The tentacles scratched by Yue Shi writhed and lashed in mid-air until the rotting flesh was all flung off, and new tentacles surged out to replace the missing parts.
At first glance, Niu Xiaohui seemed unscathed, as tentacles were constantly replenished.
But both Yue Shi and Zhong Mo noticed that the force with which the tentacles flailed was no longer as powerful as before.
—It was gradually becoming weaker!
Pressing his advantage while it was weak, Yue Shi strode toward Niu Xiaohui. Killing the main body was the only way to solve those annoying and disgusting tentacles at their source.
Sensing his intent, Niu Xiaohui didn't sit idly by. Her feet were pinned firmly to the ground, but her body swayed and shook violently like a roly-poly toy.
With her movements, a large number of tentacles detached from her body and were flung out like bullets, firing indiscriminately in all directions.
Yue Shi summoned shadow crows to shield himself, but Zhong Mo was a step faster, playing an unknown card.
In an instant, all the flying tentacles seemed to suddenly lose their strength, falling listlessly to the ground.
The crows danced like a black tide sweeping in. Yue Shi pressed forward, and seeing him, Niu Xiaohui tried to retreat.
Yue Shi closed the distance with agile steps, his fingers tensing as he aimed straight for her face.
Five deep, bone-deep claw marks were instantly carved into Niu Xiaohui's face. The young girl's cute face was immediately disfigured; the wounds turned black and oozed pus, and bits of rotten flesh crumbled away.
However, Yue Shi did not stop. Having finally closed the distance, his claws swung repeatedly. In the blink of an eye, Niu Xiaohui was no longer human-shaped; only her legs remained intact, while her upper body had become a hideous mass of aggregated tentacles.
Just as Yue Shi was about to press his advantage, his ankle suddenly tightened. A force yanked him backward, nearly making him trip.
Looking down, he saw several inconspicuous tentacles had snuck up from behind to restrict his movement.
The heavily damaged tentacle monster let out a sharp screech. It then seemed to enter a berserk state, its aura surging as if it had taken some sort of drug.
Yue Shi was too close; the monster's roar left his ears ringing and his vision blurred. In that moment of daze, he was struck in the chest by one of the monster's tentacles.
A searing pain snapped Yue Shi back to his senses. The tentacles wouldn't let go, trying to pierce his flesh and rip open his chest to take his heart.
Yue Shi grabbed the tentacle hovering over his chest, his sharp fingertips piercing the slimy thing in his hand.
Decay spread, and the crisis was temporarily averted.
A warm touch came from his arm. Yue Shi turned to see Zhong Mo pulling him back while simultaneously severing the tentacles wrapped around his ankle.
The Heart Thief seemed completely enraged, or perhaps it was a final desperate struggle. Its roars grew louder, venting its resentment and fury as countless black lines surged toward Zhong Mo and Yue Shi.
The entire building seemed to tremble. Sensing things were going south, Yue Shi asked Zhong Mo, “Do you have a way to handle this? If not, let's retreat for now.”
“Don't worry, watch me.”
Zhong Mo appeared calm, but he couldn't hide the pain of parting with his resources. He reached into an inner pocket and pulled out a gem-like object.
Before Yue Shi could see what it was, Zhong Mo threw it out with gritted teeth.
“Close your eyes!”
Hearing Zhong Mo's shout, Yue Shi closed his eyes without hesitation.
Almost simultaneously, a brilliant white light erupted from the gem. Even with his eyes tightly shut, Yue Shi could feel the intensity of the light, which felt as if it wanted to blind anyone nearby.
Fortunately, the white light only lasted for two seconds. When he opened his eyes again, Yue Shi's vision was swimming with black spots; he felt unwell, and his legs were weak.
The room wasn't damaged; it looked exactly the same as before, without any changes.
However, the previously rampaging Heart Thief was now lying motionless on the floor. The surrounding tentacles had all withered like dead grass that had lost its vitality.
Yue Shi hadn't expected Zhong Mo to be hiding such a powerful trump card. He asked, half-mocking and half-probing, “If you had such a good treasure, why didn't you use it earlier? Why waste so much time and almost fail?”
Zhong Mo subconsciously bit his lower lip with his canine teeth. “This thing is incredibly expensive; you can't even buy it with money. I'm losing so much on this mission!”
Yue Shi's eyes darkened, and he gave a faint smile. “If you're so pained by it, we might as well have retreated and handed the Heart Thief over to the Investigation Bureau.”
Zhong Mo shook his head repeatedly. “You don't understand. We had to deal with the Heart Thief as soon as possible. We can't leave it to chance; if it escapes, it'll be a disaster.”
“It doesn't look very strong right now, but it has extremely high growth potential. It's already targeted us; once it develops in the shadows, we'll never be able to handle it!”
“Is that so?” Yue Shi was skeptical but didn't ask why Zhong Mo knew so much about the Heart Thief.
He slowly walked toward the Heart Thief. As he approached, the previously still tentacles suddenly twitched slightly.
It still had a breath of life left, but it was clearly very weak. Sensing its enemy, it struggled desperately to move away.
Unfortunately, it soon hit the wall. With nowhere else to go, it could only change direction and continue crawling along the baseboard.
“Don't be afraid,” Yue Shi said softly in a comforting tone.
His ethereal, magical voice echoed. The writhing black ball of yarn gradually stopped, its entire body contracting and expanding as if it were panting.
At this moment, the Heart Thief had no strength left to resist. Severely wounded, it could not withstand Yue Shi's hypnotic allure.
“Come out. I won't hurt you,” Yue Shi said gently, as if coaxing a child.
Zhong Mo was a bit surprised, unable to understand what he was doing.
He heard Yue Shi repeatedly saying, “Come out,” “Come out now,” “I'll take you to a safe place,” “I'll give you many hearts”...
The kind calls quickly dismantled the Heart Thief's wariness. The tangled mass of bluish-black tentacles slowly relaxed, revealing its core.
It was a heart, still beating slowly, but it was riddled with holes. The original blood vessels had been torn open, and countless tentacles sprouted from within.
Yue Shi asked, “Can you speak?”
A small bulge immediately formed on the surface of the heart. A cluster of tender little umbrellas broke through, the caps rapidly expanding and their color turning from pale pink to dark red.
To the utter amazement of Yue Shi and Zhong Mo, a strange mushroom grew out just like that. An abstract face was formed on the stalk, with only eyes and a mouth.
“Help me, I don't want to die!” the mushroom with a face spoke, its voice filled with an eerie, human-like mimicry.
Yue Shi: “I can help you, but can you first tell me exactly what you are?”
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