Her Tentacles 74

Chapter 74: The Problem

Go back to the abyss?

When Shu Yao heard the third option given by Lin Ran, her first reaction was: she really wants me to die.

What was the difference between being drowned by the sea and being done to death by choosing the other two answers?

Even though Shu Yao’s mental energy was now different from that of an ordinary person, her body had not yet turned into the structure of a sea fish. She didn’t have the tough skin that could withstand the pressure of the seawater, nor did she have the bone density that would allow her to float in the water—

Her expression was dazed. She met those black eyes and was at a loss for words for a moment.

Lin Ran quite liked her appearance of having shed her cold disguise and showing her truest emotions. So she kissed the corner of her eye again, with a posture of being unable to put down a beloved treasure.

“It’s not what you think,” she said.

Then what is it?

Shu Yao was a little puzzled, but she didn’t want to ask. The reason she was willing to be held quietly by Lin Ran was because maintaining this posture could prevent her from being pulled back into the abyss of desire by the monster’s tentacles. The waves that had been pushed up one after another just now had almost suffocated her, and she wanted to stop for a while.

So she rested her head against the woman’s cool neck, her forehead pressed against her shoulder, and replied cooperatively, “Oh.”

Noticing her perfunctory and absent-mindedness.

Lin Ran’s eyebrows twitched slightly, and then the tentacles that had been in her girlfriend’s body became restless again, making Shu Yao suddenly raise her head and urgently grab her shoulder, her expression burning as she replied:

“Don’t—”

“Let’s—let’s continue… continue talking about the abyss… I—I want to hear this, okay?”

Lin Ran looked at her leisurely. “It’s not good to be distracted. Let’s finish this, and then talk about the next thing, okay?”

Shu Yao: “!”

Can this thing even be finished?!

…

The sky outside the community was slightly bright.

Seeing that the sun was about to rise, the moon had no intention of giving way and was still eyeing this land covetously. Unfortunately, its prying gaze and pollution, which could penetrate ordinary buildings and cloth coverings, could no longer capture the figure of its most beloved sacrifice.

Because the scent of the one the [Lighthouse] most detested was completely hiding the other.

On the top floor, in the living room.

Shu Yao felt as if she were a piece of meat in a food processing factory, about to be made into meatballs, and had been repeatedly pounded. Every bone in her body was sore and weak.

She didn’t know if it was because Lin Ran was unwilling, or if even the mucus that could restore her constitution and heal her wounds could not be secreted. In short, Shu Yao felt that she was really about to die.

She would rather go on a field mission all night.

She didn’t want to do this anymore.

And now, extremely tired, she closed her eyes. She vaguely felt herself being picked up and finally soaked in the warm water of the bathtub. Shu Yao did not open her eyes.

She heard Lin Ran suddenly ask in her ear again, “Yaoyao, how about I eat you whole?”

Shu Yao answered her without even lifting her eyes. 【Fine.】

As long as it’s not the way it was just now, anything is fine.

Lin Ran sensed that she had been done to the point of being lifeless and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Then she reached out and tied up her long hair, lest it get wet in the bathtub.

After knowing that Shu Yao disliked these mutation abilities and wanted to exist as an ordinary human as much as possible, Lin Ran had been trying to reduce the influence of her abilities on her.

Not letting those mucus stain her skin.

Even later, she had only used the fingers of this human body to touch her.

By the time she had finished washing her and had carried her to the bed in the bedroom, Lin Ran finally spoke again:

“I’m going out for a bit.”

“You sleep for a while first. When you wake up, you can answer my question again.”

Shu Yao was too tired and sleepy.

Her head felt like paste and couldn’t turn at all. So even though she realized the meaning of Lin Ran’s words, she had no time to ponder it and fell asleep to repair her tired body.

She slept until night.

When she woke up, she vaguely heard the sound of the range hood working in the kitchen. Her expression was a little subtle as she thought:

When Lin Ran said she was going out for a bit, did she mean she was going out to buy groceries?

Did she go out in her little octopus form, or her human form?

She smelled the aroma of the dishes wafting from the kitchen and thought about these meaningless questions, at the same time guessing tonight’s dishes. It seemed to have the smell of fish-fragrant eggplant, braised pork, and mushroom chicken soup…

Her stomach growled with an impatient urging sound.

Shu Yao couldn’t lie down anymore. She had no choice but to sit up. When she was about to get out of bed—

The room door was opened. Lin Ran let her tentacles spread out from behind her, still connected to the movements in the kitchen, but she walked to her bedside and bent down to hold her:

“You’re awake?”

Shu Yao reflexively put her arms around her neck, and then realized that the night of madness was over. Her fingertips curled, and she unnaturally looked away. “I can do it myself.”

But Lin Ran did not let her go.

Because if her girlfriend found out that she couldn’t even walk steadily when she got out of bed, then she, who had been so excessive, would definitely be in trouble again.

“But I like to hold you like this,” she replied, holding the person in her arms even tighter, not forgetting to use other things to divert Shu Yao’s attention. “What do you think about the matter I asked you before?”

“If you really agree, then we’ll leave tonight.”

“The influence of the [Lighthouse] on this world has become greater, which means It is trying to dock Its consciousness here. Then the part left in the abyss will be much less. And since the [Martyrs] have all descended here, now is a good time to return to the abyss.”

…

Shu Yao listened to her words. By the time she was placed on the dining chair, which was softened with a cushion, she glanced at the tentacles bringing the dishes and soup from the kitchen, but she was not in a hurry to use her chopsticks.

Instead, she looked at Lin Ran thoughtfully.

Then she asked, “Why do you suddenly want to go back? In your current form, without being an adult, even if Its consciousness is all projected here, you shouldn’t be able to pose a threat to It, right?”

“I’ve thought about it carefully.”

Lin Ran replied calmly, “The place where I was born, that outer land of the abyss, the dark area that cannot be illuminated by the [Lighthouse], seems to have some secret.”

Perhaps it wasn’t that this outer land couldn’t, like the Eternity, be blessed by the eternal, undying light of the abyss.

But that that darkness was itself to protect something from being invaded by the light of the [Lighthouse], from being influenced by Its will.

Born under the protection of that darkness, and even having escaped the pursuit of the [Martyrs] by relying on it when she was seriously injured, Lin Ran vaguely realized that the existence of that dark area was to protect herself.

Being able to resist the erosion of the [Lighthouse]’s light, this darkness definitely hid information that was useful to her. Figuring out its secret might also lead to a solution to the current predicament.

Thinking of this, she lowered her eyelids and added, “Of course, this is just my guess. Perhaps when we get there, we won’t find anything, and my potential will only grow to this point, and I will never be able to obtain the power of an adult [Glutton].”

Seeing that Shu Yao was not using her chopsticks for a long time.

A tentacle rolled up a spoon, a fork, and other tableware and brought them over. Another one directly scooped up some rice, prepared the meal, and was about to bring it to her lips.

Shu Yao opened her mouth to speak, but was fed a mouthful of rice first. She could only communicate with them first and stop their overly enthusiastic goodwill, and then she chewed and swallowed the mouthful of rice, which was mixed with fragrant eggplant sauce and also had flavorful eggplant that had been stir-fried in oil.

It was a little too delicious.

She thought so, and barely managed to not forget the question she was about to ask. “Then what you said before, about eating me whole, what did you mean?”

“When I was first born, I had an independent space inside my body.”

Lin Ran said, “The time flow is 1:30 compared to the outside. The size should be about the same as your house. If you’re willing to stay inside, you can be carried by me into the abyss—”

“Even if we don’t find an answer in the abyss for the time being, living in that space should be able to delay your mutation, protect you from the pollution of the [Lighthouse], and also slow down the speed of my influence on you as much as possible.”

“This way, we will have more time to find an answer.”

Of course.

Lin Ran was also gradually having some guesses about this space.

She had been thinking a lot recently about the [Glutton] who had once tried to devour the [Lighthouse]. Before, she had only thought about the reason why it had done so from the perspective of her own kind, guessing if it thought the [Lighthouse] was like a glowing, high-hanging, beautiful bottle, so it wanted to get It?

Or was it because it had accidentally tasted the [Lighthouse] and was attracted by it?

Now, Lin Ran was starting to think, how did the [Glutton] prepare to devour the [Lighthouse] back then? With a stomach that usually digested those foods, or… did it want to put It in this space?

The appearance of the title [Glutton], was it simply because it ate everything, or did it mean that as long as it was willing, even the heavens, the earth, the sun, the moon, and the gods could be eaten by it?

The atmosphere around the dining table became a little quiet.

Shu Yao thought of the illusion that the [Styx] had cast on her before. At the entrance of an alley at sunset, she had tried to leave because she had discovered Lin Ran’s true form, but had been swallowed into a dark space by her—

But she hadn’t expected that she would now really have to practice that illusionary scene.

Her mind was wandering, and for a moment, she had no thought of eating.

And the tentacles, which had seen her being fed a mouthful and then had no other reaction, had a sudden realization. They thought she was being coy, and that she actually liked to be fed. So they all actively took action, some scooping soup, some mixing rice, and they lined up in front of her with their tableware and started to feed her.

【Yaoyao, eat!】

【Take a big bite!】

Shu Yao really did unconsciously eat a few mouthfuls.

It wasn’t until she came back to her senses that she said, “I have to go to the Zhou family first. The [Parasite] in Auntie Zhou’s body was controlled by me before it had grown. Now that the pollution projected by the moon is too severe, if I can’t make it quiet, Auntie Zhou might be in danger later.”

“And on Jin’s side, although she said it’s fine, I also want to take another look.”

Her expression was still a little dazed, but her reason had already come online. She naturally began to arrange the people and things she was concerned about.

Lin Ran looked at her and replied in a slow voice, “I’ll go with you.”

At the end, she confirmed again, “You’re saying this, does that mean you agree to my proposal?”

Shu Yao looked up at her.

The warm light from the ceiling lamp above the dining table fell down, making the dark-haired woman look particularly beautiful and moving. Perhaps it was precisely because she was not human that she could always maintain her appearance as she was when they first met, and always make her heart flutter.

After a few seconds of silence, Shu Yao suddenly curved her lips. “If we go back to the abyss, aren’t you afraid of being discovered by the [Lighthouse], and then being hunted down by It personally?”

Lin Ran nodded. “I can’t rule out that possibility. After all, Its followers have all come ashore.”

“Then you should have asked in a different way just now.”

“Mmm?”

In Lin Ran’s posture of listening attentively, Shu Yao took a bite of the purple Kyoho grape that a tentacle had washed and peeled and handed over, and swallowed the taste that was just right for her, both sour and sweet.

She propped her head on one hand and leisurely admired the beauty under the lamp.

After a while.

She slowly gave the answer, “You should have asked me if I was willing to die with you?”

…

Lin Ran’s heart beat out of order for a while, provoked by the meaning contained in her words.

She felt as if she had heard the most intense confession.

This love could be gambled on life and death.

After a long while, she finally reacted, showed a smile, and as if in cooperation, she asked, “Is Yaoyao willing to die with me?”

Shu Yao put on a thinking posture.

Although she already had the answer, she deliberately wanted to whet her appetite.

However, before she could answer, Lin Ran had already leaned over, kissed her on the forehead, and said to her with a sigh:

“But I want to live with you even more.”