TTAETSC Chapter 15: Little Heart Marks

Translator: Deyonna

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If Yuan Ye had been awake, he would have noticed that the "little jellyfish" was much larger than when he first saw it last night.

Ever since his second meal, Ye Yunfan had discovered that he could consciously control his body size within a certain range.

When he was hiding in the monster's huge corpse last night, Ye Yunfan had experimented. He could extend his tentacles to a maximum of about eighteen centimeters.

Still, until he had the ability to protect himself, the bigger he was, the easier it would be to attract attention, so Ye Yunfan meant to stay at his current, human-palm-sized form.

That harmless, cute appearance could also make people instinctively lower their guard and their hostility.

[Stamina Value -10]

[Stamina Value: 325/355]

Ye Yunfan glanced at the prompt panel in front of him. Being enlarged would burn even more stamina.

But to feed the youth water more easily, Ye Yunfan had no choice but to enlarge himself a bit, and the water-absorbing little tentacles grew longer and larger as well.

Unfortunately, Yuan Ye was completely unaware of this. Heavy blood loss, injuries all over his body, and the resulting high fever had left him nearly unconscious.

All the youth noticed was a slight, slippery coolness suddenly appearing in his mouth, which was parched and scorching as a desert.

The foreign object slipped between his lips, probing, lightly teasing his teeth, wanting to explore deeper.

Despite the intruder's gentle, cautious movements, its aggressiveness couldn't be hidden.

Yuan Ye's body immediately went into a stress response, ready to resist and counterattack, but he was too weak to even raise a hand, so he instinctively bit down on the intruder.

Ye Yunfan had anticipated being bitten, so he reacted swiftly. The moment Yuan Ye opened his mouth, he extended two tentacles and clamped onto the youth's jaw.

Yuan Ye was forced to open his mouth, and he instinctively tilted his head back, trying to break free. His suddenly straightened neck looked like a bird stretching out its neck.

It was all to no avail. The youth's pitch-black eyelashes trembled as reflexive tears gradually dampened them.

"Ngn…"

The scorching, humid breath washed over the sensitive tentacle, and its movements abruptly halted. It instinctively recoiled, trembling as it curled up.

Meanwhile, the young man's tongue kept resisting desperately, as if trying to push the tentacle out.

Ye Yunfan suddenly stiffened all over, as if a low-voltage current had run through him. He didn't know why, but he could no longer hear any sound from the little tentacles.

But Ye Yunfan had no time to dwell on these details, because in that split second of distraction, the tentacle he had finally gotten inside with such difficulty was almost pushed out. He snapped out of it at once, maneuvered the tentacle around, entangled the tongue, and forced it down.

The next moment, cool liquid slowly flowed into the young man's mouth, along the base of his tongue, gradually moistening his parched throat.

At last, his body's thirst overwhelmed the youth's resistance, and Yuan Ye's furrowed brow relaxed slightly as he stopped resisting.

The youth's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, somewhat impatiently.

Ye Yunfan finally breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew the tentacles that had been holding the youth's jaw. Perhaps because he had used too much force, the suction cups on the inner sides of the tentacles came off the youth's cheeks with a faint, sticky sound.

The little octopus looked at the small, symmetrical, heart-shaped red marks on Yuan Ye's cheeks, feeling slightly guilty. Fortunately, Yuan Ye wasn't fully awake, so he probably wouldn't notice right away... right?

Ye Yunfan quickly shoved the episode to the back of his mind and carefully controlled the speed of the water, not pouring it all at once, since it would be bad if he accidentally choked him.

But the patient being cared for didn't seem to appreciate the little octopus nurse's painstaking efforts*. Dissatisfied with the slow trickle, he began actively seizing water from the source.

*painstaking effort

He even bit Ye Yunfan's tentacle.

"Hiss—"

The little octopus yanked back his tentacle, which had been nearly sucked dry, and found a row of shallow tooth marks on it.

Ye Yunfan: "..."

Taking care of patients was truly an exhausting, dangerous, skilled job.

But this was only a drop in the bucket*. Ye Yunfan stared for a moment at the young man, whose cheeks had already flushed red, and could only resign himself to fetching more water.

*a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood (idiom); fig. an utterly inadequate measure

The little octopus held six clean tentacles in the air while the other two swiftly crawled onto the table.

There was no way around it. Unlike the sea, the land was full of dust, and he had no shoes, so he could only pick two tentacles to serve as dirty feet.

The clean tentacles took turns dipping into the glass, slurping up water contentedly.

This time, the glass was drained to the bottom.

With the water collected, the little octopus hurried down again to continue feeding.

The second time went much smoother. It was unclear whether that was because there was more water this time or because Yuan Ye had passed the worst of his thirst and discomfort.

In any case, the badly injured young man, feverish and muddle-headed, obediently finished the water and gave the little octopus nurse no more trouble.

"Hah—"

Ye Yunfan breathed a sigh of relief and slowly retracted the tentacle, unintentionally drawing out a thin strand of transparent fluid. He suddenly stiffened, then quickly pulled the tentacle all the way back.

The young man licked his moist lips unconsciously, and his earlier rapid, heavy breathing gradually slowed.

The little octopus turned to untie the cloth strip on Yuan Ye's left arm. The knot wasn't tight, so the nimble tentacles undid it quickly, revealing the wound.

But the moment his gaze fell on it, Ye Yunfan froze. By common sense, a wound this serious, soaked in the sea overnight, should have been infected and festering by now.

But to his surprise, the deep gash that had exposed the bone had formed a fresh, bloody scab, faintly showing signs of healing.

Ye Yunfan looked at the wound, then at Yuan Ye. He suddenly felt that this guy's refusal of medical treatment all this time had been backed by some confidence. Ordinary humans certainly wouldn't have such terrifying self-healing abilities.

The little octopus sighed even as he extended his tentacles and diligently secreted a good amount of mucus to cover the wound on the young man's arm. He didn't know its exact effect, but in earlier tests it had at least helped keep wounds from reopening.

This was the most he could do.

[Stamina Value -5]

[Stamina Value: 320/355]

Ye Yunfan glanced at his little tentacles. After secreting so much mucus, they no longer looked as plump and springy as before.

But that wasn't important. The little octopus shrank back to his original palm size and lay flat on Yuan Ye's forehead to help cool him down.

—The most important thing now was antipyretic medicine.

Just then, a faint sound came from the closed window.

The little octopus suddenly looked up.

Someone was knocking on the window.

Thud—

---

Thud—

"Jon did go to deliver the medicine to him."

In the ward of the supply station clinic, Chen Xinyue tossed the metal medicine box from the corner into the hidden compartment under the floor as she spoke.

Ever since joining the special investigation team, Chen Xinyue had made a habit of dividing her important medicines into three portions by use every time she went on a mission.

One portion stayed in the car, another on her, and the third at a secure location.

That was also why she had been able to keep the gravely injured Wang Yuan alive until now, and why she had been able to supply the crucial oxygen fluid to Yuan Ye at a critical moment, helping turn the tide of the battle.

For this mission, Chen Xinyue had chosen this clinic as the safe location, so Old Man Xu, who had helped her store the medicines, knew all about it.

After all, the medicines were for treating injuries and this was a clinic, so Chen Xinyue had stored them here from the start.

Whether the medicine was for Yuan Ye or Wang Yuan, she didn't need to make a special trip back. Even if she wanted to bring more just in case, an errand like that should have been left to the new recruit Jon rather than done by her personally.

So Chen Xinyue's real purpose in going back had been simply to retrieve that box.

Old Man Xu could confirm that the box left at the clinic beforehand held medicine, but as for the one Chen Xinyue had just brought back... it was unclear what was inside.

"Mister, don't you trust me?"

Chen Xinyue turned to look at the old man, her tone slightly strained.

The old man didn't look at her. Instead, he focused on adjusting various parameters of the treatment cabin. His tone was casual, as if making small talk.

"Of course I know that kid* will take the medicine. Otherwise, this old man wouldn't be saving lives right now. I'd be following the regulations and letting the sentinels deal with a potential otherworldly creature."

*Yuan Ye

Old Man Xu knew that Chen Xinyue had switched the two medicine boxes. The one sent to Yuan Ye was the box originally left at the clinic, and it really did contain medicine.

Then the old man lifted his eyelids and glanced at Chen Xinyue.

"You're smuggling?"

The special investigation team's job was to investigate the otherworldly planes and explore the occupied areas of the old days. As a result, many people used their positions to smuggle and sell things.

It was very common.

Chen Xinyue shook her head. She hesitated for a moment, then spoke carefully.

"I found some strange things on the seabed. As for what exactly they are…"

The woman paused, her expression slightly cold.

"If Jon delivers the medicine to the commander safely, I'll tell you."

If it went the other way, it would be best for him not to know.

Hearing this, the old man's finger paused.

Seabed?

He instantly grasped how serious this was and turned his head to say something, but Chen Xinyue cut him off halfway.

"But you needn't worry. That commander is our whole team's benefactor. Even if Jon can't deliver it, someone else will."

She liked to be prepared for everything.

On the surface, Jon was just bait to probe with. If the truth was as Chen Xinyue guessed, those people would think she had passed the goods to Yuan Ye through Jon.

After all, robbing a powerful gifted individual wasn't easy, so they would inevitably intercept Jon halfway.

Once Jon failed to deliver, Chen Xinyue's suspicion would be confirmed—

The king creature's attack on this supply station had not been an accident.

If not for that, her team members could have made it home alive. They could definitely all have survived, instead of leaving her without even intact corpses to recover…

Old Man Xu fell silent for a moment, then looked up at the extremely rare female investigator in front of him. After a while, he smiled bitterly.

"It seems you're already convinced the new recruit won't be able to deliver it."

Chen Xinyue's mouth curled into a very ugly smile.

"I hope he can."

It would be best if he could.

She closed the floor panel with a muffled sound.

Thud—

---

Thud—

Someone was knocking on the window.

The knocking echoed in the dimly lit cabin. It wasn't actually loud, but in the quiet it was particularly clear.

The little octopus immediately jumped down from Yuan Ye and crept silently to the window. He was very cautious, positioning himself beside the wall instead of directly in front of the window.

The knocking sounded only once and then stopped. Still, Ye Yunfan didn't move. He waited a while and still didn't move, because the person outside hadn't left.

Since eating the little monster's eye, Ye Yunfan's perception had become sharper.

But right after, a hand suddenly reached out from behind the little octopus and opened the window.

Ye Yunfan was stunned, then whipped his head around and found Yuan Ye. The young man who had just been lying on the floor with a high fever looked calm and clear-headed now, though his cheeks were still slightly flushed from the fever.

At some point he had put on a black coat, tightly covering the half-open shirt beneath it.

If not for the all-too-obvious small heart-shaped red marks on both sides of the youth's face, Ye Yunfan would have thought it had all been a dream.

Crash—

The wooden window swung open. It was still early morning outside, warm and bright. Ye Yunfan looked out and saw that someone had come to deliver something.

Unfortunately, it wasn't Jon.

In front of the window stood a middle-aged man, ordinary-looking and slightly chubby. He was carrying a small, old wooden box and said cheerfully,

"Xiaoyuan, I…"

Midway through, Xu Ke froze. Seeing the symmetrical heart-shaped red marks on the young man's face, he suddenly forgot what he had been about to say.

Yuan Ye frowned and said impatiently, "What's the matter?"

His voice was very hoarse.

"Oh, oh, right, right... there's a little something."

Xu Ke looked at Yuan Ye, hesitating, but in the end swallowed his words and returned to the main topic.

"Master asked me to bring you some medicine. Thank you for saving him last time. Otherwise, his old body would have been eaten by those otherworldly creatures, with nothing left behind."

Xu Ke was Old Man Xu's senior apprentice. The junior apprentice was helping out at the clinic.

The man opened the small wooden box in his hand and showed it to Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye looked into it, his gaze a little deep, his tone indifferent.

"No need to thank me. After all, these things are worth enough on the black market to trade for a few lives."

At these words, Ye Yunfan and Xu Ke both paused.

This time, Yuan Ye didn't refuse. He reached out, took the box, and closed the window.

Thud.

Xu Ke's footsteps faded away outside.

Ye Yunfan turned over what Yuan Ye had just said. For some reason, he suddenly had a strong hunch—

That medicine could never have come from the old doctor.

Just as the little octopus sank into thought, he felt a burning gaze.

Ye Yunfan turned his head and happened to meet Yuan Ye's expressionless gaze. Yuan Ye was leaning against the table, the empty water glass beside him.

The little octopus's gaze shifted to the small heart-shaped red marks on Yuan Ye's cheeks, and he felt inexplicably guilty.

When had he woken up?

Or had he been awake all along, just too weak to speak?

After a few seconds of eye contact, the young man suddenly spoke.

"Come here."

His voice was a bit hoarse, but that only added a touch of magnetism.

The little octopus paused and instinctively twitched his ears. After a moment of hesitation, he still raised his six little tentacles and walked over apprehensively.

—Like a pink succulent walking quietly on tiptoe.

☰