Chapter Two

 

Lansi laid on the sea anemone for a good while. He couldn't hear anything outside.

 

After a while, Lansi couldn't hold his breath anymore and took in a deep breath. Then, he slowly leaned out from the sea anemone.

 

Lansi breathed in deeply. But because he was at the bottom of the ocean, this only meant he breathed in seawater. The water was bitter and salty, and its taste washed over Lansi's five senses like a tsunami.

 

Lansi was so disgusted by this that he couldn't help but vomit out some bubbles. That was the only way he could forget about the strange taste still lingering on his tongue.

 

Outside, there were no giant tentacles in sight. There was nothing except that circle of coral bones surrounding him. There weren't even fish that had swum in by mistake.

 

Lansi swung his tail and swam off the anemone clumsily.

 

He was hungry and wanted to eat something. However, when he surveyed his surroundings, Lansi found that it was extremely clean. Other than the white sand under him, there was no food.

 

Despite his instinct driving him to look for food, Lansi was still terrified out of his wits——

 

When Lansi swam to the circle of coral bones, he placed his hands on them and peered, trying to see through the cracks.

 

Then, through the gaps, he saw an abyss.

 

Abysses, whether they were in fairytales or nonfiction, were full of a freezing darkness that bore the haunting whispers of death.

 

The immense pressure of the ocean pressed down on all the marine creatures, and the rocks that stuck out of the ground were covered with the corpses of various animals. This place was soulless.

 

It was too quiet and empty here.

 

But did that mean the giant octopus lived here? In the deep sea?

 

Lansi's forehead crinkled as he frowned.

 

After some serious thinking, Lansi decided: he was going to escape from here!

 

Because of this, Lansi tried to pull at the coral bones without a moment of hesitation. He hoped that he would find a way out by chancing upon a weak spot in the coral prison.

 

The sharp fingernails that mermaids had were very useful. Under the strength of Lansi's fingernails, the hard coral prison was nothing but biscuit. They broke with a satisfying 'crack!', which greatly encouraged Lansi.

 

However, the reality couldn't be more different from Lansi's imagination.

 

The pitch-black of the bottom of the sea made Lansi lose track of time. He overestimated his stamina and placed too little thought on the intelligence of the 'tentacles'.

 

Lansi realised that the more he clawed through the coral, the harder and larger the coral bones became. In the end, Lansi's hands rested on a slate of white bone. It was perfectly smooth. No matter what Lansi did, the bone didn't even move an inch. Finding a weakness he could exploit was nothing but a fever dream.

 

It only came to this? After all his efforts?

 

Seeing that his attempt to escape was fruitless, Lansi began to scratch at the wall angrily. An ear-piercing 'gadagada' noise came from his throat.

 

What giant octopus, what food reserve? He didn't care about any of that. He was about to starve to death!

 

As he cursed the giant octopus whilst scratching the wall, Lansi suddenly felt something pulling on his tail.

 

Lansi froze.

 

He wasn't an idiot. He naturally knew what was pulling on his tail.

 

Other than the tentacles, what else was there down here?

 

Frowning, Lansi clung onto a coral bone that was next to him on a whim. He wanted to see what the octopus would do to him if he didn't let it drag him away.

 

Sure enough, the 'octopus' couldn't do anything.

 

The massive tentacles tugged on Lansi a few times. And when it didn't manage to retrieve anything from the prison, it loosened its grip on Lansi's tail and slithered back outside.

 

Feeling the tugging on his tail disappear, Lansi let out a cold laugh. Then, he collected his tail and placed it beside him.

 

Even if he was going to starve to death, he wasn't going out.

 

Then, in the next moment, Lansi felt something tap on his shoulders lightly.

 

At that instant, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

 

The little hole he was trapped in was tiny! How did that massive tentacle manage to get in?

 

When Lansi turned around, he saw a slender little tentacle. He had no idea when it sneaked in from behind him.

 

At that moment, Lansi wanted to scream.

 

BOOM!

 

At the same time, the huge slab of coral bone that had been blocking Lansi was yanked away by something. Then, a tentacle slid in from the gap it created.

 

Lansi was stunned still and could only stare at the tentacle in front of him.

 

The tentacle swung from side to side. It was like it was trying to comfort a naughty child when it approached Lansi. Then it pressed on his forehead.

 

Feeling the not-too-strong, not-too-weak strength on his forehead, Lansi clutched onto the coral bone beside him tightly and pitched his tail forwards. As he did so, a small cry escaped from him.

 

After that, the giant tentacle in front of him turned its focus elsewhere. Under Lansi's frightened staring, it broke the coral prison that surrounded Lansi and shepherded him outside.

 

Lansi: "..."

 

Having been pushed out into the open, Lansi looked down at the white coral bone he was hugging and choked. He was speechless.

 

When Lansi had been caught red-handed trying to escape, the tentacles didn't get angry. Several of the tiny feelers moved from the coral bones, where they had been resting, and started to work.

 

One circled Lansi's waist and placed him back in the anemone. The other pried the coral bone from Lansi's embrace.

 

When the fragments of the bone had been taken away, Lansi hissed nervously.

 

After that, the tentacle tossed the coral bone away. And when it heard Lansi's whining, it hurriedly turned around like it was trying to appease the little mermaid. Lansi had no clue where it got that from, but the tentacle was holding a fist-sized pearl and dumped it in Lansi's arms.

 

Lansi: "..."

 

The remaining tentacles were busy repairing the hole Lansi dug earlier. They used a boulder - who knew where that came from - to block the hole Lansi had made.

 

Lansi, sat in the sea anemone, watched the scene and put down the pearl. He couldn't resist the urge to swim away from the polyp.

 

He raised his head, glared at the tentacles, and hissed unhappily.

 

The giant tentacles extended upwards. Lansi stared at it for a bit and watched the direction they were heading. Slowly, his head tilted, and saw that the tentacles had entered from outside the prison.

 

He couldn't see the owner of the tentacles. In other words, the tentacle's owner was so big that it was outside Lansi's field of vision.

 

Perhaps his look of confusion was too adorable. The giant tentacle paused its actions. Then, it lifted the end of its feeler and gently patted Lansi's head.

 

Feeling the gentle patting on his head, Lansi suddenly broke out of his trance. He darted away so quickly. It was like he was flying and, with a 'whoosh!', he slid into the safety of the anemone. He was trying to hide from the tentacle.

 

After Lansi escaped into the anemone, the tentacle didn't go. It seemed like it was a little unhappy, and it kept lingering above the anemone. The small end of the tentacle wanted to touch Lansi, but it was afraid of angering Lansi.

 

Lansi hid in the sea anemone. He raised his head to watch the tentacle, and he couldn't help but gulp.

 

He noticed that the tentacle outside, or it may be more accurate to say, the owner of the tentacle seemed to be keeping him as a pet——

 

Just now, he tried to escape from the prison, but the 'master' didn't get angry. Instead, it just wanted to touch him.

 

This kind of 'humble' act was extremely alike to those in modern society who kept cats as pets.

 

Moreover, the tiny tentacles, which were now right above the sea anemone, were shaking uncontrollably. Simply watching it made Lansi's teeth itch - he really wanted to bite it!

 

In the mermaid's eyes, the shaking of the tentacles wasn't that fast. It seemed like they were teasing him, trying to lure Lansi out of the sea anemone.

 

So the question now was: was he going to come out?

 

"Growl~~"

 

Another cry came from his empty stomach, and hunger rushed up to his head. Lansi couldn't resist the urge and bore his teeth.

 

He was really hungry!

 

The sea anemone's tentacles were orange and the colour filled his vision. 

Then, Lansi saw that swaying tentacles on top of the anemone seemed to have changed into——

 

The orange colour transformed into a burnt yellow like they had been roasted. There was also a layer of cumin powder covering it... He was seeing... octopus legs!

 

Lansi jumped out of the anemone, grabbed the limb, and savagely bit off the small end of the tentacle. Then, holding the small tail between his teeth, he hid in the anemone again with a 'swoosh'!

 

The tentacle that had been shaking and teasing Lansi suddenly froze.

 

The end, which was ripped open, oozed a faint purple liquid. Then, the purple liquid dissipated into the seawater.

 

After Lansi found refuge in the anemone once again, he popped the little tail into his mouth. But when he realised that the tail was still moving, he spat it out frantically. "Bah!"

 

The little tail, which Lansi had abandoned, twitched and floated out of the anemone.

 

Then, in front of the tentacle, the little tail continued to twitch in the water. Twitch, twitch, twitch, it went as it floated along with the current. It was so tenacious that Lansi couldn't help but stare at it.

 

The space inside the coral prison went frighteningly silent.

 

Lansi hid inside the anemone, and he peeped at the tentacle from the gaps of the anemone's feelers.

 

The tentacle, which was bitten for no apparent reason, seemed to still be in shock from Lansi's sudden ferocity. It froze for a long, long while, and it slowly pulled away from the coral prison.

 

Then, another slightly smaller tentacle slipped in and picked up the little tail, which was still twitching in a corner, and took it away.

 

It was only when both the tentacles disappeared, did Lansi dare to come out of his hiding place. He looked up as much as he could, feeling a little anxious.

 

His actions just now, in some aspects, was extremely offensive.

 

Let's put this situation in the modern world. What he had just done had hurt the 'master'.

 

Now, Lansi was terrified. What could he do if the tentacle came back for revenge?

 

That tentacle was dexterous and flexible. There were both thick and thin tentacles. Lansi was scared that they would use this window of opportunity given by his spacing out to hurt him.

 

If they really wanted to hurt him, there was nowhere for him to hide.

 

Lansi swam anxiously around the prison, trying to think of another way to escape.

 

"Dong-"

 

A soft sound came from above Lansi.

 

Lansi froze and immediately dove back into the safety of the anemone. Then, he peeked through the gaps of the anemone's feelers to see what was going on.

 

When a gigantic figure descended from above, Lansi couldn't help but gasp——

 

A tentacle that was about a metre long was thrown down into the prison.

 

It was very obvious that the tentacle had been processed. The rough skin it had before was skinned away, and only the tender white flesh was left behind.

 

At this time, the processed tentacle landed not too far away from the anemone.

 

Lansi was silent for a while. He turned around, flopped onto the anemone and forced himself to forget about the tentacles outside.

 

Was the octopus outside really that stupid?

 

Just because he had bitten off the little tail didn't mean he wanted to eat their tentacle!

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