Lu Xiao’s throat burned as the pearl lodged slightly in his windpipe. He gagged violently for a few moments before finally forcing it down.
The monster still recoiled from him, confused and unable to comprehend what Lu Xiao had done. How could a human willingly consume something that had the power to harm them?
It stared at him from a distance, its alien eyes focused. Lu Xiao suddenly dropped to his knees.
Pain.
Excruciating, bone deep pain.
He could feel his body heating up, his fingers curling uncontrollably. His neatly trimmed nails dug into his flesh, though he barely noticed, his stomach churned with agonizing pain, eclipsing every other sensation.
His blood felt like it was boiling, every inch of his skin shrieking with a chilling heat. Lu Xiao felt as though he might explode. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth wide, gasping for air, attempting to draw life from it.
But the oxygen brought no relief. Instead, it intensified his torment. Sweat poured from his head, coating the floor in tiny, glistening droplets.
He curled into himself like a helpless worm, small and insignificant in the long corridor. His face turned a deep, bruised purple, like a raw slab of liver. Anyone who saw him would be struck with fear.
“Damn it… it hurts so much… Why is it so painful?”
Lu Xiao began slamming his fists into the floor in sheer agony yet each strike made him unknowingly stronger. Blow after blow, he pounded the ground, creating deep, gaping holes that grew more and more terrifying with every strike.
The sentient corridor suffered even more. Its walls had already been shattered by the octopus horse monster; now it endured Lu Xiao’s relentless assault. It’s unclear whether it actually felt pain but at least the corridor screamed in full, unrestrained agony. After all, monsters had no need to maintain appearances.
“Shut up!”
Lu Xiao’s eyes glowed an eerie green, pupils shifting to align with the horse’s vertical slits. His sharp canine teeth elongated, capable of piercing human veins with ease.
The skin on his back began to crack and peel, giving rise to alien organs not belonging to his human form.
With a forceful strike, the floor buckled beneath him, collapsing into a massive hole. The long corridor fell utterly silent, as if it had never lived.
Seeing Lu Xiao’s sudden transformation, the octopus horse monster panicked. It tried to retreat back into the hole it had emerged from but its massive body tumbled awkwardly, unable to fit through.
It fidgeted helplessly as Lu Xiao slowly rose to his feet. From his back, a massive tentacle erupted, coiling around the octopus horse’s neck.
Instantly, the creature fell silent. Its pupils darted frantically in fear. Before, its aggressive display had been a threat; now, it was pure terror. For the first time, it had learned a distinctly human emotion.
And it was directed at a single human being. Strictly speaking, though, Lu Xiao was no longer fully human. He was now its equal or perhaps far above it in terms of evolutionary rank.
Whimper… Whimper…
The monster whimpered pitifully, shaking violently. Its pupils spun uncontrollably, its entire body trembling. Held at Lu Xiao’s mercy, it dared not move. It stared at him with a hint of hope, silently pleading for the human to retain some shred of compassion and release it.
It tried to reach Lu Xiao’s eerie green eyes but shrank back when confronted by his gaze. Using its tentacles, it fumbled to push him away, desperately trying to free itself.
“Annoying.”
Lu Xiao didn’t say another word. The tentacle sprouting from his back constricted suddenly. The octopus horse screamed and thrashed violently.
Crack.
Ineffective.
The alien appendage moved as if alive, bloodthirsty and enraged. It treated the octopus horse’s neck like a mere toy. Within moments, the creature fell silent.
The terrifying crackling ceased. The monster’s equine essence meant that as long as Lu Xiao held its neck, it had no capacity to resist.
The tentacle released its grip. With a heavy thud, the octopus horse collapsed to the ground and slowly dissolved into a puff of black smoke, drifting away with the nonexistent wind.
The vast corridor now held only Lu Xiao, the sole living being. The tentacle, like a playful child, brushed against him, seeking acknowledgment for its “achievement.”
Lu Xiao frowned. This tentacle was not an attractive sight. Though more refined than the octopus before, it was still a tentacle, covered in suction cups and slime, sprouting from his own body. It made him uncomfortable.
Yet he owed it his survival. Hesitantly, he reached out and patted it and the tentacle excitedly rubbed against his face. Lu Xiao gagged but he continued, pretending to soothe it.
Unexpectedly, the tentacle became more audacious, enveloping Lu Xiao’s entire face, as if embracing him. His mouth and nose were completely covered. Darkness filled his vision; he nearly suffocated.
Sensing the danger, the tentacle released him immediately, bracing itself against the floor to prevent Lu Xiao from falling.
“Little ancestor, next time don’t get so excited, leave a little life for your old man, will you?”
The tentacle, this appendage, was part of the Evolution Pearl that Lu Xiao had swallowed. After a grueling, agonizing process, Lu Xiao had fused seamlessly with the pearl and this tentacle had manifested as a result.
A powerful, purely malevolent tool.
Yet Lu Xiao could sense its emotions. Despite its fearsome appearance, it was just like a normal child, treating Lu Xiao as its father. Its earlier aggressive behavior had been purely instinctive, protecting him by driving the octopus horse monster into dissolution.
The tentacle slinked around Lu Xiao, almost apologetically. Lu Xiao patted it on the side, it was, after all, just an innocent child in his eyes.
Alone, he felt no discomfort. But he knew that if another person were present, they would surely tell him it was abnormal to treat a monster as a child.
“Good. Let’s go find your mommy.”
His eyes slowly returned to a deep black, the faint green glow vanishing. His face once again appeared entirely human, though the tentacle behind him refused to retract.
“Can you… pull back? If he sees you like this, he’ll be scared.”
The tentacle looked troubled. Since Lu Xiao had commanded it to extend, it simply couldn’t retract. It tried several times and failed, looking at Lu Xiao with innocent eyes, silently seeking guidance.
Lu Xiao sighed. At least it could shrink. He would have to ask Qian Jinye later if it was possible to separate the Black Pearl inside him from himself.
If it were possible, he still wouldn’t want to rely on its power. He didn’t want to become a monster, he wanted to remain an ordinary human, for his entire life.
The octopus horse had dissolved but the corridor remained. Whether it existed in reality or as an illusion, Lu Xiao had no time to ponder.
His mind was entirely focused on Qian Jinye. He was desperate to see him again. He had promised to wait for him and Lu Xiao was determined to see him alive.
Although he no longer knew if he was truly still human, ever since swallowing the Evolution Pearl, his thoughts were clouded, chaotic.
Go see him. Go see him. Go see him.
It had become an obsession, driving him forward. Ahead lay a door, one that seemed to pull him onward with an almost magnetic force. Lu Xiao forgot that Qian Jinye had gone through another exit behind.
“Brother, wait for me, wait for me.”
He strode straight ahead. The large door in front of him seemed to beckon, compelling him to move.
Suddenly, a searing pain shot through his chest. A sword had pierced him. Blood gushed, spreading across his clothes in a vivid scarlet stain.
“?”
“Lu Xiao? Lu Xiao! You’re Lu Xiao… what did I do?”
Qian Jinye’s voice trembled, filled with panic. Only then did Lu Xiao realize the non-human traits he had hidden were once again visible. No wonder Qian Jinye looked terrified.
Qian Jinye fell to the ground, shaking violently. That strike he had just delivered, a precise stab to the heart, was meant to be lethal. Lu Xiao remained standing but he could not hold on for long.
“Jinye! Look closely! It’s a monster now, it’s not the Lu Xiao you know!”
“But… brother, look. He is Lu Xiao! He really is!”
Concealed, his non-human features hidden, Lu Xiao’s appearance was unchanged. At least outwardly, he was still the same Lu Xiao.
No wonder Qian Jinye panicked. Lu Xiao’s face was pale, blood trickling from his mouth, clearly gravely injured. He had just fought the monster and now Qian Jinye’s blade had added to the damage.
Any normal person would be dead or at the very least half incapacitated.
“Lu Xiao… don’t scare me. Say something…”
Tears streamed down Qian Jinye’s face. Breaking free from Qian Shengke’s restraint, he rushed to Lu Xiao’s side, gently wiping the blood from his lips.
Lu Xiao gave him a faint smile but said nothing. Qian Jinye’s heart sank. As a martial artist, his instincts screamed at him to push Lu Xiao away.
Bang!
The tentacle sprouting from Lu Xiao’s back surged violently, slamming Qian Jinye against the wall. He crashed into it, embedding partially into the stone, coughing up blood, staring at Lu Xiao in disbelief.
“Lu Xiao?”
Lu Xiao blinked his eerie eyes, smiling radiantly as though he were a mischievous child playing a prank. Seeing Qian Jinye spitting blood, he grew even more excited.
“Jinye! Are you okay?”
Qian Shengke stepped forward to pull Qian Jinye out. Though he and Lu Xiao were at odds, he knew that the one who had struck Qian Jinye was not Lu Xiao.
It was clearly the monster. Lu Xiao’s creation, not the man himself.
“That’s impossible! I stabbed its heart, I should have killed it!”
Suddenly, Qian Jinye regained clarity. Since Lu Xiao had been corrupted by the pearl, the creature was the enemy. He had struck with lethal force yet the person before him still stood. How could this be?
The tentacle swayed behind Lu Xiao, ready to strike again at any moment. It was clear by now that Lu Xiao had fused with it, perhaps to the point where he could no longer recognize Qian Jinye and the others.
“Brother, my sword is in it… it’s up to you now.”
Qian Jinye staggered out from the wall, exchanging a determined glance with Qian Shengke. The two brothers nodded in perfect synchronization, their eyes fixed on Lu Xiao.
“Brother…”
Finally, Lu Xiao spoke.
“Next time… make sure to stab here.”
He took the dagger Qian Jinye had given him earlier and drove it forcefully into the right side of his chest. His eyes, black, gleaming with clarity, looked directly at them.
He was not a monster.
He was Lu Xiao.
✦ ✧ ✦
Nycreth
[Translator]
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ChaptersChapter 1 · The beginning of the tragedyChapter 2 · Don’t forgetChapter 3 · Look at it directlyChapter 4 · Whom are you trying to seduce?Chapter 5 · TeaseChapter 6 · Sleeping in the same bedChapter 7 · Internal locksChapter 8 · Tampering The rules…Chapter 9 · Black LotusChapter 10 · FledglingChapter 11 · There are no horses in the stable.Chapter 12 · Water-oil separationChapter 13 · The cost of backtrackingChapter 14 · It got biggerChapter 15 · Was it a mouse?Chapter 16 · Too fieryChapter 17 · Administer medicineChapter 18 · Tracing the PearlChapter 19 · A KissChapter 20 · Ge, Kiss meChapter 21 · Ten Thousand Deaths Without RegretChapter 22 · Endless CorridorChapter 23 · CowardChapter 24 · GoodbyeChapter 25 · Back toChapter 26 · It’s is me, Not MeChapter 27 · VictimChapter 28 · Crossed CupsChapter 29 · IntuitionChapter 30 · ChangeChapter 31 · DifferentChapter 32 · ErrorChapter 33 · Mind Your Own BusinessChapter 34 · WanderingChapter 35 · EmbraceChapter 36 · LoveChapter 37 · UnrestrainedChapter 38 · Asking Over a DrinkChapter 39 · As BeforeChapter 40 · SatiatedChapter 41 · A Change in the WindsChapter 42 · A’SuChapter 43 · Welcoming the BrideChapter 44 · GossipChapter 45 · WeaknessChapter 46 · Wedding NightChapter 47 · Brother QingChapter 48 · FadingChapter 49 · Lying LowChapter 50 · CaressChapter 51 · OnceChapter 52 · The Hidden PassageChapter 53 · MotherChapter 54 · FlawlessChapter 55 · ProphecyChapter 56 · EtherealChapter 57 · DecipheringChapter 58 · The TrapChapter 59 · Stone StatueChapter 60 · ChessChapter 61 · AssassinsChapter 62 · The National Preceptor?Chapter 63 · Please return my belongings to me.Chapter 64 · I’m not that desperate.Chapter 65 · No wayChapter 66 · No turning backChapter 67 · I told you, get out of the wayChapter 68 · Still became a monsterChapter 69 · Let’s end thisChapter 70 · Why do you look so much like him?Chapter 71 · One wanted to kill, two stopped himChapter 72 · Unless, the people at Mingzhu Academy are keeping it from himChapter 73 · FraudChapter 74 · Don’t look back, Lu XiaoChapter 75 · It’s coldChapter 76 · Kill MeChapter 77 · We are even marriedChapter 78 · Gege… I Love YouChapter 79 · “It” had arrivedChapter 80 · Wake Up!Chapter 81 · How Nostalgic….Chapter 82 · You already Promised meChapter 83 · Their TerritoryChapter 84 · Jokes were JokesChapter 85 · What you dream was realChapter 86 · Did you cry?Chapter 87 · What’s wrong, young Master?Chapter 88 · No, I only ever said it to youChapter 89 · Honey, Please let me go.Chapter 90 · What are you pretending to be, a gentleman?Chapter 91 · It’s just a shoddy trick to fool people, but I like it anywayChapter 92 · Ge, I did it voluntarily, it’s no useChapter 93 · You little BratChapter 94 · Gege~ please have mercyChapter 95 · Hearing Lu Xiao come in, he patted the seat next to himChapter 96 · Stop fooling around, let me kiss youChapter 97 · “I want…” “Want what?”Chapter 98 · Gege, watch closely how I get youChapter 99 · Little Eleven, how about we talk to ‘it’ first?Chapter 100 · Had it gone mad?Chapter 101 · I will make my decisionChapter 102 · Tsk, how indecentChapter 103 · You are the creator of my original worldChapter 104 · The world is not your toy, go back to where you came fromChapter 105 · He was a boy with snow-white hair and a handsome faceChapter 106 · Haven’t seen you for a long timeChapter 107 · TYRBL Extra: 1Chapter 108 · TYRBL Extra: 2Chapter 109 · TYRBL Extra: 3Chapter 110 · TYRBL Extra: 4