Chapter 426 How do you know that he is a gourmet? Is it through his cooking? Or is it through his food?
INSIDE A HIDDEN ALLEY.
Three figures could be seen crouching at the end of this alley, with their bodies pressed near to ta nearby wall. All three of them were holding their own respective weapons, with their bodies showing signs of slight tension.
They were mostly quiet as they stayed on their positions, although two of them were not able to stay slient.
"Tong"er, how long would it still take for your power to work?" One of the figures asked.
"Sis, I am not sure. Something… just intercept my ghosts again. I am not sure on what to do against it." The second figure replied as she averted her small body away from the first figure. "Sis, as long as I do not know who is making these moves on me, I think I will be stuck here…"
"...This is the fourth time that this happened today. Are you sure that we are still safe?"
"Yes, Big Sis. I can"t sense anything malicious observing us. I can just feel… that someone does not want us to reach that place."
"Tsk, I do not know if I should be happy from that, Tong"er."
"Big Sis, you don"t need to feel happy from this. Do you know what I am feeling now? I am p.i.s.sed! I am so f*-"
"Oi Tong"er, language. You"re still a kid, so no bad words."
"What? But I"m almost an adult already!"
"So you"re telling me that 13 years old is an "adult age"? Tong"er, even if you are a good person, you must know that lying is not good."
"But Big Sis! In my world, reaching 13 years old is a sign of adulthood!"
"Who cares about that. In my eyes, you are still just a kid, Tong"er. So quit acting like a rowdy adult and just focus on your task."
"….Big Sis, so this is why you were dumped by that guy from the last world. You are just too naggy, even for him."
"W-what? Why did this conversation go that way! Tong"er, you… you are not allowed to speak of that!"
"Blegh!"
"Hah? Did you just-"
These two figures could have continued their argument, but a sudden change roused them from their current disagreement.
"Someone"s coming, and it"s approaching fast." The first figure declared in a soft tone as she quickly stood up from her place.
A spear then materialized on this person"s hand, which she quickly pointed at the direction that she was looking at earlier.
She a.s.sumed a lofty stance as she kept on standing still, as if she will not move away from her location at all.
The second and third figure did nothing to a.s.sist the first figure, as these two quickly hid behind the nearby wall. They stayed on that place with a vigilant expression on their faces, with their eyes staring unblinkingly at the first figure herself.
"You don"t need to approach me in that kind of suspicious fas.h.i.+on. I can sense you already. So if I were you, I will just reveal myself." The first figure said as her spear let out a low hum. "If you don"t heed my advice, then you will have to get some lessons from my spear…"
Whoever the first figure was talking to did not give any reply, which made the first figure grit her teeth in irritation.
"I don"t know who you are, but you should know that offending me, the great SpearMaster Delia, is something that you should not do." The first figure, who revealed herself to be Traveler Delia, said as she began feeding power on her spear. "Everyone who makes light of me always meet their untimely end, so I advice you to be careful on your actions…"
"Yes, that"s right! Don"t try to make these unfunny jokes already! Just show yourself and face us!" The second figure, who was no other than the Spiritualist Tong"er, shouted out as she brandished her talismans. She appeared to be more p.i.s.sed at the person that was approaching them, which was exemplified by the raging look on her face.
"You… you must be the one who"s been interfering with my ghosts since earlier. You little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, why are you doing these cowardly things? Do you really just want to be beeten up by us?" Tong"er continued to say as she clenched her teeth. "Hmph, now that you have shown yourself, there"s no way that we will just let you off. You made a move against my ghosts, so I will also make a move against you!"
"…"
"If you don"t want to make this any harder for you, you should just show yourself already." Tong"er said with finality as she began to ignite some of her talismans. "If you do that, then we could be more lenient to you…"
"…"
"Hohoho, I thought that you two were just brutes, but you can actually state a good threat. Mhm… this is nice…" Out of nowhere, a shrill, high-pitched voice sounded out throughout the whole area, which pierced straight towards Delia and her allies.
This voice was filled with a playful tone, which in normal circ.u.mstances, can be just considered as normal. But the way that this playful tone was used made it appear malicious, something that did not sit well for the spear master and the spiritualist.
"So you can talk. Now do what I said and reveal yourself already." Delia said as she tried to not be overwhelmed by shrill voice that she just heard. "You don"t want me piercing you on your hiding place…"
"Aww… is that how you treat a guest like me? How rude…" The shrill voice said as the shadows around Delia began to roil. "But ok… since you made me laugh, I think I can entertain your request."
"Slish…"
The shadows continued to move after this declaration, which forced Delia and her allies to move back vigilantly.
Fortunately, none of these shadows made a move against Delia.
Instead, these shadows began to coalesce together, creating a 3-dimensional body right in front of the trio.
These shadows, which should have been existing only on the 2d s.p.a.ce, were ignoring the laws of physics as they continued to create a physical object.
This interesting and somewhat intriguing process went on for a few more seconds before a finished product appeared on Delia"s eyes.
"…"
The shadows in the alley were all long gone now, as they were replaced by a long, slender, humanoid creature, which towered over the trio.
This creature, whose body was made up of wriggling shadow tentacles, gave a lopsided smile at Delia and her allies. Its face appeared to be distinctly human-like, although its extremely generic facial features made the creature look like a "monster pretending to be a human".
"Suck suck suck…"
A ma.s.sive plunger could be seen hanging from this creature"s neck, which was constantly producing a sucking noise that grated on Delia"s ears.
This plunger appeared to have no relations.h.i.+p with this creature at all, although Delia and her allies could not help but feel apprehension from it.
All in all, this humanoid creature and its plunger were able to unsettle the trio, and they were currently stuck in an indecisive state, as they found themselves unable to make sense of what they were seeing right now.
"Ah…. It"s really nice to use a body from time to time. It allows me to stretch my old bones more. Hehehe, do you think I should do this more often? Maybe my wife will allow it." The humanoid creature said as his shadow tentacles wiggled. "Oh right, I already ate my latest wife. Hahaha, my bad…"
"…"
"Hm? Why are you not laughing? I just made a joke, so you should be laughing your hearts out already…" The humanoid figure commented as it saw the tense silence from Delia and her allies. "Hm, maybe this is not enough. Maybe I should eat more of my wives…"
"You... what the h.e.l.l are you?" Delia croaked out in a hoa.r.s.e tone. Her previously confident expression from earlier was now replaced by tension, as her body a.s.sumed a fighting stance. She appeared to be extremely wary of the humanoid creature, which was just exemplified when a corpse suddenly fell out behind the creature.
"!!!"
The corpse, which appeared to be that of a woman, judging from the long strands of hair that remained stuck on its head, was already in an unrecognizable state. Its skin and muscles were already molten beyond recognition, and only the bones and pieces of other organs remained, although these parts were already showing some signs of melting too.
A faint gagging sound could be heard coming from Tong"er when this corpse appeared, which seemed to have pleased the humanoid creature.
A small smile could be seen on the creature"s face as it slowly prodded the corpse, which just made Tong"er look more and more sick.
"Oops, sorry about this. It seems like I still have not digested my wife more. Please pardon me for that." The creature nonchalantly said as 10 tentacles shout out from the inside of its mouth. "I really have bad eating manners…"
These tentacles then wrapped themselves around the corpse, before pulling the whole corpse right into the creature"s mouth.
"Gulp."
The corpse appeared to be nothing but just a small snack, as the creature was able to easily swallow it whole.
The entirety of the corpse just disappeared like that, making it appear as if it did not exist at all.
The only evidence that it existed were the munching sounds from the creature itself, who seemed to be enjoying the corpse that it just ate.
"Nom nom nom. Eating my wife for a second time is actually good huh. Maybe I should try it next time." The humanoid creature muttered to itself as it gave Delia an interested look. "What do you think about it, Miss Delia? should I eat my wives twice? Do you think that will make them taste good?"
"…"
"Well whatever. Since you want me to know why I am here, then I shall tell the answer to you." Seeing that Delia was petrified by his sudden appearance, the humanoid creature let out a low chuckle as he slowly approached her.
New shadows sprung out of the creature"s body as it glided across the ground, with these shadows tearing pieces off the objects that got near them.
All of these pieces were eventually swallowed by the creature too, which made it appear more unfathomable.
"Miss Delia, I know that you have been snooping on this place for the past 2 weeks already. I know everything that you are doing here, including all the weapons that you are tring to smuggle in this place." The humanoid creature said with relish as its shadow tentacles began to enlarge.
Its voice was still as shrill as ever as it continued talking, with some hints of s.a.d.i.s.tic pleasure now mixed with it.
"You must be planning to stop my Master"s ritual. I know that that"s the only reason that you are here…." The humanoid creature murmured as its tentacles started to sway themselves in a rhythmic motion. "If it were before, I would be happy on letting you stay in this place. I am just too lazy to deal with you. But Master ordered me to kill you, so here I am, ready to execute you."
"!!!"
"Hohoho, now that"s the expression that I want to see. You want to fight for your life? Then come and fight dearly for it!" Upon seeing the expression of anger on Delia"s face, the humanoid creature began to roar in laughter as it gave Delia a hungry gaze.
Saliva began to leak on the creature"s chin as it licked its lips, which just made Delia angrier.
"Hooo… I wonder how you would taste once I eat your corpse. Would you taste better than my wives? I dearly hope so!"