You Seem Delicious

Chapter 48: Do You Smoke?

Snap.

Someone snapped their finger next to You Huo’s face.

The force used was deliberately lightened, possibly because he was afraid of startling the monster or perhaps it was because he was afraid of startling him.

You Huo was stunned for a moment before looking back.

Qin Jiu retracted his hand: “What are you thinking about? You’re not moving.”

“Nothing.” You Huo shook his head.

The flame from the lighter flickered before going out again.

The cabin was dark. Only Qin Jiu’s eyes faintly reflected some light.

You Huo’s fingers holding onto the cigarette moved slightly. A familiar feeling once again flashed by.

He turned to stare at the monster.

After a while, he suddenly uttered in the dark: “Do you smoke?”

This question was asked out of nowhere. Qin Jiu was stunned for a moment: “Now?”

You Huo then realised how ambiguous his question was: “No…….”

That feeling only flashed by for a moment and after it was gone, he suddenly felt a little empty.

He had only met Qin Jiu a few times, but he never saw him buy cigarettes. What’s more, it was too strange to pick someone out and ask them this. He recalled his question earlier and felt very stupid.

“Forget it. Take it as if I didn’t ask.”

You Huo returned to his indifferent demeanour.

Qin Jiu seemed to want to say something.

But as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he suddenly stopped himself. He tapped You Huo’s shoulder twice as a reminder.

Behind the stone pillar, the monster had finally recovered from its coughing fit.

It began to move quietly.

It seemed to carry a bit of fluorescence; or it may be because of its unusually pale white flesh, as it was more conspicuous in the dark.

You Huo could clearly see its movements.

Its large eyes looked out from behind the stone pillar before turning up, down, left and right. Its body that was large enough to fill the entire ship cabin heaved with each breath. Its multiple stretched out limbs tapped gently onto the wooden floorboards in accordance to the rhythm of its breathing.

Tap, tap.

This monster looked like a large mutant octopus. Its limbs were tentacles and there were even sucker pads lined on the inside.

But it looked more grotesque than an octopus.

You Huo held his breath in disgust.

The tentacles of the ugly octopus were still outstretched. Its huge head looked out from behind the stone pillar and its eyes began to look around.

Suddenly, one of its tentacles lashed out.

Like a gecko’s tongue stretching out to catch its prey, it lashed out in one direction.

There was a boom.

A stack of wooden boxes collapsed to the ground.

The one that was hit directly by the tentacle was broken into small wooden pieces.

Unfortunately, no one was there.

The ugly octopus tilted its huge head to another direction and its eyes followed.

It keenly used its senses.

The cabin was silent. All that could be heard were the small squelching sounds it made as it moved.

……

You Huo felt his shoulder being quietly poked a few times again.

He turned around and saw Qin Jiu show his palm. On his palm was a mouldy cork.

The other party gestured something.

You Huo instantly understood.

Qin Jiu’s free hand pointed up his index finger:

1

2

3

The moment three fingers were up, You Huo threw out the half-burnt cigarette in his hand. At the same time, Qin Jiu threw the cork in the opposite direction.

Whooooooshh———-

The tentacles followed at an extremely fast speed. They could even hear the wind whistling by.

The body of the ugly octopus didn’t move an inch. Only two of its tentacles went in both directions.

Unsurprisingly, a wooden cabinet was hit causing it to fall over.

As it fell, one side of it got stuck against the stone pillar.

As for the other side, the mound of human bones was scattered around.

Pelvic bones, skulls, leg bones….they were all scattered across the ground.

Some also flew towards You Huo.

You Huo and a skull stared back at each other.

Many years ago, when it still had flesh and blood, it may have belonged to a captain or crew member of a previous fleet, or it may have belonged to an examinee who was dragged over to take the exam.

You Huo’s finger which reached out towards the skull paused for a moment. He then changed targets and grabbing a handful of nails and wooden chips.

Without saying anything, he started throwing them out one by one.

Every time one was thrown, the ugly octopus would throw a tentacle out.

One was thrown, and a tentacle followed.

It didn’t let any escape. It was clearly very excited……

How should he put it…… You Huo suddenly understood why dog owners enjoyed throwing frisbees for their dogs to catch.

It was the same on Qin Jiu’s end.

For a moment, a strange battle unfolded inside the cabin.

His body didn’t move, Qin Jiu’s body also didn’t move, and the ugly octopus similarly remained motionless.

Only arms and tentacles flew around.

It continued for a few minutes.

The cabin was almost completely demolished. The tables, chairs and cabinets were all broken to pieces, but its two prey was still nowhere in sight.

Ugly octopus: “……….”

The two great masters looked out. Seeing the chaotic scene before them, they expressed their satisfaction.

They took a short break.

The cabin suddenly went quiet. The ugly octopus’s eyes started moving around again. The movements of its body began to slow down.

It seemed to have calmed back down.

It was as if it was playing a game with its food. It wasn’t worried.

Today’s food was just a bit more mischevious.

But that doesn’t matter. It didn’t mind playing hide and seek for a while before eating them.

After exerting some energy, it would help increase its appetite and conversely make the food taste even more delicious.

It thought generously.

The more they resisted, the more delicious they would be.

If they were frightened, the meat would become all soft and it wouldn’t taste good.

It even felt that eating them all in one go was too boring. It planned to eat one to fill up its stomach first before playing around with the other for a day and eating it afterwards.

Whilst maintaining a certain level of hunger, every bite it takes would be even more satisfying.

It wasn’t afraid of its food escaping.

In any case, no matter how much they tried to escape, at midnight the food would once again be delivered right to its front door.

That fear, despair and also little bit of helplessness tasted exceptionally delicious.

……..

.

You Huo didn’t know that the ugly octopus was thinking this.

He only saw its mouth open and close a few times before letting out a few droplets of drool.

With the dim light entering from outside the porthole, it glistened.

You Huo: “………….”

As soon as the monster drooled, the smell inside the cabin became even more nauseating.

You Huo held his breath for a moment……..He finally couldn’t stand it any longer.

Without even looking back, he nudged Qin Jiu several times.

He then used his fingers to quietly gesture a few numbers:

1

2

3

He hunched his back and rushed out.

On the other side, Qin Jiu didn’t disappoint him and similarly took action.

The ugly octopus suddenly became excited. More than a dozen tentacles attacked them one after another.

Wherever there were sounds, the tentacles would strike it.

If one wasn’t enough, it would send two.

If two didn’t manage to catch it, then it would send across a third tentacle.

The cluttered and chaotic cabin was something the two had deliberately created. It placed them in a more advantageous position.

While one passed through the stone pillar, the other had just jumped over the stairs.

While one hid behind the metal cabinet, the other would rush through the gaps between toppled furniture.

………..

Less than two minutes later, You Huo stood still behind a stone pillar.

The tentacles of the ugly octopus were sharp and thin. In his hands, he held a bunch……..

Qin Jiu half squatted on the stairs. Next to him was another stone pillar and the rest of them were restrained under his feet.

As for the ugly octopus………

Its tentacles were divided into two. They looped around everywhere inside the chaotic cabin with the ends of it caught by the two great masters.

Its humungous head was lower than usual. With its tentacles in a split-like posture, it laid there slumped.

You Huo asked Qin Jiu: “Did you bring your rope?”

“It’s unfortunate but I’m not allowed to bring along any invigilator’s items………” Qin Jiu’s mouth may have uttered the word unfortunate, but his eyes swept across the room.

He reached out and grabbed a rope from the corner of the staircase. After checking it, he said: “I just saw this. It was probably used to tie the sails. Here.”

Qin Jiu stretched his arm and threw the rope over.

You Huo caught it and immediately tied the tentacles up like a ponytail.

“You’re really………..” Qin Jiu said.

Despite looking so cold and proud, you like to play with anything.

You Huo threw away the tied ponytail and looked up at him. He waited expressionlessly for him to finish his bullshit.

Qin Jiu let out a sound before changing his words: “Funny and humorous. Very interesting.”

As he said that, he similarly searched around and found another rope. He bound together the tentacles below his feet.

This time it was a double ponytail.

Ugly octopus: “………..”

Qin Jiu supported himself with one hand and jumped off the stairs.

The tentacles tied up by him was yanked down from the side of the staircase. It laid there like it was dead.

Qin Jiu examined it and said: “Can this thing be eaten?”

Ugly octopus: “…………”

You Huo: “……….No.”

Qin Jiu was quite surprised: “No? But it looks no different to octopus tentacles.”

You Huo glanced at him with disbelief.

Qin Jiu thought he would say something like “Are you crazy?” but in the end the great master threw out a single sentence: “It’s head is too ugly.”

Ugly octopus: “………..”

As they spoke, the head of the ugly octopus grew rapidly in size.

It accumulated a large amount of energy.

It was then followed by several snapping sounds. The tentacles that were tied together suddenly broke off.

Once the ugly octopus was no longer restrained, it immediately retracted the remnants of its tentacles.

The large pale and fleshy body then quietly shrunk in size before disappearing through a crack in the wall.

It disappeared in just a blink of an eye. All that were left were the two bundles of ponytails that it had voluntarily given up.

Cutting off its tail to ensure survival?

…..Alright them.

You Huo again flicked on his lighter. He walked over to the place where the ugly octopus disappeared.

There were a few pieces of broken wooden boards there forming a hole less than one metre in diameter. Through the hole, you could see an uneven rocky reef surfaces as well as several deep crevices between them.

The salty smell of the sea could be smelt through the crevices, and the sound of waves were faintly audible.

After a while, Qin Jiu whistled softly beside the porthole.

You Huo’s attention was drawn over.

“Ran off.” Qin Jiu knocked on the glass window.

Outside the porthole was the deep sea.

On one side was the reef. The other side was the seawater beneath the ice.

It appeared that this abandoned ship was still on the island. It was just stuck in a complicated position so they didn’t notice it earlier.

You Huo thought this and looked out through the porthole.

In the sea not far away, the figure of something pale flashed by. It swam away without looking back.

In an instant, the sea returned to its quiet and calm state.

“I don’t smoke.” Qin Jiu said suddenly.

You Huo stopped for a moment before straightening himself up. He saw Qin Jiu leaning against the porthole watching him: “Was this what you were asking earlier?”

You Huo didn’t expect him to still remember that.

Qin Jiu said: “Why did you ask that?”

“No reason.” You Huo paused for a moment, “Picked up a cigarette butt and was looking for the owner.”

Qin Jiu remembered that mouldy thing and raised his eyebrows.

You Huo had already left.

The cabin was a mess.

You Huo and Qin Jiu searched through the “battlefield” and managed to find a lot of useful things inside the broken boxes and collapsed cabinets.

This included candles, a lamp and a compass.

There was even a medieval-style badge, a pocket watch and a rusted box.

You Huo lit the lamp and finally gave the lighter a chance to rest.

The two moved the compass dials and followed the direction of the wind inside the cabin to find the exit.

.

Shortly afterwards.

Inside the stone cave, the group of examinees exchanged information as they held up their fire torches.

“Have you found anything?”

“We went around and walked along the coast for half an hour, but we couldn’t find any trace of that monster.”

“Then……there weren’t any bones?”

“No, no.”

“Oh, oh, oh. That’s good then. At least there’s still hope that they may still be alive.”

After the disappearance of You Huo and Qin Jiu, they were quite scared.

However, with the pregnant Shu Xue picking up a fire torch insisting on going out to look for them, how could they just sit around? They naturally formed teams and went out to search for them.

But after searching for almost an hour, they couldn’t find anything.

Although they said that there was still hope if there were no corpses found, they were also fully aware of how slim that hope was…..

Everyone fell silent. They then let out a gloomy sigh.

But before they could completely finish their sigh, two figures appeared at the entrance of the cave.

When everyone looked back, they saw the two people they had thought had turned into bones carrying two bundles of tentacle, a metal box and a lantern……

They had returned with bags of goods.

Everyone: “………….”

At this moment, one of the two great masters even glanced at the score wall. Standing before the dead rabbit, he muttered: “Why wasn’t it considered violating the rules this time………?”

Dead rabbit: “………….”

Are you fucking addicted to it???

KK has something to say:

HAHAHA Yep, definitely addicted