The Picked-Up Little Tentacle Begs Me to Take Responsibility 44p1

Chapter 44 Part 1

Shi Xu wasn’t close to his nominal younger brother. He saw a reflection of his younger self in Shi Mu, watching as Shi Mu’s spirit gradually eroded under Shi Yan’s tutelage, molded into the obedient weapon Shi Yan desired.

He knew the tragic fate that awaited Shi Mu, but he never tried to intervene. He couldn’t even save himself, how could he save another?

Now, Shi Mu was even more unfamiliar, this being the first time Shi Xu had ever seen him smile, a chilling, unsettling smile.

“Brother, do you want to see the imposter father?”

Shi Xu: “Yes, but not now.”

Shi Mu’s smile remained fixed on his face. He tilted his head, puzzled. “Why not now?”

Shi Xu replied honestly, “I’m waiting for someone.”

“This is a family matter. We don’t need anyone else.” Shi Mu extended his hand. “Brother, let’s go. I’ll show you.”

Shi Xu didn’t move. “We’ll wait.”

Shi Mu’s smile vanished. “Why wait? Are you afraid? I won’t hurt you. Unless…”

His voice suddenly filled with rage. “Are you also an imposter?!”

Despite his slender frame, he was surprisingly strong, his movements swift. A training robot wouldn’t have been able to dodge his sudden attack, but Shi Xu easily moved his head, a gust of wind brushing his cheek as he avoided Shi Mu’s hand, grabbing his arm and twisting it, pinning him against the stone table.

Shi Mu’s anger instantly turned to delight, murmuring, “You’re not an imposter. You’re my real brother.”

Only the real Shi Xu could subdue him so easily.

He lay on the table, enjoying the feeling of being restrained, repeating his invitation. “Brother, I’ll show you ‘father.’ Don’t you want to see his true face? I don’t know when he infiltrated our family, but it doesn’t matter. I discovered his secret. Father will be proud of me. Will you praise me too, brother?”

Shi Xu frowned. Shi Mu was clearly on the verge of a breakdown. He didn’t know anyone was impersonating Shi Yan.

He hadn’t noticed anything unusual during his last visit. Who could possibly impersonate that man, perfectly mimicking his vile nature?

The only possibility was that Shi Mu was delusional.

“Why aren’t you talking, brother?” Shi Mu’s eyes were filled with confusion, then a sudden spark of hope. He looked at Shi Xu expectantly. “Brother, I’ll show you ‘father.’ You’ll be happy when you see him. If you’re happy, will you praise me?”

Shi Xu remained silent, observing him.

Shi Mu was different. He had always been quiet and reserved around him, but now he was talkative.

Was this the result of his shattered faith?

“Brother, why aren’t you talking?” A flicker of hurt crossed Shi Mu’s eyes. “Am I not strong enough? Am I not worthy of your attention?”

“You’re overthinking it.” Shi Xu released him, about to sit back in his chair, but the chair split open, a black tentacle emerging from the ground, attacking him.

He swiftly severed it with his dagger.

The bisected tentacle wriggled on the ground, its pieces trying to reassemble.

Shi Xu stepped on one half, crushing it. The other half instantly went still, its life force seemingly connected to its severed counterpart.

“So strong…” Shi Mu’s eyes were filled with admiration. He raised his right hand. The ground trembled, countless black tentacles erupting from the earth, swarming towards the gazebo, avoiding Shi Mu, targeting only Shi Xu.

His dagger transformed into a sword. He swung it effortlessly, the gazebo filling with severed tentacles, splattered with foul-smelling slime.

The battle moved from the gazebo to the yard, the growing number of tentacles leaving little room to maneuver.

His movements didn’t slow, but the tentacles seemed endless, regenerating instantly.

The yard was overrun, leaving him no place to stand. He retreated towards the villa, realizing the black tentacles had surrounded the building, leaving him a small space by the entrance, his only escape route blocked.

They were inviting him in, or rather, Shi Mu, controlling the tentacles, was forcing him inside.

“Brother, you’ll like it,” Shi Mu’s voice echoed, muffled by the mass of black tentacles.

Even without seeing him, Shi Xu could hear the excitement in his voice.

“Come on, let’s go inside. It’ll be a wonderful show. You’ll praise me after you see it.”

The tentacles merged, forming a massive wave of black, crashing towards him. The villa door opened behind him, the sunlight blocked, darkness engulfing him.

The moment he was swallowed by the darkness, Shi Xu assumed a defensive stance. The golden tentacle in his pocket emerged, expanding into a protective net around him.

He was prepared, but the expected attack didn’t come.

A small flame appeared in the darkness, then another, and another… forming a line, guiding him towards the light.

The door behind him was closed. He could break it down, but he didn’t.

He wasn’t afraid of entering the house alone.

His hesitation was purely out of caution.

Qi Yu’s backup would arrive soon. He could wait.

But since Shi Mu had invited him in, he wouldn’t flee.

He gripped his sword, following the lights.

Having lived there for over a decade, he knew the layout intimately, even in the dark. The flames didn’t fully illuminate the rooms, but they were enough. He followed them upstairs, stopping before Shi Yan’s room.

The figure inside seemed to hear him, opening the door.

A foul stench assaulted his senses. He covered his nose, but still inhaled some of the repulsive odor.

The curtains were drawn, the room dark. The light from the hallway illuminated a small area by the door. Something wriggled on the floor. In the silence, he heard faint gasps of pain.

Shi Mu appeared behind him silently, his voice laced with amusement. “He’s the imposter. I captured him. Aren’t I amazing?”

As he spoke, the curtains opened, revealing the scene. Shi Xu’s gaze wasn’t drawn to the black tentacles that pulled back the curtains.

Shi Yan lay on the bed, his usually meticulously maintained face now wrinkled and pale from blood loss, his body bound by countless black tentacles. He had struggled before Shi Xu arrived, now exhausted, lying limply, awaiting his fate.

Hearing the commotion, he turned his head with difficulty, his eyes lighting up upon seeing Shi Xu’s white hair.

His will to survive sparked a flicker of strength. He lifted his head slightly, his voice filled with a desperate hope. “Xiao Xu, are you here to save me? Get me out of here!”

Even in this dire situation, he still spoke to Shi Xu in a commanding tone. Shi Mu’s “punishment” hadn’t affected him, his ingrained arrogance unshaken.

He was the father. His children had to obey him.

Shi Mu said softly, “He’s a bad person, isn’t he? An imposter, yet still ordering you around.”

Shi Xu had been unusually quiet since seeing Shi Yan, a silent observer, even now, trapped in this situation.

He ignored Shi Yan’s pleas, unmoved by his pathetic state.

He had fantasized about revenge, but it didn’t bring him any satisfaction.

Because Shi Yan’s fate didn’t matter to him. Indifference was a trait Shi Yan himself had instilled.

“Ignore insignificant people. Focus on what truly matters.”

The two people who mattered most to him were dead. Shi Yan was insignificant, not worth saving, not worth his attention.

“Shi Xu, are… you… listening? What are you… waiting for? Save me!” Shi Yan’s voice was weak, his breaths shallow, yet he still managed to speak.

“He’s truly despicable, an imposter who doesn’t know repentance, still ordering you around. He deserves to be punished.”

As Shi Mu spoke, he raised his hand. The floor beneath the bed collapsed, the bed, along with Shi Yan, disappearing.

Shi Mu gestured towards the hole, smiling. “Brother, take a look.”

Shi Xu glanced at him, walking to the edge of the hole, looking down.

He didn’t know what Shi Mu had done, but Shi Yan wasn’t on the first floor. The floor there had also collapsed, a large hole revealing the brightly lit basement below. The bed had shattered upon impact. Shi Yan wasn’t dead. Shi Mu must have kept him alive.

But his condition was worse. Splinters of wood pierced his body, his face contorted with pain, but too weak to scream.

The first floor was dark, but the basement was brightly lit, Shi Yan’s twisted face clearly visible. He lay there, trapped, his most pathetic state exposed to his two sons, the two people he thought he could control.

Anger, shame, resentment, despair…

The emotions overwhelmed him, pushing him to the brink.

For the first time, he wanted to die, but his survival instincts kicked in.

He couldn’t die, not yet.

He had to kill those two bastards, erase everything they had seen. No one could witness his humiliation.

“Brother, can you guess what he’s thinking?” Shi Mu looked at Shi Xu, his eyes filled with admiration.

He had looked at Shi Xu this way before, but the intensity had increased.

It seemed that after exposing Shi Yan’s “imposter” status, he had transferred his reverence to Shi Xu.

Shi Xu disliked his gaze. Shi Mu wasn’t admiring him, but his strength. If someone surpassed him, Shi Mu would become another Shi Yan, perhaps meeting the same fate.

“I don’t know.”

He lied. He knew exactly what Shi Yan was thinking.

Shi Mu: “I’ll tell you.”

He didn’t ask if Shi Xu wanted to know, making the decision for him.

Shadows flickered in the basement, the stench of decay rising. Shi Xu held his breath, suppressing the urge to leave.

Black worms swarmed from the hole, engulfing Shi Yan. His weak cries echoed upwards. The worms deliberately avoided his face, allowing them to see his every expression.

“The more he cares about something, the more I want to destroy it. He’s pathetic, isn’t he?” Shi Mu chuckled, his eyes filled with a growing madness. “He’s not my father.”

Shi Xu was wrong. Being with Gu Sui wasn’t the best revenge against Shi Yan. This was.

He hadn’t done it, but someone unexpected had.

“Help… me…”

“Shi Xu, don’t… you want to know… the truth… about your sister’s death?”

Shi Xu’s eyes turned cold. Even now, Shi Yan was still trying to manipulate him with lies.

He had suspected Shi Yan sent his sister to the rift to eliminate a pollutant, and Shi Yan had confirmed it. He had believed the lie, until Uncle Zhou revealed the truth.

She wasn’t sent to eliminate a pollutant, but to retrieve treasures Shi Yan didn’t even need.

Shi Mu held his hand, tightening his grip on the dagger in his palm.

His childish voice whispered in his ear, a seductive whisper. “Brother, he lied to you. He’s still lying. Do you want to kill him?”

“You do, don’t you?”

“You’ve been waiting for this opportunity. I’ve created it for you…” Shi Mu’s voice was earnest. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. This is our secret. I’m loyal to you. Trust me.”

…

Qi Yu arrived at the Shi estate as quickly as possible. It was a considerable distance from the Anomaly Management Bureau. Even at their fastest speed, it still took half an hour.

The estate looked deserted. He didn’t see Shi Xu at the entrance. The destroyed yard alarmed him.

Shi Xu wasn’t reckless. He wouldn’t enter a dangerous place without waiting for backup.

If he wasn’t at the entrance, it meant he had been forced inside.

He called Shi Xu. The phone went straight to voicemail.

His subordinates quickly checked the perimeter, finding no traps. He ordered them to enter.

Expecting resistance, they were surprised by the lack of it.

“Vice-Captain, we found something.”