Forced to Act out a Strange Script with a Rival - Chapter 73

Li Ting held her breath, fully focused on the sensations occurring at her shoulder.

The irritating, burning sting—like the searing of flames—and the heavy, swollen ache were retreating at an astonishing speed, a pace she could almost physically track. It was as if an invisible yet incredibly gentle force was smoothing over the trauma with precision and efficiency, neutralizing the inflammation and damage that had caused her so much pain.

In its place came an indescribable, refreshing coolness. It seeped thread by thread into the depths of her flesh, bringing with it a faint itch—like a new sprout pushing through the soil—a signal that new tissue was growing at a frantic rate.

This feeling… this familiar yet foreign sensation…

Fragments of ambiguous, heart-pounding memories flooded her mind: that night spent tightly entwined by tentacles, where the slimy, cold touch melded with a strange warmth. Her body had been occupied by waves of heat and moisture, and beneath those seemingly sacrilegious touches, there appeared to be a similar mysterious power capable of numbing pain and repairing damage—just like this moment.

“Si Xiaoxiao? You…” Li Ting’s voice was laced with uncertainty and a tremor she hadn’t noticed. She adjusted her posture with the minute care one might give a fragile treasure, terrified of disturbing the miracle unfolding on her shoulder.

That layer of “octopus pancake” seemed to be continuously secreting a substance with extremely high biological activity. Li Ting could “hear” a faint sizzling sound, as if an efficient repair process was occurring violently on a microscopic level. The coolness wasn’t static; it felt alive, tracing the contours of the wound and focusing its attention on the areas of most severe damage.

After about ten minutes, the strange, proactive coolness began to fade, taking with it the pain that had been Li Ting’s constant companion.

Subsequently, the little octopus poked its head out. As if seeking credit, it waved its tentacles and let out a cute cry: “Ji!”

It seemed to be saying proudly, “See? Am I not amazing?”

However, after the treatment, the already small octopus seemed to have shrunk by another size. Her body had become nearly transparent, the pinkish-purple hue almost entirely drained away, leaving a fatigued, grayish-white color. She slumped softly against Li Ting’s shoulder, seemingly losing even the strength to suction herself in place. Her large eyes blinked slowly, and even those usually spirited tentacles now hung limp and powerless.

“Are… are you okay?” Li Ting asked carefully. Her normally calm voice was taut with tension, her body stiffening and her fingertips turning cold with worry.

The old Si Xiaoxiao had been exactly like this—willing to pay the price of her own injury just to ensure Li Ting wasn’t hurt. That was Xiaoxiao’s most sincere, most passionate favoritism. It was also the unique devotion that Li Ting had once lost.

In fact, from the first moment they met, when Si Xiaoxiao was still just a kid, she had shown an immense liking for Li Ting. According to Xiaoxiao herself, she had always wanted a gentle, beautiful, and kind “princess-like” older sister, and Li Ting’s appearance perfectly matched all her fantasies.

Back then, Director Yan liked to edit the script while filming. She believed the script was the soul of a work, so the story wasn’t truly polished until the final wrap. Because Tongque Wujian was an ensemble drama, there was no single protagonist at the start. Director Yan selected the roles first, found a group of new actors, and then gathered them for closed-door training to observe their most authentic chemical reactions.

That period of closed training mirrored the emotional dependence of the two sisters in the diary who relied on each other for survival. It successfully caused Si Xiaoxiao to view Li Ting through a “filter” thicker than a city wall—to the point of recklessness.

Such scorching affection had instinctively made Li Ting feel afraid.

Li Ting reached out her other hand, stroking the dimmed little body with extreme gentleness and gratitude. Sensing the change in her emotions, the listless octopus lifted a tentacle, softly touching her finger and letting out a weak “Ji,” as if responding, “Don’t mention it.”

Carefully, Li Ting cradled the octopus and returned her to the small water tank. Upon hitting the water, Si Xiaoxiao became noticeably more cheerful, but she remained spiritless, sinking softly to the bottom of the tank, her color still dull.

Li Ting felt a pang of heartache, but even more so, a sense of helplessness. Helplessness in the face of the unknown. She thought for a moment and decided to risk going out. If a human wanted to regain vitality, the only path was nourishment. As a living creature, an octopus surely needed to eat something to recover energy. This small shack was near the sea; perhaps she could find some shellfish or small shrimp.

“Stay here and be good. Don’t make a sound. I’m going out to find you something to eat and I’ll be back soon, okay?” Li Ting instructed the little octopus in the tank, regardless of whether it could understand.

The octopus’s large eyes watched her, appearing uneasy. One tentacle rose as if trying to stop her from leaving.

“I’ll be back very soon,” Li Ting promised.

However, the octopus’s reaction exceeded her expectations. Squeezing out a final ounce of strength from nowhere, she suddenly lunged halfway out of the water and clumsily but resolutely flopped over the edge of the tank. With a “plop,” she landed on the table, her body twitching slightly from exhaustion. Then, she struggled to crawl toward Li Ting, pointing a tentacle at the door and letting out urgent, faint chirps.

She wouldn’t stay behind alone! She wanted to go with her! She was worried about her!

“Human! Mine! Human! Together!” she shouted in her mind, trying to weave the right words to keep the person in front of her from leaving, yet she couldn’t utter a single complete sentence.

Seeing her desperate, clumsy, and incredibly stubborn effort, Li Ting’s heart melted completely. The hesitation born of danger was instantly shattered. She finally leaned over, cradling the soft, wet little thing in her palm with extreme gentleness. She sighed, her tone a mix of helplessness and unwavering indulgence: “Alright… we’ll go together.”

In this world, her combat power was essentially zero. Now that Si Xiaoxiao was in this state, a “weak” and a “cripple” sticking together might actually yield a better survival rate.

The heavy rain continued to fall relentlessly. The sky was pitch black, as if the entire island were about to be submerged. She looked toward the heart of the island. In that direction stood the pointed-roof house she had seen when she first arrived in this script world—the very place where Si Xiaoxiao’s body was kept, the site of the original sacrifice!

What is happening… Li Ting felt her heart stop. A dark premonition rose in her soul.

In her previous communication with Lin Xiu, Lin Xiu had briefly mentioned that the island’s church was specifically used for sacrifices and would only appear on the day a sacrifice was initiated. Does its appearance now mean… a sacrifice is about to happen?

Who is being sacrificed? The girl locked in the basement? Is the Evil God aware that people are coming to the island and planning a final counterattack?

Li Ting made an immediate decision. She had to go to the church and interrupt the sacrifice!!

However, she was currently out of cards. Xiaoxiao had turned into a tiny octopus, the police couldn’t reach the island due to the storm, and the villagers were all under control. She could barely manage her own survival, let alone save others…

But… if she didn’t save them, even if this world was a fiction, Li Ting wouldn’t be able to live with herself.

Think… is there any way to turn this around? To face overwhelming physical force, one needs an even greater force to suppress the opponent. In other words, it all depended on Si Xiaoxiao.

Even though Xiaoxiao held a “unconscious/lack of self-awareness” script in this world, she was undeniably the most important factor. Before Xiaoxiao lost consciousness, her last hint was to act “like in the previous scripts.”

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Li Ting’s mind. Perhaps she was overthinking and making things too complicated. Although every world had various elements, in any world, the number one priority for the system was always…

Girls being intimate. After all, the system had a setting for collecting “intimacy energy.” There was no reason why intimacy couldn’t create world peace.

Now that Xiaoxiao had turned into an octopus, it shouldn’t matter much… right?

So, she gathered her courage and asked: “Xiaoxiao, may I… kiss you?”

The little octopus on her shoulder seemed somewhat puzzled. It tilted its head, looking at Li Ting innocently, and called out: “Human?”

Ever since the urgency of leaving the house, the octopus had stopped chirping “Ji ji” randomly and started uttering single words.

I can’t get any information out of this… has she still not recovered?

Li Ting took a deep breath and finally made up her mind. She cradled the little octopus, carefully lowered her head, and with a posture bordering on the sacred, pressed her warm, soft lips against the little octopus’s cold, smooth, slightly pulsating… round, big forehead.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment; the world seemed to contain only the two of them.

A few seconds later—

Li Ting clearly felt the cold texture beneath her lips grow… a little warmer?

She jerked her head back and watched intently. She saw the octopus’s body, which had turned grayish-white from energy depletion, begin to regain a faint pink flush visible to the naked eye.

Then, a brilliant light erupted. A strange white glow enveloped the little octopus.

And then, the miracle happened…

The rain stopped.

And the world began to shatter, falling apart into fragments…

Support