Duosheng Danyuan

"According to junior high school physics, sound is a type of vibration that propagates through a medium. In everyday communication, the medium between people is air."

"Huh?" Lin Xu was completely bewildered by Su Wanqing's sudden muttering as she ladled meat porridge into a bowl, having no idea what she was talking about.

Of course, I had the exact same reaction as Lin Xu.

"In other words, even the faintest sound can be detected by capturing the vibrations in the air, and we can know what those two people were saying." Su Wanqing ignored us, simply placed two full bowls of meat porridge in front of me and Lin Xu, then sat down opposite us and began serving herself porridge.

"..." Lin Xu and I exchanged a glance, neither of us speaking. I vaguely felt that "Su Wanqing" in front of me must have overheard our whispered conversation.

"Ah, on the other hand, as long as the vibrations in the air are hidden, it's possible to make no sound at all? Ahhh..." As she spoke, "Su Wanqing" began to eat large mouthfuls of meat porridge. The sound of her chewing wasn't loud, but her exaggerated chewing expression was particularly eye-catching.

But gradually, we stopped hearing her chewing, even though she still had the same expression.

"..." Looking at the strange scene before us, Lin Xu and I unconsciously swallowed, not knowing what to say.

Just then, "Su Wanqing" broke the silence. A wide, doll-like smile, more exaggerated than any porcelain doll's, curved her lips as she looked at us with narrowed eyes and said, "Knowledge is power, right?"

"You... no, I... can we communicate?" Lin Xu asked first.

"Communicate? Why can't we communicate? I'm your roommate, 'Su Wanqing,' of course I can communicate with you." With a blank expression, or perhaps trying to express his doubt, "Su Wanqing" shook his head slightly as he spoke.

"Is that so..." Looking at Su Wanqing's expression, Lin Xu felt quite embarrassed, so much so that he didn't know how to respond to what Su Wanqing had said.

"Do you consider yourself Su Wanqing?" I asked in a deep voice.

"I am 'Su Wanqing,' not some kind of self-proclaimed identity," "Su Wanqing" said, frowning.

"...Okay, we don't want to argue with you about this. You just said we can communicate. That means we can have a normal chat, right?"

"Of course, but it's best not to do it in the kitchen, that's my workplace." Nodding, "Su Wanqing" continued eating her meat porridge.

In the time it takes to say a few words, she has finished the whole bowl of meat porridge, but as if she still wants more, she ladled out a second bowl.

"Work location? What are your job duties?" I asked, puzzled.

"..." With vacant eyes, Su Wanqing put down the meat porridge in her hand, looked at me, her mouth slightly open, drool dripping from the left corner of her mouth. After a long silence, she wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth and said helplessly, "My job is to take care of your meals. Hmm... I've decided that, to compensate for my mental anguish, I'm going to start charging you for your problems."

"A fee?" Lin Xu asked, puzzled.

"What are the pricing standards?" I asked.

"One question, one drop of essence." With that, "Su Wanqing" made a "one" gesture with her right hand, grinned, and explained, "To show goodwill, I did agree to communicate with you. But just now I discovered that there seems to be a difference in our intelligence. So, I've decided to charge you. However, before charging, I can still answer your questions for free—I know you're all very curious about me."

"..." Embarrassed, I touched my nose.

Although it was quite embarrassing to be told by the skeleton woman that there was a difference in intelligence, it must be said that every word she said precisely hit the mark on our curiosity.

"Okay, I agree to your terms. Before you charge us, please explain the free parts to us in detail." So, I gladly accepted Su Wanqing's suggestion.

"I am 'Su Wanqing,' not that I am the Su Wanqing you remember, but that my current identity is also Su Wanqing. Before the real Su Wanqing you know returns, Jingxi Pavilion needs me to take her place in order to balance the spiritual energy. However, although it is called a replacement, I have indeed inherited all of Su Wanqing's memories. This is necessary. If I hadn't inherited her memories, how could I become a 'Su Wanqing' who can replace Su Wanqing?"

"I see." I nodded thoughtfully.

"Since you came to us in place of Su Wanqing, does that mean you'll leave as soon as Su Wanqing returns?" Lin Xu asked tentatively.

"Leave? If you mean disappear from your sight, then that's exactly it."

"What do you mean? In other words, you just disappeared from our sight, instead of leaving? Not leaving means you can come back at any time?" I frowned.

"Hmph..." Su Wanqing smiled noncommittally and made a gesture with her hand, indicating the number one.

"...What is essence blood? How should we give it to you? What impact will it have on us if we give it to you?" After a pause, I continued, "Of course, the answers to these questions don't require essence blood, right? These are within your scope of obligation to explain, and you should."

"As long as you're willing to do business with me, I can certainly answer those three questions you just asked for free." After finishing her second bowl of meat porridge, "Su Wanqing" wiped her mouth, politely took out a handkerchief from her pocket, wiped her mouth again, and continued to look at me with that doll-like smile as she spoke.

"I..."

"Brother Changfeng."

Just as I was about to agree to Su Wanqing's request, Lin Xu suddenly interrupted me, shook his head at me, and said, "You're willing to communicate with us, and now you're willing to trade with us, fine. But before we formally establish a deal, there's one thing I must ask you, and you must answer it, otherwise, everything we just agreed on is null and void."

"Go on," Su Wanqing said calmly, without any emotional fluctuation, as if she had expected Lin Xu's reaction.

"Will the loss of essence and blood endanger your life?" Lin Xu asked seriously.

"No." Su Wanqing blurted out almost immediately.

"..." Hearing Su Wanqing's confident and subconscious answer, Lin Xu was momentarily stunned and could only reply with silence.

"Okay," I nodded to "Su Wanqing," then patted Lin Xu's shoulder with my right hand to reassure him, and said, "You will answer my three questions about essence blood for free. After you answer them, I am willing to use my essence blood to make the first deal with you."

"..."

A moment of silence.

This silence marked the first time "Su Wanqing" hadn't immediately responded to our words. Just as I was wondering what to say and was about to speak again, I noticed that "Su Wanqing's" eyes had visibly changed. Her originally empty, lifeless, and dull eyes, like a dead fish's eyes stuck on a puppet, were slowly regaining their luster.

About ten seconds later, the luster had turned into a faint glow in the eyes of a normal human being... or rather, a gleam in the eyes of a greedy person.

"Really?" After a long while, "Su Wanqing" finally asked me.

"...Hmm." I swallowed hard and nodded in response.

Almost the instant I nodded, a cold glint flashed from Su Wanqing's fingertips. Before anyone could react, the next second, I felt something slowly trickling down my left eyebrow and down my eye socket.

"What did you do!?" Unlike me, who was stunned, Lin Xu was the first to react and shouted loudly at "Su Wanqing".

"Don't rush, don't rush..." Ignoring Lin Xu's angry and my solemn gaze, Su Wanqing put a drop of blood from my left eyebrow, brought from her fingertip, into her mouth. Her expression immediately became more complex. "Indeed, indeed, no matter how many times we try, human flesh and blood are the best in the world..."

"What are you talking about?" Standing up, an angry Lin Xu immediately kicked the table with his right foot towards "Su Wanqing" in the direction of "Su Wanqing" and tried to get "Su Wanqing" away from us.

To my surprise, "Su Wanqing" did not resist at all. With a "bang", she was actually hit by the edge of the dining table that Lin Xu kicked, and her body lost its balance and fell to the ground.

Her expression clearly showed that she was high on drugs.

"This monster..."

"Feed her." Looking at "Su Wanqing" lying on the ground, looking completely absorbed, I stopped Lin Xu, who was about to continue beating her, and said in a deep voice, "Your work isn't finished yet. Now is not the time to rest, is it?"

"...Heh." After listening to my words, it took a while before "Su Wanqing," who was lying on the ground, reluctantly let out a cold laugh, shakily got up from the ground, and stood in front of us again.

The pot of hot porridge she made that morning had long since been spilled everywhere because of Lin Xu's kick.

Watching the blood drip from my brow and onto the floor, "Su Wanqing's" gaze also fell on the splattered meat porridge. Looking at the scene before her, she frowned slightly, remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, "What a waste..."

"It's all thanks to you. Of course, we weren't planning on drinking anyway," I said coldly.

"hehe......"

"Okay, answer my question."

"I have already answered."

"What?"

"As I said, given the difference in our intelligence, I'll charge a certain amount for emotional distress. Considering the time you attacked me, we're even, right?"

Brushing off the dust and taking off the coat covered in meat porridge, "Su Wanqing" revealed her short-sleeved outfit underneath the coat, exactly as Lin Xu had described. Underneath the coat, apart from her hands, there was no trace of normal flesh on the surface of "Su Wanqing"'s shoulders and arms; they were all grayish-white and skeletal.

"Stop with this nonsense. You said you've already answered the question, so what exactly do you mean?" Lin Xu said patiently and in a deep voice to "Su Wanqing".

"I've already answered the question literally, it's just that you don't look at it." As she spoke, "Su Wanqing" pointed towards the window.

Looking in the direction she was pointing, Lin Xu and I saw a bloody scene outside the window.

Before I could recover from my surprise, my gaze had already drifted from the sky outside the window to the rules next to the window.

"What...?"

The wall where the "Rules of the Quiet Abode" were originally engraved has now been replaced.

The four words "Blood Contract" were distorted and engraved on the wall.