Chapter 3: Death’s Pursuit
“Pa!! Pa!! Pa!!!!!”
A few claps sounded in the b.l.o.o.d.y camp, signalling the end of the nightmare!
The smell of blood began to spread throughout the camp. At the same time, rain began to fall on this open-air camp, pouring on the quivering children faces and soaking the corpses that fell in the pools of blood, washing the blood off their body.
The camp started to become muddy as the rain and blood mixed together……
The cruel hunting wolves were kept by their soul masters. After the ma.s.sacre, only fifty children were left. The rest were on the verge of dying, and their souls will quickly be devoured by the nightmare demon inside them. Their bodies would be dragged elsewhere and, after the satisfied nightmare demon have been retrieved, disposed of in the sea.
“From tomorrow onwards, you lot will be allowed to move freely around the island. Around here, there are many soul pets that are suitable for you. Choose wisely, forge a soul pact with them, and train them on the island.”
“In three months, there will be a battle. The top ten will be moved to another island to continue with their nightmare demon training. As for the rest, hmph hmph, they will be fed to the sharks!” said a middle aged man loudly while pointing at the surviving children.
Saying that, he gave a cold smile and continued: “Of course, you’d best not forget about the demon in your body, if you don’t quickly raise your soul power, you will become pitiful food……”
Speaking of the demon inside their body, the children faces paled, the shadow of death looming above causing them to despair.
“Go back to your nest and be thankful for having survived……Tomorrow, you shall face death’s challenge again! And lastly, a warning for you lot. Do not enter the inner regions of the island, for you shall only find death there!”
Without an ounce of pity, the thirteen enforcers laughed mockingly and left, leaving fifty corpses in this b.l.o.o.d.y campsite……
The surviving children walked over the still-soaked corpses and left this part of the camp, heading towards the accommodation camp.
……
The accommodation camp has twenty five solid wooden cabins, built neatly by the sea. In general the environment is pretty good.
Of course, this is not because the cold blooded men wished to give the children a good accommodation, but because this island is a long term nightmare demon training camp. After this batch of children have died or left, a new batch of children will be sent here, repeating their tragic history.
……
Chu Mu’s back has split open, and even walking back to his wooden cabin proved to be very difficult.
As he opened the door, Chu Mu felt someone splash water on his back, causing a burst of pain on his wound.
Furious, he turned and saw the hateful smiling face of Zhou Sheng Mo.
“You’re so lucky aren’t you, even that didn’t kill you!” said Zhou Sheng Mo mockingly.
Chu Mu sneered and ignored him. In his eyes, Zhou Sheng Mo will sooner or later be dead. Even if he isn’t killed by the enforcers’ soul pet, he will die by Chu Mu’s hands!
“I was actually helping you back there. Perhaps in time, when the nightmare demon consumes your soul, you will regret not dying under the hunting wolf’s claws. At least you won’t have to endure the pain of having your soul eaten! Hahaha!” laughed Zhou Sheng Mo loudly before leaving.
Chu Mu looked at the stout fellow with the sneer still on his face, revealing a deep personality that a youth his age should not have.
Chu Mu’s personality is due to his family’s education, along with the h.e.l.lish lifestyle on the island. Any children sent here have their hearts darkened and become ruthless.
Chu Mu opened the door and walked in.
Originally there was three other occupants, but clearly, they will not be coming back. After all the three of them were too weak and small.
Chu Mu didn’t really mix with them, and only remembers one of them to be a girl. Since girls are physically weaker than boys, it is unlikely that she survived the hunting wolves. Chu Mu has probably become the exclusive occupant of the cabin.
With his back still bleeding, Chu Mu changed his wet clothes, and washed off the dirt on his body. After cleaning his wounds, he opened the drawers and took out some medicine that the enforcers left inside.
Applying the medicine on his own proved to be a difficult task. Lying on the bed, Chu Mu did not accomplish anything aside from working up a sweat and hurting his wound even more.
“Let me help you……”
“Ah~~~~”
The two voices sounded out suddenly, with the former being softer. Chu Mu did not realise that there was someone else in the room and abruptly jumped up from the bed, crying out as the abrupt motion caused a sharp pain to the wound on his back!
“It’s you, you’re alive……” said Chu Mu with a forced smile after seeing the soaked girl.
“I was lucky……let me help you apply that……” said the girl.
The girl is called Ding Yu, who also lives in this cabin. Chu Mu thought she had died, and is surprised that she is unharmed aside from a few scratches. Seems like she is a smart girl.
Chu Mu nodded, and laid on the bed.
The whole time the girl was applying the medicine, Chu Mu was on alert. After all, in three months, only ten will be surviving. If this seemingly delicate girl decided to be ruthless, there is a chance she might use this opportunity to get rid of compet.i.tion!
Ding Yu carefully smeared the medicine without doing anything suspicious, and Chu Mu gradually felt his pain easing.
“Since I helped you today, if I encounter any trouble in the future, you will help me, right?” asked Ding Yu after helping Chu Mu dress his wound.
The girl is very realistic and indicates she does not bear any hostility, only wanting to be allies.
Chu Mu nodded and replied faintly: “I’ll try my best……”
“My Green Nightmare Demon is growing quickly, and may grow into stage 3 in ten days. I’m worried I won’t have enough soul power to support it and have my soul eaten.” Ding Yu said while sitting on her bed and hugging her shivering knees.
“We got to try harder if we don’t want to die……” Hearing Ding Yu’s complain, Chu Mu can only console her with a simple reply.
Soul pets have a process of growth, the evil soul pet, Nightmare Demon, is no different.
For example, the hunting wolves that Chu Mu faced before, when born, after growing into childhood phase from baby phase, will start to go through the process, starting from stage 1……
The hunting wolves of the enforcers on Nightmare Demon Island are already at stage 5, and the helpless kids are definitely unable to withstand their strong attacks.
The Nightmare Demons in the kids’ body are also growing stage by stage. As of now most of the Nightmare Demons are around stage 2.
For every stage grown, the appet.i.te of the Nightmare Demon will also increase. A while ago, at least two to three hundred people have had their soul devoured as they did not have enough soul power to feed their Nightmare Demon when they have grown into stage 2.
“You don’t seem to be worried at all. Are you that confident in yourself?” asked Ding Yu.
Chu Mu shook his head bitterly, but did not reply.
In actuality, Chu Mu is the most uncertain of the lot to survive from the shadow of the Nightmare Demons.
All of the children here have forged a pact with the Green Nightmare Demon, but inside Chu Mu is the much more terrifying White Nightmare Demon!
Despite being similarly at stage 2, the White Nightmare Demon has a much larger appet.i.te than the Green Nightmare Demon. As their stage increases, their appet.i.te also increases exponentially. This expenditure is not something a ten year old soul master can support, and is also the reason the enforcers firmly believe Chu Mu to be as good as dead.
Very little people can survive from the curse of the White Nightmare Demon. Or rather, the White Nightmare Demon is a killer, and Chu Mu’s fate has been doomed ever since he forged the pact.
This pursuit of death has forced Chu Mu to do everything he can to increase his power!