Chapter 54

Outside the cabin, the moonlight shone clear and bright, like shattered silver pouring down, hazily illuminating a patch of green land and the town to which the path led.

The fog had vanished without a trace, and the danger had lifted.

Everything around them, including the cabin, had returned to a light slumber, so quiet that the brutal slaughter which had just occurred felt like nothing more than a fleeting nightmare.

Since entering this instance, Zhong Nian had not slept well at night, but this time was different.

After getting into bed, he clutched the blanket he had brought from his own room and curled up against the innermost side. He bid goodnight to the person beside him, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.

Before drifting off, he had thought that having a reliable teammate was truly wonderful—it allowed him to feel much more at ease.

Unknowingly, he had come to trust the Masked Man completely, letting go of all his defenses without reservation. His body and mind relaxed fully as he slept soundly beside the man.

Zhong Nian’s peaceful sleeping form was all seen by the man.

His gaze lingered for a long time between the slender eyelashes and the rosy lips, growing increasingly parched, his throat swallowing repeatedly.

The man slightly pulled down his face mask, allowing his nose to catch more of that clear, sweet scent.

Clearly, during the day, in order to ensure greater safety, he had proactively invited the young man to share the bed, only to be rejected—creating a hollow, collapsing sensation in his chest. But now, everything had gone as he wished, yet he couldn’t help wanting to flee again.

In one moment, he felt trapped in the refining fires of purgatory; in the next, he fell into cool spring water; and then he floated lightly onto the clouds. His soul rose and fell with the young man’s breathing, all his senses drawn along, his thoughts ensnared.

Chaotic, scorching emotions, originating from his heart, rampaged through his body, leaving the man more panicked and at a loss than ever before.

How had he become like this?

On one side, his reason warned him not to act like a collared beast, following every tug; on the other, he uncontrollably sank deeper in full consciousness.

Just like now…

The person was merely lying beside him, yet he couldn’t calm down at all. His mind was filled with filthy thoughts he shouldn’t have.

As if possessed, he recalled how on the first night, someone had suspected the young man of being a devil, using nearly absurd reasons.

Perhaps it wasn’t impossible.

Otherwise, why would he harbor thoughts of offering up his flesh and soul, willingly submitting as a devotee?

Crawling at his feet, as the most loyal follower…

The face mask slipped off. In the darkness, only the sharp, handsome outline of the man’s profile was visible as he slowly leaned toward the sleeping youth on the bed.

Just as he was about to touch that softness, he halted with every ounce of restraint in his body, not taking that final offending step.

He breathed through his nose, constantly inhaling the breath exhaled by the young man.

If Zhong Nian had been awake, he would surely have been frightened by the man’s gaze—the greed and obsessive fervor in it blazed like an inextinguishable fire, capable of devouring a person whole.

“Mm…”

Like a rabbit sensing danger in its dreams, Zhong Nian kicked his legs a few times, made some sticky noises, frowned with his little face, turned to face the wall, curled up, and fell deeply asleep again.

The Masked Man snapped awake as if from a dream. He abruptly sat up straight, covered the lower half of his face, and turned away, forcing himself to pull back.

As if he had endured torment, his whole body was drenched in sweat. The mouth he covered panted heavily, the wounds on his body throbbed with pain, his brain felt numbed like paralyzed nerves, and his mind spun in dizzy euphoria.

He fled from the bed, pulled out a few precious candies he had been saving and hadn’t borne to eat from his outer clothes, unwrapped them, and popped them into his mouth. He chewed hard, producing crisp cracking sounds as his tongue stirred the fragments, swallowing the sweet saliva, satisfying some of his thirst—as if tasting something else entirely.

–

He slept straight through until morning.

Having slept so soundly, when Zhong Nian awoke on the unfamiliar bed, he stared blankly at the Masked Man sitting at the bedside with sleepy eyes for a good while.

Until the other spoke first: “Porridge, is that okay?”

Zhong Nian nodded, rubbed his eyes, and sat up. He didn’t notice that his collar was askew, with one button undone—if the angle was right, others might even glimpse a more vivid color beneath.

“What time is it?” He looked up and asked, catching only the Masked Man’s hasty averted gaze. “Mm?”

“Before eight.” The Masked Man turned away. “You wash up first. I’ll go prepare it.”

“Mm, I like it thick.”

Zhong Nian accepted it readily. Yesterday, he had made food for the Masked Man too—courtesy called for reciprocity.

Besides, they could now be considered allies who trusted each other, right?

Zhong Nian returned to his own room to wash up and frowned at the still messy state.

“Gotta clean up again… and fix the door…”

He muttered softly as he entered the bathroom.

After brushing his teeth, he cupped warm water to wash his face. His eyes accidentally got water in them, making it hard to open them. Just as he reached for the towel by feel, something soft and fluffy pressed over first, wiping away the water.

Zhong Nian froze and quickly tilted his head back.

Hooked onto the towel was a deep blue tentacle. Seeing that he had noticed it, the tentacle swayed left and right boastfully, trying to come closer to wipe his face again.

Devil!

Zhong Nian instinctively reached for his waist, but he had overlooked it—his defensive weapon was left in the Masked Man’s room and not brought along.

After grabbing at empty air, he immediately bolted outward, but after just one step, his waist was encircled.

Zhong Nian looked down to pull it off, only to be stunned by the thing clinging to his waist.

The octopus clutching his waist was only the size of a pillow, like a translucent slime, round and plump.

Round head, round body, its eyes were shiny black beady ones, and its mouth was also round, emitting strange “popping and squelching” mouth sounds.

Especially its tentacles—they weren’t the ferocious, terrifying kind Zhong Nian had seen before; they were short and soft, devoid of any lethality.

If not for the identical color and patterns on its skin, Zhong Nian wouldn’t have recognized it.

It didn’t look like a devil at all—utterly harmless, even… a bit cute.

Zhong Nian didn’t know what trick this devil was using or why it had transformed like this, but he absolutely wouldn’t be fooled by its seemingly non-threatening appearance. While pulling at it with one hand, he grabbed the only nearby weapon he could use—the Glass Rinse Cup—and smashed it heavily onto the octopus’s head several times.

Its head was exceptionally elastic; it dented under the blows but quickly bounced back.

If not for the beady eyes turning into two swirling mosquito-coil eyes, Zhong Nian would have thought his attacks were ineffective.

At that moment, with his other hand pulling harder, he easily tore off the dazed octopus. Without thinking, Zhong Nian hurled it away viciously.

“Splat!” The octopus stuck to the tiles, then softly peeled off and slumped limply into a puddle on the floor.

Zhong Nian was momentarily shocked by how weak the Octopus Demon had become.

Just then, a knock sounded at the bathroom door, followed by the Masked Man’s voice.

“Breakfast is ready. Do you want to eat in the room?”

Zhong Nian hurriedly yanked the door open, grabbed the man’s sleeve, and pulled him in: “Look—”

But when he turned back, the spot was empty; the octopus was gone.

“??”

Zhong Nian searched everywhere but found nothing.

The Masked Man’s gaze fixed on the water droplets clinging to Zhong Nian’s neck, asking absentmindedly: “What happened?”

“Just now…” Zhong Nian recounted the incident.

The Masked Man’s expression turned cold and stern. He drew his dagger and first stabbed twice into both their shadows.

The tip scratched two marks into the tile floor, but nothing unexpected happened.

No devil was hiding in the shadows.

Zhong Nian thought of how easy it had been to bully that little octopus and said: “Maybe it just looks a bit like a devil on the outside and isn’t really dangerous.”

The Masked Man shook his head: “Just in case, try not to leave my line of sight.”

Zhong Nian nodded obediently: “Okay.”