The octopus monster, having found its target, seemed to have found its happy home.
This was because the humans here appeared to be different from those it had encountered before.
While they looked slightly sturdier than the previous ones, they were far less terrifying than those whose eyes glinted with ferocity.
The reason was that the humans before it simply knelt on the ground begging for mercy. They seemed incapable of resistance and possessed no powerful offensive capabilities.
Even if they did resist, the octopus monster could easily crush them by merely wriggling its tentacles.
The pain of her body being torn apart caused the human's pupils to widen in disbelief.
Although the octopus monster did not understand human emotions, it observed that the human before it was clearly sturdier than the one beside them.
Yet, he pulled the long-haired human next to him to block in front of himself. The octopus monster's tentacle then pierced through the woman's chest.
Savoring the taste of blood, it contentedly stretched its tentacles. It was perplexed by this act of using someone else as a "shield."
Therefore, it extended its tentacles again, dragging back the man who had already fled, his eyes filled with despair.
Watching the human's ineffectual screams and terrified struggles, the octopus monster felt something akin to joy for the first time.
Ever since acquiring that mystical little mushroom, the octopus monster felt it was different from other octopuses.
It seemed to have gradually developed its own consciousness.
When it was caught by humans once more, it began to wonder why humans would come to their home every few days to catch them.
Why couldn't they come ashore?
Thinking this, the octopus monster grew more excited.
Waving its tentacles, it continuously impaled the panicked and scurrying humans onto its appendages, much like stringing skewers of meat.
When Xu An arrived, she witnessed a scene of pure hell.
"Holy cow, what is that monster?"
Qin Chuan's voice echoed eerily from behind the two of them, "That's the octopus monster that's been chasing us."
The octopus's act of tearing into the fishing village had not ceased. It fed the humans into its maw as if savoring the world's delicacies.
It was coarsely chewing on the humans before it.
The three of them dared not look at the scene any longer.
Not far away, a little boy wailed loudly, but everyone was struggling to survive; no one could save him.
Zhou Haimei looked at the boy's terrified and desperate face, finding it suddenly familiar. Her fingers unconsciously tightened.
Xu An looked at Zhou Haimei's paling fingertips, puzzled. "Mei Jie, what's wrong?"
Zhou Haimei's voice was somewhat tense, her words trembling slightly.
"That child, that child..."
Xu An followed Zhou Haimei's gaze, looking confused. "What's wrong with that child?"
She thought Zhou Haimei was unwilling to watch and wanted to save the child, but the child was too close to the octopus monster.
Even if they wanted to save him now, it was clearly too late.
"No, that child, remember when we were at that woman's house? That woman's child, it's this little boy, he..."
In the moment they were speaking, the child's life also came to an end.
Like a budding flower about to bloom, its life reached its conclusion before it could unfurl.
A regrettable end.
It was then that Xu An understood the reason for Zhou Haimei's shock.
Nothing was more impactful than witnessing a familiar, tender life extinguished to confront the reality of death.
Just as the octopus monster was about to toss the boy into its maw,
Qin Chuan seized the opportunity and fired a shot at the monster.
The sudden intrusion of an foreign object caused the octopus monster's movement to falter. The body of the boy, entangled in its tentacle, was carelessly dropped to the ground.
It shifted its massive body, its tentacles wriggling ceaselessly, as if searching for the source of the attack.
The octopus monster, seemingly enraged, flung the corpses on its tentacles in all directions.
The crowd panicked and scattered, fleeing in terror from the monster before them.
In this moment, they no longer possessed their former sense of superiority.
The men, too, no longer held their condescending advantage over women.
They didn't even dare to show their faces, pushing the women they had always looked down upon, disliked, and beaten forward to shield themselves from the monster's attacks.
The moment Xu An saw Qin Chuan act, she began to provide cover for him.
When she had first found Qin Chuan, she had noticed traces on his body that looked like they had been stained by some corrosive fluid.
Comparing it now, Qin Chuan's injuries were indeed caused by the octopus monster before them.
It was just that, for some reason, the monster was still only using physical attacks and had not employed the venomous ink that Qin Chuan had mentioned.
As Xu An was about to turn back to check on the other two,
In a flash, her body was violently yanked.
Before Xu An could even react, her entire body was pulled into Qin Chuan's embrace.
"Careful!"
"Be careful!"
As Xu An stood there in stunned silence, she heard two soft shouts. As the shouts subsided,
"Bang—"
A violent shattering sound, as if something had smashed through reef rock, echoed in Xu An's ears.
The instant Xu An fell into Qin Chuan's arms, she looked back at where she had been standing. Her location had, at some point, been smashed by the octopus monster's tentacles.
If not for Qin Chuan's pull just then, Xu An would have already been crushed into a pulp.
Zhou Haimei's face was pale with lingering terror, and Xu An, drenched in cold sweat, leaned weakly into Qin Chuan's embrace.
In that fleeting moment, she felt as if she had returned to that instant on the brink of life and death.
It was as if she had taken a trip to the gates of hell and returned.
Only after Qin Chuan, carrying her, moved them to a safer spot did he put her down, his arm still around Xu An's waist.
He frowned, his expression betraying his hidden worry. "Are you alright? Are you injured anywhere?"
Seeing that Xu An remained silent, Qin Chuan assumed she was stunned by fear. He reached out to touch her forehead.
However, the arm that was tightly holding Xu An's waist did not loosen.
Through the thick fabric of the cold-weather suit, Xu An could feel the warmth emanating from her lower back.
She blinked for a moment, then pushed away Qin Chuan's hand, and simultaneously swatted away the arm he had raised.
She said softly, "I'm fine."
However, her slightly flushed cheeks revealed Xu An's current hidden feelings.
Since her rebirth, this was the first time Xu An had experienced such close physical contact with a man.
Including her past life, Xu An had only dated one boyfriend.
Yet, Qin Chuan's embrace had securely caught her, providing her with a rare sense of security.
Qin Chuan looked down at his hand that had been pushed away, then looked back at Xu An, a trace of confusion in his eyes.