Jason stood aghast at the sight of a two-meter-long tentacle that was glowing with a faint red amidst the dark. It was covered with inverted thorns, as thick as two fingers, and was reaching out from the backpack where it wrapped itself around a thin man. The head of the tentacle was hidden within the bag, so no one could tell what could be found on the other end. The other end was deeply pierced into the chest of a thin man, where it was sucking and swallowing. The front end of the tentacle pulsated very rhythmically in one circle. Then, it disappeared into the other end of the tentacle very quickly. The man’s face was filled with agony. Every time the tentacle sucked and swallowed, he would let out a miserable cry. But even worse, following the sucking and swallowing of this tentacle, at the root end of this tentacle, there would be another, brand-new, chopstick-thin tentacle staggering out of the opening of the bag. It was as if the tentacle was waving to greet Jason, as though it was saying hello to him. But at the moment, Jason could only feel shock in his heart. He did not feel that the newly emerged tentacle merely wanted to say a simple hello to him. Even though he kept telling himself that he had to stay calm, Jason’s body still trembled slightly. After coming to Sleepless City in such an ineffable way, Jason firmly believed in the existence of the mysterious side. And he had tried to find ways to return home but were all to no avail. He told himself that he was just not in luck, or that he had not found the right direction, and told himself that there was no need to feel discouraged. But when the true mystery appeared so unexpectedly and suddenly, he found it somewhat difficult to accept for the moment. With an agonized cry, Jason flipped and fell to the ground. And that charred tentacle that had lost a huge part of its body in those flames was squirming and wriggling about. It was trying to completely penetrate Jason’s left arm while sucking and feeding on fresh blood and flesh in big mouthfuls. Jason finally understood why that man had to cry out so miserably earlier on. Because every mouthful it took would give rise to such excruciating pain. Jason lifted his right hand, which was perfectly fine, to grab the exposed part of the tentacle. Then he tried to yank it out. But it was completely useless! That charred tentacle seemed to have become one with his left arm. When he yanked and pulled, the pain was not only intensified, he even felt a sense of weakness hitting his nerves like tidal waves. Jason clearly knew that if this went on, he would soon die of excessive blood loss. He did not want to die yet! Everyone was afraid of death. And Jason was, all the more, no exception. So, Jason chose the most powerful weapon he had on his body at that moment… his teeth! He opened his mouth wide, flashed his mouth of strong teeth, and bit hard into the end of that tentacle. It was out of Jason’s expectations to realize that the tentacle that felt so solid and hard to the touch was, on the contrary, extremely soft under his teeth. It felt just like biting into a piece of ham sausage, and the taste was not that bad. The juice had a slight hint of freshness, which was a bit similar to that of roasted sea cucumber. Jason swore he had never eaten anything that tasted so good! Whether it was in his hometown where he was warm and fed with nothing to worry about, or in the Sleepless City. Such a delectable taste was simply unprecedented! Such an ugly monster… How could it taste so delicious? The pain was still there! But death was long gone! He looked at the back of the figure that was dragging him without any struggle. He maintained the same posture as before and allowed the other party to drag him. Then, slowly, he pulled the pistol that he had tucked into the back of his waist earlier on. As carefully as possible, he did not make a single sound. Then, switching off the safety mode of the gun, he took aim at the other party and pulled the trigger.
