Her Tentacles 36

Chapter 36: Hallucinations

Lin Ran’s voice was as gentle as ever. “What sound?”

Shu Yao’s expression was a little dazed. Her light-colored pupils seemed to have lost their focus. She sat in her arms, listening to those soft, whispering sounds.

【Hear?】

Her thin lips also opened and closed, repeating this broken word. “Hear?”

【Me?】

“Me?”

【Jar spirit? Hear me?!】

“Jar spirit? Hear me?”

The deep sea at night, the pouring rain, the swaying ship—all these images fit the narrative rhythm of a horror story. Perhaps at this very moment, on this ship, in the darkness of the bilge where the crew had never reached, a monster was being held, whispering to the one who could hear its voice.

The more Shu Yao said, the more afraid she became. She even felt that Lin Ran’s embrace had become unprecedentedly cold, making her feel as if she were being entangled by a creature that had come ashore from the deep sea. Even the palm of her hand, resting on the other’s forearm, was slipping, covered in a slippery cold sweat.

As her fear grew, her face became paler.

At this moment, she was like a faded rose, about to wither and turn pale.

And Lin Ran, from the words she had just repeated, had completely figured out what had happened—Shu Yao had heard the voices of her tentacles.

No longer caring, she cupped the other’s neck with her palm, as if holding the throat of a fragile bird, and pulled Shu Yao completely into her embrace.

Then, Lin Ran suppressed the consciousness of her tentacles with the will of her main brain, keeping their activities completely still.

She gently rubbed her girlfriend’s forehead with her chin. As the lights on the ship swayed with the waves, causing the light reflected from the window to flicker, her pleasant voice softened, as if with a soothing quality:

“Don’t be afraid. I’m with you.”

However, Shu Yao, in her fear, only became more suspicious. She couldn’t help but wonder, was it her illusion? Why, after hearing such a thing, could her girlfriend’s comforting voice and emotions be exactly the same as before, without the slightest difference?

Lin Ran, doesn’t she find it strange?

Isn’t she afraid?

…

In fear, while the body loses heat, the brain becomes extremely clear.

After Shu Yao began to suspect Lin Ran, she couldn’t help but clench her fists, forcing herself not to think like that.

Her whole body was like a baby in the womb, wanting to curl up and shrink into her arms. The more she tried to convince herself not to let her imagination run wild, the louder her heartbeat became, like a drum.

“Is there… a ghost on this ship?”

Stories like Ghost Baby, related to dead children, all entered her mind. Shu Yao was so scared by this association that she didn’t know how to be safe.

And in this kind of horror story, even if you heard those voices just now, you shouldn’t answer, shouldn’t reply, because those unclean things originally lived in a different dimension from humans. If they knew you could see and hear them, they would latch onto you.

Shu Yao’s tone was mournful. “Wuwu, should I not have said it?”

Lin Ran’s other hand patted her back lightly, her tone coaxing, “Probably not. Didn’t Situ Jin say that this is a new ship and a new route that just started its trial run this year?”

After a pause, she said, “Maybe you were just having a nightmare just now? Listen carefully again. Is there still a sound?”

Shu Yao didn’t want to listen at all.

She was scared to death.

But her hearing was now unprecedentedly sensitive. She couldn’t help but capture all the sounds in the air: the sound of the raindrops, the sound of the big lights swaying outside, the sound of someone passing by in the corridor, her own heartbeat…

The rustling sound of children talking had indeed disappeared.

But, why were the two of them so close, yet she couldn’t hear Lin Ran’s breathing?

Shu Yao’s throat tightened. She buried her head in her neck like an ostrich. “Lin Ran, can you hold me a little tighter?”

“I’m so cold…”

Because Shu Yao’s fear was too strong, and Lin Ran couldn’t raise her body temperature enough to make her feel warm, she finally had to carry her into the bathtub, turn up the water temperature, and soak in it together.

The transparent water continuously flowed into the bathtub, and when it was full, it overflowed from the sides and flowed into the drain.

Shu Yao had never liked such a small and crowded place so much. It could only accommodate the two of them, and Lin Ran’s embrace was tight, as if as long as she nodded, she could turn into an even softer existence and completely envelop her—

The warm water vapor misted her eyes. Her tense nerves were soothed and relaxed by the constantly flowing hot water, and even the noise of the pouring rain outside became smaller.

The world was so peaceful and serene.

Shu Yao leaned against her girlfriend’s arms, closed her eyes, and said in a spoiled tone, “Can I sleep here tonight?”

“You can,” Lin Ran pecked at her eyebrows, one by one, her tone full of doting and indulgence. “I won’t let you fall into the water.”

Shu Yao’s lips curved into a smile.

She loved how her girlfriend would agree to anything she said, as if she wanted the moon in the sky, and Lin Ran would pluck it for her.

Perhaps this was the most willful she had been since she could remember. Although she knew she couldn’t soak in the water for too long, and couldn’t develop the dangerous bad habit of sleeping in the bathtub, she just suddenly wanted to do it.

The rebellious phase that Mrs. Shu had strictly guarded against for so many years had finally arrived in Shu Yao’s twenty-seventh year, after she had left.

Before this, Shu Yao had always thought that the most rebellious thing she had ever done was to secretly date Lin Jingshu behind her parents’ backs.

However, her relationship with the other person was not what she had imagined. Being with such an unconventional person, Shu Yao still did not get the freedom she wanted.

She had originally thought that being with a bird that could fly freely outside was already her escape from the cage. But at that time, she still tacitly allowed those chains to be wrapped around her feet. No matter how far she flew, she still returned to the nest on time every day.

It wasn’t until she met Lin Ran that the invisible shackles and restraints on her seemed to loosen a little.

In this sudden wave of emotion, Shu Yao murmured, “Won’t I get wrinkled?”

Lin Ran chuckled softly, as if she were also confused. “Then what should we do?”

Her voice was low, like a cello slowly playing in an orchestra. “Mmm… before you get wrinkled, I’ll scoop you up, dry you off, change you into your pajamas, and then put you in bed. How about that?”

Shu Yao nodded happily and replied with spoiled arrogance, “Approved.”

…

And so she really did fall asleep in the bathtub in the end.

And when she woke up, she saw another sunrise over the sea, burning like fire.

Shu Yao felt as if all the bad luck on her body had been washed away by last night’s heavy rain and the hot water in the bathtub. In order to avoid any possible mishaps, she took the initiative to suggest going to experience the breakfast at those restaurants with Lin Ran.

Lin Ran gladly agreed.

In the end, they chose an English breakfast restaurant and sat down facing the sea. At this moment, the waves were very small, showing no sign of the furious rage that had brought down the downpour last night.

Lin Ran said she was going to the restroom. While she was waiting, a waiter came to pour milk for Shu Yao, his movements standard, his etiquette perfect.

A voice sounded beside her.

【Not even worthy of becoming one of us, covered in that creature’s scent. Just an ordinary human. Apart from those non-picky low-level races, who would choose such a human with no social status and no special skills?】

【That’s right. Not even qualified to be descended upon by us.】

【So annoying. The scent on her is too strong. Can’t we just kill her?】

The last sentence made Shu Yao’s body tense up in an instant, thinking that there was some perverted murderer lurking on this ship.

Her movement was so tense that she even knocked over the milk cup the waiter was pouring. The cup tipped over, spilling onto the tablecloth.

【Ah, just such a clumsy human who would even knock over a cup.】

The waiter looked at her politely. “Is something wrong, miss?”

As he asked with a smile, Shu Yao’s eyes became even more as if she had seen a ghost.

Because she found that one of the several voices she had just heard came from the waiter in front of her.

The other person didn’t seem to understand her actions and still asked in Mandarin, “Is the milk not to your liking? Would you like to change to another drink with your meal?”

【Why is she looking at me like that? Did she find something out?】

Shu Yao could no longer care about why her auditory hallucinations hadn’t been cured, and had even gotten worse, to the point where she was starting to create strange conspiracy theories for strangers. She should have been better after such a comfortable sleep.

She shook her head hastily and wanted to leave this restaurant in a hurry to find Lin Ran.

And the waiter who had poured her milk stood there without moving, staring at her as she walked away.

As she was about to walk out of the restaurant, Shu Yao bumped into someone.

“Why are you running in such a hurry? Where are you going?”

A familiar voice sounded in front of her. It was Mu Qing.

At this moment, she was wearing a casual plaid suit, and had stopped Shu Yao. After making sure she was steady, she politely withdrew her hand.

Her smiling words, accompanied by her magnified, slightly masculine face, appeared in front of her. At a time like this, meeting an acquaintance, a sense of security arose.

Shu Yao let out a huge sigh of relief and heard her ask, “Why are you looking at me like that? Where’s your girlfriend?”

“She went to—” Shu Yao’s words were halfway through when she heard another voice sound. At such a close distance, it was enough for her to judge that the source of the voice was on Mu Qing.

【Mmm… the lingering scent of that creature on her is getting stronger. What an interesting human.】

Shu Yao completely forgot the rest of her sentence.

Her lips were just open, her expression like a startled rabbit.

“Mmm?” Mu Qing asked curiously. “Where did she go?”

Shu Yao stumbled over her words. “The restroom.”

【So easy to deceive. That creature clearly went to ‘sneak a bite.’ Only this fool would believe such a lie, right? Mmm, but it was like this before too. She clearly found many suspicious points about her girlfriend’s ‘cheating,’ but she had to wait until she saw it with her own eyes to believe it.】

Bang!

It was Shu Yao, who had involuntarily stepped back and hit her head on the sign hanging on the restaurant wall.

“Are you okay?” Mu Qing raised her hand in concern, as if she wanted to see if she had hit it.

However, to her surprise, Shu Yao took a large step back with an exaggerated movement, and almost retreated back into the restaurant.

She thought she was going crazy.

Auditory hallucinations were one thing, and making up random scripts for others was another—

Now her condition had worsened!

But why!

Why did the contents of this other voice, which she had heard coming from Mu Qing, actually appear in Lin Jingshu’s voice?!