Chapter 156

Chapter 156

The growing light illuminated half the sky of the city, and he could almost hear the commotion from there.

He wasn’t sure if they had started fighting or were still facing off.

In any case, the bugs had more than completed their task. In just seventeen minutes, a passage leading to the stone fortress appeared. The bugs even smoothed the surface of the tunnel with their saliva and mucus to prevent debris from falling.

Ji Xinghai entered this makeshift tunnel, crawling forward without much regard for his appearance.

The tunnel under the riverbed was wet, with water constantly seeping out and dripping onto the ground. The air was filled with the sour smell of bug mucus. But these conditions had no effect on him; he quickly crawled through the dark, damp, and foul-smelling path. Now, only the topmost stone block remained.

He reached out and supported the heavy stone slab, slowly pushing it upward.

The stone wall emitted a slight scraping sound as a half-person-high stone slab was pushed aside, revealing a figure covered in mud.

Ji Xinghai placed the stone slab back in its original position and looked around.

This was beneath a building, with square stone slabs covering the floor. Despite this, moisture still seeped through, making the space damp and musty. There were no lighting tools here, but his eyes adjusted to the darkness, allowing him to find the exit and the outline of the stone staircase. The movement of air also helped him determine the direction of the exit.

Ji Xinghai walked toward the exit and climbed up the stairs. He muttered something indistinctly, and an invisible force swept over him, removing the mud spots, leaving him clean and dust-free once again.

Upon entering the upper level,

(Sniff)

“…” He caught the scent of the squid creature, a very strong odor, along with another fishy smell.

Is it there? He looked up at the end of the spiral stone staircase.

The patrol outside was still diligently circling, and the archers in the watchtowers were scanning the lower areas. They could see any movement in the darkness, and nothing could slip past their watchful eyes. However, inside the walls, the intruder was already ascending the spiral staircase.

The higher he went, the stronger the fishy smell became.

Ji Xinghai’s footsteps were silent, like a cat’s.

At the very top of the stone fortress, a middle-aged man in an embroidered robe stood by the door. The door was closed, with red light flickering through the crack. Inside, cries of pain could be heard continuously.

“Darling, darling, ah—”

A woman was calling out, but he stood there dazed, his eyes lifeless.

“!”

Suddenly, a palm struck from behind. The middle-aged man didn’t react in time and fell sideways, supported by a slender arm and gently laid against the wall.

Inside, the person continued to call out “darling, darling,” occasionally moaning in pain.

Ji Xinghai looked down at the fallen man. His skin was clean and lustrous, his beard scented with essential oils. Looking at his hand-embroidered robe and the ring on his finger that seemed to bear a family crest, he was clearly wealthy.

But what interested Ji Xinghai most was the man’s identity. The thing inside carried the stench of the squid creature, yet the man guarding the door was human.

How intriguing.

He approached the door quietly and peered through the crack where the red light flickered.

“Ah—”

The red light pulsed like a cloud, revealing a massive tentacle monster lying on a half-person-high, egg-like fire seed. It seemed to be in great pain, occasionally slamming its thick tentacles against the stone walls.

As it writhed, a stream of mucus flowed beneath it. It called out “darling” in a sweet female voice while using its tentacles to crack the stone walls.

Suddenly, the monster screamed, retracting and then releasing its tentacles, as if taking a deep breath. The fire seed visibly shrank, followed by the sound of mucus flowing and a splash.

A plump, translucent squidling the size of a football fell into the pool of mucus.

After the first one, the others followed quickly. He saw the thick tentacles contracting and releasing repeatedly, dropping several squidlings until twelve had been born. Only then did the giant squid stop.

The small stone chamber was now occupied by the giant tentacle monster and a dozen mini tentacle creatures.

By this point, nearly a third of the large fire seed had disappeared.

“Darling.”

After catching its breath, a large but agile tentacle opened the door, noticing the unconscious middle-aged man leaning against the wall. It sneered, “Fainted again, useless thing.”

With that, the tentacle withdrew, tapping somewhere on the ceiling, causing two boards hanging on ropes to fall, along with several sleeping children.

They had been drugged and fell from such a height without waking, instinctively curling into a ball to protect themselves from external threats. As soon as these human children appeared, the newborn tentacle creatures stirred but dared not approach the much larger human children.

Then, the giant tentacle monster dragged out a sealed jar and opened it, releasing the sweet scent of honey.

It used a tentacle to dab some honey on the faces of the human children, enticing them: “How sweet and delicious. This land, this food, is given to us by the gods. We must take it. Go ahead.”

The newborn tentacle creatures, though just born, seemed to have an innate predatory instinct. They surrounded each human child, drawn by the sweet scent of honey.

The scent made them tremble, and the act of predation left a “beautiful” impression in their minds, embedding itself into their genetic memory.

They began instinctively forcing their way into the mouths of the sleeping children.

One of the children, with their mouth and nose blocked, struggled weakly in their sleep…

“Squeak!” A hand suddenly appeared, grabbing the squidlings one by one. One, two, three… he swiftly collected all the squidlings like harvesting rice.

The squidlings were delicious, but if tainted with human blood, the audience watching would surely have a negative reaction, similar to nausea or vomiting.

Ah, my sensitive and fragile compatriots back home.

Ji Xinghai took care of the old family's fragile nerves by strangling the baby squids one by one before they could attack, tossing them into the dowry box. The giant squid beside him was stunned; it had no idea how this human appeared. There was no unfamiliar scent in the air, and there were no other sounds, not even breathing.

By the time it reacted, all its offspring were dead.

It screamed in fury, its ultrasonic cries echoing through the space. The man outside, pressed against the wall, had blood streaming from his ears, nose, and mouth, but the unwelcome guest remained unaffected.

At the same time, its skin shimmered with rainbow hues, like some hypnotic spell, making anyone who looked at it feel dizzy. Yet... it had no effect on Ji Xinghai.

After two powerful attacks missed their mark, the squid creature grew enraged and lost control.

Its flexible yet powerful tentacles reached for Ji Xinghai but were caught mid-air.

Each tentacle possessed the strength to twist steel, but Ji Xinghai held firm, smiling.

His sixth sense blared warnings, but it was too late. The giant squid felt a tremendous force at the end of its tentacle, causing it to fly uncontrollably, slamming into the ceiling, walls, and ground.

The already cracked ceiling and walls began crumbling, and the giant squid was battered like a sack, dazed and disoriented, its brain turned to mush.

Yet, he managed to avoid all the places where the human children lay.

The giant squid, now dazed, stopped emitting ultrasonic waves. Its two tentacles that had been tightly wrapped around the fire seed loosened and fell, rolling on the ground.

Taking advantage of this moment, Ji Xinghai leaped onto the giant squid's head. The squid's energy surged towards him as if drawn by a powerful vacuum, forming an energy vortex.

"Aaah—" The giant squid screamed in agony.

The screams finally roused the middle-aged man on the ground. Weak-kneed, he crawled to the door on all fours, only to witness not a birth but the sight of the once-living squid turning to ash.

In the ashes stood a tall, thin man, half-bathed in the red glow of the fire seed, half-shadowed, like a demon born in chaos. His eyes were icy cold and supremely arrogant.

"So the fire seed wasn't stolen; it was given to the beloved wife of the city lord for childbirth. What a touching love story." The demonic man approached, crouched down, and lifted the middle-aged man by his hair. "Shall I send you on your way?"

The man, suspended in the air, felt his scalp tearing. His legs trembled, and urine trickled down his shoes. "It forced me, it forced me."

Ji Xinghai tilted his head. "How did it force you? Explain quickly; I have no patience."

He heard the commotion outside. The giant squid's ultrasonic waves were not just for combat but also to communicate with its kind. The guards had realized something was amiss and were now at the fortress gate.

Before they arrived, he would squeeze out the last bit of information from this man.

"Hurry, hurry!" The guards had already burst through the gate.

This heavy iron door, made of many steel plates, was meant to deter intruders but caused them significant trouble. It took several minutes to open.

More time was wasted debating whether to come up or not. They argued for nearly fifteen minutes before deciding to investigate.

Since the city lord's wife had only shouted "enemy invasion" at first and then went silent, some believed the enemy had been defeated and didn't want to disturb her during childbirth. Their species had difficulty reproducing, and years of wandering without a home hadn't increased their numbers much. Only after entering the human kingdom did they start reproducing rapidly.

Because humans had the fire seed, and they did not.

Others thought the city lord's wife needed help. For her successful childbirth and the increase of their kind.

Their reproduction method was unique: only female squids could bear squid offspring, regardless of the mate. Male squids couldn't pass on their genes.

The archers at the corners stayed behind, while the patrol team entered. But so many people crowded in, making it difficult to move. They formed a line, holding torches, circling around, growing increasingly anxious.

Finally, they reached the top floor, knowing they were too late.

Outside the door lay a middle-aged human, lifeless. The door was slightly ajar, but there was no sound inside, no light from the fire seed.

One of them pushed open the small door, revealing everything under the torchlight. They were enraged.

The stone walls and ceiling were shattered, and the floor was cracked, indicating a fierce battle.

But there was no sign of their city lord's wife, the fire seed, or any newborn squids. Only a pool of birthing fluids remained on the ground.

"The thief fought the lady right after she gave birth. However, there's no blood, so she and the child might still be alive, just taken away secretly."

Yes, 'they.' The squid creatures didn't believe a single human could do all this.

"I've been watching closely; even birds flying by wouldn't escape my notice. How could someone enter and leave with our lady and child? There must be a secret passage in this castle."

They agreed and began searching from top to bottom.

As they left, they kicked the city lord's corpse. If not for his power, why would they let such a useless human taint their bloodline? And yet, he couldn't even ensure the lady's safe childbirth.

"Useless human."

Soon, more squid creatures were called in, and they started a thorough search. The disturbed stone brick underground was discovered.

Entering the narrow passage, they found drag marks, confirming their suspicions.

Finally, the group emerged from behind a wall across the river, where fresh, wet earth was piled up.

"Damn it, those cunning humans dug a tunnel here, and we never noticed? They must have planned this, waiting for our lady's weakest moment to kidnap her and steal the fire seed."

Near the pile of dirt were several fresh footprints, but due to the overgrown grass, it was unclear how many intruders there were or where they went.

"The footprints are fresh; they can't have gone far. Chase them!"