Chapter 26: Healing
When Xiang Er woke up again, it was almost noon. She lay in bed, struggling to open her sore eyes, a clicking sound accompanying each movement.
The ceiling, like her memories, was a faded yellow.
Her memories were hazy, as if veiled, impossible to grasp. A cold, indescribable feeling emanated from deep within her.
What had happened last night? And how had she… ended up naked, without a stitch of clothing, in her bed?
The quilt was neatly tucked around her, covering her completely from the neck down, keeping her warm.
But Xiang Er knew she didn’t sleep naked, not even in the hottest summer, let alone now, as winter approached.
She moved her fingers slightly, and a sharp pain made her cry out:
“Ah… cough!”
The so-called scream was only in her mind. In reality, the sound, as it passed through her throat, was a raw, grating noise, like sandpaper on a chalkboard, so unpleasant that it startled her.
A coughing fit followed, violent and relentless, the quilt slipping from her shoulder, revealing her snow-white skin… covered in layers of red marks.
Xiang Er finally stopped coughing and looked at her shoulder, her breath catching in her throat.
Looking at the round and oval-shaped marks, she finally remembered what had happened last night… She had been tied up by the tentacles, suspended like a corpse, or a sacrificial animal, the tentacles crawling over her, sucking, engulfing…
Xiang Er’s face flushed crimson, her breath catching in her throat, another coughing fit seizing her until the raw pain in her throat subsided, but the marks on her body throbbed with a dull ache.
Xiang Er pulled back the covers and looked at her body. It was covered in marks, not a single patch of unblemished skin. Her muscles and joints ached terribly, as if she had run a marathon.
Were these… all from the tentacles last night?
Xiang Er couldn’t believe it. She knew the Evil God had been angry, but… why this form of punishment?
She hadn’t lost any limbs, nor any memories or abilities.
But being suspended like that had certainly been humiliating.
She didn’t know what had happened afterwards. She must have lost consciousness. Her last memory was of being tied up and hanging in the bathroom.
She remembered looking up, meeting the gazes of the eyes on the ceiling, opening her mouth to plead with them to stop, but her voice couldn’t escape, a profound despair engulfing her as she lost consciousness.
And now… Xiang Er looked up.
It was there, as expected, on the desk, quietly watching her with its large eye.
It was another sunny day, a rare, beautiful autumn day in the south. The bright sunlight, a warm orange, illuminated the old, red-brick desk, making the sculpture gleam, its lacquered surface looking fresh and new, its eerie, terrifying aura diminished, replaced by…
A sense of satiation.
Xiang Er, staring at the large eye, somehow felt that lingering sense of fulfillment.
She frowned, clutching her bruised arm, and went to the side of the bed to look for her pajamas, but she couldn’t find them.
Only a piece of white, fluffy fabric lay on her pillow, like… her pajamas?
Xiang Er turned, pulled the quilt over her shoulders, and glared at the sculpture, her voice hoarse:
“You even destroyed my pajamas?”
The sculpture didn’t react, its large eye shimmering, giving no answer.
Xiang Er sat up, letting the quilt fall away, stood up naked, put on her slippers, and opened her closet to look for another set of pajamas. Fortunately, she had bought several sets of cheap pajamas at once, and she found a pink and white set and put it on.
The marks on her body ached, making it difficult to dress, she put on one sleeve, then couldn’t find the other. But the next second, the other sleeve was offered to her. Xiang Er looked down and saw a thin, dark red tentacle holding the sleeve.
She didn’t say anything, just took the sleeve and put it on, then started putting on the pajama pants.
The tentacle acted like her assistant, holding the pant leg, and when she put one leg in, it held the other, making the process much easier.
After getting dressed, Xiang Er turned and glared at the sculpture, grabbed her phone from the bedside table, and went to the living room to turn it on.
She didn’t like the room with the sculpture anymore. She preferred the sofa where Shen Yuhe had sat.
She turned on her phone, and as expected, it was filled with angry messages from her supervisor. Xiang Er didn’t bother reading them, just scrolled past them and saw several messages from General Manager Cheng, his tone gentle and eager, asking about her health, saying that work couldn’t function without her, and urging her to come back as soon as she was feeling better.
Xiang Er thought for a moment, then replied to General Manager Cheng:
“Good morning, General Manager Cheng. I’m feeling a bit better today. I can come to work this afternoon.”
It was better to be at work, where she wouldn’t be tied up. Xiang Er glared at the sculpture in her room again. Across the living room, the sculpture’s large eye turned towards her, half-hidden in the shadows, its form almost indiscernible.
But her glance was enough to make a tentacle emerge from the room and slowly approach her, its tip almost touching her arm.
Xiang Er glared at the tentacle, but the tentacle, as if oblivious to her annoyance, suddenly wrapped around her left wrist.
Xiang Er hissed in pain and quickly pulled her hand back. She pulled up her sleeve, revealing the overlapping purplish bruises on her wrist, a shocking sight.
The tentacle froze.
Xiang Er said coldly to the tentacle:
“You did this last night. Don’t touch me again. You might as well kill me than humiliate me like this.”
She looked away, back at her phone, replying to various messages. As expected, there were no messages from Shen Yuhe. Perhaps she didn’t have her phone number.
She missed Shen Yuhe, her gentleness, her adorable clumsiness, the way she looked at her with such undivided attention. Shen Yuhe was so wonderful!
The tentacle tentatively reached out again, its tip touching her wrist. Xiang Er quickly pulled her hand away, swatting the tentacle, sending it recoiling several feet, no longer daring to approach.
Xiang Er’s phone buzzed. General Manager Cheng had sent another message:
“Good, I’m so glad you can come this afternoon. I really want to see you.”
Xiang Er frowned, remembering Shen Yuhe’s strong reaction to General Manager Cheng’s messages. She felt something was off about him and, without replying, switched to the news app.
A local news report described a chemical leak at a factory, resulting in the deaths of over ten residents in the surrounding area. The cause of the accident was under investigation, and residents were advised to avoid the area. The factory was only two miles away from where Xiang Er lived.
It felt like the world was becoming increasingly chaotic. Xiang Er switched to the entertainment section, glancing at the celebrity news. The celebrities all looked so superficial, even the most popular actresses couldn’t compare to Shen Yuhe, not even a little bit!
Xiang Er suddenly wondered, what did Shen Yuhe do for a living? She was so beautiful, could she be an actress? But their first encounter was at the industrial park, and she wasn’t accompanied by any assistants, so she was probably not an actress, more likely an executive at the industrial park. Or perhaps a wealthy heiress?
Lost in thought, she didn’t notice a tentacle stealthily crawling along the sofa, reaching her wrist and gently tapping it.
“Ouch!”
Xiang Er quickly lifted her hand and saw that her wrist was now covered in a layer of shimmering, transparent slime. The slime seemed to be alive, spreading rapidly across her skin!
“What is this?!”
She frantically tried to wipe the slime off with her other hand, but it was useless, only spreading it further. She jumped up and went to the coffee table to grab a tissue, but a tentacle interfered, preventing her from reaching the tissue box…
“Go away!”
Xiang Er flailed her aching arms, finally managing to grab a tissue from the tentacle’s grasp. But when she turned around… the slime was gone.
Not only was the slime gone, but all the marks and bruises on her wrist, arm, and shoulder had also vanished. Her arm was pale and smooth, as if the marks had never been there.
Xiang Er froze. While she was stunned, several tentacles stealthily extended, touching her other arm, depositing blobs of cold slime onto her skin, spreading over the marks.
Her ankles and waist were also treated with the slime by the tentacles. The slime, cold and soft, like jelly, moved across her body, covering all the injured areas.
Standing by the coffee table, after the initial surprise, Xiang Er realized: The slime was Akhe’s way of healing her!
Understanding this, Xiang Er felt a mixture of amusement and exasperation. It was Akhe who had tied her up and bruised her, and now It was the one diligently applying slime to heal her. This god was truly capricious!
And if last night had been punishment and humiliation, then why heal her now? Was it because she was weak and easy to control, and the Evil God, afraid of killing her and not finding a suitable replacement, decided it was better to keep her alive, to endure more torment? Was that it?
Xiang Er felt both angry and amused. She grabbed a tentacle and demanded:
“What are you trying to do?!”
The rounded tip of the tentacle recoiled, its suckers slowly opening and closing, as if… blinking?
The injuries all over Xiang Er’s body completely healed as the slime moved across her skin, the dull aches disappearing, her body clean and whole again.
But her mood worsened. She realized even more deeply that as long as the Evil God existed, she couldn’t have a normal life, and she couldn’t… live with Shen Yuhe.
Had she rejected Shen Yuhe because she didn’t want to live with her? No, she was afraid that Shen Yuhe would be discovered by the Evil God, her life ruined! Just like hers was now, ruined!
She could be tied up and bruised by the Evil God at any moment, yet unable to die, because the Evil God would heal her. She no longer had control over her own life and body, and that was a burden she would bear alone! She couldn’t drag her only friend into this!
The slime gradually disappeared, the tentacles swaying around Xiang Er’s now-pale skin, seemingly pleased.
But Xiang Er suddenly collapsed onto the sofa, closing her eyes, tears silently rolling down her cheeks, one after another.
The stress, fear, and confusion that had been building up since her roommate’s disappearance finally erupted, pouring out with her tears. Her soft sobs turned into wails of anguish as she grabbed the sofa cushions and threw them, one after another, at the tentacles!
The tentacles panicked, crowding around her, secreting more slime, but unsure where to put it, letting the healing slime fall onto the sofa.
Gradually, the tentacles found a solution. They lined up in front of Xiang Er, allowing her to throw the cushions at them. This seemed to slightly alleviate her pain.
The tentacles hovered in mid-air, like a hastily constructed raft, silently enduring Xiang Er’s anger and distress.
After throwing all the cushions, a tentacle dutifully picked them up, one by one, and placed them beside her, allowing her to continue throwing.
“Wuwuwu… you’re so annoying, why are you clinging to me…”
But Xiang Er stopped throwing. She covered her head, cried for a while longer, then collapsed onto the sofa and fell asleep.
The raft of tentacles immediately dispersed. They seemed uncertain, some moving towards the bedroom, some towards Xiang Er’s body.
Soon, they reached a consensus, gently sliding beneath Xiang Er, lifting her carefully, carrying her into the bedroom, and placing her gently on the bed.
Then, they carefully covered her with the quilt, a few thin tentacles even tucking the edges in with their suckers.
They had performed this task countless times, and were now quite proficient.
Xiang Er stirred slightly in her sleep, her voice muffled and hoarse:
“Shen Yuhe! Don’t go…”
Several tentacles immediately surged forward, merging together, forming a pair of beautifully shaped lips, painted with blood-red lipstick, in mid-air.
The lips opened and closed softly, a dreamlike voice echoing:
“I’m here, Xiang Er. I’ll always be here.”
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