On the streets of Linjiao Town, Gu Lian pulled Yi Yi along as they walked slowly. The two humanoid anomalies each held a skewer of grilled meat.
Almost perfectly synchronized, they both took a big bite.
Gu Lian had said she was taking Yi Yi out to get her ID card, but the card was already on her now. Still, the proper procedures had to be followed, so using this excuse to take Yi Yi out for some good food was very nice.
She hadn’t eaten well these past two days. All she’d done was scout the area, set up traps, and plan escape routes.
The night before last, she’d only managed to tear open a pack of war-ready food during the spare moments between actions.
Although the compressed biscuits and dried pork were tasty, dry rations were still dry rations. No matter how filling, they couldn’t compare to a proper meal.
But the effort hadn’t been wasted. Now Yi Yi’s legal identity was secured. Only Yao Yao’s and her own remained.
Yao Yao’s ID could wait. To avoid leaving any leverage, her own legal identity had to be handled last.
At 2:00 PM (there’s an 8-hour time difference between Mountain Kingdom and Shenzhou), the street stalls had reopened. Gu Lian grabbed some skewers to satisfy her cravings. She had to admit, the aroma of meat and cumin was really strong. The taste was excellent.
“Hey, Yi Yi, why are you staring at me?”
Gu Lian turned her head to look at Yi Yi, who was staring at her face, and bit off the last piece of meat from the skewer. She tossed the bamboo stick into a passing trash can and said, “I know I’m handsome, but you don’t have to keep staring at me, do you?”
“So conceited.”
“What did you say?”
Gu Lian narrowed her eyes and clenched her five fingers into a fist the size of a sandbag, pressing it against Yi Yi’s forehead. This brat seriously needed a good scolding. It was obvious that Yao Yao spoiled Yi Yi too much. Look at the bad habits she’d developed!
“Ah, Lian Jie, you misheard.”
Yi Yi chomped down on the rest of the meat from her skewer, puffed out her cheeks, and chewed, trying to play cute to get out of it.
“…”
Gu Lian’s eyelid twitched. After a moment of hesitation, she moved her fist away. Dealing with a kid with the mental age of about 6 was a bit too much of a sanity drain.
“By the way, why do I have to call Xiong Yeye ‘Yeye,’ but you call him ‘Lao Daye’?”
“Did I? You misheard.”
Gu Lian glossed over it vaguely. Yi Yi pouted, her face full of defiance.
“When we get back, just tell them I took you to the police station.”
Gu Lian felt they’d walked enough. It was almost 3:00 now. Getting the ID and messing around on the road would take about that much time.
If they didn’t head back now, Lao Daye… no, Xiong Daye would probably start worrying about nonsense.
“???”
Hearing Gu Lian’s words, Yi Yi was confused. She tilted her head, her eyes blank, as if saying: I haven’t seen much of the world, but is this really okay for lying?
“Your legal identity has already been sorted out, but every identity has to go through the process. I can’t give you the ID card yet.”
Gu Lian smiled. The ID had a 15-day processing period. If she brought it back directly, it might cause unnecessary trouble.
Play the part completely. That’s how you ensure nothing goes wrong.
They ordered some more Taiwanese-style hand-grabbed pancakes outside and had a pleasant walk back.
When Gu Lian returned to Xiong Daye’s house with Yao Yao, Xiong Daye was wearing an apron and cooking in the kitchen. Yi Yi’s eyes lit up immediately. She ran into the kitchen to watch, eyes gleaming.
Gu Lian watched Xiong Daye, who looked like a househusband, as he started showing off his cooking skills. Yi Yi seemed to have discovered a whole new world; she was completely captivated.
Just as Gu Lian sat down, her wrist suddenly trembled slightly.
“…”
Expressionless, Gu Lian leaned back on the sofa with her back to the kitchen. She gently rolled up her sleeve. The watch strapped to her wrist was vibrating. Seeing the caller’s name made her brow twitch. Her good mood evaporated instantly.
On the watch’s screen, it showed that the Masked Man had just called.
That sly bastard, the Masked Man, calling her could only mean one thing: assigning a second mission.
Thinking about his disgusting methods gave Gu Lian a headache. She wanted to avoid him at all costs.
If it weren’t for the fact that Yao Yao’s identity proof still required the Masked Man’s help, she would definitely steer clear of him.
Turning her head to look at Xiong Daye, who was teaching Yi Yi how to plate the food, Gu Lian stood up from the sofa, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and walked outside.
The wooden door creaked open. Xiong Daye shifted his gaze, poking his head out of the kitchen toward the door: “Something else come up? Aren’t you going to eat before heading out?”
“Xiong Daye, I’m just stepping out. I’ll be back soon.”
Gu Lian raised a hand, indicating it wouldn’t take long. “You guys eat first.”
—
4:37 PM.
The blazing sun hung high. The sweltering heat kept most pedestrians off the streets. But there were still kids out carrying balls and playing under the sun. Mischievous little brats didn’t care how hot it was.
In the center of Linjiao Town stood a building constructed entirely of rectangular steel plates. The cheerful sounds of splashing water came from inside. One or two happy families walked out of the building, chatting and laughing. The sign above the door read: Linjiao Swimming Base.
This was the only swimming base in all of Linjiao Town. It was also the place where Gu Lian would be working tomorrow afternoon.
Directly beneath the pool where people were splashing around, the ground had been hollowed out. Twisted passages dripped with white slime.
Sticky strands like cobwebs clung to the walls. But what was truly terrifying was that the walls seemed alive, writhing and pulsating. The entrance was a fleshy opening that opened and closed, mimicking a living creature’s breathing.
Creak—Creak—
Dozens of eyes crowded together on the ceiling, emitting a faint murky light. Threadlike flesh buds hung down, as smooth as nerve tissue laced with blood vessels. They were both eye-catching and nauseating. The stench of rot and the grotesque sight challenged the limits of human endurance.
Pat, pat, pat—
Hurried footsteps echoed from within the passage. A woman wearing a school swimsuit sprinted desperately through the tunnel in terror. If there were a holographic map, she’d see that the passage was a closed loop, with no real entrance or exit.
“Hehehehe~”
An eerie, sinister laugh reverberated through the passage. The woman ran for her life. When she charged past the opening that was expanding and contracting like a breathing mouth, her foot slipped on the slimy white mucus, and she slammed heavily to the ground.
Just as she tried to get up, the swimsuit she was wearing suddenly began to writhe. Several tentacles extended from the back of the suit, piercing through the hand she’d pressed to the ground.
“Ah, help… mmph—”
Before she could scream for help, dozens of tentacles shot out from inside her clothes, wrapping tightly around her mouth. The rest coiled around her limbs, forcing them together against her body.
Slap—Slap—
“Hehehehe~”
The fleshy corridor echoed with unnatural sounds like those from the underworld, approaching from far to near. The wet, licking sound of flesh buds rubbing against the walls came in fits and starts.
“Mmph…”
Tears and snot streamed down her face. The despairing woman struggled violently—until the licking sound stopped. A pair of cyan-skinned feet stopped in front of her.
Slime-covered footprints stretched from the other end of the passage all the way to just below her eyes. The woman could only turn over, but what she saw plunged her heart into an icy abyss.
Before her stood a naked humanoid monster. Its slightly bloated body was covered in a translucent layer of slime. It had no hair, but based on its figure, she could barely tell it was female.
What terrified her most, however, was that the monster’s face was empty. Dozens of tentacles as thick as a human wrist extended from the hole.
The tentacles coiled around the immobilized woman. The interwoven tendrils began to evert, easily lifting her into the air like arms. Then the tentacles started retracting back into the hole.
The pitch-black void seemed like a black hole that could devour everything. Under the woman’s terrified gaze, the tentacles wrapped around her body, dragging her bit by bit into that hole at an angle that seemed almost impossible.
First her legs, then her torso. When only her head remained, the woman fell into utter despair.
Gulp—
The humanoid monster’s throat expanded several times, then its Adam’s apple made a swallowing motion. The bulging throat rolled, and the lump slid down into its stomach. Its belly swelled abruptly.
The pregnant-looking abdomen even squirmed. Muffled sobbing sounds came from inside.
“Delicious… hehehehehe~”
A childlike, rustling laughter echoed from the hole in the monster’s face. The newly extended tentacles writhed in a fitting manner.
The eyes on the ceiling shifted their gaze toward the source of the sound, as if stimulated. They narrowed into slits—mocking, sneering, pleased.
PS: My brain cells are running a bit low. Could you give me a like to grow some more? Ah bah ah bah ah bah~