TTAETSC Chapter 33.1 - Little Octopus Poking Out Its Head

"Boom—!"

Just now, the loud noise from the grenade seemed to have alarmed all the otherworldly creatures hidden in the darkness. The originally quiet underground passage suddenly became noisy and chaotic.

Countless giant lizards seemed to be crawling from all directions, their trampling accompanied by the splashing of mucus.

Yuan Ye moved quickly, calmly, and swiftly, clearing the path ahead. Jon, fear etched on his face, ran in the middle, holding a flashlight to illuminate the way and occasionally firing a few shots. Chen Xinyue naturally took on the task of covering the rear.

Snap!

The ventilation duct at the top was broken open, and countless blood-red tentacles, like a frog's tongue, instantly shot toward Yuan Ye.

The latter had a calm expression and casually cut them into minced meat. However, just before those tentacles were turned into minced meat, they suddenly sprayed viscous liquids toward Yuan Ye.

The little octopus could clearly see that all the blood-red mucus was filled with eggs, each egg with short black lines inside. Those black lines, like mosquito larvae, were excitedly swimming inside.

Yuan Ye's brows furrowed as he slanted his knife to shield himself, agilely dodging to the side.

Even though he blocked it, some of it still splashed toward Jon behind him. The curly-haired puppy's eyes widened instantly. He only had the vision of an ordinary person, so he couldn't see the eggs in the mucus clearly.

However, ordinary people generally cannot come into direct contact with otherworldly creatures and their secretions, as there is a high possibility of contamination.

If one is extremely lucky, there's a very small possibility of turning into a mutant. Alternatively, if they have a strong background, considerable wealth, and have purification medicine, timely use would prevent any major problems.

But if one doesn't have the above two options, either they will suffer from a serious illness and barely survive on their own, or they will directly turn into an otherworldly creature.

In short, avoid touching or coming into contact with anything on the bodies of otherworldly creatures, if possible.

So, seeing the mucus splashing toward him, Jon, in a moment of urgency, immediately slid to his knees, bending them perfectly to dodge it.

"Fuck!"

The curly-haired puppy, still in shock, let out a low cry.

"..."

The little octopus watched the whole process and suddenly felt that it was very suitable for Jon to do acrobatics.

Captain Chen trampled on the creature's eggs on the ground, swiftly grabbed Jon by the back of his collar, and lifted him up in one go.

"Don't stop! Keep running!"

"Yes!"

At that moment, the little octopus suddenly noticed a red egg splashed on Yuan Ye's collar.

It was very small, almost as big as his suction cup.

But as soon as the egg landed on the collar, it seemed to smell something delicious. The outer membrane quickly melted away, revealing a thin black line inside that resembled a mosquito larva.

It squirmed desperately, as if crazily trying to get close to the youth's neck.

Swish—

A pink little tentacle shot out from the collarbone, rolled up on Yuan Ye's shirt collar, and in the next second, the short black line disappeared.

Stamina +0.5

[What does it taste like? What does it taste like?]

[I did not taste it.]

[I don't know, I don't know, it quickly disappeared.]

The little tentacles communicated with each other in confusion, and the scene was like Zhu Bajie* who swallowed the ginseng fruit whole. He ate it, but it also seemed like he hadn't eaten it.

*Zhu Bajie is a character in the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West." He is known for his gluttony and often eats things without fully appreciating them.

At this moment, Yuan Ye's footsteps turned, leading to the next fork in the road.

The attention of the little octopus returned to Yuan Ye, and he noticed that Yuan Ye chose each fork in the road without any hesitation, as if he was extremely familiar with the place.

It seemed like Yuan Ye had indeed been here before and was quite familiar with this place.

The little octopus gradually verified this idea.

But right after, he was suddenly unable to understand. Since Yuan Ye was familiar with this place, he should know about the troublesome monster here. Why, then, did he still bring Chen Xinyue and Jon here?

This question spun around the little octopus's head, unanswered. But just then, Yuan Ye's speed suddenly slowed down.

"He...here."

Unexpectedly, a hoarse and eerie voice came from the dark corridor ahead.

Chen Xinyue immediately shone the flashlight over, and as the light hit the figure, the muzzle of her gun was also aimed at the target in the middle of the beam.

—It was a man running and staggering toward them.

He was of medium build, wearing a helmet that almost covered his entire head. He had on an excessively oversized black raincoat. The raincoat was dirty, with a thick layer of mucus resembling tar sticking to its surface.

The mucus looked very similar to the section that had just fallen from the wall.

His feet were in a pair of old, muddy military boots, his hands tucked in the oversized sleeves, making it impossible to see if he was carrying any weapons. But for Chen Xinyue, all the strangeness about him was synonymous with danger and threat.

Just before she could pull the trigger, the man spoke again, sounding like a deaf-mute person trying hard to learn to speak. His pronunciation and articulation were very strange, not quite like vocal cords producing sound.

But Chen Xinyue still heard it clearly. He was saying—

"Mr....Mr. Yuan Ye..."

The little octopus's ears perked up instantly, poking out half of his head.

Acquaintance?

Meeting an acquaintance in a place like this?

Did Yuan Ye intentionally run here just to see this person?

The little octopus instinctively looked up at Yuan Ye, but from this angle, the only thing visible was the other party's jaw and his bobbing Adam's apple.

This guy looks a little nervous.

"?"

Why?

The little octopus had no idea that his own twisting and turning was the main cause of this. He quickly lowered his head again, focusing his gaze on the strange figure in front, who was wearing a raincoat and a helmet.

Chen Xinyue looked at Yuan Ye in surprise. Seeing that he showed no intention of attacking, she skeptically put down her gun.

"Give...give..."

Seeing Chen Xinyue put down the gun, the man limped over in a hurry. He took out three identical raincoats from his sleeves, rubbed large patches of black mucus from the ground and walls onto them, and then handed them over.

Jon looked pale and obviously disgusted. But Yuan Ye reached out and took one, putting it on and pulling the hood of the raincoat over his head.

Chen Xinyue hesitated for a moment, then gestured at Jon to do the same.

As they put on the raincoats, the helmeted man with the strange limping gait immediately walked up behind them.

And from the passage behind them, there was obviously the sound of several crawling otherworldly creatures coming after them.

The man hesitated for a moment, then took off his helmet.

Immediately after, the little octopus's eyes suddenly widened.

Under the helmet was not a human head. Like those monsters just now, it was a mass of countless red tentacles!

After the shocking scene, the little octopus carefully observed the other party. The color of this man's tentacles was slightly darker, not as bright red and conspicuous.

Jon tightly covered his mouth, his eyes wide like copper bells. He looked at Yuan Ye beside him, then glanced at the monster man in the distance, whose head had turned into tentacles. He stood frozen in place, seemingly losing the ability to think.

Chen Xinyue's complexion was not too good, but she still remained calm. She frowned slightly and glanced sideways at Yuan Ye, as if pondering something.

A few seconds later, a dozen or so giant tentacled lizards came charging up. But as they neared, their initially rapid pace suddenly slowed, coming to a gradual halt.

The otherworldly creatures looked around in confusion, their previously excited and restless tentacles suddenly quieted down, hesitating and perplexed as they searched the air.

The little octopus immediately guessed that these guys had no vision and relied entirely on their tentacles to search for targets. And now, the raincoats covered in black mucus had masked the scent of the three of them.

Crack!

The ventilation duct above was violently smashed open once again, and a dozen smaller red tentacles eagerly extended out. However, they suddenly paused, as if they had also lost their target.

They searched aimlessly and eagerly in the air, seemingly quite resentful.

Just then, the frontmost tentacled otherworldly creature approached the man, extending its thinnest tentacle to entwine with the man's tentacle.

Both sides seemed to be communicating something.

[Where... Where...]

And in that instant, the little octopus heard a vague yet urgent voice.

Little octopus: "...?!!"

He could actually hear it!

His moist blue eyes widened slightly, staring in astonishment at the two red tentacles entwined and rubbing against each other in front of him.

Right!

The little octopus suddenly remembered that the first time he met Chen Xinyue, the woman seemed to be communicating through something within the team, and he seemed to be able to hear clearly as well.

[Over there... Over there...]

The tentacle-headed man pointed to the side road next to him.

[Run...]

At the same time, Yuan Ye raised his hand and lightly shook four fingers toward the wall. Chen Xinyue immediately understood. She pulled Jon and silently stuck close to the wall.

Half a minute later, the lizard-like crawling otherworldly creature confirmed the direction, retracting its tentacles and shaking the thinnest one, which was the tentacle that had just communicated with the man.

[Over there! Over there!]

Its mood suddenly became fervent!

The dozen or so crawling otherworldly creatures behind them became excited once again, quickly turning their heads and immediately chasing after the other fork in the road pointed out by the man.

However, at that moment, the small otherworldly creature hanging on the ventilation duct seemed to sense something unusual.

It tilted its head and jumped down from the upper wall. Its silhouette looked like that of a two or three-year-old child.

A dozen small tentacles trembled slightly in the air, probing.

[Wrong...wrong]

Those tentacles probing in the air were like snail's antennae. Then, the scattered tentacles slowly came together and converged toward the three people standing, holding their breath.

The tentacle-headed man with a helmet immediately stepped forward, wanting to communicate again. But at this moment, the little otherworldly creature viciously raised its tentacles, like sharp spikes.

[Here! It's here!!!]

It impatiently and resentfully pushed away the man's extending tentacles, quickly climbing up the wall. Its blood-red tentacles extended as if wanting to touch those eggs.

Then it screeched in a way that only its kind could hear—

[Here! It's here!!!]

Yuan Ye squinted slightly as if he was about to draw his knife in the next second, but in that instant, the little otherworldly creature crouched on the side wall like a gecko suddenly paused.

[No, it's not here, you got it wrong.]

An unfamiliar male voice sounded in its mind.

The little otherworldly creature paused, tilted its head slightly, and looked toward Yuan Ye. Among the dozens of tentacles it extended, the thinnest and softest one trembled in the air to probe.

[You got it wrong.]

The voice repeated, completely different from the vague and harsh voices of its companions, sounding very gentle.

It was as if some kind of sweet talking*... no, a kind of magical power that could bewitch the hearts of otherworldly creatures.

*to stir up public sentiment with false statements

[Wrong...wrong?]

The tentacles of the little otherworldly creature curled up like flower stamens. It became a little confused, but still asked.

[Where... where?]

[It's over there, over there.]

A little pink tentacle stretched out from the young man's collar and pointed to the side road.

[...Over there?]

The tentacles of the little otherworldly creature twisted and turned, almost tangling up, but in the end, it obeyed the words spoken by this gentle voice.

[Over there...it's over there...]

The little otherworldly creature repeated the words stupidly, then turned its head and quickly caught up with the huge companions who had gone far ahead.

It wasn't until they saw the little otherworldly creature disappear into the darkness that the three people finally let out their breath.

Only the tentacle-headed man from earlier stood dumbfounded in place, with over a dozen dark red tentacles on his head subtly tilting toward Yuan Ye, looking somewhat doubtful.

At this moment, the expressionless Yuan Ye raised his hand and poked the "little jellyfish" inside through the collar.

It produced a "jigu" sound.

As a result, the little tentacle that was originally exposed suddenly stiffened, and then immediately retracted.

Yuan Ye then took out the framed little painting from his leg bag and threw it toward the tentacle-headed man.

Bang—

Those tentacles seemed to be extremely perceptive.

The man immediately reached out and caught it accurately. He seemed to have no vision either, only using his deformed fingers to tremble and fumble around the picture frame.

A few seconds later, he seemed to have confirmed something, and his whole body suddenly trembled.

"Thank...thank you..."

Eh?

The little octopus poked his head out again, his gaze falling on the small oil painting in the man's palm. He was somewhat unable to understand—

Why was this humanoid monster so concerned about that small painting?

Now, the tentacle-headed man regained his senses, put his helmet back on, turned around, and searched for a direction.

"He...here..."

He mumbled indistinctly and led the way ahead.

Yuan Ye took a step forward and followed first. Chen Xinyue glanced at the pale-faced Jon and also followed in silence.

This time, Captain Chen did not turn on the light. She simply followed the sound of footsteps ahead. Jon, barely regaining his composure from the previous shock, covered his mouth and solemnly followed behind.