Yin Xiu stroked the tentacles. "When have I ever disliked you?"
The monster stammered, then used its enormous tentacles to hook Yin Xiu toward the sea.
A sticky crawling sound came from beside him, and with a huge noise, the crickets went into the sea. With the splashing of water, the darkness in Yin Xiu's eyes instantly changed, day and night intertwined, and it became daytime.
The sudden burst of blinding light made it hard for him to open his eyes. He subconsciously squinted for a moment before slowly looking around.
The actual seaside village was even more dilapidated than Yin Xiu had imagined. Countless years had passed, the wooden houses were completely rotten and broken, and many things had perished in the torrent of time.
This is the real sea village abandoned by monsters, where only the monster Li Mo lives and accompanies these decaying things.
Yin Xiu turned his head to look at the sea and saw half of a huge head emerging from the shimmering surface.
It has hair, but it is made up of long, twisted tentacles. It has eyes, though a little too many. Compared to the image in Yin Xiu's memory, this appearance is very close to human form. Its dark skin reflects light in the sunlight, and apart from its eyes, it is difficult to recognize its other facial features.
But it tried its best to piece itself together into a human shape using everything on its body. Although it was far from being a real human and was even more terrifying, Yin Xiu didn't care.
"Does it... look a little more human?" came the monster's questioning voice from the seawater, cautiously, afraid of frightening Yin Xiu and losing the only person who would want to come here to see him.
"It looks quite similar." Yin Xiu nodded, then pointed to the open space beside him. "Come on up."
The monster hesitated for a moment, then slowly floated its body and crawled onto the beach.
Its upper body still managed to maintain a human-like outline, but its lower body was completely monstrous. Countless long, black tentacles replaced its legs, crawling and surging stickily on the sand, leaving behind black liquid.
The waves that surged up as soon as Yin Xiu stepped ashore were overwhelming, crashing against the shore. Compared to the enormous monster, Yin Xiu's figure appeared so small.
When the humanoid Li Mo was in front of him, he didn't clearly feel the difference in their races until this not-so-complete non-human body obediently lay down beside him. Only then did Yin Xiu realize that the monster's body was really big, and a single tentacle could easily kill him.
But once the monster came ashore, it didn't dare to move much. Pairs of eyes were fixed on Yin Xiu. With such a large body and so many eyes, the focus of its gaze was on Yin Xiu, who looked incredibly small in front of it, like a grain of sand.
"You've really changed a lot." Yin Xiu looked up at the monster lying motionless beside him, and at the huge tentacles that stretched out and encircled him. He suddenly realized that having a human form would indeed be more convenient; he couldn't take such a huge creature with him to see many things.
"You've changed a little too." The monster touched Yin Xiu with its tentacles, the heavy, cold tentacles brushing against him, causing Yin Xiu to stumble and fall to the ground.
"Are you alright?" The monster quickly used its tentacles to lift Yin Xiu up and held him up to its enormous eyes for a closer look.
Yin Xiu was like a delicate doll in front of it, and if it wasn't careful, a part would be missing. It would be extremely nervous and would start to worry if it was touched, but it also liked to touch it.
"I'm fine." Yin Xiu hugged the huge tentacle in front of him and patted it gently.
The monster immediately began to writhe, its flamboyant tentacles barely concealing its emotions.
"I can receive the memories transmitted from the outside world. I tried very hard to find you." The monster's tentacles tightened unconsciously around Yin Xiu, encircling him. "I am now Yin Xiu's family. We can always be together."
"I'm still not used to you calling me boyfriend anymore."
The monster stared at him with bright, sparkling eyes and let out a loud howl, "I like boyfriends!"
It was delighted to touch Yin Xiu again with its tentacles, lovingly touching him here and there, marveling at the subtle changes brought about by the small human body.
Yin Xiu noticed that it liked to touch him, so he sat back in the pile of tentacles without moving, letting the monster touch him in a sticky way.
Although they could no longer sleep in the same coffin, the monster still liked to stick close to him.
Their brief reunion made them forget everything outside, their hearts and eyes filled only with each other.
On this desolate coastline, the enormous monster and the tiny figure seem to have vanished, as if all the dungeons, monsters, and everything else has disappeared, leaving only the coastline to accompany them on the horizon.
Yin Xiu told it why he had come here and about the situation outside.
The monster froze after hearing this.
Its eyes went from joy at hearing Yin Xiu's description to a slow, dejected droop, and even the tentacles that had been curling around Yin Xiu stopped moving.
"What's wrong?" Yin Xiu stared at the monster in front of him, who made no attempt to hide his emotions.
"You'll turn into a monster because of me..."
It murmured to itself, then carefully placed Yin Xiu on the ground before quickly crawling towards the sea.
"Now that you've become my follower, you can't come near me... otherwise you'll soon turn into a monster..."
It still remembers that Yin Xiu did not want to become a monster, and it is still upholding Yin Xiu's wish.
Yin Xiu immediately reached out and grabbed its tail whiskers, which had not yet fully submerged in the seawater, and pulled it, saying, "I don't care anymore. Before, it was because I wanted to spend the rest of my life with my sister that I couldn't become a monster. Now I have no reason not to become a monster."
"That won't do either." The monster seriously pulled the tentacle back from Yin Xiu's hand and buried itself completely in the seawater. "You can't become a monster. Everyone hates becoming a monster, hates becoming a monster, and hates me for turning them into monsters."
"I don't want Yin Xiu to become a monster, and I don't want Yin Xiu to hate me..."
No one understood better than it the long and lonely life that comes with becoming a monster, and the fate of being rejected. It hated its current situation, and therefore did not want Yin Xiu to become a monster.
"I'm fine, I don't mind becoming a monster."
"No." The monster buried itself deep in the sea, resolutely rejecting the idea, and didn't even want to surface to see Yin Xiu, fearing that seeing him again would worsen his transformation.
The heartwarming reunion was over in an instant, leaving Yin Xiu alone on the shore, facing the surging waves.
He gazed at the sea. "But if I don't become a monster, what will happen to you after I die? Will you have to stay here alone until you die?"
The monster did not respond.
Yin Xiu slumped his shoulders slightly. "Or... do you want to stay here and wait for the next person to accept you?"