Tentlese and Succubus - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Feeling of Eloping with a Bodyguard

“Don’t… don’t come any closer…”

The girl retreated tremblingly, brandishing a small knife as thin as a slip of paper.

The God did not engage her, allowing the shadows to swallow her whole. The darkness flowed wantonly, crawling into the girl’s nostrils and mouth, invading her internal organs, and dragging her toward the depths of hell. Destruction was instantaneous; it required no lengthy preamble.

Clatter.

The knife slipped from the girl’s fingers.

“I saw it… I saw it, ahhhhh…”

The girl stared at a point in the void, weeping and laughing simultaneously. She collapsed into unconsciousness amidst a sudden onset of madness, rolling down the stairs step by step.

Anowei retracted her tentacles and unzipped the suitcase. The woman was curled inside, her skin exposed beyond her clothes covered in bruises and abrasions, her cheeks stained with mud. Facing this sight, even a deity felt a flicker of displeasure.

…Only the most despicable and stupid of fools would dare lay a finger on a God’s prey.

Anowei’s fingertip pressed against the woman’s cheek, wiping away the eyesore of a smudge. Her eyelashes fluttered several times, and Lin Yuanning opened her eyes. Seeing the person before her, she offered a weak smile, her voice gentle and hoarse.

“…You came to save me.”

Crash—

Another loud bang outside the window. Lightning fell into the woman’s eyes, only to melt into a few sparks of warm light. Anowei did not know how to react. No one had ever looked at her with such an expression.

She was not a kind and gentle God; aside from those fanatical believers who exchanged ambition for profit, she had never saved anyone. She should have interrogated her, tortured her, and used the most sinister and violent methods to pry the location of the Underworld Pact from her mouth.

But…

Never again would anyone look at her with such eyes, as if she were a heroic knight or a holy savior. How absurd.

After a hesitation longer than a lightning bolt, Anowei untied the ropes binding the woman. The ropes had been tied too tight, leaving red welts on the skin that made the woman look even more battered. It looked as though it would take a long time for them to fade.

Anowei felt she ought to say something, but she was not skilled at comforting. Her tone was stiff.

“…It’s over now.”

The woman sat on the floor, her breathing not yet steady. She tugged at the corner of Anowei’s clothes and lightly leaned her forehead against her shoulder. The God smelled the warm fragrance on the woman’s neck.

“Thank you, Anowei.”

The thanks were very soft, just enough to stir the air near the God’s ear like the vibration of a lute string.

“…Mm.”

Neither spoke again; the woman simply leaned against her, silent and docile. They remained like that until the wailing of sirens arrived, and someone took Lin Yuanning from her arms.

Anowei stood by the rust-spotted railing on the second floor, watching the police bustle back and forth, taking photos of the scene and filing records. Under the cover of darkness, Ouyang Qingxue quietly approached.

“Master, do you need me to do anything in the coming period? Given her current state, we should be able to take advantage of her vulnerability…”

Anowei looked out the window. Amidst the crowd, the pale woman was being assisted by a doctor toward the ambulance. Journalists, like hyenas smelling carrion, swarmed from nowhere, crowding outside the police line and flashing blinding lights.

The wind blew through a patch of tree shadows, blocking those annoying lenses.

“Go buy me a can of Coke,” the God said. “Iced. Full sugar.”

Ouyang Qingxue froze, then bowed submissively.

“Yes, Master.”

Lin Yuanning had been in the hospital for less than two days, and the corridor outside her ward was already piled with fresh flowers from fans and friends, their scent cloying and stifling.

When it was Group One’s turn for duty, Li Yuan dragged Anowei along, asking the same questions over and over. “That night, did you really see nothing? Absolutely nothing?”

“I saw nothing,” Anowei could only reiterate.

“That girl looked quite normal on the surveillance footage, but I heard from the police that she’s completely lost her mind and been sent to a psychiatric hospital. She keeps saying, ‘I saw it, I saw it…’ I wonder what on earth she saw in that house that night…”

Anowei abruptly changed the subject, pointing to a corner of the lobby. “Over there, someone is taking secret photos.”

“What?!” The over-enthusiastic colleague immediately leapt from her chair. “Stupid paparazzi, looking for death!”

In a single morning, the lady bodyguards chased away three paparazzi attempting to infiltrate the hospital, finally earning a moment of respite. Li Yuan went to the cafeteria to eat, but the God did not favor human food. Anowei sat alone in the corridor, her baseball cap pulled low, restricting her field of vision to a comfortable darkness.

…Even the God did not know why she was still here, conscientiously performing the duties of a bodyguard.

Someone shuffled over in slippers and stopped in front of her. The injuries on her legs had not yet fully healed, leaving faint scars.

“It’s too stuffy here. Take me out for a stroll,” the woman said.

“No.” Anowei did not look up. She had overheard some medical advice; the doctor had told this person not to go out and to rest in the hospital for a few days.

“It’s not like I’m not accompanied. I’ll buy you a Coke?” the woman softened her voice, sounding almost like she was acting spoiled.

“No.”

Her vision suddenly brightened; the woman had snatched Anowei’s hat.

“Anowei, let me tell you a secret.”

The woman’s tone instantly lost its warmth. Dressed in grey-and-white hospital scrubs, a cold sneer curled her lips. Her finger hooked under the bodyguard’s chin, looking down at her with pampered arrogance.

“—I am the boss. I call the shots. Now, right this second, take me out.”

The last person who dared to issue orders to the God in such a manner had long since seen their bones weathered into ash, scattered across some nameless plateau.

…But for now, the woman was, after all, her employer.

Anowei withdrew from the woman’s fingertip and leaned back against the chair, putting her hat back on.

“Go change your clothes,” she said.

Ten minutes later, the motorcycle drove out of the parking lot. The woman spoke behind her, her words scattered by the wind. “It feels like eloping with my bodyguard.”

“It better not be,” the God responded sincerely.

Amidst the roar of the engine, they left the city, following the winding road through the coastal mountains. The woman did not ask where she was going; she simply held her waist and sat quietly on the back seat, her skirt fluttering like dancing clouds. The sound of waves, seagulls, and the dappled light filtered through branches passed them by one by one.

At the end of the road was a fishing village. Neat, elegant dwellings surrounded a peaceful harbor. Fishing boats were scattered like stars, busy plying the sea.

“What a beautiful village!”

As soon as the motorcycle stopped, Lin Yuanning jumped off and ran toward the sea. Anowei followed behind her, using the shadows of trees to move a few obstructing stones out of her path while she wasn’t looking.

Time flowed peacefully and quietly here. Old people sat under eaves, brewing pots of mellow Partridge tea while watching the rising and falling tides. Children played and frolicked on the beach, their laughter clear as a song. This place was far from the flashbulbs and red carpets; there were no paparazzi and no cinemas. The woman could soak herself in the sea breeze and walk slowly along the coastline without worrying about being disturbed or harmed.

“You seem like such a homebody; how did you know about a place like this?” Lin Yuanning asked.

Anowei muddled through. “I just happened to know.”

The God knew many things because the God had existed for far too long. However, recently, there were one or two trivial human matters that the God had not yet figured out.

While passing the harbor, an older sister just stepping off a fishing boat called out to Lin Yuanning. “Little sister, could you help me out? The characters on my phone are too small, and the boat is rocking so much it makes my eyes hurt. Could you help me make them bigger?”

Lin Yuanning took the sister’s phone and tapped the screen a few times to adjust the font. The sister thanked her repeatedly and took a necklace made of shells from the boat. “I made this myself. Let me give it to you as a gift.”

“It’s such a small thing. I’m glad I could help. No need for a gift,” the woman gently declined.

“It’s just a small token. There’s nothing good on the boat, please don’t look down on it.”

The woman had no choice but to accept the sister’s gift. “Sister, what is this?” she asked.

The necklace had a pendant made of black stone, polished into a spiral shape. It was a small tentacle, crudely shaped.

“This symbol represents our coastal guardian deity, the Goddess of the Dark Sea,” the sister explained to her. “The Goddess of the Dark Sea is very efficacious. For hundreds of years, she has protected our fishermen, ensuring safe voyages and smooth sailing.”

…It wasn’t exactly “efficacious.” It was simply that the fishermen were devout enough and their offerings were sufficiently abundant.

After bidding farewell to the sister on the boat, Lin Yuanning handed the necklace to Anowei. “Help me put it on.”

Anowei moved behind the woman, brushed aside her hair, and fastened the clasp. The God’s fingertips brushed against the woman’s skin. The woman had developed a thin layer of sweat from the hot sun, and even the sweat diffused a lingering, romantic fragrance.

“Does it look good?”

Lin Yuanning turned around and looked at Anowei. Her smile dissolved into the sunlight, both charming and clear. The white shell fragments and the small, dark tentacle adorned her delicate collarbones.

“Mm,” the God acknowledged tersely.

But the woman’s brow furrowed slightly and her cheeks puffed out, dissatisfied with the answer. “No, let’s try that again. I asked if I look good, and you say it looks good.”

So, the woman asked again. “Anowei, do I look good?”

She was a liar, a thief, an enchantress who bewitched hearts. She looked into the God’s eyes coquettishly, innocently, and full of expectation. The God had to admit she was a beautiful woman.

Even though the God had seen too many beautiful things. Like the first flower to bloom in the barren wilderness after a million-year rainy season. Like the first flame lit by humans in the infinite darkness. Even though the God already knew that the most beautiful skin was nothing more than transient dust.

The wind blew between them, and the warm waves submerged the God’s ankles. Anowei turned her gaze away.

“You should go back.”

They walked through the village. The woman returned to the back seat and leaned into her ear. “I heard it. Your eyes said I look good.”

The air stagnated for a brief moment. The cicadas in the trees suddenly became very loud. The God perhaps should have said something, but her throat was blocked by the wind.

“…Sit still.”

She twisted the throttle, and the engine roared to life, carrying them toward the city. The woman hugged her waist tight, resting her chin in the hollow of her shoulder. The most solid darkness on this planet seemed to be faintly beginning to loosen. Having experienced eras longer than all recorded history, until this moment, the human body temperature made the God feel warm for the first time.

On the day Lin Yuanning was discharged, Ouyang Qingxue came to see Anowei and gave her a dark red paper box. “Yuanning sent this to you.”

“Your favorability is climbing way too fast!” Li Yuan protested. “I’ve worked here for so many years and the boss has never sent me a gift!”

“Mm.” Anowei accepted it calmly and tucked it into her pocket.

Back in her room that night, Anowei opened the gift. The paper box contained a milky white candle. Once lit with fire, a sweet and decadent fragrance slowly emanated from the flame. Anowei lay on the bed, her consciousness sinking into the scent.

Warm sunlight somehow shone upon her eyelids. “Stop sleeping, get up and work! The boss is watching you!” Someone shook her shoulder.

When the God opened her eyes again, her room had turned into an old warehouse filled with red wine, roses, and pomegranate seed oil. She was lying on a haystack by the window. Li Yuan, wearing a straw hat and a coarse cloth shirt, squatted beside her looking nervous.

But the colleague’s kind reminder came too late. The seductive mistress of the manor looked down at Anowei from the second-floor balcony. Her red dress was as bright as a torch, but her expression was cold and stern, as frost and snow.

“Anowei, come to my room after you finish work,” the woman said coldly.

Looking at the woman’s austere back, the God realized.

…This place was a dreamscape created by the Oneiros of Passion.