Her Tentacles 38

Chapter 38: The Ball

The cruise ship’s ball was held at eight o’clock in the evening, in the Golden Hall where performances were usually held. And it was in the form of a masquerade ball. The guests on the cruise ship could prepare their own masks, or they could wait for the ball’s organizers to distribute them.

Everyone was very interested in this. By the time Shu Yao and the others arrived, the hall was already filled with gorgeously dressed participants.

Shu Yao had changed into the gray starry sky long dress that Situ Jin had given her before, paired with a pearl necklace and a pair of black high heels, which matched the style of the golden curtains, flower arrangements, and hanging rows of colored lights around the hall.

Of course.

What matched her even more was Lin Ran by her side.

A sleeveless little black dress of light-forged satin outlined her well-proportioned figure, perfectly showcasing the color and lines of her neck, collarbones, and shoulders. And the silver-gray high heels she wore also had a low-key luxurious feel.

Her usual black hair was now all tied up, gathered in a hat with a black gauze-like flower, with half of her face hidden by the thin gauze, making her beauty even more sharp and striking than usual.

And all of these were the results of Situ Jin’s friendly sponsorship of a stylist.

At this moment, the four of them were standing at the entrance, waiting to receive the free masks distributed by the cruise ship’s organizers. The masks looked very exquisite, blue, transparent, light purple, with ribbon-like dangling beads, beautiful and ethereal.

Shu Yao heard the tourists in front of them all praising the masks, and some even asked the waiter if they could take the masks back as a souvenir after the ball.

The waiter smiled and replied, “Of course, this is a special surprise for every guest. You can naturally take it back as a souvenir.”

She poked her head out curiously to look.

But she saw a light blue mask that had just been picked up by a female guest. The flowing tassels at the end, like a string of beads, were blown up by the wind as she walked, and as she put it on her face, they came to life like stinging tentacles and pierced into the back of her neck—

Shu Yao: “!”

…

However, no one around saw this scene.

Shu Yao blinked hard and subconsciously tightened her grip on Lin Ran’s arm. When her girlfriend leaned over and silently asked her what was wrong, Shu Yao suddenly loosened her grip.

Auditory hallucinations were already crazy enough. With visual hallucinations on top of that, it would be impossible to explain, right?

She shook her head, blinked, and asked her friend, “Jin, didn’t you have someone prepare masks? I think I’d rather try the style you prepared.”

Situ Jin, wearing a champagne-colored long dress, like a walking flower of wealth, raised her index finger and touched her chin slightly. “But the ones prepared by the organizers are also quite beautiful. It’s a bit beyond my expectations. I kind of want to use the ones they gave.”

Shu Yao was at a loss for words.

Seeing that it was almost their turn, and not knowing what to say, Lin Ran, who was next to her, suddenly took a few steps forward and reached out to take the waiter’s mask before Situ Jin could.

The smile on the face of the person holding the mask stiffened.

Lin Ran raised an eyebrow slowly.

A moment later, the transparent, motionless mask was hesitantly placed in her palm. However, almost at the moment it touched her skin, it made a “crack” sound and split in half like glass.

“Huh? It’s broken. Can you give me another one?” she imitated Shu Yao’s usual innocent expression and looked at the waiter with a pure expression.

The waiter: “…”

He almost gritted his teeth, as if he wanted to pounce on Lin Ran and die with her. He secretly glanced in Mu Qing’s direction, but got no reaction.

So he endured the humiliation and protested silently for a long time, but couldn’t stop Lin Ran from reaching out to the table where the masks were placed—

Crack.

Crack, crack.

A series of crisp sounds rang out. Lin Ran showed a surprised expression, turned her head to look at the three of them, especially Mu Qing. “It seems the quality of these masks is not very good.”

Ever since she had watched that magnificent spectacle of jellyfish with Shu Yao in the bathroom that night, Lin Ran had guessed that this group of special jellyfish, released from the abyss, might have a special purpose.

But even if they were from the abyss, and had been stained with a different aura, they were no different from those low-level parasites. It was absolutely not that simple to completely hide their aura and descend upon humans like herself.

Just like now—

Appearing in front of her in their original form, they didn’t even have the qualification to be on her menu, and could only be reduced to being crushed.

Situ Jin, who saw the masks break one by one: “…”

She had clearly seen Lin Ran’s thumb and index finger slightly twist the mask when she took the second one.

So her expression was subtle as she looked at Mu Qing, who was being provoked. Seeing her face slightly stiffen, she turned her head to look at her friend. In Shu Yao’s equally surprised expression, she covered her lips with her hand and said very lightly:

“I can’t believe it. Director Lin has this hidden talent?”

Shu Yao, who was inexplicably relieved and knew that Situ Jin would no longer be interested in these masks, subconsciously replied, “What talent?”

Situ Jin: “Lin Daiyu pulling up a weeping willow?”

Shu Yao: “?”

Not expecting Lin Ran to have such ‘great strength,’ Situ Jin made a pained expression. A moment later, she patted her friend’s shoulder earnestly and changed her line of thinking. “It’s okay. It’s also good to be a pillow princess.”

Shu Yao: “??”

In short, the four of them ended up wearing the golden masks that Situ Jin had prepared. She had had them delivered by helicopter this afternoon.

As Shu Yao curiously caressed the intricate patterns on them and asked her why she had chosen four different ones, Situ Jin casually explained:

“This is a special collection created by a master of gold craftsmanship from abroad. But to reduce the weight, only the outermost layer is plated with gold, which is more in line with the current aesthetic and more trendy. Don’t you think it’s younger? Pure gold looks like it was just dug out of a pharaoh’s tomb.”

Shu Yao, who had already put down her hand after tying the ribbon, raised her hand again and held the bottom of the mask’s nose bridge, this time with both hands.

For some reason, she felt that this mask was as heavy as a mountain.

But Situ Jin had already stepped into the ballroom, and Mu Qing followed closely behind, so she could only pull Lin Ran in with her.

Almost as soon as they entered, the main lights of the ballroom were turned off. In the darkened background, a spotlight shone on the host on the stage. He announced in a high-spirited tone that tonight’s masquerade ball was about to begin—

“But before we start, to add to the fun of tonight’s ball, there is a rule on the dance floor. After two minutes, when the drummer beats the drum, every pair of dance partners must switch partners. You can’t dance with the same person from beginning to end!”

“I know that among our guests, there must be some who are devoted to only one person, and there are also couples who are as steadfast as gold. But this is just a game. I hope it will become a little interlude that adds spice to your relationship. So, please enjoy tonight’s carnival!”

He placed his right hand on his heart, and as he bowed and retreated, the spotlight also went out with a “pop.” In its place were the rotating disco balls high above, and the light bulbs and light strips hanging on all four sides, twinkling like little stars.

And the first randomly played song was actually “Just One Last Dance.”

Hearing this song, Shu Yao inexplicably felt that the organizers seemed to be sure that tonight’s ball would only last for this one last song.

…

“Just one last dance—”

As the ethereal and moving female voice sounded, Shu Yao, in the dim darkness, turned her head to look in Situ Jin’s direction, but her waist was already held by Lin Ran.

Their waists were pressed tightly together. Although she knew she was lying and had not lost that ‘auditory hallucination’ ability, perhaps it was because of what she had heard during the day that she was so nervous about her friend now. But Lin Ran still wouldn’t let her move her attention away from herself.

Her red lips, through the veil, kissed Shu Yao’s ear, a slightly rough kiss. She asked with a smile, “It hasn’t even been two minutes, and my girlfriend is already looking for her next dance partner?”

Shu Yao’s eyes widened in a daze, and she shook her head in confusion.

In fact, she hadn’t danced for a long time. Only when she was a child had Mrs. Shu sent her to a dance class to practice for a while to improve her posture and cultivate her temperament. But later, Mrs. Shu heard that those non-standard dance classes would deform a child’s spine, so she unilaterally canceled this interest class for her.

But now, in the rhythm of the people around her, and under Lin Ran’s extremely good guidance, she had found the feeling of dancing again.

The star-shaped light strips around them flickered with the rhythm of the dance, like fireflies in the dark.

Shu Yao was briefly immersed in it. In the one-two-two rhythm, when Lin Ran’s silver high heels advanced, she retreated.

She unintentionally blocked a man who was about to walk toward Situ Jin.

Lin Ran retreated, and she took a step forward, twirling under her raised arm. The gray skirt bloomed like a flower, forcing a woman who was trying to pass between them to stop abruptly.

By the time she was pulled back into her girlfriend’s arms and bent back—

From Shu Yao’s point of view, she could finally see clearly that the person who had walked up to Situ Jin was Mu Qing.

Thump!

The drum also sounded at this time.

“Just one last dance/”

Shu Yao turned and walked toward Mu Qing. She couldn’t take care of both Situ Jin and Lin Ran at the same time, so she could only choose to face the most dangerous character herself.

If there was a one in a million chance that her hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, and paranoia were real, then she also wanted to stop Mu Qing’s terrible plan against Situ Jin.

Under her dress, she had secretly tied a bottle of pepper spray, but she didn’t know how effective it would be.

“before we say goodbye/”

The moment Shu Yao left, Lin Ran, who wanted to follow her, was stopped by several people at the same time, and they all exuded a strong aura of the abyss.

“when we sway and turn around and round and round/”

Mu Qing, who was about to walk up to Situ Jin, was suddenly pulled by someone. She turned around and looked at Shu Yao, who had come to her. Her lips moved, and she hummed along with the song in the background of the dance floor:

“It’s like the first time/”

In the tune after the lyrics were sung.

Mu Qing looked at Shu Yao, who had come to her, and smiled softly. She said to her, “You’re still the same as before, Yaoyao.” Always trying to make everyone happy, but only ignoring yourself.

Shu Yao’s face changed slightly when she heard her call her name. Then she saw her bow to her new dancer like a gentleman and make an inviting gesture.

But her words were: “But your choices always seem to be wrong. It was the same before, and it’s the same now—”

“Before you dance this dance with me, won’t you look back?”

As her voice fell, Shu Yao heard more voices.

【Stupid, so stupid a human.】

【Then this gift from the Situ family, we will accept it.】

She turned her head hastily and saw that many of the dancers in the ballroom had long since stopped dancing. Under the cover of the shadows, they surrounded Situ Jin. They were clearly wearing transparent masks, but their expressions were as if they were covered by a thick fog, making it impossible to see them clearly. Only their figures were like dense puppets, crowding up like a tide.

And in the direction she had left, there were also large groups of people gathering toward Lin Ran. They were not even wearing gorgeous dance clothes, and when they gathered, they exuded a strong stench.

“Which one will you choose, my princess?” The smile on Mu Qing’s lips deepened. Paired with the blue diamond earrings she was wearing tonight, and the light scattered from the dance floor, it shone on Shu Yao’s increasingly pale face.

“Or, just choose me?” she asked.

But she looked straight into Shu Yao’s eyes and sent another sentence to her heart:

【Because in front of you, behind you, to your left, and to your right, is all the abyss.】