Her Tentacles 24

Chapter 24: Escape 

In the quiet summer night, which should have been filled with the restless chirping of insects, the Star River community was unusually silent, as if the insects instinctively knew that a terrifying presence resided here.

It was already past one in the morning.

In the cozy living room, illuminated by a single starlight lamp, Lin Ran warned her exuberant tentacles not to wake the person on the sofa. However, they were filled with a desire to imitate their master, insisting on slipping into the woman’s finger-gaps, to “hold hands” with her, to wrap around her soft waist, and to embrace her tightly.

【Hold… hands…】
【Hug! Hug the jar spirit!】

The tentacles that had first occupied the good spots let out satisfied sighs. The others, bound by their master’s command, stood by idly for a long while. Realizing their master’s attention was elsewhere, they stealthily found another way, slipping into the milky-white collar and the loose pant legs.

Lin Ran was cleaning up the takeout Shu Yao had left over.

Few of the wooden skewers on the dining table were empty. Most of the food remained on them: leeks, pork belly, beef… dry and tough, and sprinkled with chili powder. There was also a plastic box containing a plate of spicy stir-fried sea hare, which had also been barely touched.

Compared to the small squid, merely named “sea hare,” which her girlfriend had complained was unpalatable, the one Lin Ran had devoured at the Blue Sky Industrial Park tonight was truly a delicacy.

Thinking of that sea hare, which had just successfully merged with a human, transcending the low-level stage of skin-deep parasitism, Lin Ran narrowed her eyes slightly, savoring the memory of their brief battle.

The translucent, round tentacles, which had initially appeared on its face like layers of granulation tissue, later bloomed sequentially on the slender woman’s back, like lotus petals. The golden stardust twinkling within the petals became the rising stars of that industrial park.

This beautiful creature, known as the “Flower Fairy” in the deep sea, had tried to imitate its past escape techniques when facing a powerful enemy, using the wing-like petals on its back to create a powerful illusion, like falling starlight. And then those petals…

Just like the food skewered on the sticks now, they had been slowly roasted by the flames ignited by the predator’s terrifying tentacles, using the flammable materials in the park, and then savored, piece by piece.

Along with its desperate, struggling thoughts, just like its fate when it had merged with the woman named Chu Wan, it had offered its soul and everything to a more powerful being.

But—

In its memories, Lin Ran did not find how a being like it had learned to descend perfectly like herself. All its memories before entering Nancheng were blank, with only the command 【Occupy Nancheng】 remaining in its mind.

She was still wondering if other abyss beings like herself had come to land when the much smaller human memory was turned up.

The most frequent character in it was, once again, familiar to Lin Ran. It was Lin Jingshu, the one she had smelled the monster’s scent on today, the one who had been pestering her jar spirit in the restaurant.

“Mmm…”

Just then, a faint hum came from the sofa.

Lin Ran turned her head and saw the tentacles wrapped around Shu Yao’s wrists, waist, and ankles like rings of various sizes. Thinking they had squeezed her too tightly, preventing her from breathing, she approached, intending to drive them away one by one. But then she saw one, hidden by her long hair, its movements looking very guilty—as it quietly slipped out from her collar.

Looking closer, the heart-shaped marks left by its suckers, from large to small, went down from the sleeping person’s collarbone, disappearing into the shadows beneath her pajama buttons. It was unknown how deep it had ventured before.

Sensing that its master’s expression had darkened, the tentacle nervously secreted a small ball of slime as a peace offering, then tried to wriggle back in to erase the marks it had accidentally left. But it was picked up by Lin Ran, who pinched its tip.

【Forget it,】 she said, but then she hung the plastic bag full of takeout trash on this tentacle as punishment, ordering it to hold it properly. 【Go out and clean up the kitchen waste first.】

Not long after, a “thump” sounded from the community’s trash can, a place even the stray cats didn’t frequent.

The tentacle, having obediently completed its trash-dumping task, automatically took out a wet wipe from the woman’s pocket and cleaned its tip. Only then did it aggrievedly rub against its master’s pinky finger, trying to regain her favor, but was nonchalantly flicked away by Lin Ran.

“Not done yet,” she said softly, retrieving Chu Wan’s address from her memory. She turned and walked in that direction, disappearing into the dim night. “Later, that unpalatable human, you’ll be in charge of eating her.”

The tentacle: ?

Thinking of the unpalatable taste of ordinary humans, it was greatly shocked, believing its crime did not warrant such a punishment.

However, its protest was in vain. Lin Ran clearly had no intention of changing her mind, letting it throw a tantrum as she crossed half the city to a single-person apartment building.

The electronic door lock automatically failed and opened. The woman strode into the elevator, and against a background of snowy static on the camera feed, she arrived at the door of the apartment where Chu Wan and Lin Jingshu lived. She politely raised her hand and knocked three times.

No one answered.

Lin Ran tilted her head slightly. Other tentacles, eager to join the spectacle, immediately shrank in size, like long needles, and deftly entered the keyhole. They were even prepared to capture the prey the moment the door opened and stuff it into the suckers of their punished companion, reenacting the classic scene of “Da Lang, it’s time for your medicine.”

Unfortunately.

Behind the door was only a quiet darkness.

Lin Ran stepped inside, smelling the lingering scent of the sea hare she had eaten, which had lived here for a long time. But Lin Jingshu, who was supposed to be waiting at home every night, forced to take care of her girlfriend, was nowhere to be found.

Although the windows were tightly shut, the room was in a mess. The shoe cabinet, cupboards, and closets were all in a state of having been ransacked, mostly empty.

She raised her eyebrows slightly. “Did she run away?”

At this very moment.

On the coastal highway bridge, a dark blue car was speeding along the road, relentlessly leaving Nancheng behind.

The moon, at some point, had been obscured by dark clouds. A fog had risen from the sea, which was the same color as the night, and was quietly encroaching on the coastal bridge, blown by the wind.

Even with the high beams on, Lin Jingshu soon found that the visibility on this highway tonight was gradually decreasing. She could only slowly reduce her speed, and at the same time, glanced at the rearview mirror. The landmark tall buildings of Nancheng were completely invisible.

Even though she guessed it was because of the fog, she still let out a huge sigh of relief.

The psychology of “successfully escaping Nancheng” brought her great mental relaxation. She pulled the car over to the emergency lane, took out a bag of bread and a bottle of mineral water from the back seat, and comforted her stomach, which had been empty for most of the day.

If she had known she could have run out today, she should have had a proper meal at Shu Yao’s blind date this afternoon.

Thinking of Shu Yao, she immediately thought of Chu Wan, the substitute she had found because of her—

Four years was enough for Lin Jingshu, after having won Shu Yao, this white moonlight, to finally cast her aside like a stale grain of rice on her lapel, because she could never completely mold her into the person she wanted her to be.

Shu Yao was beautiful, quiet, obedient, and had good grades, fitting all her fantasies of a campus goddess.

But when dating such a campus goddess, Lin Jingshu couldn’t stand her boring rules like “be home by ten on a date” and “girls shouldn’t learn to drink.” Even once, when she was overcome with emotion and wanted to kiss her, she was turned away, with the reason being “we haven’t even held hands, isn’t it not good to progress to this stage?”

She felt that Shu Yao was an AI come to life, completely disciplined by her extremely controlling mother to do everything according to a set program.

So boring.

Just a pretty vase, but also like an exhibit in a museum, only to be viewed through glass, not to be touched. What’s the point?

And then Chu Wan entered her line of sight.

She had a smile that was five parts similar to Shu Yao’s. The second time they met, in the alley behind a bar, she was wearing a hot mini skirt and kissed her passionately. The third time, they tumbled into bed.

Everything was so perfect.

If it weren’t for that damned typhoon…

Thinking of this, Lin Jingshu threw the empty bread bag and water bottle over the highway guardrail into the sea, her expression tinged with gritted teeth.

If she had known, she wouldn’t have been coaxed by Chu Wan into some outdoor play, insisting on going camping at some internet-famous spot.

When the typhoon came, Chu Wan was flushed and panting in the tent, listening to the sound of the falling rain, and insisted on going outside to wash up, clinging to her, wanting her to carry her out. But she hated getting her clothes wet, and in that instant, she thought with annoyance, if it were Shu Yao, she would definitely not be so fussy.

When it rained, Shu Yao was always the one to obediently hold an umbrella.

As she was lost in thought, lighting a cigarette, she heard the sound of the tent flap opening and closing. When Chu Wan came back in, she had completely changed.

…

“What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on me?”

“Don’t you love me the most? Didn’t you say you wanted to be with me forever and never be apart? Now I can be with you forever. Are you happy?”

“Jingshu, Jingshu, say you love me, say you love me the most, okay?”

Chu Wan, who had returned to her side, always smiled at her with her former most beautiful smile, and then green, slimy, terrifying wetness would flow from her eye sockets.

She even clung to Lin Jingshu as much as before, demanding more desire from her. But how could Lin Jingshu still be aroused by this monster, which could leave that slimy trail anywhere at any time?

If asked, she was abstinent. If asked again, her hand was injured.

Lin Jingshu’s rejections were pathetic. She didn’t even dare to look directly into those beautiful eyes, which could stare for a long time without blinking and had become eerie and terrifying.

Of course, she had tried to escape, but every time she went out, the same slime monsters would appear on the nearby streets. The passersby around her would be devoured in the blink of an eye. In the end, when only she was left, Chu Wan would walk out of the shadows.

Her white dress, like a blooming lotus, spread out on the mottled road, corroded by the slime. Chu Wan squatted down and smiled at Lin Jingshu again, while the slime monster group hovered around them, but never came any closer.

“See,” she extended her hand to Lin Jingshu, “it’s only safe by my side. Where do you want to run to?”

“You can’t escape.”

“We’re going to be together forever.”

Under her ever-present surveillance, Lin Jingshu had tried many methods, trying to find the slime monsters and their devouring limits. And in the fruit tea shop, Shu Yao’s strange umbrella was the only hope she had seen.

She knew that when she had messaged Shu Yao on that typhoon day, Chu Wan might have seen the “Her Highness” note on her phone, but for some reason, she had later turned her attention to Situ Jin.

At that time, Lin Jingshu had hoped that Situ Jin could last a little longer, giving her a chance to get that umbrella.

However, everything ended when she heard that Shu Yao was going to find Situ Jin.

They would all die.

And the only thing she could do was to leave Nancheng completely before the monster named [Chu Wan] reacted. Lin Jingshu could feel that the monster had to stay in that city for some reason.

Click

The lighter sparked faintly.

Lin Jingshu, who was now at the edge of the city, about a kilometer away from the toll booth, lit another cigarette for herself, but it wouldn’t light after several tries.

She was about to check if the lighter was out of fuel when she felt something soft and cold brush against her cheek.

Tsk.

The lighter’s flame belatedly lit up at this moment.

It illuminated what had touched her. It was a piece of pure black… cloth?

Strips of flowing cloth, like black gauze, floated on the deserted coastal bridge in the middle of the night, like curtains blown by the wind.

But how could curtains appear here?

Lin Jingshu stared at it for a while, perplexed. A moment later, she seemed to remember to look up to see where the curtains were hanging from. She looked up at the foggy sky.

The darkness stretched to infinity.

As if it had sensed this fleeting, tiny peek, the moment she looked up, the concrete darkness, which looked like silk cloth, suddenly stopped floating.

Her survival instinct, which had allowed Lin Jingshu to escape several life-and-death crises, screamed like a crazy alarm, urging her to run!

But her body had already succumbed to that crushing, indescribable fear.

Lin Jingshu could only watch as “it” slowly descended, covering her bit by bit, and then—

Devouring her.

The human leaning against the railing was covered by layers of curtain, and completely disappeared.

After a long time.

A strange sound of bones and skin being reassembled and reorganized came from the mist. The prey’s hair, flesh, bones, along with all its memories and emotions, were squeezed dry, not a single drop left, becoming “its” nourishment.

Until Lin Ran appeared in the rapidly flashing fragments of memory.

Along with her, there was another face, the one Lin Ran called “girlfriend,” who carried a part of Lin Ran’s body (the red umbrella) with her.

A human face.

In the darkness, “it” probably smiled a little.

“Your taste really is as… unimpressive as ever.”