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When Ye Qingchuan arrived with Ye Zhenzhen, he saw the Tentacle Monster binding Shen Xingyan's and Ye Qingyao's arms and legs with its tentacles, ready to drag them straight into the sea.
Ye Zhenzhen: *?*
How did this happen?
According to the original book, the vicious supporting character Luo Bingyao had deliberately used a Beast-Attracting Talisman to lure the Tentacle Monster onto the Flying Boat and frighten the heroine, Ye Qingyao. But then the male lead, Shen Xingyan, defeated it and rescued her like a hero, deepening their feelings for each other. Judging by the scene before her, though, Shen Xingyan was no match for it. He had failed to save anyone and gotten himself caught instead!
Could it be because I took his opportunity in the Illusory Forest? Had that stopped him from breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, leaving him unable to beat the Tentacle Monster?
What do I do now?
Seeing his senior sister tightly wrapped in tentacles and about to be dragged into the sea, Ye Qingchuan turned pale with alarm. He set Ye Zhenzhen down on the deck and swung his sword at the tentacles to save Ye Qingyao.
Third Senior Brother, you can't leave me here! The Tentacle Monster will snatch me away! The baby on the deck panicked, her little face flushing red as she cried out. She had meant to have Ye Qingchuan take the Weak Water from her Heaven and Earth Pearl String and splash it on the monster. But the moment he saw Ye Qingyao in danger, he lost his head and rushed to save his senior sister without a thought for anything else.
Does being his senior sister make her important while being his junior sister makes me unimportant? she thought indignantly.
Before long, the Tentacle Monster spotted Little Glutinous Rice Ball alone and stretched a tentacle toward her.
But just as it was about to wrap her up, the mole between Ye Zhenzhen's brows shone gold. At that familiar presence, the monster's pupils contracted, and its tentacle stopped.
It's her!
The supreme powerhouse who saved me from a megalodon when I was little! How did she become so tiny—and so weak?
It had searched for her for so many years and had finally found her. Forget everything else! It promptly knocked the others unconscious with its tentacles, including Luo Bingyao, who had fled to the rear of the Flying Boat. Then it shrank its enormous body several times over, leaped nimbly aboard, and slithered to Ye Zhenzhen's side like a water snake.
Little Glutinous Rice Ball went pale with fright. What are you doing? Stay away! I may be small, but my meat is tough. I don't taste good at all!
To her surprise, the Tentacle Monster extended all eight tentacles and began waving them in a strange sort of welcome dance. Each blood-red tentacle seemed to have a life of its own, moving at a different angle and striking a different pose. It looked bizarre and ridiculous, with a touch of allure.
What's gotten into the Tentacle Monster?
Has it lost its mind?
When the dance ended, the monster wrapped all eight slender tentacles tightly around one of Ye Zhenzhen's legs. It looked rather like it wanted to cling to someone powerful.
Ye Zhenzhen rubbed her eyes in shock. The Tentacle Monster seemed to be smiling, its huge, blood-red mouth stretched wide.
Do you want to acknowledge me as your master and form a contract with me? She thought she understood what the monster meant, though she wasn't entirely sure.
The Tentacle Monster nodded its round head as if to say, That's exactly what I mean, Master.
The Tentacle Monster was a Nascent Soul Realm sea beast, practically the ruler of these waters. How could she turn down such good fortune when it landed right in her lap? Using the tips of her newly grown teeth, Ye Zhenzhen laboriously bit her finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the monster. The contract between human and beast was sealed.
She blinked excitedly at the Tentacle Monster, and it blinked back. It was ugly, adorable, and hilarious all at once.
Inspiration struck Ye Zhenzhen. I'll call you Xiao Ba from now on. Xiao Ba, Xiao Ba—eight means wealth is on its way! A contracted beast with eight tentacles was surely a good omen for the fortune to come.
But how do I keep Xiao Ba with me?
She thought for a moment, then took off her Heaven and Earth Pearl String and motioned for Xiao Ba to stay inside a Heaven and Earth Pearl.
Xiao Ba, however, refused. All eight tentacles shook like rattles. I formed a contract with you; I didn't become your prisoner! Is it right to lock me in a cage? My ocean is huge, and this little pearl of yours is tiny. I'm not going in.
That made things difficult.
A contracted beast was supposed to obey its master. One command from her, and it would have to do as she said. But if she forced it to do something it didn't want to do, the melon plucked before it was ripe would hardly taste sweet.
Little Glutinous Rice Ball scratched her head, then reluctantly tipped a large, plump Spirit Fish out of her Heaven and Earth Pearl String for the Tentacle Monster to try.
After eating it, the Tentacle Monster was so delighted it could barely contain the Primordial Power surging inside it. This is sooo delicious~ Its eight tentacles launched into another lively dance to a peculiar rhythm.
You could call the Tentacle Monster's dancing a mess, but it was clearly keeping time to a beat of its own. Then again, you could hardly call it good when every tentacle followed a different rhythm. Together, they looked like demons dancing wildly.
Terrible at it, but loves doing it, Ye Zhenzhen concluded.
Xiao Ba, come into my Heaven and Earth Pearl String for now. Once we're back at Cloudsky Mountain, I'll build you a fishpond and fill it with lots and lots of Spirit Fish. You can guard it for me and eat as many as you like every day. Ye Zhenzhen began painting a glorious picture for the Tentacle Monster.
She had already planned to bring plenty of sea fish back this time for an experiment: feed them Spirit Herbs and see whether ordinary sea fish could be raised into delicious Spirit Fish. Now a Tentacle Monster had delivered itself to her door, ready to guard the pond for free. She would never have to worry about anyone stealing the fish she raised. It was a deal guaranteed to turn a profit!
Xiao Ba was clearly won over. It shrank to the size of a grain of rice and hopped gleefully into the Heaven and Earth Pearl. Spirit Fish to eat every day from now on! Ye Zhenzhen hurriedly aimed the pearl at the sea and drew in a great deal of seawater and sea fish, doing her best to recreate Xiao Ba's happy life in the ocean.
About two hours later, Shen Xingyan was the first to wake. He looked around. "That's strange. Where's the Tentacle Monster?"
Seeing that the monster had vanished, he woke Ye Qingyao and Ye Qingchuan. He also searched the Flying Boat and found Luo Bingyao lying on the other side, a Beast-Attracting Talisman in her hand.