only a madman can understand a madman's logic..." Di She gave a dry laugh. "You're spot on. The 'Yuan Zhu Min' are numb to common sense and pain, so after a few days, the one with the spices couldn't hold back anymore. He always felt his hand looked tempting, like he was holding a sizzling piece of roasted meat every time he lifted his right hand to examine it. Eventually, he picked up his hand, stared at it for a while like it was a charcoal-grilled chicken leg, and bit down."

Everyone listening showed different expressions, finding the scene strangely unsettling.

"But he didn't realize there was nothing in his hand—he just ended up biting into his own flesh... how bizarre is that?" Di She went on, speaking to the group in a storytelling tone. "Yes... humans are such wondrous creatures... I saw it with my own eyes...!!"

Di She grew more agitated as he spoke, stepping up to Qi Xia and gripping his shoulders again: "I watched him gnaw away at his own right hand bit by bit!! His mouth full of blood, until only the red bones were left!! I saw him bite through the tendons one mouthful at a time... Do you know how hellish that sight was? Even if everyone here has died horribly before... it still makes my back run cold."

"Yes... I can imagine," Qi Xia said.

"People! Humanity!" Di She shouted sharply. "Qi Xia, guess again! When the remaining seven saw that terrifying scene, what would they do?"

Qi Xia pondered for a few seconds and sighed once more.

"The remaining seven would be starving and enticed," Qi Xia said. "Without reason, they couldn't feel empathy. They'd just follow their desires. Seeing that the one covered in spices could be eaten, they'd want to devour him."

"Madman... you're really a madman..." Di She said, trembling all over. "Only a madman could come up with that answer..."

"Is that so?" Qi Xia replied ambiguously. "I don't think so."

"You don't believe it...? Your thinking is just like a madman's... What's the difference between you and those unreasoning 'Yuan Zhu Min'?" Di She asked, furrowing his brow.

"Maybe it's just a coincidence," Qi Xia answered. "Or maybe I just have a strong ability to empathize and can imagine the psychological state of the 'Yuan Zhu Min'."

"Fine, fine... you're evading, aren't you?" Di She nodded. "Then guess again... When that one covered in spices realized the others wanted to eat him, how would he respond?"

Qi Xia lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying: "What sets humans apart from other animals is their higher intelligence. In that situation, he would think that more people surviving increases the chances of escape. So, the one covered in spices would eat his fill and then actively share the 'food' he found with the others."

"You bastard..." Di She grabbed Qi Xia's collar. "If those eight people weren't ones I picked myself, I'd swear you were there in person."

"I just can imagine it," Qi Xia said. "People without reason may act like animals, but they're not animals."

After hearing this, Di She slowly released his hands, looking dazed.

"You're right..." He sighed deeply and said, "Right in front of me, that person gnawed on his own right hand and then enthusiastically invited the others to eat him. The rest didn't hold back—they tore into him like seven wild beasts, ripping and pulling until they had dismembered him with their teeth. Every one of them had blood on their hands and faces, like primitive humans from hundreds of thousands of years ago, raw and savage..."

Di She's voice grew quieter, and even as a Di Ji "Sheng Xiao," despite having killed countless people, he was still shaken by the scene.

A few seconds later, his eyes filled with deep sorrow.

"Qi Xia, in that moment... I felt no different from them," Di She said. "They just act more primitively, killing each other with teeth and instinct—we do it with intelligence and schemes. You tell me... what's the difference between us?"

Qi Xia looked at Di She with a complex expression and frowned. "Don't twist the narrative... The reason we're killing each other here is because of people like your teacher. No one came here intending to kill, and no one wanted to enter this place voluntarily."

"Perhaps you're right..." Di She nodded. "I'm just feeling profound sadness for them... for us."

"What happened next?" Qi Xia asked. "After the seven 'Yuan Zhu Min' devoured the one... what came of it?"

"What happened wasn't quite what my teacher expected... Not every one of those seven gained a small portion of 'Xian Fa,' and not all got a powerful version... Instead, six ended up with nothing, while one became extraordinarily strong."

Qi Xia already knew the answer, but this gu-raising method was utterly inhumane.

"So my teacher started looking for new ways to ensure the 'Yuan Zhu Min' could gain 'Xian Fa' accurately," Di She said. "Since they had adapted to eating people, as long as we covered them with the same flavored spices, to them it would just be 'food.' Things would be easier to handle from there."