Goodnight Ling Qiu

An Yu walked back in a short breath when he suddenly felt the ground shaking. Ryan rushed past him and ran to the huge container shaking violently in the north at full speed.

He was almost blown away by the airflow after he reached the door.

He pushed away the sand that was blown up due to the fight and looked inside with difficulty.

Qin Zhilu had regained his height during combat and faced an octopus-man who was twice as tall and big as him.

This octopus had a brass-colored metallic sheen, with hundreds of tentacles, each holding three to four human faces at their tips.

The thickest one was quietly gathered behind the others, as if being protected but also like being imprisoned.

Zhu Tao stood at a distance, grapevine tendrils shooting from his sleeves and wrapping around Jiang Xiao’s bleeding wounds. Jiang Xiao’s eyes were blood-red, his snake tail raising sharp blade waves, trying his best to help Qin Zhilu resist the small tentacles that frequently harassed him.

Sand and stones flew as Ryan leaped and blocked amidst the brass octopus’s fierce whipping tentacles, getting knocked down and leaping up again, charging towards the [Frog Tongue] behind the octopus. That [Frog Tongue] was a carbon copy of the one in the video, continuously spawning aberrants from under its body.

Ryan’s mouth stretched to the sides, forming an irregular black hole at the edge of his lips. He curled up his bright red tongue and his slender and soft arms hung limply at his sides, extending into long tendrils. The small aberrants seemed bewitched, slowly approaching him. After successfully luring them in, he gently swept them with his tendrils, devouring them into his body.

His second distortion type was a carnivorous plant.

The extremely chaotic battlefield was chilling.

Qin Zhilu fought alone against the main tentacles, and the sound of their massive bodies colliding gave the illusion of blades clashing.

A thick brass tentacle struck towards him, and a human face opened its fangs, aiming at his abdomen!

Just as it approached, several vines shot out from behind Qin Zhilu, tightly binding the two fangs! Zhu Tao controlled the vines from high above, endless tendrils extending from his slender body.

The sweet fragrance was carried over by the air currents, masking the octopus’s stench. He was nearly engulfed by his own vines, but within the time window he created, Qin Zhilu dodged the attack andforcefully deflected the tentacle!

The fangs were torn out by the grapevines, spilling pus and blood everywhere!

An Yu kept staring at the largest, quiet tentacle nestled at the center.

It did not participate in the battle, yet it exuded an intimidating power.

Could that be the octopus-man’s weak point?

He tentatively took a few steps forward, trying to see what was inside the tentacle.

But just as he approached the door, the brass octopus suddenly turned its gaze towards him.

The metallic-patterned eyes gleamed with a familiar excitement.

“Human…” it murmured.

Seizing this moment of distraction, all of Qin Zhilu’s tentacles rose into the air, whipping up a fierce wind as they aimed a heavy blow directly at the octopus’s soft skull!

The brass octopus immediately pulled back to engage him in hand-to-hand combat. Both sides rapidly escalated, with more and more small octopus-like creatures crawling on the ground. [Frog Tongue] remained hidden in the background, tirelessly giving birth like a compassionate mother.

An Yu’s temples throbbed intensely. This massive army of aberrants was challenging his nerves.

Or rather, challenging the nerves of that thing inside him.

Amidst the chaos, Qin Zhilu’s voice came through, “Do you still have strength?”

“Yeah.” An Yu reached for the short knife at his waist.

“I need you.” Qin Zhilu said.

Suddenly, in the distance, Jiang Xiao erupted with a reluctant roar. His snake tail completely severed one of the brass octopus’s tentacles, but the tail itself was gouged, quickly turning copper-colored.

An Yu had no time to spare. Dark tentacles wrapped around his waist, lifting him high into the air and delivering him directly in front of the brass octopus, almost face-to-face—

It had a twisted human face, with veins protruding like a labyrinth across its cheeks and forehead, pulsating erratically under its skin with each breath.

Many Protectors didn’t dare look directly at high-genetic-entropy aberrants up close, fearful of mental collapse. But An Yu showed no fear. The brass octopus’s face was fully reflected in his clear eyes as he hacked with the short knife with all his strength — and missed the target!

The tentacles shattered the ground close to where An Yu stood, but Qin Zhilu withdrew him in time, leaving An Yu unscathed.

Qin Zhilu decisively commanded, “Boldly strike, aim for the head.”

An Yu’s eyes focused. “Yes.”

Qin Zhilu maneuvered him in the air, and An Yu didn’t need to hurt himself to teleport. The dark tentacles seemed to always know where he would strike next time and where the opponent would strike next.

This was their first time cooperating in battle, yet they were as synchronized as if they had been partners for thousands of times.

But the brass octopus had too many tentacles, and An Yu could never get close to its head.

Sweat rolled down his forehead, and he gasped, “Sir, should we let it…”

“No,” Qin Zhilu cut him off decisively, “You’re at your limit.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ryan suddenly let out a painful howl – the brass tentacle pierced his chest and threw him straight to the broken steel bar!

Qin Zhilu immediately reached out to pull him back from the steel bars! He crashed heavily to the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.

An Yu heard the mocking laughter of the brass octopus next to him.

Cold sweat broke out instantly, but it was already too late to turn back.

Out of the corner of his eye, the heavy whip was already beside his face.

Just then, the thickest dormant brass tentacle suddenly moved, flashing in front of An Yu, fiercely knocking away the tentacle that wanted to attack him!

The tremendous impact made the entire container resonate terribly, with a continuous buzzing sound in everyone’s ears.

An Yu seemed to see a face on that tentacle as it flashed by.

The air seemed to solidify until the short knife fell from his hands, making a weak, crisp sound.

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An Yu did not answer.

He felt like he had returned to his initial state of emptiness, only emitting a sound after a long time, “Ling… Qiu?”

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The tentacle emitted a mysterious whine, and the handsome face that An Yu was most familiar with flashed behind the tentacle once again.

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He’d imagined Ling Qiu wearing a neat military uniform, striding across the training ground to come to him.

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Or he would just throw his hat down and say, “Why should I return to the dormitory? I’m going back to District 53!”

Later, when District 53 fell, Ling Qiu sneaked alone into the inner city and saved more than tens of thousands of people with a few notes. An Yu felt that he was most likely hiding in some secluded corner, quietly waiting for the next opportunity to strike.

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This wooden stake was supposed to be eternal and solid.

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Those words revived the motionless An Yu.

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An Yu, don’t sleep anymore. Do something.

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The dark tentacles lifted, carrying An Yu into the air. An Yu raised the sharp spear with both his hands, drawing a sharp arc in the sky. He plunged down from the sky, facing something a thousand times larger than himself, and he fiercely used all his human strength—! He plunged Ling Qiu into the exposed brain of the brass octopus!

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An Yu loosened his grip, letting the heavy object in his hand fall to the ground.

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“It’s only been a few days since we last met, and you’ve ended up on the Protectors’ team? And you’re still following…” He glanced at the arrogant figure behind An Yu and murmured, ” Spire’s No.1 High-level officer, the human I admire the most.”

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In fact, he never resented the human genetic hierarchy, nor did he hate the ugliness of Bait City. He just wanted to step out and do more.

If there was one thing he felt guilty about — it was probably that he had always known his neighbor wasn’t quite right, but he helped him keep it hidden for so many years.

Perhaps it was simply because ten years ago, when little An Yu moved in next door, his clear golden eyes stared at the bread in Ling Qiu’s hands and he murmured, “Smells good.”

From that day on, he treated An Yu as his younger brother, even though the guy always called him by his surname and shamelessly denied it when asked by others—”Brother? No, I’m an orphan, Ling Qiu is my neighbor.”

An Yu couldn’t be blamed; he had very little interaction with human society and lacked much humanity.

Or perhaps he wasn’t human at all.

Ling Qiu gestured to An Yu with his eyes, softly saying, “You seem to have acquired something new, something I want to touch, yet it feels very dangerous.”

An Yu just looked at him.

Ling Qiu curled up the corners of his lips, “From now on, you’ll truly have to face the world alone. Don’t fear its vastness. Remember, you once asked me to remind you that those who bet on the last chance of survival won’t lose.”

An Yu moved his mouth in confusion; he didn’t remember ever saying those words.

Ling Qiu smiled at the dark sky.

Despite all the twists and turns, he still returned to District 53. But it’s okay, he also returned to An Yu’s side.

“It’s great to become a Protector,” he murmured, “I no longer have to worry about what you are… Although in the end, neither of us are humans anymore.”

An Yu whispered softly, “You’ve always been human.”

“That’s true.” Ling Qiu closed his eyelids instead of nodding, murmuring to the sky, “I did lose my human body…”

“But I never lost my human will.”

“An Yu, I wish both of us are the same.”

Just like when we first met.

The distortion spread rapidly, and all human features below Ling Qiu’s neck disappeared.

An Yu’s hands trembled slightly, and the blade cast a cold gleam on Ling Qiu’s face, lighting up those dark eyes again.

Ling Qiu finally smiled in relief.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “Kneeling down is also a posture of victory. This time, it’s your turn to protect my dignity.”

“If possible, break through this miasma on my behalf.”

When the blade fell, Qin Zhilu wanted to intervene, but in the end, he let An Yu slash the neck of the only person to whom he was bound.

The part that belonged to humans and the part that belonged to aberrants were finally completely separated.

In the past ten years, whenever An Yu said he wanted to sleep, Ling Qiu was helpless, but in the end, he always gently said goodnight.

“Sleep.” An Yu closed his eyes amidst the blood and whispered, “Have a nice dream, Ling Qiu.”

“Goodnight, brother.”

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