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PTGWD Chapter 66: Secrets

"Yes, I know how to care for them."

The tentacle that had been pulled away instinctively tried to retreat, but Fang Xingzhou held it tightly, not allowing it to hide itself. He even brought the tip of the tentacle to his mouth and bit down hard.

The monster trembled slightly.

With one tentacle missing, its tightly sealed defense had a gap. The exposed eyes widened, some looking left, others looking right, all trying to avoid Fang Xingzhou’s gaze.

Fang Xingzhou reached out with his other hand and pulled another tentacle into his palm.

The tentacle was cool and moist, its mouthparts still oozing liquid, feeling sticky and sorrowful to the touch. Fang Xingzhou moved closer, his pupils contracting as his gaze slowly traveled over the translucent membrane and the pink, convoluted brain beneath it.

His scalp tingled, his mind went blank, and his entire body felt as if electric currents were coursing through him.

His rapid breath brushed against the brain, his nose almost touching it. The overwhelming, suffocatingly sweet fragrance made his vision swim.

—The moment he saw its true form, he recognized it.

The massive, grotesque monster before him was the “jellyfish” he had lost twenty years ago.

The tiny jellyfish tendrils had grown into thick, terrifying tentacles. The white jellyfish cap was the same as twenty years ago, but the brain had grown so large that it stretched the translucent membrane, making it seem disconnected from the concept of a “jellyfish.”

But even through the gaps, Fang Xingzhou could say with absolute certainty: his intuition had not been wrong.

His heart contracted, and his eyes turned red. He gazed at the monster with a complex expression, then pressed his forehead against the brain and planted a cold kiss on one of the blinking, pupil-less eyes.

Lu Jianchuan felt moisture on its head.

It froze for a moment, instinctively wrapping its tentacles tighter around its beloved, desperately trying to comfort him. But it was also afraid that his tears were due to its own ugliness, so it remained anxious, not daring to move, as if holding a piece of ice that might melt at any moment.

Its vocal cords vibrated with difficulty, emitting strange, fragmented sounds.

“I’m sorry…” The end of the vocal cord nervously brushed against Fang Xingzhou’s cheek. “I’m sorry, darling. I never meant to deceive you, but…”

Fang Xingzhou kissed the brain again, this time not just a brief touch but a lingering press of his lips, even extending his tongue to slowly lick along the grooves.

The monster stiffened under the kiss.

It was at loss, allowing its beloved to taste it, sensing desire in his scent. It couldn’t help but whisper, “Do you want to eat me?”

Fang Xingzhou hummed in affirmation.

“Bite you into pieces, swallow you, digest you in my human stomach, and let you merge with my blood,” he said in a gentle voice, telling a horrifying story. “Would that mean you’ll never leave me again?”

Lu Jianchuan could no longer focus on hiding itself. It frantically wrapped its other tentacles around Fang Xingzhou, its brain pressing closer, dozens of eyes blinking rapidly. “I’ll never leave you again, Xingzhou. You can eat me, starting with the brain—it’s easier to bite. After the brain, you can eat the tentacles. The gestational sac has stored enough nutrients. Even without me, the institute can feed the baby until it’s born…”

Fang Xingzhou grabbed its vocal cord, stopping it from continuing, then pushed aside the tentacles in front of him and looked at Lu Jianchuan again with wet eyes, examining its complete true form from head to toe.

Lu Jianchuan felt scalded by his gaze and couldn’t help but twist its head.

“I’m so sorry… Zhouzhou,” it said, utterly miserable about its own ugliness. “I shouldn’t have let you see this, but I can’t control my true form right now.”

“No,” Fang Xingzhou’s voice sounded wet. “I love how you look now.”

The eyes instantly focused, all staring at their beloved.

“You’ve grown so much since then. It seems you can’t fit in a fish tank anymore,” he said, gazing at it. “The brain is pink, so cute. With so many eyes, can you see everything from any angle?”

The vocal cord hung dumbly in the air, as if it had forgotten how to speak, mumbling incoherently, “Ah… um… yes, is it pink?”

“Yes, a beautiful pink,” Fang Xingzhou said, reaching out to press his palm against the soft membrane. He applied slight pressure, feeling the slightly firm texture of the brain beneath the membrane through his touch. The eyes moved aside to make space for his hand, and the area he touched quickly turned from pink to red, growing warm, as if blushing.

“Even cuter than twenty years ago,” Fang Xingzhou commented. “How have you been all these years? You seem to have developed well.”

Lu Jianchuan was incredulous, staring at the human before it in shock, its gaze fixed on his face.

Fang Xingzhou looked as if he were drunk, his expression entranced, his ears and cheeks flushed, his entire body radiating obvious excitement, smelling sweeter than honey.

It wasn’t an act.

It wasn’t flattery.

His beloved was genuinely praising its ugly brain.

The brain couldn’t help but turn completely red, clumsily making sounds. “I… returned to the ocean, ate lots and lots of fish every day until I reached adulthood and could control my desires. Only then did I dare to sneak back ashore.”

Fang Xingzhou kissed the eye closest to him.

“I thought you could only survive on human blood,” he said. “For a while, I thought you would die quickly after leaving, so I cried all day, every day. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw you lying in a sewer, starving to death.”

This made the pupil-less eyes quickly fill with liquid, misting over as they looked at Fang Xingzhou.

“I drank your blood at night…” it said painfully. “You knew.”

Fang Xingzhou pressed his cheek against it.

“Yes, I always knew. I even deliberately left my wrist exposed,” he said. “Don’t feel bad about it. I wanted that.”

The massive monster trembled.

Fang Xingzhou leaned against the brain, remaining silent for a long time. Only after his emotions had settled did he begin to check on the condition of both father and child.

He pushed aside the layers of tentacles, squeezing to the innermost part, and looked at the pulsating gestational sac.

Compared to before he lost consciousness, the sac had grown at least twice in size. The walls were stretched translucent, and something round was faintly visible inside, obscured by the nutrient fluid.

Perhaps sensing its father’s approach, the egg timidly hid deeper in the sac.

Fang Xingzhou gently stroked the yoga ball-sized belly, studying it intently for a while.

A tentacle also reached in, brushing against the sac, then shyly wrapped around Fang Xingzhou’s hand.

“It’s grown,” Fang Xingzhou murmured. “The baby is so round.”

The brain leaned down, pressing against its beloved’s face.

Fang Xingzhou held the tentacle tightly and asked, “How did you finally remove the parasite? Were either of you hurt?”

Lu Jianchuan said, “I lured the parasite into my belly, and the baby bit it to pieces and ate it.”

Fang Xingzhou was stunned.

He frowned, turning to look at the brain, meeting its crimson eyes.

“You lured the parasite into your belly?”

The monster blinked.

“Ah, well, um,” the vocal cord panicked. “I kept a close eye on it. If it couldn’t defeat the parasite, I would…”

It abruptly stopped speaking, falling silent again.

“Would what?” Fang Xingzhou asked.

Lu Jianchuan: “…I would have to cut the baby out, kill the parasite, and sew it back in. Darling, it’s a very simple procedure. It definitely wouldn’t harm the fetus. Right?”

Fang Xingzhou: “…”

If the embryo hadn’t won that battle, perhaps he wouldn’t be seeing this round belly now.

He sighed, patting the gestational sac, and spoke gently to the egg hiding inside. “Are you okay? Let me see.”

Silence.

Fang Xingzhou waited patiently for a long time. Finally, the egg inside cautiously rolled over, pressing against the sac to nuzzle its father’s palm. Then, a pair of eyes emerged from the egg membrane, nervously watching his expression.

Fang Xingzhou smiled.

“Good boy,” he said.

The egg’s eyes slowly widened, like a child who had just been given candy, becoming incredibly happy. It rolled back and forth inside the sac, nuzzling repeatedly, emitting soft, strange sounds, similar to a newly hatched chick.

Lu Jianchuan’s tentacles wrapped around its beloved, the brain pressing against his head as they both gazed lovingly at the egg they had created together.

Only in moments like this did it feel a hint of the maternal instinct an animal should have for its offspring.

Fang Xingzhou held the tentacle tightly. “You can’t transform back into a human because the gestational sac is too big now?”

The brain nodded up and down. “Yes, it’s just entered a new stage of development. It needs some time to stabilize before I can control its size. I think it’ll take at least a month.”

Fang Xingzhou smiled. “So, for the next month, you’ll have to stay in your true form.”

Lu Jianchuan: “…Is it very ugly?”

“Not ugly. Just as cute as twenty years ago, like a giant jellyfish,” Fang Xingzhou said. “If I hadn’t come looking for you today, were you planning to disappear for a whole month and make up excuses?”

Lu Jianchuan’s tentacles curled up, the brain drooping slightly as it remained silent, tacitly admitting to the plan.

Fang Xingzhou turned to meet its gaze.

“Why have you been so reluctant to show me your true form?” Fang Xingzhou asked. “You know I’ve never stopped looking for the ‘jellyfish.'”

The eyes shifted away, not daring to meet his gaze.

After a moment, seeing Fang Xingzhou stubbornly waiting for an answer, the vocal cord finally spoke in a deep voice. “I was afraid of seeing disgust in your eyes. Terrified, darling.”

“Twenty years ago, I didn’t know how important blood was to humans. I accidentally drank too much, making you gravely ill… Mom thought you had a parasitic infection and said she wanted to find the parasite and burn it to ashes. I listened from your bedside, feeling for the first time how ugly and despicable I was, greedier than a parasite.”

“I was afraid you’d learn the truth, even more afraid that your eyes would fill with the same disgust Mom had when she talked about parasites. The baby and I would slowly die under that gaze, because it was a seed planted through your love.”

Fang Xingzhou: “…Mom?”

“Yes, our mom,” Lu Jianchuan said. “Don’t you remember? When you were sick, she cried by your bedside every day.”

Fang Xingzhou finally realized Lu Jianchuan was talking about his own mother.

He smiled, kissing the sorrowful brain, and said, “I never blamed you. You were just a simple jellyfish who hadn’t received nine years of compulsory education and didn’t know any better. Mom won’t blame you either. In a while, when you can transform back, I’ll take you to see her, okay?”

This made all the grooves in Lu Jianchuan’s brain squeeze together, as if it were screaming in another dimension.

“See Mom,” the vocal cord tightened, excited yet disbelieving. “Really?”

Fang Xingzhou: “Of course.”

“As the ‘jellyfish’? Or as…”

Fang Xingzhou said, “As the jellyfish from twenty years ago, as my fiancé, as the future father of our child.”

Dozens of eyes stared at him, seemingly unwilling to blink.

Fang Xingzhou added, “I should have taken you to see her sooner, but she’s been recuperating at a temple all these years and doesn’t want to be involved in worldly matters.”

The eyes grew misty again, filled with moisture, as if caught in an unbelievable dream. Fang Xingzhou wiped the nearest eye and continued, “What happened after that? After you left my side, how did you get into university? Did the institute help?”

The vocal cord buzzed as it spoke. “Yes, after I reached adulthood, I couldn’t wait to return to your side. I secretly followed you for a long time, but then the institute found me… We had a little, tiny conflict, but eventually became partners. They taught me human knowledge, and I helped them deal with some tricky problems.”

Fang Xingzhou nodded, signaling for it to continue.

The brain affectionately nuzzled his cheek, willingly opening up all its hidden secrets to its beloved.

Until a cautious knock came from outside.

Yan Xin, wearing glasses, peeked in from behind the door. Seeing the bizarre scene of a human and a monster kissing, he couldn’t help but shiver, his smile stiff. “Excuse me, Dr. Fang, our CT machine is ready. Please come with me to the medical area for a CT scan.”

The tentacles immediately wrapped around their beloved, reluctant to let go.

Lu Jianchuan, now emboldened, said, “I’ll go with you.”

Yan Xin smiled. “Mr. Lu, weren’t you planning to lock yourself away to calm down?”

Lu Jianchuan paused.

Even though it was just a brain, the grooves seemed to shift, giving the impression of a radiant expression.

“I’ve calmed down,” Lu Jianchuan said. “I’m perfectly composed now. Zhouzhou, don’t you think so?”

Fang Xingzhou, always indulgent, held the tentacle and said, “Let him come, Dr. Yan.”

Yan Xin naturally wouldn’t refuse a trivial request from an A+ special entity.

He picked up the walkie-talkie, notifying all staff on the research floor to put on their protective goggles and informing them that “Mr. Jellyfish” was coming for an inspection. As expected, excited screams erupted over the headset.

He turned off the walkie-talkie and smiled. “Of course, please.”

The tentacles slithered forward, making a squelching sound against the floor. Fang Xingzhou walked side by side with his monstrous lover. “If the scan shows no issues, can I take Deer home?”

Yan Xin was stunned.

He glanced at the terrifying brain and said in disbelief, “You’re planning to take Mr. Lu home like this?”

“Yes, I know how to care for them,” Fang Xingzhou said. “The baby gets nervous here. It might feel better at home.”

Yan Xin slowly opened his mouth.

“But…”

Dozens of eyes on the brain turned to stare at Yan Xin.

Yan Xin felt the air around him tighten, his hair standing on end. He silently closed his mouth and nodded solemnly to Fang Xingzhou, forcing out two words. “Okay.”

He hopes the neighbors on Xiangxing Street can have a pleasant month…

Comment

  1. Tervas says:

    This chapter was really moving ngl

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