Her Tentacles 4

Chapter 4: The Movie

By the time they paid the bill and walked out of the restaurant, Shu Yao’s shoulders were slumped. The chain strap of her bag was about to slip off when the person beside her instinctively caught the round, shimmering object within her line of sight.

It was only then that Lin Ran noticed her face was the faded color of dying coral beneath the sea—wilted and pale.

Shu Yao: “!”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw those fingertips, seemingly carved by the gods themselves, rest on her shoulder through the fabric of her shirt. She couldn’t help but recall her earlier presumptuous thoughts, but guilt over having ruined the date took precedence. In the end, she spoke apologetically.

“I’m sorry… Next time, I’ll try harder to find a restaurant with food you like.”

The black-haired woman’s fingertips toyed distractedly with the round pearls, watching them roll over the seams of Shu Yao’s blouse, along the upper edge of her scapula, and slip little by little into the space between the red collar, the anatomical notch of her neck, and her clavicle…

“You don’t need to apologize.”

She said, “I was very happy to be here tonight.”

Witnessing a delectable prey mature—nothing could satisfy me more.

Shu Yao’s back tensed, her voice trembling. “B-But you didn’t eat your fill. Aren’t you hungry?”

As the words fell, the other woman’s movements stopped abruptly.

By then, one of the pearls had disappeared under the turned-down collar of her shirt, getting caught right near the skin of her clavicle, where the nerves were most concentrated. Every breath she took was met with a light but persistent pressure.

But Lin Ran wasn’t looking at her.

The empty sac of her stomach and the mimetic tentacles that constantly matched the color of their surroundings were clamoring in unison:

[Hungry! So hungry, so hungry, so hungry!]
[Food! Food!]
[Food ran away!]

It was dinnertime, and the mall’s food court was bustling with people. The scents were a chaotic mix. The prey that had left its scent in the ventilation duct was now gone.

Gulp.

A swallow moved down her pale neck.

Her faint shadow by the restaurant entrance suddenly dispersed into a chaotic blur.

“I am hungry,” she answered.

The next moment, she put her hand back into the pocket of her gray trench coat, her dark eyes scanning the walkway outside the restaurant. “Wait for me here for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

Shu Yao snapped back to attention. “I can go with you—”

“There’s no need.” Lin Ran cut her off, moving closer. Strands of her inky hair fell, obscuring her beautiful eyes and smile. Her beauty was suddenly like a painting viewed through a screen, possessing a hazy, unreal quality.

She explained in a gentle voice, “Actually, I get shy when people watch me eat.”

“So just wait for me here, alright?”

…

Outside the mall, the rain was a downpour.

Tonight, in the suburbs of Nancheng, all sins could be concealed by the rain.

Next to a green dumpster outside a service corridor, dark red blood was swept away by the gushing water, rushing toward a nearby storm drain and disappearing into the underground passages, from which a thundering sound like a raging river emanated.

A little closer, and one could see a figure hunched over by the plastic bags in the dumpster, gnawing on bones and tearing at flesh and blood.

Crack, crack.

As it fed with relish, eight thin, long, white limbs unfurled, each leg stretching out to a length greater than an adult’s height.

“Tsk.”

A sound of disgust came from behind.

The monster, wearing a human skin and feasting happily, instantly looked up, its head turning a full one hundred and eighty degrees. Its pupils, devoid of whites, saw the one who had disturbed it.

The other woman stood under a black umbrella, her slim gray trench coat reaching her calves. The hem was a darker shade, as if she had walked a long way, stained by the wind and rain. Yet, its owner was exceptionally leisurely, her hands in her pockets as she sized it up.

…Wait.

What is she using to hold up that umbrella?

The monster, wearing broken glasses and revealing chelicerae, maxillary lobes, and a mouth composed of several lips, focused its gaze. Near the umbrella handle, which was suspended in mid-air, it saw translucent… tentacles?

Its maxillary lobes moved, and it chose to communicate using a human vocal cord. “S-Same… kind?”

The other woman paid it no heed. Beneath her thick, long lashes, in the center of her dark eyes, the bright silver that symbolized her pupils slowly elongated into a U-shape. She sighed to herself in distress, “Why did it have to be a type with so little meat?”

…..

Lin Ran was annoyed.

She was an extremely picky eater.

Unlike these lower-level species that walked the land and treated humans as their menu, she looked down on the numerous but mediocre-tasting humans, and she was tired of every species in the sea.

After her arrival, she had been prepared to starve to death because humans were so unpalatable. That was until she accidentally discovered that humans who had been parasitized by these creatures were like cordyceps—the combination of the Ophiocordyceps fungus and the ghost moth larva—a delicacy she had never tasted before!

Moreover, the longer the humans were parasitized, the more they were like slowly cured bacon or red wine sealed in rubber barrels in a cellar. The moment they entered her mouth, her taste buds were instantly conquered.

So fragrant, so fragrant, so fragrant!

A new item had finally appeared on the picky eater’s long-blank menu.

Unfortunately.

Tonight, Lin Ran felt her luck was bad. She had finally cornered her newest food reserve, only to find it was a sea spider with more limbs than meat.

The disappointment in her eyes was like that of a human slaughtering a pig for the New Year, only to find that after a full inspection of the pen, the only one available was a piglet weighing less than fifty pounds.

“A feast like the one before is truly rare.”

The black-haired beauty murmured, firmly committing the location of that banquet to memory: the Sheraton.

Then, she turned briskly. The hem of her gray trench coat swung in an arc under the umbrella, the dark fabric lifting to reveal the mimetic, translucent tentacles spread out beneath it. They playfully flicked away the falling raindrops.

“Good thing I just found another dish.”

She announced in a cheerful tone, “Let’s eat that one first.”

The black umbrella swayed gently, in time with the translucent tentacles, which writhed like seaweed in a silent celebration.

…

Swish.

At some point, the sea spider, which had been completely ignored, angrily swung its long limbs. Eight bamboo-like appendages cut through the wind and rain, aiming for the back of her neck!

“Beep! Beep!”

A car horn blared from a distant corner, its high beams piercing the curtain of rain and flashing through the alley like a startled swan.

Two shadows were illuminated on the wall of the mall.

One standing, one kneeling.

Several long spikes surrounded them like a sea urchin, and in the center, a slender, thin shadow connected the two.

Within a hundredth of a second, the thin shadow withdrew, separating from the flesh and blood with a lingering reluctance.

The translucent tentacles, the same color as the rain, were now stained with scarlet blood. They curled up, drawing the drops of blood into their suckers. As they fed intently, their camouflage, which they had no time to maintain, fell away, revealing a brilliant, mottled red and black.

Then, the curled tentacles stiffened.

[Ptooey!]

The beautiful woman was amused. She raised a hand to stroke the soft limb that quickly and pitifully wrapped around her wrist, seeking comfort.

“I told you, this one hasn’t been marinated enough.”

She turned her head slightly, her gaze sweeping over the figure behind her. Though kneeling, it was unconscious, with only a purple mark spreading on its shoulder. After a moment, her tone held a note of comfort, but her eyes held the inorganic indifference of a non-human.

“It’s alright. I’ve already marked it.”

“It will be delicious in a few days.”

……

Inside the mall.

Shu Yao, sitting alone in the cinema’s waiting area, stared at her phone. She seemed focused, but in reality, she was just spacing out, watching the time.

She never thought Lin Ran would be so concerned with her image. She had only ever seen online the type of person who refused to be seen without makeup by their partner, or who ate in tiny bites to appear to have a small appetite.

Then again, with a face that could hold its own in the entertainment industry, what kind of table manners could Lin Ran possibly have that she would be too embarrassed to let her see?

She looked good no matter what she did.

“Miss?”

A strange voice in front of her pulled her back to attention.

Shu Yao looked up and saw a girl with a ponytail who had sat down next to her turn and ask, “Are you waiting for someone?”

She held out two tickets. “My friend and I just accidentally bought the wrong tickets. If you haven’t seen a movie or bought tickets yet, you can have these.”

Shu Yao, who had been taught since childhood that “nothing is free,” stiffened.

She reflexively started to shake her head—

But a long, slender hand reached out first, taking the two tickets. “Alright, thank you.”

The voice, as pleasant as a babbling brook, made a stray wisp of hair on Shu Yao’s head tremble. Her eyes lit up as she looked at the newcomer. “Lin Ran.”

Beside her, a sharp intake of breath was heard.

The girl who had given them the tickets looked at her, then at the black-haired woman standing nearby, and quickly pinched her friend’s thigh. “We hit the jackpot. We gave them to two gorgeous women.”

Her friend nodded in agreement. “I’ve lived a life of good deeds just to witness this moment.”

Shu Yao: “…”

Lin Ran chuckled softly. She flipped the tickets over, her brow twitching as she saw the movie title and runtime. “Perfect. It’s raining heavily outside, and we’ll have enough time for me to take you home after the movie. Want to see it?”

This time, the sharp intake of breath turned into a small shriek.

Amidst the strange atmosphere of the two girls shaking each other’s hands and squealing “I ship it,” Shu Yao, her mind a mess and her face bright red, nodded.

…

“Giant Beast of the Deep… I saw its online rating is 2.4. Are you sure you want to see this?”

Ten minutes before the movie started.

Thinking of the terrible restaurant she had chosen earlier, Shu Yao didn’t want to add another negative example to today’s date. She confirmed with Lin Ran again and again.

“I like this genre.”

Genre?

The light-haired girl stood near the line, recalling the reviews and summary she had found. It was a story about humans dumping nuclear waste into the ocean, causing sea creatures to mutate and grow abnormally large, come ashore to take over, and eliminate humanity.

“So, you like post-apocalyptic stories?” she asked tentatively.

“Is this post-apocalyptic?” Lin Ran’s smile was radiant. Her misty black eyes, which seemed capable of swallowing all light, looked at her as if they were about to swallow her whole. “I think it’s reality.”

“…”

Shu Yao was speechless for a moment, then inexplicably averted her gaze. “You’re right. The movie’s setting perfectly aligns with reality. The news is full of overseas underwater volcanic eruptions and all sorts of turmoil, plus the extreme weather outside. It never rains this heavily in May—”

“It wouldn’t even be surprising if monsters appeared. But, would monsters really eat people?”

She muttered, as if it were a bored conjecture meant only for herself.

But her girlfriend still answered patiently. Perhaps because Shu Yao wasn’t looking at her, she felt her tone wasn’t as gentle as usual.

“Survival of the fittest is the most primitive law. The party that is powerless to resist has no grounds to complain, even if it’s served on a platter, does it?”

……

“And then?”

10:05 PM.

Shu Yao, who had already returned home and was sitting in the entryway changing her shoes, placed her phone on the floor on speaker. Over the sound of her best friend’s eager questioning, she replied in a relaxed tone, “There is no ‘and then.’ After the movie, she took me home. Since we parted, haven’t I been satisfying your curiosity?”

Situ Jin’s tone was exaggerated and incredulous. “Two single women, a confirmed relationship, mutual affection, and you’re telling me you’re still acting like elementary schoolers on a field trip, going your separate ways at ten o’clock after a date?”

“What about the nightlife of adults!”

Shu Yao: “…”

She was so flustered by the shouting that her ears turned red. She didn’t know how to respond.

But then Situ Jin abruptly changed tack. “Forget it. It’s a good thing she respects you like this. Better than you-know-who, who would just take you to those messy places every day.”

“But you need to be a little more proactive in your relationship. Even though she’s highly educated, beautiful, and has you completely smitten, you still need to keep your eyes open. If you find any fatal flaws and you’re not a good match, if you’re going to break up, do it after you’ve slept with her, you know?”

Shu Yao: “…?”

She felt like she’d been run over by a truck.

“She doesn’t have any flaws like that.” Shu Yao’s gaze shifted as she quietly defended her girlfriend, but her mind conjured the scene of Lin Ran leaving and coming back.

She said it was still raining heavily outside.

Where did she go?

“Really? I don’t believe you. Give me more details.” Situ Jin was like an old farmer worried about his prize cabbage leaving the farm, unwilling to let a single second of her retelling go unscrutinized, wishing she could examine Lin Ran with a magnifying glass.

The person on this end of the line opened her notes app. While evasively saying there were no more details, she looked at the new preferences she had recorded about Lin Ran.

Likes cured meat.
Likes her beef well-done.
Likes post-apocalyptic or deep-sea movies.
Likes cordyceps (?)

The last question mark made her hesitate, but she still asked her friend, “By the way, do you know where I can buy high-quality cordyceps?”

“I think a client gave my dad some. Let me check for you later.” Situ Jin answered out of habit, then realized. “Wait, why are you suddenly asking about this? Are you giving it as a gift to some male boss?”

Shu Yao didn’t understand. “Lin Ran seems to like it… Why would it be a gift for a male boss?”

Situ Jin: “Because that stuff is for nourishing deficiencies and boosting virility—damn! No wonder she was willing to take you home at ten o’clock!”

“…Huh?”

“What ‘huh’? I was wondering why someone so highly educated and beautiful would need to go to a matchmaking event. So, she’s frigid, a vase that’s all looks and no substance!” Situ Jin was profoundly shaken by her deduction.

Shu Yao, once again hit by the R-rated topic: “Huh??”

“Tsk, but even if she doesn’t have the energy to be the top, she can still be the bottom. Don’t tell me she can’t do it and refuses to be the bottom? Ah, it’s no use just guessing. An incompatible nightlife is a major taboo. Why don’t you test her out soon?”

Shu Yao, her face beet red, let out a third shocked: “Huh???”

Me?

Me, be the top?

The image of Lin Ran’s beautiful, seaweed-like black hair spread out on the bed popped into her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut in shame, her toes curling and gripping the floor in her slippers. But a pink blush was already creeping up her ankles.

…That could work, she thought.