My girlfriend is a demon

Chapter 5: Haunted by a Demon

The entire morning passed for Jiang Xia in a daze.

He didn't register a word the teacher said, and it seemed there was no real need for him to study seriously anyway.

At 11:40 AM, the bell signaling the end of class rang. The math teacher dragged it out for another five minutes before finally dismissing them.

No sooner had the teacher stepped out of the classroom than Wang Fei, who sat behind him, came over and slung an arm around Jiang Xia's shoulders. "Come on, let's grab some food."

Wang Fei had a sunny demeanor and exuded a masculine energy; nothing on the surface gave anything away.

Whether it was due to the changes in his own body or not, Jiang Xia's sense of smell was now abnormally sharp. On Wang Fei, he detected a faint, almost imperceptible scent of blood.

"Jiang Xia, come on, let's go eat together!" Li Sitong stood by the teacher's platform, her hands tucked into a hand warmer.

As soon as she spoke, the previously buzzing classroom instantly fell silent.

Everyone looked incredulously at Li Sitong for inviting Jiang Xia to eat, then with equal disbelief at Jiang Xia himself.

Wang Fei, his arm still around Jiang Xia's shoulders as if reluctant to let go, looked at Li Sitong teasingly. "No way, Class President, did I hear that right? You're asking Jiang Xia to eat with you?"

Li Sitong didn't respond, just kept her gaze on Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia patted the hand on his shoulder and whispered, "Sorry, Wang Fei. Brotherhood is important, but I can't turn down the Class President's sincere invitation either."

"Whoa! No way! Don't tell me you two are an item?"

Wang Fei's words instantly reignited the classroom. Amidst the general uproar, several boys who had crushes on Li Sitong wore expressions that couldn't have been more sour.

"Wang Fei, you..." Li Sitong seemed flustered and angry. She grabbed a textbook from the desk as if to throw it at him, but didn't follow through, her face instead flushing red.

Wang Fei pretended to duck behind Jiang Xia, chuckling. "Getting shy, blushing and all! You two are definitely together! Spill it, when did it start?!"

"Wang Fei, don't... don't talk nonsense! There's nothing between Jiang Xia and me! I just lost a bet with him earlier, saying I'd cover his meals for the week! I have to go swipe my meal card for him!"

Li Sitong's hurried explanation was met with half-belief. Between losing a bet and the class president dating Jiang Xia, most were more inclined to believe the former, especially those harboring secret feelings for Li Sitong.

Jiang Xia's deskmate, Yang Jie, grabbed his arm, face full of anguish. "Come on, Xia, you can't do this! Sure, as your 'dad,' I'd be happy for you finding a girlfriend, but seeing it's the Class President... that's worse than killing me! Break up, please break up with her! I'll grit my teeth and cover your meals this month, okay?"

Li Sitong immediately interjected, "Yang Jie, don't add to the chaos! I already said there's nothing between Jiang Xia and me."

Jiang Xia patted Yang Jie's head like a dutiful son. "When your 'father' here really wins her over, I'll introduce you to her best friend."

On the sports field, Jiang Xia and Li Sitong walked side by side.

Honestly, feeling the waves of envious and jealous glances from around them, Jiang Xia's ego got a little boost.

"I thought you said we shouldn't let others know about our relationship easily?" Jiang Xia asked.

Li Sitong's tone shifted again, now laced with a domineering edge. "What do you think I'm doing? I just saved your life, you know?"

"Saved my life? You mean Wang Fei?"

Li Sitong's voice lowered gravely. "My guess is, he's already set his sights on you."

Jiang Xia was puzzled. "Set his sights on me? I'm not even human anymore, why would he target me?"

"Those 'Divine Order' awakeners, who might not even appear one in a hundred thousand, most of them like to call us 'Abyss Seeds'!" Li Sitong continued tirelessly, like a teacher imparting knowledge, sharing everything she knew with Jiang Xia.

"It might seem like we're all the same kind, but in reality, there are many subcategories. Wang Fei is an anomaly among us. We call his kind 'Deviants'! Besides preying on normal humans like we can, they can also target our own kind. And fellow Abyss Seeds provide them with far more nourishment than regular humans!"

Jiang Xia's eyes flickered!

Wait!

Li Sitong mentioned "Divine Order" awakeners!

Wasn't "Divine Order" right at the beginning of that stream of information in his mind?

*'So it seems confirmed, I belong to the awakeners. I'm an undercover agent hidden among these monsters!'* Jiang Xia thought to himself. The certainty that he wasn't a monster but an awakener sent a ripple of excitement through him.

Knowing an undercover's identity must not be exposed, Jiang Xia maintained his composure. "So you warned me about Wang Fei being dangerous... but we're classmates. Even a rabbit doesn't eat the grass by its own burrow..."

"Don't be naive!" Li Sitong looked at him seriously. "Remember, we are no longer normal humans. Our personalities and emotions are already different from theirs. Wang Fei has a younger brother, you know?"

"I know!"

"His brother is like him, also an Abyss Seed. And his brother died suddenly two weeks ago. Who do you think killed him?"

Jiang Xia's pupils contracted. "You mean..."

"Of course, it's just my suspicion. Beings like us, unless they have extremely extreme personalities, usually won't harm close family..." Li Sitong said, then shook her head grimly. "But Wang Fei... it's hard to say. He's the most extreme I've seen. To him, you're a newly turned kin, not too strong, an easier target."

The thought of Wang Fei sitting behind him in class, staring at him like he was food, sent chills down Jiang Xia's spine.

Then again, it made sense. What 'rabbit not eating nearby grass'? Didn't Li Sitong target Xu Kun just last night?

Jiang Xia asked another question. "About those awakeners you mentioned... if we go by novels, they'd be the 'good guys,' and we're the 'bad guys,' right?"

"Is there any point in dividing into good and evil? We're all just trying to survive." Li Sitong continued, "It won't be long before this world descends into chaos. What we need to do is get as strong as possible before that happens."

Jiang Xia nodded, then asked, "How long have you been like this?"

"I can only tell you that when I changed, the scent of others like us was still very rare." Li Sitong said, then smiled, leaning close to Jiang Xia's ear and whispering, "Let me tell you something else... I'm a Deviant too."

Jiang Xia's mind went blank with a *buzz*, his face freezing solid.

*You tell me Wang Fei is dangerous, but aren't you dangerous too?*

Seeing Jiang Xia's petrified expression, Li Sitong giggled, her voice turning sultry. "Alright, darling, don't be so scared. If I wanted to hurt you, you'd have been gone last night. I genuinely like you. As long as you listen to me and don't make me unhappy, I'll even protect you."

Looking at Li Sitong's almost yandere-like expression, Jiang Xia had a bad feeling. He sensed that *her* personality might be the most extreme of all!

Good news: Successfully infiltrated the enemy's ranks.

Bad news: Have a crazy, potentially psychopathic girlfriend.

In the cafeteria, after swiping her meal card for Jiang Xia, Li Sitong went to sit with her friend from the neighboring class.

Even though the food did nothing to satiate him, Jiang Xia ate large mouthfuls.

If there were awakeners around them and they noticed he could never get full no matter what he ate, they might mistake him for a monster and try to eliminate him.

At that point, trying to explain to an awakener trying to kill him that he was an undercover probably wouldn't work. After all, he was identical to an Abyss Seed, and could even truly transform into a monster. Why would they believe him?

"And I absolutely cannot let the Abyss Seeds around me know I'm an awakener. Didn't Li Sitong say that compared to ordinary humans, awakeners provide them with even more, richer nourishment? If my awakener identity is exposed, who knows how many Abyss Seeds would come after me, looking for a feast."

"Thinking about it, this undercover gig really sucks! Damned if you do, damned if you don't? Not human on either side?"

"**Divine Order 001 – Undercover Agent.** Looking at it superficially, it means I'm an undercover. But in reality, this should be an ability of mine, allowing me to become identical to an Abyss Seed."

This was Jiang Xia's preliminary analysis of the information in his mind. He just didn't know what other functions it had besides making him identical to an Abyss Seed.

Jiang Xia didn't think his ability to mimic Abyss Seeds was entirely a good thing. Because it also meant he had to act like them, preying on normal humans to feel full. Yet, his own personality hadn't changed, making it something he couldn't accept, both psychologically and physically.

Jiang Xia shoveled large mouthfuls of food into his mouth. Even though it didn't fill him, it tasted good, providing some mental satisfaction. This feeling of constant hunger no matter how much he ate made him think he could enter an eating contest—if he wasn't afraid of his stomach bursting.

The cafeteria had two floors, with nearly two thousand students eating. Perhaps because his abilities were still too weak, Jiang Xia couldn't sense kin from too far away. But if any came within a hundred meters of him, he could clearly feel them.

Among over two thousand students, the number of kin he had detected so far, including Li Sitong and Wang Fei, was already over ten.

Ten people. If their feeding frequency was once every half month, that meant at least twenty victims a month. If it was once a week, then...

And this was just at Galaxy No.1 High School, just what he had seen so far. The entire Galaxy City had a population of nearly ten million. He didn't dare imagine how many of his 'kind' were out ther.

"Li Sitong is right. This world is bound for chaos, perhaps it's already on the brink of collapse. It's just that there must be some group out there, struggling to maintain order."

"Now I need to figure out my method of getting stronger. From what Li Sitong implied, Abyss Seeds like them grow stronger by drawing nourishment from normal humans."

"It can't be that my method is the same, right? What difference would there be between me and an Abyss Seed then?"

Even though he had **[Divine Order 001 – Undercover Agent]** in his mind, Jiang Xia currently couldn't even tell if he was human or monster.

"If I belong to the awakeners, then my method of getting stronger should be the same as theirs, right?"

"Besides that, is there any other way for me to feel full? After all, I'm not truly an Abyss Seed, just undercover."

9:00 PM, evening self-study ended.

Jiang Xia boarded a bus at the school gate, heading to where his younger sister currently lived. Compared to himself, he was more worried about his family now.

But the moment he stepped onto the bus and found a seat, Wang Fei followed him on board.

Even though the route this bus took was definitely not the way to *his* home!