Hearing this, my heart trembled, and I cautiously asked, "... Are you human or demon?"
"I am human, but I need human blood to recover my magic," Mu Jige said as calmly as if she were saying, "I want to eat a steamed bun."
"Is it a blood transfusion, or do you drink it directly?" Zheng Bingbing put down the food basin and asked timidly.
"Blood transfusion?" Mu Jige tilted her head, clearly not understanding this modern medical technology. "Drinking it is fine. You two... who will be the sacrifice?"
After speaking, Mu Jige turned her head and glanced in the direction of Fucheng, explaining, "We need to hurry. Once I wake up, those eight old things will sense my location and will soon come after me. You two might not be able to handle them."
She said it so politely, "might not be able to handle," when it should be "definitely cannot handle"!
"How... how much blood do you need?" I asked.
Mu Jige looked at the food basin on the ground. "About this much."
I did a quick calculation using the formula for the volume of a cylinder. The capacity of that enamel basin was about 1000 milliliters. My physical condition was decent, with a total blood volume of about 5000 milliliters. Losing 1000 milliliters might not cause hemorrhagic shock (a weaker adult might only go into shock after losing 1000 milliliters). At most, I'd become weak, but it was obvious whether I was weak or not was irrelevant. Only if Mu Jige grew stronger could she deal with the pursuers.
"Bingbing, go wash the basin by the river," I said.
"No need to trouble yourself," Mu Jige's eyes fixed on my wrist, and she licked her rosy lips, a hint of greed appearing on her face.
"No, no, it's better to have a measuring container," I said with a wry smile. What if she just latched onto my arm and sucked, and couldn't stop!
"That's too dangerous! You'll die!" Zheng Bingbing shook her head repeatedly.
"How could I? It's only 1000 milliliters," I said with a smile.
"Did your math teacher teach you dance?" Zheng Bingbing gestured with her hand, indicating the basin. "The average diameter is about 20 centimeters, and the height is 15 centimeters, right?"
I nodded. That was the value I used for my estimation just now.
"How can that be one thousand milliliters? Radius squared times pi, then times height... 4710 milliliters! Do you want to die!"
My heart sank. That much? That was the amount of blood needed to drain a person dry!
"Half for each of us, neither will work..." Bingbing added.
Indeed.
No wonder Mu Jige used the word "sacrifice" earlier. It truly was sacrificing one's life to offer to her.
"Then... let's go to town and grab a few more people to share the load?" I suggested. I wasn't that noble, to die right after saving her. To use their Northeastern dialect, what was I getting out of it!
"Multiple people's blood cannot be used, it will produce..." Mu Jige thought for a moment. "A chemical reaction?"
This word, which she must have learned from someone's dream, probably referred to a coagulation effect. Different people's blood would clot in her stomach, affecting absorption and digestion, that was my guess.
"Then what should we do? We can't... kill people!" Zheng Bingbing whispered. This was her bottom line. She could follow my Daoist ways, go crazy and do anything, which was exciting, but she couldn't commit actual crimes.
That was my bottom line too, at least, that's what I thought for now.
"It's fine if I don't drink blood," Mu Jige raised an eyebrow. "As the saying goes, one drop is potent, ten drops of blood..."
After saying that, she licked her lips again, her gaze shifting from my wrist downwards.
Although I had attempted this in my dream, it was just a dream, and we were the only ones present. Now, in reality, with Zheng Bingbing, the third wheel, here, Mu Jige was shameless enough to say it, but I was too embarrassed to hear it, my face instantly turning into a steamed tomato!
"This... this is indeed possible, huh," Zheng Bingbing's face also flushed, and she let out an awkward, forced laugh. "Shall I leave then?"
"No, you go wash the food basin," I said. It seemed like that was the only way.
Just as Zheng Bingbing was about to get up, Mu Jige suddenly perked up her ears, listening intently in the direction of Jiuxian Cave. Her beautifully shaped ears twitched significantly.
"Did you hear something?" I asked nervously.
"It's coming."
"Who?" Zheng Bingbing asked.
"Old Eight!"
Old Eight?
Ah, she probably meant that weasel demon, the one that Prefect He worshipped. Among the eight demons, he was the last, Old Eight.
Jiuxian Cave was at least ten kilometers from Hua Lou Town. How could it have arrived so quickly? Could it fly?
"Let's leave here first, go in that direction!" Mu Jige pointed in the opposite direction of Jiuxian Cave.
"Okay, Bingbing, I'll take her, you go get the car first and wait for us at the entrance of that residential area," I said, helping the weak Mu Jige to stand. Our skin touched, and her body temperature was very low, even lower than the air, yet she was sweaty, possibly from a weak sweat, Yin deficiency.
"What if our car is discovered, and there are people nearby?" Bingbing asked.
I handed her the crowbar. "Figure it out yourself."
"Alright..." Bingbing lightly tapped the crowbar against her palm, frowning slightly. As she walked out, she muttered, "It's so thick, it might not kill someone..."