TTAETSC Chapter 27.2 - The Candy Was Poisonous?!

Translator: Deyonna

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The road back was different from the one they had taken on the way there, so the scenery was different too. As the little octopus looked out the car window, he suddenly saw a bright red light in the distance.

It was exceptionally conspicuous against the pitch-black night.

What was that? A fire?

The little octopus stretched his head out slightly and peered outside. The car felt stuffy, so Yuan Ye opened the window a little.

Soon, he caught a whiff of an unpleasant smell.

The smell of blood, mixed with the smell of charred flesh.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Ye Yunfan realized what it was. At that moment, Yuan Ye also noticed his gaze, and the young man spoke suddenly in a low voice.

"That's the crematorium."

All the deceased are cremated in that place.

Because of the high number of deaths this time, the fire never went out, day or night.

The car gradually approached, and the once quiet night filled with noise and voices. Some people were burning the belongings of the deceased, others were sobbing softly, and some were directing the delivery of firewood.

Busy and bustling, yet filled with sorrowful mourning.

Ye Yunfan stared blankly.

He saw a tall wooden platform, with human bodies faintly visible in the firelight.

Above it, the pitch-black sky seemed burned through, oozing clump after clump of blood-red, flesh-like clouds.

Countless sparks fluttered in the hot air, then suddenly went out, carried into the distance by the wind.

The cheapness of human life in this world suddenly took tangible form in Ye Yunfan's mind, just like the firewood and logs burning at that moment.

At the same time, on a hillside hundreds of meters away, a man and a woman were watching the scene from a high vantage point.

The woman, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, had shoulder-length hair, large round eyes, a straight nose, and a sweet face.

Yet at this moment, her brows were tightly furrowed, showing a hint of anxiety.

"Wei Jing, do you think they got hold of it?"

The man named Wei Jing wore a tank top, showing off his wheat-colored skin and strong muscles. He frowned, took a puff of his cigarette, and exhaled a wisp of smoke.

"I've planted two spies."

As he spoke, he casually pointed toward the temporary signal tower with the hand holding the cigarette.

"That idiot Bernie got himself killed. Luckily, there's another one, Liu Shan. He said they searched all the signal cars and found nothing. But there's actually something unusual."

The man in the tank top said this as he rubbed his chin.

"They say the chief is keeping a small evolved species as a pet, and this time it seems he killed Bernie to find that little thing. It's hard to tell. He once killed a noble young lady, and now he has a noble young lady's hobby."

Tu Shanshan didn't care about these details. She was focused on the chip, pacing as she thought.

"But there's no solid evidence that they haven't found it. Better safe than sorry... What does Liang Kun say about this?"

"What can he say? That guy is as slippery as a loach, not offending either side. But he's quite a character... With just a word from him, those hundreds of lives, those people would jump into the sea like dumplings to feed the monsters."

The man clicked his tongue.

"Laundering money with lives. In the end, it's washed completely clean."

"It's just a pity about that tool, Zhang Nan. I quite liked his skill. I was even thinking of taking him to the Main City to see the beautiful face of Her Royal Highness, the Princess. Who knows…"

Beside him, Tu Shanshan's eyes turned cold. "If you want to die, just say it."

Wei Jing gave a suggestive laugh and shrugged.

"Well, it's his bad luck. It was supposed to be a simple task, and they even assigned a special military investigation team to assist him. Unfortunately, he ran into that madman, Yuan Ye."

"What's the use of talking about those things now!"

The constant setbacks of the mission frustrated Tu Shanshan greatly.

"The orders from above have come down. The important asset must be retrieved, and that woman surnamed Chen also needs to be dealt with."

The man sneered.

"What's the use if she's dead? The things she knows, Yuan Ye knows now too. If they really want to silence someone, they should kill that chief."

Tu Shanshan looked at him and sneered. "Can you?"

The man shrugged, very much like a bachelor shrugging off a question.*

*Nonchalantly

"You're kidding me. If there were a way to kill Yuan Ye, we wouldn't be sitting here like quails chatting nonsense."

He rubbed the black stubble on his chin and furrowed his brow slightly.

"Speaking of which, that guy has always been a lone wolf. Why is he meddling so much this time?"

"Let's go."

Tu Shanshan clearly didn't want to say more. She covered her mouth and nose and gestured toward the departing off-road vehicle.

"They've gone far."

There was obviously no point staying there. She didn't want to keep smelling the scent of burning bodies.

More than half an hour later—

Chen Xinyue parked the car in front of the temporary clinic.

She didn't even bother to say a word to Yuan Ye. She immediately picked Jon up from the passenger seat and rushed inside to find the doctor.

Yuan Ye also got out of the car. He glanced at the sky and estimated there were still three to four hours until dawn. Then he turned and headed up the small dirt path toward the wooden house on the mountain.

Half of the wall that had collapsed was temporarily patched with wooden boards, most likely repaired by Old Man Xu. It was somewhat unstable, but better than nothing.

Yuan Ye set down his knife and went straight to wash his hands.

The little octopus lay on his shoulder, stretching his head to look at Yuan Ye's hand. He noticed the red marks on the young man's wrist had vanished completely, leaving no trace behind.

Eh?

Could it be that it wasn't an allergy?

Or was it simply not severe, so he recovered too quickly?

The little octopus scratched his head.

Yuan Ye changed into a pair of clean gloves. He took a basin and filled it with clean spring water. Ye Yunfan knew this routine well. He took off his shoes and jumped right in to bathe.

Plop~

A pink flower bloomed in the water.

The young man picked up the small leather shoes he had taken off, rinsed them with water, and placed them neatly aside.

Tomorrow morning... No, it should be this morning. He would leave, so he needed to tidy up a few things.

After settling the "little jellyfish" into the basin for his bath, Yuan Ye turned and went back to the bedroom. He pulled a dark brown leather trunk from under the bed and opened it.

He packed the most important metal medicine box first, then the medicines, and then neatly folded clothes.

On the other side, the freshly washed little octopus crawled out of the basin, shook off the water, put on his shoes, and ran over.

He wanted a midnight snack.

However, he didn't expect to find Yuan Ye packing his luggage as soon as he entered.

Ye Yunfan was slightly stunned, but quickly realized Yuan Ye had to leave this morning. Curious, he ran over and poked his head into the trunk, looking around at its contents.

The little octopus saw the familiar metal medicine box, along with the food he couldn't eat. Then there were leather suspenders, belts, clean shirts, trousers, and other clothes.

There were also many, many gloves—latex, cotton, leather—more than the number of clothes, all in black and white.

The little octopus looked up at Yuan Ye, who was packing.

Sure enough... this guy really is a glovecon.

He suddenly felt like counting how many pairs of gloves Yuan Ye actually had. So the little octopus extended a tentacle, flipped over a pair of gloves, and looked up at Yuan Ye.

—A look that asked for permission to see.

At that moment, Yuan Ye glanced at it and did not stop it.

After all, there was nothing much to see, especially since it was just a "little jellyfish" with the intelligence of a three-year-old.

Ye Yunfan understood the look in the other's eyes just now meant permission.

It was like a cat at home rummaging through your luggage. As long as it didn't scratch or bite anything, most people wouldn't stop it sternly.

Ye Yunfan counted pair by pair.

At that point, the little tentacle suddenly hooked onto something pressed at the bottom. It seemed to be a white cotton edge, with a texture different from the other pairs.

Eh?

This glove seems a bit big.

The little octopus hooked onto the edge, wanting to pull it out and see. At that same moment, Yuan Ye casually glanced over.

"...!!!"

Almost immediately, he took a big stride over and pressed his hand firmly down to stop the little tentacle from pulling it out.

The little octopus raised his head, somewhat surprised by Yuan Ye's overly intense reaction, but still inexplicably pulled back his tentacle.

"...Don't pull it."

Oh.

The little octopus was a bit puzzled, but he withdrew his tentacle and backed away.

Yuan Ye's face stayed expressionless as he quickly tidied the leather trunk, pressing down hard on the spot the little octopus had rummaged through.

Ye Yunfan noticed that Yuan Ye's actions were extremely unusual, a bit anxious and frantic, as if he had just stumbled on a personal secret that no one should see.

A personal secret?

He carefully recalled the item he had inadvertently discovered just now, and it seemed... to be something like intimate clothing.

Hiss—

The clever little octopus suddenly had a moment of enlightenment.

This... This was because he hadn't been human for too long and had forgotten about it.

Ah, it's really embarrassing.

The little octopus felt more and more embarrassed, so embarrassed that he wanted to dig his tentacles into the ground.

He felt it might not be suitable for him and Yuan Ye to stay in the same room right now. Quietly slipping out, he planned to go to the kitchen and look for a midnight snack.

Before leaving, Ye Yunfan took the small knives Yuan Ye had made for him.

He thought they might come in handy in the kitchen.

—And sure enough, they did come in handy!

On the way back, Ye Yunfan noticed a black bird that looked like a crow. It had somehow entered the house and was looking around, as if searching for something.

But the bird had two heads, with blood-red pupils, giving it a strange and abnormal appearance.

At first glance, it looked…

—edible!!!

[Eat!]

[Eat meat!]

[Eat meat!]

The little tentacles were extremely excited.

Was this going to be his midnight snack?!

Ye Yunfan was excited too. He had only just thought about a midnight snack, and now it was served right at his doorstep. What a stroke of luck!

Moreover, with Yuan Ye in the room behind him, Ye Yunfan felt supported and confident, not the least bit afraid.

The little octopus held the small knives, activated his camouflage skill, and approached on tiptoe with his heart pounding madly.

He thought it through. If he went back to get Yuan Ye now and the midnight snack ran away, what would he do then?

So he decided to try it on his own first. If he couldn't handle it and made some noise, Yuan Ye would come out at once and chop this creature in half.

The bedroom light was on, while the hallway outside had only faint moonlight, which posed no problem for the little octopus with his excellent vision.

The two-headed black bird took a few steps, sensing potential danger. It stopped warily, tilting both heads, and searched the dim room, but found nothing.

The midnight snack was cautious, and the little octopus, who wanted to eat it, was even more cautious. He shrank himself to the smallest size, almost as small as a child's palm, and silently approached, calculating in his mind where the first stab should land.

Because birds have limited ways to attack, relying mainly on their sharp beaks or their claws.

Ye Yunfan was aware of his single-digit defense value, making his first strike crucial. So he had to immediately make the opponent unable to move.

The little octopus quickly worked out a complete midnight-snack plan. After mentally simulating it repeatedly and confirming that everything was fine, he launched a lightning-fast attack and incapacitated the opponent.

Stab—

The sharp knife pierced straight through the left side of the bird's neck.

At the same time, the bird's other head let out a sharp, mournful cry. The little octopus struck with precision and without hesitation, wrapping his tentacles around the opponent's feathers and climbing onto the back of the two-headed bird, perfectly avoiding its reflexive attack.

Immediately, Yuan Ye inside the room heard the commotion and appeared almost instantly.

His first reaction, however, was not to grab the knife and chop up the little octopus's midnight snack. Instead, he stepped forward and stomped on the black bird, which was flapping wildly and trying to attack the little octopus.

"Come back."

This was directed at the little octopus, who was about to stab with the second knife.

...eh?

Ye Yunfan was stunned.

He looked at the midnight snack, who had gone as quiet as a chicken in an instant, and then at Yuan Ye, who showed no sign of murderous intent.

A thought flashed through his mind at once.

That was right. Yuan Ye's senses were extremely sharp. How could he not have noticed that a strange bird had entered the house?

Tsk!

Ye Yunfan tapped his head, realizing he had been impulsively driven by the gluttony of the little tentacles.

So the little octopus disdainfully shook off the feathers, jumped down from the black bird that was not a midnight snack, and dove straight into the basin to take a bath.

Watching that, Yuan Ye frowned. With similar disdain, he lifted his foot.

Still, the frightened two-headed black bird could only suffer. It pulled the knife out of its neck on its own and threw it onto the ground. At this moment, one of its heads rolled its eyes, huffing angrily and breathing heavily, while the other head huddled up, resembling a quail.

"Lord Yuan… Yuan Ye…"

☰