After Entering a Romance Reality Show Disguised as a Man to Win Over All the Female Leads - Chapter 10

[I… did I hear that wrong? I must be hallucinating…]

[Why do I feel like the screen is… shaking?]

[Um, it’s not your problem. I think the cameraman is shaking.]

The corner of Rong Yu’s mouth twitched. She reminded her in a low voice, “We’re still livestreaming.”

As if finally realizing that she had misspoken, He Huaiting gave an “oh.” There was not the slightest regret on her face.

“I was just joking.”

Rong Yu: “.”

Comments:

[That expression of yours doesn’t look like you’re joking at all.]

[…!??]

[That joke isn’t funny at all, hello!!!]

They were currently in the mountains and forest. Cold wind kept blowing from the surface of the lake. The breeze brushed through He Huaiting’s pure white, long straight hair, as if awakening a sharp blade of light.

The cameraman was so frightened he could not help trembling.

Rong Yu touched her nose and changed the subject. “Then let’s eat seafood. Let’s see if there are any other ingredients. Only making grilled fish would be too monotonous.”

Rong Yu thought for a moment. “There are four of us eating, so let’s try to get something bigger.”

He Huaiting nodded and looked around. Then she turned and walked toward a huge rock by the lake in the distance.

The rock was even taller than He Huaiting. Once she walked over and circled behind it, her figure was completely hidden.

Rong Yu was afraid she might be filmed revealing something that should not be shown, so she did not follow. As for the cameraman, he had already been scared half to death by what He Huaiting said and dared even less to follow. He kept filming Rong Yu instead.

Rong Yu peacefully squatted down by the lake, pushed aside small stones, and searched for crabs underwater. She actually found several dozen of them and picked them all up, placing them into a cage, planning to fry them later.

Along the way, she also dug out seventeen or eighteen small fry from the muddy shallows by the lake. They could just make a dish together with the crabs.

Then she separated the grass carp, crabs, and fry into different buckets and cages, worried that the crabs would pinch the fish to pieces.

Finally, she squatted by the lake and began washing her hands.

But as she washed, she suddenly smelled a strong scent of blood.

The smell was extremely fishy, carrying an intense rusty odor and the scent of sea salt. It filled the air and continuously blew into her nose with the breeze, making Rong Yu frown.

Only then did she notice that at some point, thick white mist had begun rising from the surface of the lake. Along with the spreading smell of blood, it soon spread from her ankles to cover her entire body.

Rong Yu and the cameraman nearby were only one meter apart, but when she turned, she could no longer see him.

The mountains, rivers, and lake around her had all disappeared. All she could see was chaotic white fog and the endless blue sky above.

The salty, bloody scent was already so strong it seemed to have become tangible. The heavy dampness condensed the white mist into water droplets, clinging to her body. Even her hair began dripping water.

In the next moment, she suddenly heard a thunderous roar. It sounded like dozens of elephants trumpeting at the same time, mixed with the song of the wind and indistinct murmuring cries.

The fierce wind whipped up the hem of her clothes. The smell of blood seemed to seep in from every direction, crawling up from beneath her feet to cover her whole body.

Waves of coldness climbed from the tops of her feet, spreading along her legs and up to her fingertips.

She was not afraid, but her body instinctively began to turn cold and numb, like the uncontrollable physical reaction of prey facing a predator.

When the white mist rose high enough to cover the horizon, she vaguely saw a towering monster shaped like an octopus, so huge it blotted out the sky, appearing and disappearing behind the white fog. Its deep black figure was hidden behind the mist, sometimes blurry, sometimes clear.

The monster suddenly began roaring toward the sky. Countless long, thick tentacles covered in suckers twisted and waved, its shrieks tearing through the heavens.

It seemed to stand up behind the white mist. Its body, which had already been so powerful it made one’s legs tremble, instantly expanded another twofold.

Only then did Rong Yu see that, not far in front of it, on the surface of the lake, someone slender and tall stood by the water with a backpack on her back and a sword in hand.

The surging waves struck against her legs. Her long white hair flew like a waterfall over her shoulders, and her golden pupils shone through the dense mist like the bright autumn sun.

He Huaiting raised her sword.

Or perhaps she did not merely raise her sword.

Clear white light shot from the blade, tearing through the fog and cleaving apart the blazing sun. She swung the sword.

Or perhaps she did not merely swing the sword.

Heaven and earth, darkness and light, interwove until there was no telling spring from autumn. The fleeting morning mushroom and the short-lived cicada seemed to tremble in terror together. Surging clouds and mist twisted around the sword edge and broke free from all restraints. Thousands of lights and shadows seemed to merge into the blade.

With a shrill cry, it sliced through that enormous shadow. The black octopus, as massive as an abyss, suddenly burst apart. A blood scent that covered the sky and earth swept across the lakeshore with damp water vapor, and the dying roar of the giant beast shook the ears.

Rong Yu was forced back by the powerful sound wave, unable to stop retreating. Yet she saw He Huaiting in the middle of the lake suddenly sheathe her long sword and turn to look over.

For a moment, the wind stopped and the clouds stilled. The turbulent lake surface calmed. From somewhere, birdsong suddenly arose, like splashing sparks scattering across the mountains and fields.

Rong Yu abruptly woke up.

The lake was still the lake. The mountains were still the mountains. Nothing had ever happened.

She was still holding three buckets and a cage, standing quietly by the shore.

Rong Yu turned back to look at the cameraman. The timid cameraman was still holding the camera and looked fairly calm, so he probably had not seen the scene she had just witnessed.

Then He Huaiting slowly walked out from behind the huge rock, holding in her hand…

No, dragging in her hand a section of octopus tentacle thicker than the thighs of three grown adults combined. Any random sucker on it was larger than Rong Yu’s face.

The cameraman’s face turned green with fright. “M-Miss He, y-y-you—”

The livestream room also erupted into a string of screams.

[Ahhhhh, what the hell is that?!]

[Holy crap, I’m shocked.]

[Impressive. This thing is bigger than my dad.]

Only when He Huaiting completely dragged the severed tentacle out from behind the huge rock did everyone clearly see the full tentacle, which was nearly one meter long.

The severed end of the tentacle was neat and tidy. No matter how one looked at it, it had been cut by a sword. It trembled every now and then, and semi-transparent milky-white mucus continued to seep out. At one glance, it was obvious it had just been freshly cut.

He Huaiting said coldly and seriously, “I saw this by accident.”

Cameraman: “……”

He glanced at the sword in He Huaiting’s hand that had not yet been put away.

I believe you. Whatever you say, I believe it.

The livestream viewers reacted almost the same way.

[Fine, fine, fine. Whatever you say is what happened.]

[I understand the logic, but put your sword away first. The camera is shaking so badly I can barely see.]

[Although, but this tentacle actually looks a little tasty. It’s huge.]

He Huaiting did not look at the cameraman. Her golden eyes stared fixedly at Rong Yu. She pressed her lips together and slowly walked closer while holding the tentacle in her arms.

“Will this do?”

The huge chunk of meat, which clearly did not look like an ordinary octopus tentacle, even twitched twice as she approached.

The cameraman beside them was so frightened he could not help taking two steps back and inhaling sharply.

Rong Yu did not retreat. Instead, she stepped forward and took the initiative to reach out and touch the tentacle in He Huaiting’s arms.

Her hands were long, slender, and fair. Against the dark brown severed limb of the huge tentacle, the contrast was especially strong, like a pearl resting on a rock, white enough to glow.

He Huaiting could not help placing her gaze on Rong Yu’s hand. Watching her pink fingertips slide over the tentacle’s black-brown suckers, which also carried a faint layer of crimson, she inexplicably swallowed and felt her throat tighten.

Rong Yu examined the tentacle for a long while, then seriously gave her evaluation. “Usually, something this big might not taste very good.”

Comments:

[??? Baby Yu, you can still eat that??]

[Pfft, Rong Yu, you really are immune to everything, hhhh.]

[It can’t be eaten, but not because it’s too scary to eat. Amazing.]

The cameraman beside them could not help cutting in. “It’s not just that it might not taste good. This is basically dark cuisine. It doesn’t look appetizing at all.”

He Huaiting lowered her head and looked at the tentacle in her hands that had not been accepted. Her heart, which had always been calm and unmoved, inexplicably felt a little uncomfortable.

She irritably furrowed her brows and turned, intending to throw away the thing in her hands.

Suddenly, a fair arm reached out beside her and grabbed her forearm.

“Wait.”

He Huaiting’s gaze followed that hand and lifted to look at its owner.

Rong Yu stared at the tentacle in her arms and pondered for two seconds. “Peel off its skin. Let me take another look.”

He Huaiting raised the long sword and sliced down the middle of the tentacle. The originally black-brown tentacle instantly split open from the center, revealing a pink seam and the white, semi-transparent flesh underneath.

Rong Yu reached out and touched the gap. Following the curled thin skin, she lifted a layer of membrane. Once the membrane was completely peeled away, the originally ferocious and disgusting dark outer skin immediately turned into a semi-transparent fleshy pink. It looked no different from the octopus usually eaten, and was even cleaner.

Rong Yu raised her brows and swallowed. “Mm, now it looks pretty good. Let’s take it back.”

He Huaiting stared at her. “You’re not afraid?”

Rong Yu tilted her head and smiled at her. “This is an ingredient personally chosen by Miss He. I’ll definitely put in the effort to turn it into delicious food. Why would I be afraid?”

Her blue eyes were like the Milky Way under moonlight.

He Huaiting’s tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and the corners of her mouth lifted into a very faint smile.

“Alright.”

If Mu Shuiqing’s beauty was delicate, ethereal, and slightly wooden, then He Huaiting was a cold and stunning great beauty. When she was silent, she seemed to reject people from a thousand miles away. But now, with one smile, she was beautiful like melting ice and snow.

Yet even when she smiled, she still looked as if she carried a mission on her back.

She was very much like Lian Langsheng during that period when her clan relatives took turns occupying her parents’ property, when family friends and uncles deceived her, and when she step by step took back her family business.

Rong Yu could not help thinking.

If Mu Shuiqing and the other three were all parts of Lian Langsheng’s consciousness body, could they also be divisions of her personality?

Mu Shuiqing represented Lian Langsheng’s childhood. Lin Mengxing symbolized another personality she had once hoped she would become. Then what did He Huaiting represent?

Did she represent the self that had no choice but to become stronger on the difficult road of growing up?

Rong Yu suppressed the ache in her heart and tried hard to find a topic, attempting to understand the person before her better.

“However, if you can tell me where exactly it came from, perhaps I can make it taste even better.”

As she spoke, she turned her back to the camera and moved closer to He Huaiting in front of her. Her fingertips, which had been resting on the tentacle, gradually moved down and inadvertently touched the back of He Huaiting’s hand.

He Huaiting was slightly taller than her. Rong Yu lifted her head to look at her, and the warm air of their breaths intertwined between them.

It was as if, with one lowered head, they could kiss fiercely.

This awareness made He Huaiting’s eyelashes tremble lightly. The arm holding the tentacle could not help tightening, but she did not move away from Rong Yu’s fingertips.

Author’s Note:

[The character design images for the four wives are out. Sss. I’ll reveal a tiny peek first, on Weibo.]