“The sheep” calmly roamed among the tentacles of intertwining veins, its long limbs supporting the plump and round body, with soft white flesh swaying loosely with each movement. If the camera zoomed out, it would resemble several chocolate bars propping up a large ball of cotton candy, appearing as sweet and delectable little treats.
The taste, of course, was also excellent. The cubs could testify. The sweet and smooth flesh melted in the mouth, while the limbs were crispy and crunchy, providing a satisfying bite.
Born to be eaten without pain or fear of death, the sheep remained calm and quiet as they were swallowed whole, maintaining the optimal relaxed state of their flesh until their last moment of life.
With such deliciousness nurtured within their bodies, the attitudes of the cubs toward Fourth Joy improved.
Unfortunately, the true target of these lambs, Xu Yintang, showed little interest. Even though “the sheep” dwelled within his tentacles, ready to be consumed with a single mouthful, Xu Yintang preferred to indulge in nutritionally deficient potato chips and fried chicken, reveling in joy.
It was only out of consideration for the efforts of the little cub that Xu Yintang occasionally indulged by consuming a few. He didn’t find them unappetizing; his taste buds were similar to those of the cubs, finding the lamb sweet, nutritious, and delicious. It’s just that eating the food carefully nurtured within the cubs felt like consuming a part of them, which stirred excitement in his stomach.
After all, Fourth Joy was a parasite born from the system, consuming Qingxiao’s group of light. In the perception of the “palace,” they were both excellent materials for nurturing.
Xu Yintang didn’t mind giving birth to and raising cubs as a mother, but the nesting-doll operation of using his own cubs to give birth to new cubs was still a bit beyond his acceptance range.
Should the offspring born from his own offspring call him mother or grandmother?
What’s more, Fourth Joy is still a cub herself, it wouldn’t be right to suddenly have biological offspring.
Xu Yintang thought it was impossible.
He wouldn’t discuss such matters with the cubs, so Fourth Joy carefully inspected the lambs crawling in and out of his tentacles, earnestly selecting the best ones for mother. Among the few lambs fed to his brothers, he threw a few fat and strong ones into the sea, feeding them to the fish-headed warriors already mutated once under the influence of the sheep.
Before a tough battle, the soldiers needed to be fed well.
The fish-headed warriors fed by it had four or more arms, sharp nails, and dark green-black color from the accumulation of toxins, with jagged spikes growing at their elbows.
Their lower bodies were not the usual fish tails of fish-headed monsters but legs covered in scales, mostly with two legs, but some had four, six, or even eight. At the end of their legs, where feet would typically be, were replaced by elongated tentacles that swayed like a huge fishing net, leaving their prey with nowhere to escape.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ktfs tbkifv ibevis, atjcxlcu atf ubvr obg atf vlnlcf obbv, jcv qbecmfv bc atf ijwyr’ rboa oifrt, vfnbeglcu atfw mbwqifafis lc atf yilcx bo jc fsf.
Ktf rjmgfv obbv yfrabkfv vlnlcf qbkfg eqbc atfw. Ktfs ilrafcfv mgjhlis jcv yglfois ab atf klii bo atf ubvr, oliifv klat jvbgjalbc jcv ugfjafg ofjg, vglnlcu atfw ab jaajmx atf fcfws olfgmfis jcv ofjgifrris ecali atflg rbeir aegcfv lcab objw.
The darkness trembled uncontrollably, as if the fervent shouts from within the distant Fourth Joy’s body were spreading to the surroundings. The chaotic and grandiose noise echoed in the air, shaking off much of the darkness from the window’s night, and deep within the thick clouds, a few stars could be faintly seen twinkling.
Yu Kongyou finally figured out where “he” could be hidden and what hints to give them—considering that as a fierce ghost, he couldn’t mention his own death. The hidden places were likely related to his death, such as where he was dying, where he took his last breath, where his body was hidden after death, and where he, as a fierce ghost filled with hatred, woke up.
That night, the beginning of consciousness was in the principal’s office— “Seventh floor, innermost.”
The stairs he fell down while escaping were from—”From the back door, going down from behind.”
Being knocked unconscious happened at…damn, this part is fuzzy…
“Didn’t make it.”
The place where he regained consciousness…no, this part is also vague…too dark, couldn’t see anything…
“Mice…” Mice crawled away from him.
“Cold…” Surfaces in contact with his body were damp, cold, and foul-smelling, chilling to the bone through his clothes.
“Wind…and…people’s voices…” Memories stirred up resentment within Yu Kongyou, bleeding from all seven apertures. His eyeballs bulged crimson, staring hollowly at the ceiling, murmuring, “Faces…faces of people…”
He seemed to feel both his breath and heartbeat again, returning to that endless darkness, gradually losing strength bit by bit amidst the cold, pain, and fear, despairingly listening to footsteps, voices, and the sound of wheels echoing above and then fading away.
He could feel the dust falling from the soles of shoes onto his face, his breathing deafening, the wind rushing into his lungs through his nose, turning into ice and freezing his heart.
In the nightmare that gradually engulfed Yu Kongyou’s sanity, numerous eyeballs suddenly emerged, countless hateful, vicious, and ugly “Yu Kongyou” falling among them, like demons trapped in mirrors, futilely struggling to disappear into the depths of the pupils.
A fear greater than death instantly seized his soul, his heart that hadn’t beaten in ages felt as if it were being squeezed until it exploded, and Yu Kongyou suddenly jerked awake from the brink of death.
“Whew…” he pretended to exhale deeply, although ghosts didn’t need to breathe, he played along with Xu Yintang, the mother who spoiled her child, “Thanks to our Second Treasure, otherwise I almost couldn’t make it back.”
As for how close he was to not making it back, whether tracing his own death required sacrificing some sanity, and similar trivial matters, there was no need to delve into them.
At times like this, all he needed to do was stroke the proud and confident Second Treasure, lavishing praise extravagantly. Yu Kongyou stared at his own bloodshot eyes, still calmly pointing out the last doubtful point, “Construction at the school, when I died.”
It wasn’t a major project, just some weekend work. Not only did the students not know about it, but hardly any of the teachers did either. The documents might have been destroyed as well, but without proper investigation, there would be no trace of what was done.
“That’s about it. If there are any more questions, come ask me.” Yu Kongyou looked at Xu Yintang, indicating for the door to let him return to the hospital, “I can’t stay here too long, this place isn’t good.”
Staying too long made him feel like he would die again.
Ominous.
Xu Zhongping’s face immediately drooped when he heard that Yu Kongyou was leaving, gripping his wrist and staring at him with unblinking eyes. It seemed like tears were about to burst forth from Xu Zhongping’s eyes, but Yu Kongyou threatened him by raising his palm the size of a frying pan, “Dare to cry and see what happens?”
“…” Xu Zhongping opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Xu Yintang assessed the situation, raised his hand to the door beside Yu Kongyou, hugged the cub, and moved to a position further back, earnestly observing while tapping Second Treasure’s hand with his moon-white tentacles, silently conveying some scenes he glimpsed when Second Treasure was comforting Yu Kongyou’s soul just now.
The greatest nightmare for a fierce ghost can only be his death.
Yu Kongyou’s nightmare was filled with darkness, with only darkness in his eyes during the final moments of his life.
He didn’t know if he was blind or if he was in a completely dark environment. His dying brain couldn’t process complicated things, and he couldn’t distinguish whether the voices he heard were hallucinations or reality—if they were hallucinations, it would be too desperate, and if they were real, there was no one to rescue him despite his desperate calls for help.
Later on, he even doubted whether he was alive or… or already dead?
Yu Kongyou didn’t know.
Even with Second Treasure’s many eyes peering at his nightmare, he couldn’t tell whether the huddled and stiff Yu Kongyou in the darkness was alive or dead.
It was as if, before he realized his own death, before anyone saw his death, he hadn’t died yet.
His spirit had clearly left his body.
—First, find the construction records.
Shi Yuebai’s fingers lightly tapped Xu Yintang’s palm, allowing the tentacles to rub and entwine between his fingers.
The most important parts of the story are the beginning and the end, and everything began in the principal’s office. Xu Zhongping couldn’t have not gone in to investigate thoroughly, and as for the end, Yu Kongyou himself couldn’t say where it was, only knowing that covering up traces through construction was more likely.
Xu Yintang squeezed Shi Yuebai’s fingers in agreement, tapped with his backhand, and then relayed Fourth Joy’s investigation results – the report document was sent from the computer classroom of No. 3 Middle School, and was distributed to several computers. Fourth Joy was too far away to receive the surveillance from this side’s computer room, and he’s rushing over now. After we check the construction records, check the surveillance, what next?
Xu Yintang nodded. He remembered the layout of the entire school. The construction files should be archived in the data room on the fifth floor, and the computer room is on the sixth floor. After checking those, we can conveniently check the principal’s office on the seventh floor, then follow the stairs at the back to see where Yu Kongyou fell from.
If the design of the instance at night is based on Yu Kongyou’s death, there might be a chase when going downstairs. To be on the safe side in case his height slows him down, Shi Yuebai, being proactive, put on a charm to give himself an acceleration buff.
Author’s Note –
Shi Yuebai solemnly clarifies that his legs are not short at all, [doge].
Yup he is not short, he is just vertically challenged.
🧡🧡