5: Chapter 5: I'll really turn around and eat; when I get ruthless, I'll even eat myself!

"Wh-What?"

Zhao Jinlong's pupils contracted, and he turned his head uneasily.

Looking in the direction Xiao Fang pointed, what came into view made his eyes widen in shock.

A monster!

A thorough, absolute monster!

The cat they had originally thought was harmless to humans and animals

seemed completely enraged under the siege of the Gu Martial Artists, instantly undergoing a drastic transformation.

Its cat mouth widened, changing from a harmless kitty into a ferocious beast displaying the utmost savagery.

Countless black shadows fell, charging towards the Gu Martial Artists in their half-human, half-insect forms.

As the combat intensified and the devouring became more frequent,

Zhao Jinlong and the others finally managed to catch traces of the black shadows through the tactical instrument's capture.

They were none other than tentacles covered in barbs.

It was just like... some kind of mutated octopus monster?

As for the Taotie Cat's mouth area, it had split into an indescribable monster mass; countless tentacles writhed within the flesh lump, frantically extending outwards, wrapping around the Gu Martial Artists, and then swiftly dragging them into its stomach pouch.

Not to mention how a kitten less than an adult's knee-high could swallow a stalwart martial artist in one gulp,

just looking at the way it fed

made countless people widen their eyes in shock, wishing they could poke their own eyes out, their sanity plummeting wildly.

It was simply too terrifying.

The tabby cat's mouth corners split open into chrysanthemum-like flesh, continuously transforming into thousands of tentacles amidst the writhing to hunt its targeted prey.

Someone's right arm transformed into a praying mantis blade, fiercely slashing towards the tentacles.

Just as the incoming octopus tentacles were chopped off, countless more tentacles rushed out from behind, their suckers tightly wrapping around him. Amidst his wails, he was dragged into the bloody jaws, watching helplessly as he was eaten.

Someone learned their lesson, gave up resisting, and decisively chose to flee.

Flesh at his shoulder blades tore apart, and his spine surged outward, transforming into dragonfly-like thin wings. Rushing up to a tall building, he used the terrain difference to glide a short distance, attempting to evacuate from the sky.

Regrettably, before he could fly far, tentacles shot up into the sky, forcibly wrapping around him and dragging him down.

Someone broke their tail to survive, acting like a gecko by actively severing the body parts locked down by the tentacles. The remaining part turned into a blood shadow and fled, but the spreading smell of blood only attracted the Taotie Cat's attention even more.

Overwhelming tentacles smashed down upon him, draining his marrow and blood until the very last drop of bone marrow was squeezed dry.

...

"A monster!"

"This is a monster!"

As the gang members were swallowed into its belly one by one,

even the left and right protectors and the five hall masters successively met their doom, unable to struggle out a shred of vitality despite exhausting all their methods.

The leader of the Longwhale Gang was driven directly insane.

In his hands, his ultimate trump-card technique, the Roaring Waves Devouring Fist, slammed into the tentacles with layer upon layer of waves, easily able to shatter them into a pile of mush, yet it was still completely useless.

One tentacle was beaten to pieces, and countless more tentacles awaited him.

His dying struggle only made him sink deeper and deeper.

In the end, he simply exhausted his strength and was easily hunted by the Taotie Cat.

The evil gang-up that Zhao Jinlong had worried about—two fists being unable to fight four hands—never appeared at all.

This was a massacre!!

——

"Good grief! This tabby cat is too vicious, spitting tentacles out of its mouth; this art style is too bizarre!"

"Huh? Am I the only one who noticed? The moves that gang leader and the others desperately threw out should be Xuanhuan martial arts, right? Punching flesh to flesh and even producing ocean water ripples—that's definitely Xuanhuan power, right?"

"Tsk, this picture is truly amazing. Whether it's the architectural details or the physical characteristics after death, it's a one-to-one replica. I even suspect whether this movie pulled extras from a hospital..."

"Movie? Game? Not to mention, the graphics are already this realistic, you guys don't still think it's fake, do you?"

"Indeed. Current technical rendering couldn't possibly achieve this level. Even if it could, who would spend such a huge price on early publicity without even a download link? Are you kidding me?"

"Hiss, could all of this actually be happening?"

"..."

The intersection of truth and falsehood caused monstrous waves to surge in the hearts of the Netizens.

Putting aside how many people took it seriously and how many firmly believed this was merely technical rendering,

just the people in the live broadcast room who were half-believing and half-doubtful,

and their intensely shaken emotions,

were enough to contribute a massive amount of points to Su Xiu.

[003 Taotie Cat triggered massive emotional fluctuations, Emotion Points +8312]

[Emotion Points +12619]

[Emotion Points +7839]

The point growth ringing in his ears exceeded ten thousand for the first time. This single instance alone would allow him to perform a lowest-level compilation.

The wildly surging numbers

made Su Xiu nod slightly.

A successful first battle!

Not only did it block the invasion of the Gu Martial Arts civilization,

but it also successfully obtained massive points as desired, successfully unearthing his first pot of gold.

This proved that the policy he chose was truly practical and feasible.

However, the harvest of the first pot of gold did not make Su Xiu numb or lax.

Only he, having been reborn, knew just how dark the future was.

This was merely the first step of the Long March; now was far from the time to sit back and reap the rewards.

Just as Su Xiu was planning his next compilation,

inside the arena, the Taotie Cat in the live broadcast was eating heartily.

The seemingly ferocious and bizarre Gu Martial Artists were nothing more than a dish before it.

No matter how these half-human, half-insect guys tossed and turned, they could never escape the Taotie Cat's palm.

These were all nothing more than meaningless struggles.

"Ah—"

"Ah—"

Sharp, piercing shrieks continuously echoed among the pavilions.

As tentacles smashed down across the sky and countless black shadows shrouded the area, monster-like human figures were tightly wrapped by the suckers on the octopus tentacles. Finally, exhausting their strength and unable to struggle, they were hunted and dragged back.

One after another, they were swallowed into the Taotie Cat's belly.

The Longwhale Gang, which had come out in full force,

was quickly devoured completely by the Taotie Cat.

Especially after losing their gang leader to struggle and stall, the other gang members were even less worth mentioning.

Even some Gu Martial Artists hiding in corners, cellars, and secret doors were easily found out by the Taotie Cat, and were eaten completely clean in a flash without leaving a trace.

The Taotie Cat, having eaten these guys clean, was still unsatisfied and even began to eat itself.

"Crack—"

"Crack—"

Eating oneself sounded very abnormal,

yet it actually happened right under the wide-open eyes of countless people.

It first opened its mouth to chew off its own tail, slowly devoured its hind legs, and after eating away the entire back half of its body, it shockingly flipped its mouth inside and out, starting to eat toward its own head.

——

"Holy crap, this is too vicious, right? When I get ruthless, I even eat myself?"

"This motherfucker is a ruthless person!"

"No wonder it's called Taotie; this gluttony is way too ruthless. Turning around to eat itself—is that even okay?"

"..."

The horrifying content in the screen caused monstrous waves to surge in the live broadcast room.

This time, the onlookers couldn't care less about whether it was real or fake.

The bizarre imagery made people's hair stand on end just looking at it.

There was simply no time to think and distinguish.

The hearts of the vast majority of people had already been replaced by shock.

——

However, unlike everyone else's shock,

Su Xiu's face carried a faint solemnity, his brows slightly furrowed with a hint of coldness.

"As expected..."

"Has it still gone out of control?"