Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Lu Yanzhou cleared his throat. "Juanjuan, now that you've changed, are you experiencing any discomfort?"

Lu Yanzhou kept his hand on him. As the snake tail gradually grew accustomed to the warmth of his palm, Lin Juan shifted to the side, moving from resting on Lu Yanzhou to lying flat on the bed. "No discomfort at all, just like when I shrunk before."

He poked his snake tail, feeling a distinct sensation. "I thought it was an illusion, but the tail is real. What exactly is this anomaly here? When we catch it, I'm turning it into a giant frog."

Snow-white scales covered the snake tail, reflecting dazzling light under the lamp. The young man’s long hair cascaded over his shoulders, and he wore only a sheer undershirt. His clothes, slightly disheveled from his earlier movements, combined with his ethereal face, made him look like a mystical creature from the deep mountains—enchanting and bewitching.

Lu Yanzhou’s eyes deepened.

Lin Juan felt his face flush under that intense gaze and reached out to cover Lu Yanzhou’s eyes. "Lu Yanzhou, rein it in. I feel like you're about to devour me."

Lu Yanzhou's voice was low. "After all, Juanjuan looks quite delectable."

"Seriously?" Lin Juan propped himself up, incredulous. "Lu Yanzhou, I never knew you had such... particular tastes."

He lowered his head and moved his snake tail. "Don't you think I look strange like this?"

A human body with a snake tail—it looked bizarre no matter how you viewed it.

"Not at all," Lu Yanzhou's gaze was profound. "No matter what form Juanjuan takes, it's never strange. The snake tail is beautiful."

"I can tell you really like it," Lin Juan poked Lu Yanzhou’s thigh with the tip of his tail. "But for now, let’s think about what to do next."

"Did something happen when you disappeared earlier?" Lu Yanzhou was very concerned about this.

"Nothing, really. I was fine in your pocket one moment, and the next, I was like this. There’s a large breeding area somewhere here. I woke up there, locked in a cage. There were many similar cages around, each holding a half-human, half-beast creature. From what the staff said, these beings are meant for the enjoyment of privileged guests."

Lin Juan continued, "These people carry faint traces of contamination. I’m not sure if their mutations are due to contamination or some other cause."

"What about Ping Yunhan and the others? After you disappeared, I saw a few small figures near the stage. There was a snake-tailed person performing, and I couldn’t control my emotions. The Second Owner noticed and probably thought I was interested in snake-tailed people, so he sent one over." Having regained what was lost, Lu Yanzhou didn’t want to look away from Lin Juan for even a second.

Would Juanjuan only stay if he kept watching him at all times?

"Then..." Lin Juan deliberately paused, slightly moving his tail. "Is President Lu interested in snake tails?"

Lin Juan still couldn’t fully control the new tail that had replaced his legs and was focused on struggling with it.

The snow-white snake tail contrasted sharply with the black fabric, creating an indescribable beauty.

Lu Yanzhou’s gaze deepened further as he pressed down on the restless tail. "Juanjuan, stop fooling around."

"I’m not doing anything," Lin Juan said innocently, turning the tables. "It’s just that someone has improper thoughts, thinking about things they shouldn’t, right?"

"If Juanjuan wants to think that, it’s fine." Lu Yanzhou lowered his head.

The snow-white scales covered the snake tail in an orderly pattern, each scale nearly identical in size, reflecting the light from above.

Lu Yanzhou stared intently at Lin Juan.

Lin Juan looked up at the ceiling light, his face growing increasingly flushed. "How could you..."

How could Lu Yanzhou...

You really can’t eat a snake tail raw!

He didn’t even know where this tail came from—how dare Lu Yanzhou put his mouth on it?

The newly grown tail was already disobedient, and the long snake tail sprawled out, almost taking up the entire bed.

And he was biting it!

A slight pain spread, and Lin Juan gritted his teeth, enduring the tingling sensation that made his scalp numb. He finally managed to find his voice again. "You... let go."

Lu Yanzhou knew when to stop and released the tip of Lin Juan’s tail.

The tail tip, as if startled, "whooshed" and hid itself under the covers.

Lu Yanzhou helped Lin Juan sit up. "Feeling better now?"

Lin Juan glared at him irritably. "Lu Yanzhou, can’t you act like a human?"

That’s a tail!

No matter how pretty it is, it’s still a snake’s tail!

Even if it’s growing on him, it’s still a snake’s tail!

Why did it feel like his transformation had only awakened some kind of fetish in Lu Yanzhou?

"My bad." Lu Yanzhou admitted fault readily—though whether he would change his behavior next time was another matter.

It was proven that men, in many situations, should not be provoked.

Lin Juan hugged his tail, his ears and cheeks flushed like peach blossoms blooming on a branch in April. Lu Yanzhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he leaned in uncontrollably, covering Lin Juan’s face with a flurry of soft kisses.

Lin Juan felt that continuing the previous topic would likely lead to some uncontrollable situations. While dodging the kisses raining on his ears and cheeks, he struggled to change the subject.

"I saw Ping Yunhan and the others in the breeding area. When the staff pushed me out, I brought them along."

Lu Yanzhou finally stopped. "They’re here too?"

He wanted to be intimate with Lin Juan, but he had no desire to do so in front of others. The sight of Lin Juan flustered was for his eyes only.

As he spoke, Lu Yanzhou scanned the room, trying to locate Ping Yunhan and the others who might be hiding somewhere.

"They’re not here," Lin Juan found his alarmed expression somewhat amusing. "I sent them out on the way out and told them to find you. If I’d known you were here, I wouldn’t have sent them away. Now, I have to figure out how to find them again."

Someone accustomed to walking on two legs could hardly adapt to a tail quickly.

If not for Lin Juan’s positive mindset, he might have fainted from shock upon seeing his legs turn into a snake tail.

Lu Yanzhou: "If there’s some kind of anomaly here, it likely knows about your strength, Juanjuan. It’s wary of you."

Lin Juan: "How so?"

Lu Yanzhou: "Shrinking you or turning your legs into a tail—both are meant to limit your mobility."

"True," Lin Juan mused. "Especially this tail. It’s so inconvenient. I need to get used to it, or I’ll be too restricted in a fight."

Adapting to the snake tail wasn’t easy. First, the tail was long, and second, it was very disobedient. Lin Juan struggled for a long time before barely learning how to walk with it.

Leaning his full weight on Lu Yanzhou, Lin Juan panted heavily. "This is more exhausting than running ten kilometers."

Lu Yanzhou massaged his body to help him relax. "Want me to hold you so you can rest for a while?"

Lin Juan nodded, listlessly pointing at the sofa, "Carry me over there, please. I don’t want to battle wits with this tail anymore."

Lu Yanzhou bent down, coiled Lin Juan’s snake tail—which was dragging on the floor—around his arm, then scooped up the young man horizontally and carried him toward the sofa.

Instead of placing Lin Juan directly on the sofa, he sat down first, settling Lin Juan in his lap and adjusting the position of his snake tail. "Is this okay?"

Lin Juan murmured a soft "Mm" from his nose.

Leaning against Lu Yanzhou’s chest, he stroked his shoulder and asked, "Did I hurt you earlier?"

While trying to get used to his snake tail, Lin Juan had accidentally swiped Lu Yanzhou a few times during practice. He knew his own strength—it wasn’t heavy, but it certainly wasn’t light either.

He suspected Lu Yanzhou’s shoulder might be bruised from his tail.

"Let me see," Lin Juan said, turning in the man’s arms to yank open his clothes.

"I’m fine."

Lin Juan had already unbuttoned his shirt: "It’s a big red patch. I wonder if it’ll bruise."

"Is there any medicine here? Let me put some on for you."

As the young man’s hands poked and prodded his shoulder and back, Lu Yanzhou took a deep breath and pulled Lin Juan’s hands to the front. "Juanjuan, really, it’s nothing. You didn’t do it on purpose, so don’t worry about it. I’ll tell you if it hurts."

"Alright." Seeing that he didn’t seem to be forcing it, Lin Juan slumped back against him.

*Knock, knock.*

A knock sounded at the door.

Lu Yanzhou glanced at his watch: "Two in the morning—who’s knocking?"

"I’ll go check." Lin Juan wasn’t comfortable letting Lu Yanzhou go alone.

Lu Yanzhou stood up: "I’ll carry you over."

"I’ll slither over myself." After several hours of effort, Lin Juan had learned how to move using his tail.

His serpentine tail brushed against the carpet, making faint sounds as Lin Juan made his way to the door. "Who's there, knocking on people’s doors in the middle of the night?"

*Knock, knock.*

The only response was increasingly urgent knocking.

Lin Juan turned the doorknob.

The door opened a narrow crack.

A pale hand reached through the gap.

"Save me... help me..."

Dark red bloodstains stood out starkly against the pale arm.

Outside.

A half-human, half-beast creature—with the upper body of a young girl and the lower body of a black goat—grinned widely, staring excitedly at the crack in the door.

"Save me..."

"Please, save me..."

Though its words pleaded, its eyes gleamed with the excitement of a predator about to feast.

An arm slipped through the door crack, dripping like melting wax.

*Drip.*

*Drip.*

Soon, a small puddle of waxy, pale liquid had formed.

Inside.

Lin Juan frowned at the puddle of unknown liquid on the floor. "What the hell has no decency?"

With that, he swung the door open forcefully.

Caught off guard by the sudden opening, the half-human, half-black-goat girl stared blankly at the snake-tailed young man inside.

"Do me a favor, clean this mess up," Lin Juan said, pointing at the unpleasant puddle on the floor.

The half-human, half-black-goat girl’s arm was still melting. Staring at the snake-tailed youth, she muttered, "Save me... why won’t you save me..."

"Why won’t you save me!!!"

Her voice grew increasingly shrill. Lin Juan threatened her by swaying his snake tail. "You’re causing a disturbance at night and you still have the nerve to complain? Hurry up, clean this and get lost!"

The black goat girl was stunned. "Aren’t you scared? I’m a monster."

Lin Juan waved his own tail. "Aren’t I one too? Should I be scared of myself before being scared of you?"

"Sorry for bothering you." The black goat girl quietly retracted her arm, and the puddle of liquid on the floor flowed back into it.

The moment the door closed, it was yanked open again by a strong force, and the black goat girl was pulled inside unexpectedly.

"What are you doing?" The black goat girl trembled.

"Nothing, just want to ask you a few questions," Lin Juan said, sitting on the sofa—standing for too long with his tail was exhausting. "Have you always been like this?"

"I..." Have I always been like this?

The black goat girl struggled to remember.

The more she thought, the more her head hurt.

Clutching her head, her gaze grew vacant as she mechanically repeated, "Save me..."

"Why won’t you save me?!"

After the college entrance exams ended, a young girl looking forward to a new chapter in her life decided to find a summer part-time job to gain some experience.

After some searching, she found a job playing the piano at an upscale club.

The manager of Huadu Club told her that a pianist had recently taken leave, so they urgently needed a new one. The pay was 500 yuan a day, with daily wage payments.

Seeing that the club was large and frequented by high-society clientele, and considering the daily wage of 500 yuan—which would allow her to buy the camera she’d been wanting for a long time in just a few days, plus save some money for travel—the girl took the job.

As the manager had said, the work wasn’t demanding. She only needed to work four hours a day, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and dinner was provided.

The dinner was a buffet at Huadu Club, featuring an extensive selection, including all sorts of seafood and premium dishes. The girl thought this was an amazing job—fairly flexible hours and excellent benefits.

More than half a month later, the manager sought her out, saying she played the piano very well and asked if she was interested in a special performance in two weeks, with an additional performance fee of three thousand yuan for playing one piece.

"So much?" the girl said in disbelief.

"Well-known performers get paid way more for a single appearance," the manager patted her shoulder. "Everyone can see your talent. Honestly, I'm worried we're lowballing you."

Seeing the girl was tempted, the manager whispered conspiratorially: "A famous musician will be attending this performance. If you impress him and get some advice, it could be a huge break for you."

Put that way, it would be unreasonable to refuse. The girl agreed.

The manager provided the piece, and it turned out to be one she knew well. To help her practice better, the manager reduced her working hours and arranged a dedicated piano room for her.

As a young woman new to the world, she didn’t realize that there's no such thing as a free lunch—everything has a hidden price.

She thought she'd found her patron and even considered working at Huadu Club long-term. Little did she know, from the moment she stepped into Huadu Club, she had already stepped into the abyss.

On the eve of the special performance, the manager arranged a fancy dinner with others involved in the show.

That night, after falling asleep, the girl felt waves of fever. Pain deep in her bones made her frown deeply even in her unconscious state.

In the darkness, her body began to change.

Below her waist, black fur sprouted, her human legs disappeared, replaced by the body of a black goat.

Overnight, the girl transformed from an entirely normal human into a half-human, half-black-goat monster.

Upon waking, the girl couldn’t accept her monstrous form and screamed hysterically. An unidentifiable odor filled the air, and her voice grew weaker until it faded entirely.

She was locked in a cage, wearing just a flimsy tube top on her upper body, lying on a velvet carpet, devoid of all strength. Red fabric covered the cage, blocking any view of the outside.

She heard footsteps, followed by the manager’s voice.

"This shipment is excellent. Three of them completely overcame the rejection response—these are premium stock. They’ll fetch a high price."

What did the manager mean?

The girl’s clouded mind struggled to process.

Was she the "goods" he referred to?

So the whole performance story was a lie from the start.

Her thoughts grew increasingly chaotic. The girl gradually forgot her past memories, her mind blank, only subconsciously feeling that this shouldn’t be happening.

If not like this, then how…?

After an unknown amount of time, her cage got moved, and she was taken to a presidential suite.

The half-human, half-goat girl with a rope around her neck was led out of the cage. A pot-bellied man in a suit touched her face obsessively: "So beautiful…"

The girl turned away uncomfortably, avoiding the touch.

The man laughed: "Spunky—I like that."

What followed was chaotic. The girl was passed among multiple men, her mind remained in a haze, until one day.

"I woke up," the half-human, half-black-goat girl, her expression complicated, said. "I can’t forgive these people, and I can’t pretend nothing happened. I plotted my revenge."

"I thought everything would be reduced to ashes in that fire. But when I opened my eyes, I was back at the familiar Huadu Club."

At that moment, despair washed over her.

Was she still trapped in this hell even after death?

Soon, she realized this place was different from the Huadu Club she had burned down. This club had always existed—it wasn’t a replacement but the very source of all evil!

"As far as I know, this club has been operating for at least ten years. Huadu Club was just a front to divert attention. This place is more exclusive, more hidden, and far more obscure."

In places untouched by sunlight, evil thrives.

"I probably died in that fire because I can’t leave here—I can only appear at night," the black goat girl hugged herself, her eyes full of fear. "I was discovered again. I don’t know what method they used to control me, forcing me to relive the same experiences over and over."

"Of course, I refused to accept my fate. I’ve already died once—what more is there to fear? But I couldn’t resist. My lucid moments grew fewer. Every time I woke up, I tried to seek help. I knocked on doors, but no one responded to my cries."

"Not a single person saved me…"

The girl fell into memories.

Her experiences at Huadu Club were jumbled, fragmented memories.

She was human, but never treated as human.

Those people surrounded her with whips and candles. The whips had barbs that tore skin and flesh with each strike. Hot wax dropped, scalding her skin.

The girl let out piercing screams.

The more she screamed, the louder the laughter around her grew.

In the light, their faces twisted into demonic faces. The girl had no ability to resist, forced to endure the torture again and again.

The parts of her that were black goat were particularly "popular."

They tied her up, held knives, and lit a fire nearby. The flames distorted every face.

She heard someone ask: "I wonder if this goat tastes different from others?"

"Why don’t you try it and see?" a malicious voice taunted.

She recoiled: "No, please… let me go…"

At that time, she didn’t know that pleading would only arouse some people. The more terrified and pleading she was, the more excited they became.

Once, she managed to escape. Dragging her broken body, she desperately knocked on doors, trying to seek help, but was pulled inside by the occupants and thrown into another circle of hell.

How long ago was that?

After death, these people could no longer harm her. Those who opened their doors became her food, their fear her favorite seasoning.

"But it doesn’t matter. If they wouldn’t save me, then they can keep me company. I shouldn’t suffer alone or go to hell alone! Heh heh heh."

The black goat girl’s laughter was sharp and piercing, like a drill biting into your brain. Bloody tears seeped from her eyes. Whip marks, knife scars, and all kinds of unthinkable markings appeared on her pale body. Her fur was stained with blood, matted and foul.

This appearance made it easy to imagine what horrors the girl had endured.

Black mist coiled around her. She turned to Lu Yanzhou, who had been relatively quiet: "Such delicious food… Those who open their doors willingly are food that can be eaten…"

Fangs bared, the black goat leaped up and charged at Lu Yanzhou.

Lin Juan lashed out with his tail, swatting it aside, then glided over to the black goat girl who had crashed into the wall and come to a stop. He looked down at her.

Based on the black goat girl’s account, Lin Juan deduced that she had been contaminated before her death and, after dying, became a corrupted entity, obsession-bound, trapped here unable to move on.

The deceased girl suffered terribly and deserved justice, but what appeared in her guise was a corrupted entity born from her obsession. Whatever the circumstances, it was no excuse for indiscriminately harming innocent people.

“No wonder the Second Owner here kept warning me not to be curious or open the door no matter what sounds I heard in the middle of the night,” Lu Yanzhou remarked.

Lin Juan controlled his strength and struck the black goat girl, knocking it unconscious. “Wonder if it's actually claimed any victims.”

Active at night and present for some time, Lin Juan didn’t believe the corrupted entity would mercifully spare innocent people.

“We’ll know if we check whether anyone has gone missing here for no reason,” Lu Yanzhou said.

Lin Juan nodded. “Earlier, we heard that a staff member named Xiao’e also participated in this special performance at the club. Once we connect with Ping Yunhan and the others, we’ll see if we can find her.”

“Lu Yanzhou, do you have anything that can serve as a rope? Bring it here,” Lin Juan said, looking at the unconscious corrupted entity and planning to tie it up first to prevent it from suddenly snapping and harming Lu Yanzhou.

Lu Yanzhou searched around and found a dark red rope in the nightstand, which he brought over.

“There really is a rope?” Lin Juan was surprised. He was prepared to use a bedsheet to tie it up if no rope was available.

With a few quick motions, he tied up the girl and clapped his hands. “This person is heavily contaminated and likely knows something. We need to find a way to get information out of her.”

After tossing it into a corner, Lin Juan wandered curiously over to the bed. “Why is there a rope here? What else is in here?”

Before Lu Yanzhou could stop him, Lin Juan had already opened the nightstand.

Various small items were inside. Lin Juan curiously took out a cat ear headband and put it on his head. “The fur on this headband feels so soft.”

The headband, made of simulated cat fur, felt incredibly realistic. Worn on the young man’s head, it looked as though he had grown a pair of real cat ears.

Fluffy and looked incredibly pet-able.

“There’s even a tail,” Lin Juan said curiously, squeezing the fluffy fake tail and following it downward.

He took a curious look and froze.

What in the world is this???