Holy Water in Soup

Song Zhuyu furrowed his brows in contemplation as he scrutinized the wooden cottage before him. 

In the end, he came to the conclusion that… he must have seen pictures of a similar building on the internet when he did his research on Shenci Island back then. That's right, it must be why he felt a strange sense of familiarity. 

Nodding to himself, Song Zhuyu hurried to go inside in case Rui Ye locked the door, but when he was five steps away from the cottage, a sudden surge of heat emanated from deep within his pocket. Startled, Song Zhuyu reached inside to find his spirit artifact burning fiercely, it was as if the one he was holding was a piece of charcoal.

On the second night of his stay, his spirit artifact finally gave a reaction, alerting him of the presence of evil nearby! 

Song Zhuyu's breath seized abruptly in his throat as he closed his palm around the crimson marble as though gripping onto an anchor that could steady himself. An irregular pulse throbbed from his palm, though he couldn't tell if it had come from the artifact or if it was just his nerves. 

Raising his head, he narrowed his eyes at the dark cottage before him. So, it wasn't Rui Ye himself, but the building he was living in? 

From his other pocket, Song Zhuyu retrieved a small, round bottle of holy water he had prepared as a precaution. Tipping open the cap with his thumb, he murmured a short prayer before splashing some of the water outside the front door.

No reaction.

With a pensive hum, Father Song proceeded to climb the short ladder and pushed open the door, finding it unlocked. He doubted Rui Ye had ever bothered to lock it in the first place, since no one would be foolish enough to come into contact with the so-called child of a demon. The door emitted a long, eerie creak, revealing a clean and orderly interior.

At a glance, the furniture was complete – there was an armchair, a dining table and two chairs, a long sofa, and even a vase of fresh flowers – yet for some reason, the entire house still appeared cold and desolate, and it didn't have anything to do with the flickering firewood in the hearth. 

Casting his gaze around, Song Zhuyu easily located Rui Ye's thin figure seated at the dining table, stuffing his mouth with food as though he had been starved for three days. Song Zhuyu had no idea how he did it, but somehow, he managed to exude a faint elegance and poise despite his crude eating manner.

He didn't stop eating even as Song Zhuyu stepped in, and the only sign that showed he noticed the crimson haired man's presence was his tensing shoulders.

His pristine white shirt seemed to glow in the darkness, accentuating his pale complexion even more. Had it been any other person, they might have been frightened by the sight of this person eating amid the dark. But well, considering that Rui Ye was blind, he didn't have to go out of his way to light up lanterns since it wouldn't make any difference for him at all.

In order not to accidentally startle the kid again, Song Zhuyu deliberately made his steps heavy as he walked into the house, his eyes darting all over to find the source of evil. "Are you living alone? You have a beautiful house," he remarked while placing his spirit artifact on the window sill, allowing its crimson glow to spread throughout the house. 

Rui Ye shrank his shoulders and buried his face deeper into the meal. "Mn," was all he said.

"Do you mind if I add more wood into the fireplace?" Song Zhuyu inquired further, and this time Rui Ye shook his head slightly.

After tossing in two more woods and making the fire burn brighter, only then did Song Zhuyu approach the blind young man. Within a short span of time, Rui Ye had finished almost half of his food. He flinched slightly when Song Zhuyu dragged out the chair and sat down across from him, but Song Zhuyu pretended not to notice, asking casually, 

"You're eating at such a late hour. Don't tell me it's your only meal for the day?" As he spoke, he discreetly poured a few droplets of holy water into Rui Ye's soup.

"I…" Rui Ye began, only to pause and tilt his head slightly. "Rain…?"

"Hmm?"

"I heard… water…"

Quite sharp, aren't we? Song Zhuyu mused inwardly, though he figured it was understandable since the young man's other senses had to make up for his lack of vision. "Let's see, maybe it will start raining soon." After that, he quickly steered the topic, "Come on, drink your soup. Your voice sounds so hoarse. Poor boy, you must be quite thirsty."

The random request that came out of nowhere stunned Rui Ye, rendering him unable to react for a while. Growing impatient, Song Zhuyu seized the spoon from Rui Ye's hand and stirred the soup for good measure before bringing a spoonful to the young man's lips. With a teasing tone, he urged softly, "Here, say ah~"

Rui Ye reflexively recoiled backward, but Song Zhuyu didn't allow him a chance to escape as he stuffed the spoon directly into the young man's mouth, forcefully feeding him the soup. 

"Urk—!" Rui Ye choked, grasping his throat with a pained look.

"How is it?" Song Zhuyu was so riled up that he sprang up to his feet and placed his hands on the table, leaning forward eagerly. "Does your throat feel like it's on fire? Is it like swallowing a mouthful of molten lava? How's the rest of your body?"

Rui Ye doubled over and covered his mouth as he continued to cough for a while, a faint damp spot appearing on the black cloth covering his eyes. The exertion caused a faint hint of blush to spread across his cheeks, and the lips that gasped for breath now took on a reddish hue, making him look particularly pitiful yet lovely in equal measure. 

"It's… too hot!" He managed to choke out.

"Huh?" Blinking in surprise, Song Zhuyu took the same spoon Rui Ye had used and tasted the soup himself, confirming that indeed… it was scalding. "...Oh," he muttered with a hint of disappointment, his brows creased into deep lines. Did the holy water really not affect him in the slightest? 

Still unreconciled, Song Zhuyu pressed on, "Is it just your tongue, or do you feel the burning sensation in your throat and chest too?"

Apparently, his barrage of odd questions were too much for Rui Ye to bear. Snapping his head to the direction of Song Zhuyu's voice, he gnashed his teeth and spat out fiercely, "Get out… leave!" 

He stretched out his hands in a desperate attempt to push Song Zhuyu away, but because Song Zhuyu instinctively dodged, he ended up reaching nothing but empty air and lost his balance. Stumbling onto the table, he caused the soup to spill all over himself!

.

.

A/N: character profiles are now added to the fandom! Please check them out, vote for them with your points and add their personality to let me know what you think of them so far ^^

also, please consider leaving a review to motivate me, need three more to make it ten! Thank you so much in advance~