He could only feel the discomfort in his tentacles, with so many things inside wanting to come out. However, his instinctual subconscious told him that the eggs in his tentacles were very delicate and couldn’t be casually dropped on the ground.
He needed a warm and soft mother’s body.
For the first time, seeing his tentacles mature, the soul of the Jiang Que was shy to the point of a brain crash.
His reproductive tentacles were originally thick, and after the eggs were inside, they grew even larger. The surface, which was already uneven due to suction cups, now undulated up and down. Even the normally retracted spikes were now standing up much more.
At the tips of the tentacles, you could vaguely see the shadow of white eggs, as if they were ready to be injected into the ‘mother’ at any moment.
So, so shy…
The Shen Tazhi from the previous life shouldn’t have been…
Anyway, he couldn’t control his body, so Jiang Que simply indulged in his wild thoughts within his own body.
Just then, there was a loud “bang” from the front.
The once autonomous-thinking Jiang Que was completely immersed in the current Jiang Que, as if he had suddenly changed from a high player’s perspective to an immersive first-person perspective.
But he still couldn’t control his own movements.
“Who?”
Jiang Que warily raised his tentacles, with only the uncomfortable reproductive tentacles dragging weakly behind.
He was cautious, slowly moving towards the source of the sound. As he was about to reach the farthest edge he could, he finally saw the “culprit” who had made the loud noise.
A human.
He loathed humans the most.
Before the other person could make a sound, his tentacles directly wrapped around him, choking his neck and binding his limbs, causing a painful grunt from the person.
Jiang Que paid no attention and just dragged the person over.
This was a decent-looking human, with handsome features and a good physique, but dirtied and with his legs unnaturally bent, blood dripping down his pants.
So dirty.
Jiang Que reluctantly loosened the tentacle that had bound the person’s legs, continuing to choke him while furrowing his brows and asking, “How did you get in here?”
The person in front of him clearly didn’t follow his train of thought but instinctively feared his dangerous tentacles. After a moment’s pause, he hoarsely replied, “Sorry, I accidentally fell in, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
Jiang Que completely evaded the question, “I hate humans, and you’ve dirtied my tentacles.”
He looked at his little tentacle stained with blood, feeling sorry for it. He tried to wipe it clean with his hand but couldn’t manage to do so.
Deciding to give up on cleaning, Jiang Que raised his head again, “You’re so dirty, I might as well just kill you.”
After all, humans would die anyway, and he was feeling uncomfortable now, not wanting to waste words with the person.
With this in mind, Jiang Que tightened the tentacle that was originally wrapped around the person’s neck.
He coldly watched as the person’s face gradually turned red, then white, thinking idly about how fragile humans were.
Just a twist of the neck and they would die.
Just then, the tentacle that had been sluggishly dragging behind him finally made its way to Shen Tazhi.
It wrapped around Shen Tazhi’s waist, provocatively poking at his abdomen, then attempted to pry open the tentacle that was choking him.
The reproductive tentacle, holding who knows how many eggs, silently protested to the main body:
This human is quite good-looking, it likes him.
It wants him to stay!
Jiang Que ignored it coldly, and the reproductive tentacle curled up in a dejected manner. The round, white eggs began to emerge from the tip of the tentacle.
It seemed ready to drop all the eggs on the ground if it wasn’t allowed to keep him.
Jiang Que: …
For the sake of the eggs, he compromised.
In the second before the person was about to suffocate, Jiang Que suddenly released his tentacle.
Without the support of the tentacle, the person fell directly to the ground.
The legs, which were already unnaturally bent, were harshly struck again, and the piercing pain brought Shen Tazhi back from the brink of unconsciousness.
He struggled to get up, looking at the beautiful monstrous youth in front of him with uncertainty. At this moment, the reproductive tentacle had shyly hidden behind the main body, so he didn’t see the appearance of the tentacle that had just wrapped around him.
The stabbing pain from his legs, broken from the fall off the cliff, was so intense that Shen Tazhi could feel his pants soaked in blood and taste the metallic sweetness in his mouth, indicating internal injuries.
Surviving a fall from such a height was already a stroke of luck. Even if the monster in front of him didn’t choke him, he would soon die from excessive blood loss.
Was he going to die here?
The severe blood loss made Shen Tazhi’s head dizzy. Amidst the chaos, one thought stood out clearly in his mind:
He couldn’t die.
He needed to go back for revenge, to capture Shen Liushi, who had hidden behind others and framed him, and to live better than anyone else.
Even if there was only a slight chance of survival, he would fight for it with all his might.
Before him, the dark and menacing tentacles loomed, covered in densely packed white suction cups that sent shivers down his spine. The inhuman youth who had almost killed him earlier now looked down at him coldly from a high vantage point.
It was terrifying, but as long as his life wasn’t taken, it wasn’t as terrifying.
Out of a desire to survive, Shen Tazhi tried to overcome his inner fear, swallowed hard, forced down the fresh blood surging to his throat, and tentatively spoke again:
“Hello, I am Shen Tazhi. I have no ill intentions. I accidentally fell in while being chased by someone. I hope you can allow me to stay here to recover.”
“I will leave as soon as I’m healed. As a gesture of gratitude, you can ask for anything, and I will do my best to fulfill your needs.”
The youth murmured a few words to his tentacles, then gazed at him with a cold, almost smiling look, saying, “Can you give me anything?”
Steeling himself, Shen Tazhi nodded without hesitation.
The youth’s stiff lips twitched, revealing a strange smile, “Then tell me a story.”
Shen Tazhi: ?
Ah?
At this moment, the little tentacles were still chattering:
[Que que, why not just kill him, forget about that tentacle.]
[But we want to hear a story, it’s been so long since anyone talked to us.]
[This person doesn’t seem like he can tell stories, let’s forget it.]
[But this person doesn’t seem threatening, he’s a talker!]
[Yes, and he’s good-looking too!]
The little tentacles had been arguing back and forth, and the reproductive tentacle behind Jiang Que finally reluctantly squeezed out a sentence:
[Wu… I just want this QAQ]
Jiang Que frowned, “Stop arguing, let him speak.”
Upon closer inspection, this person did indeed look decent. Giving him a few more days for the tentacle behind him to play with, which had inexplicably grown many small bumps, would be fine.
Except he dirtied his own tentacles, it was really annoying, he didn’t like him.
With these thoughts, Jiang Que sat down, calmly looking at the blood-stained Shen Tazhi, and asked, “What’s wrong? Can’t you speak?”
Shen Tazhi, who had just been daydreaming, quickly snapped out of it, hesitating before speaking, “Then… shall I tell you about the development history of the Shen Group?”
“Development history?” Jiang Que looked puzzled, “What’s that?”
Shen Tazhi explained, “It’s the growth process of a group.”
Jiang Que still didn’t understand, as this was a term beyond his comprehension. So he said, “Then you talk first.”
Ignoring the excruciating pain in his legs, Shen Tazhi, with pale lips, began, “The development history of the Shen Group is a legendary history of struggle. Since its founder Shen Huaimin established the Shen Oriental Tobacco Company in 1900 with the ideal of industrializing and saving the country…”
“Stop.” Jiang Que expressionlessly interrupted Shen Tazhi’s words.
“I don’t like this, I don’t understand it. Give me something else.”
After a moment of silence, Shen Tazhi suggested, “Then… how about a business battle?”
Jiang Que, of course, had no idea what a business battle was. He could only gesture for Shen Tazhi to continue.
Shen Tazhi’s throat was also burning with pain, and he dryly continued, “The technological revolution has brought about market reshuffling, with emerging technologies emerging one after another, bringing infinite possibilities to the market. The field of artificial intelligence is at the forefront of this technological revolution. Whoever can seize the initiative will gain a competitive advantage in the future market competition. In recent years, Xiangyun Group has leveraged a series of disruptive technological innovations…”
“Stop.” Jiang Que expressionlessly interrupted Shen Tazhi once again.
After several times of listening to Shen Tazhi talk about things he couldn’t understand at all, Jiang Que was getting annoyed.
He directly grabbed the tentacle that had wanted to protect Shen Tazhi, threateningly coiled it around the person’s neck again, not applying force but rather menacingly wrapping it around:
“Do you know how to tell a story or not?”
The sense of impending death struck again, but this time Shen Tazhi had completely run out of strength to struggle.
He had lost too much blood, walked in the wilderness for so long, and now, hungry and weak, he could barely maintain his consciousness thanks to the intermittent pain in his legs.
Even the pain was hardly enough to keep him awake now.
Struggling to breathe, Shen Tazhi made a great effort to hold onto his last shred of clarity and said, “I will… let me try again.”
Surprisingly, Jiang Que agreed, and the tentacle around the neck was released.
Shen Tazhi didn’t know that the little tentacle had been pleading with Jiang Que in his ear just now. But now he had no energy to think much, only able to look at Jiang Que with uncertainty and weakly say, “Let me tell you a story about two brothers.”
“A story about two brothers?” Jiang Que repeated Shen Tazhi’s words.
“Yes.” Shen Tazhi didn’t know if this story would satisfy Jiang Que, but at the moment, it was the only thing on his mind. He didn’t even ask for Jiang Que’s opinion this time and continued:
“The protagonist of the story comes from a happy and prosperous family. His parents were harmonious, excelling in their fields. After smoothly going to the United States for postgraduate studies, he would return home to inherit the family business.”
“However, at this time, his parents suddenly passed away in an accident, and his uncle took advantage of the situation, seizing his parents’ company. The protagonist was still in the United States at the time, isolated and helpless.”
As Jiang Que listened, he also became tense, “And then?”
Upon hearing this question, Shen Tazhi finally felt relieved.
It seems that the other person was interested in this story.
Seizing the opportunity, Shen Tazhi asked, “By the way, you haven’t told me your name yet?”
“I’m called Jiang Que.” Jiang Que quickly answered, eagerly asking, “Let’s not talk about that. Tell me, what happened to the protagonist later?”
“The protagonist… quickly applied for leave of absence and returned to the country.”
Shen Tazhi felt his eyelids getting heavier.
Struggling to stay awake, he briefly explained to Jiang Que how he fought against his uncle Shen He and how he spared Shen Liushi. Just as Jiang Que was listening with great interest, Shen Tazhi couldn’t hold on any longer.
So tired… his legs didn’t hurt anymore.
Was he really going to die?
Even if Jiang Que didn’t kill him, he would die from excessive blood loss. Why did he struggle so desperately just now?
Probably because… dying here was really hard to accept.
With this thought in mind, Shen Tazhi lost consciousness completely.
Jiang Que was enjoying the story, but suddenly the other person fell silent. He looked over in confusion and saw that Shen Tazhi had closed his eyes and was now lying on the ground.
“Hey? Hey??”
Jiang Que didn’t approach immediately. Instead, he used his tentacles to shake him, but there was no response.
“How can you fall asleep while telling a story?”
Jiang Que muttered discontentedly, then walked closer to Shen Tazhi.
He bent down to poke Shen Tazhi’s face and was startled by the chilly temperature:
“Why is he so cold? Is he dead?”
No way? Are humans this fragile?
They had just met, he hadn’t even killed Shen Tazhi, so how could he be dead??
One of the little tentacles nearby suggested:
[Try checking his breathing? If humans don’t breathe, they’re dead.]
[Yes, yes, maybe he’s just asleep.]
Jiang Que followed the advice and reached out to check Shen Tazhi’s breathing.
He felt nothing in his hand, not even the faintest sign of breath.
Starting to feel anxious, he then tried to check Shen Tazhi’s heartbeat, pulse, and every method he could remember learning from humans.
But no matter what method he tried, he came to the same conclusion:
Shen Tazhi was dead.
“How could this happen…?”
Jiang Que stood there, at a loss.
He really hadn’t harmed Shen Tazhi, right? He just wanted to have a conversation with him.
Just then, the thickest tentacle behind him slowly said:
[Blood.]
Jiang Que lowered his head and only then noticed the large pool of blood that had unknowingly spread beneath Shen Tazhi.
It was a large pool, looking quite terrifying.
Humans do die if they lose a lot of blood, right?
The other little tentacles also began to connect the dots:
[Right, he fell down just now, it’s similar to humans jumping off buildings, right? People who jump off buildings die.]
[Yes, yes, his legs were broken, so it must have been excruciatingly painful?]
[He also bled a lot, so much blood.]
Ignoring them, Jiang Que tentatively poked Shen Tazhi again.
But the man who had been talking just a moment ago remained motionless, as if he was truly dead.
Even though he had thought earlier that it wouldn’t matter if Shen Tazhi died, Jiang Que now had no idea what to do.
“I, I didn’t really want you to die…”
He stammered as he tried to explain to Shen Tazhi.
“I didn’t know humans could die like this… If you were dying, you should have told me, I wouldn’t have choked you, I wouldn’t have thrown you.”
Jiang Que helplessly looked at the blood on his tentacles.
He had just met Shen Tazhi, he didn’t want Shen Tazhi to die now.
Seeing his self-blame, the little tentacles patted his head:
[Que que, don’t be sad.]
[Blame us, not Que que.]
[Even if we don’t choke him or throw him, he would have died soon anyway. Humans die when they lose so much blood, and there’s no medicine here for humans.]
Jiang Que slowly crouched down, asking his tentacles:
“So, what should we do? Can we save him? I still want to hear what happens next.”
The tentacles all shook their pointed tips in unison.
They didn’t know how to revive a human.
Jiang Que bit his lip.
He looked at Shen Tazhi lying silently and dirty on the ground, feeling regret for the first time.
Regret was a feeling that made his heart ache unbearably.
Jiang Que covered his heart, curling up into a ball.
If he had known they would only know each other for such a short time, he would have treated Shen Tazhi better.
He wouldn’t have said he hated humans, or minded if he was dirty.
But now, it seemed a bit too late to say all that.
The underground space was empty, with no sound of another person speaking, just a deathly silence.
Jiang Que sat on the ground in dismay, already feeling uncomfortable and hungry, now feeling even worse with his mood.
Just then, the tentacle that had been slow and sluggish all along finally spoke slowly:
[Can be saved.]
