Chapter 31: Change

XX Year, June 16th.

Today is a sunny day, the sun is bright red, like a big apple.

Lu Xiu wants me to start writing a diary. I can’t figure out what he’s up to this time, but for the sake of my delicious food, I can only comply and write.

XX Year, June 17th.

Nothing happened today. Zoned out, ate, and slept.

XX Year, June 18th.

Fought monster eggs (crossed out) Birth.

XX Year, June 19th.

Lu Xiu said I wrote too simply and told me to write more, so I could only come up with random content.

Ducks can fly, ants don’t have much flavor, you can’t gnaw on the bathtub, you should open your mouth when eating, and you can’t spit water on Lu Xiu.

Can’t eat Lu Xiu’s clothes, can’t eat plates, can’t eat Lu Xiu’s wallet…

I sat on a little stool, gripping a pen as I wrote in my small notebook.

Sometimes frowning, sometimes racking my brain.

I feel this is way harder than fighting.

At least when fighting, you don’t have to think about anything—just eat the other guy, and it’s done.

But for this diary, I have to remember what happened today.

How am I supposed to remember that much?

All I know is how many meals I had today, and how they tasted.

The rest, I have absolutely no idea.

“Haicao Tuan, I’m hungry.”

“Eat after you finish writing.”

He sat with his legs crossed, watching TV.

“But I want to eat now, I don’t have the energy to write. Only if you let me eat first will I have the strength to write.”

“Then how do you still have the strength to talk?”

“That doesn’t conflict at all.”

“No, finish today’s homework first, then you can eat. It’s just a few words, it won’t take you long.”

“Ah…so hungry, so hungry, so hungry…”

I flopped face-down on the table, pressing my face against the cold tabletop, and kept repeating the sentence.

“I really can’t stand you.”

“Oww.”

A small object hit my head. I reached up and found it was a Compressed Biscuit—on closer look, it was even a soon-to-expire biscuit.

“Hehe, I like you, Lu Xiu.”

I opened my mouth and bit down, wrapper and all.

“No need for that.”

Munch munch munch…

After finishing the biscuit, I finally wrote the last three characters.

All done!

The diary entries for several days are finished!

“I must eat immediately!”

I jumped off the chair and shouted toward Lu Xiu.

But he didn’t respond.

My heart gave a jolt.

Oh no, Haicao Tuan isn’t dead again, is he?!

I hurried over, only to find he was still alive, just frowning at something on his phone.

“Haicao Tuan? Haicao Tuan?”

I called him several times, but he still didn’t react.

“It’s fine, let’s eat first.” He put away his phone and got up to head toward the kitchen.

“Oh, oh.”

Though I didn’t know what happened, as long as I could eat, hehe!

XX Year, June 20th.

Today Lu Xiu took me to the supermarket. He made me shop alone, but I didn’t know how, so Lu Xiu taught me. I bought a whole heap of food, but Lu Xiu only let me keep one or two bags of snacks.

It made me so mad!

XX Year, June 21st.

Today Lu Xiu started teaching me to cook, but every time, I couldn’t help eating the ingredients, so in the end, no food got cooked but at least I was full.

Lu Xiu scolded me.

XX Year, June 22nd.

Today’s task was to handle the oddity independently. Lu Xiu stood on the side the whole time, didn’t give any instructions, didn’t say a word, just like a mute, and didn’t help at all.

Luckily, I’m super strong, so I just ate the oddity directly. Lu Xiu didn’t stop me, but I have this feeling he’s acting strange.

XX Year, June 23rd.

Brushed my own teeth, washed up on my own, bought breakfast on my own… Everything had to be done by myself.

Lu Xiu is getting lazier and lazier. In the afternoon, he started teaching me about social common sense. I listened until I was dozing off, but Lu Xiu woke me up every time.

He wouldn’t let me sleep, which made me a little unhappy. I don’t get it—why do I suddenly have to learn all these things?

Lu Xiu is such a jerk.

XX Year, June 24th.

Got scolded by Lu Xiu for messing up what I could and couldn’t do.

Got scolded by Lu Xiu for biting the sofa.

Got scolded by Lu Xiu for not following his instructions.

Got scolded by Lu Xiu…

XX Year, June 25th.

I hate Lu Xiu.

XX Year, June 26th.

Lu Xiu got mad at me for the first time.

We had a fight.

I decided I’m never talking to him again.

XX Year, June 27th.

Red Claw reached into the Soft Mud Demon’s body. I tore open its flesh and bit down.

“Timide…”

Its true name and memories surfaced in my mind.

Bite after bite.

Light shone in from the side, casting my shadow on the wall, like a crazed beast devouring everything.

“Timide Diguer Momonica.”

After reciting the true name and feeling the connection, I looked toward Lu Xiu.

He stood at a distance, hidden in the darkness, giving me no reaction at all.

I turned my head away and finally took out the Jelly Core, popping it into my mouth.

Shhh shhh shhh—

In the bathroom, steam billowed, reddening my skin. I stood under the showerhead, staring absentmindedly at the drain, my long hair clinging wet and sticky to my back, making me feel a bit stifled.

Just as I was about to turn off the shower, I realized my body had started melting, which startled me so much I almost cried out.

Thankfully, I realized it was just an ability I gained from eating the Soft Mud Demon. I thought I was really going to turn into a puddle!

So I hurried to finish washing up and dried myself with a towel.

“Umm…I didn’t bring any clothes.”

I was so tired when I got back that I forgot to grab a change of clothes.

Wrapping myself in a bath towel, I opened the door and peeked through the crack to check outside.

Lu Xiu didn’t seem to be in the bedroom, so I probably wouldn’t get scolded.

With that in mind, I opened the door and tiptoed toward the bedroom.

Droplets of water slid down my towel-wrapped body, tracing along my thighs and gathering at my feet, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the floor.

Then, the water from my hair blurred and smeared them away, so even the footprints vanished, leaving only a patch of water behind.

Just as I was about to open the bedroom door, Lu Xiu’s voice came from the downstairs living room. He seemed to be talking to someone on the phone, his voice broken and intermittent:

“She has an inherent barrier with human society…Adaptation Deficit……otherwise, just handle it.”

My hand froze on the doorknob.

Tap tap——

Droplets fell from my shoulder, dripping onto my feet.

“I’ll speed things up……when the time comes……I’ll be the one to execute her.”

Execute…me?

Inside, it felt like something crashed into me—dull and aching.

I didn’t understand—did I do something wrong?

Why would I suddenly be executed?

I wanted to turn around and ask Lu Xiu.

But I was scared.

I was terrified that if I said anything, Lu Xiu would immediately trigger the Restraint Ring, and I would die.

But……I really don’t know what I did wrong.

He said not to eat people, so I don’t eat people.

He said not to gnaw on things randomly, so I’ve been trying hard to restrain myself.

But……he still wants to execute me.

Was I not good enough?

I stood where I was, biting my lip, not knowing what to do.

It wasn’t until I heard footsteps coming up the stairs that I snapped out of it, panicked and rushed into the bedroom, locking the door behind me.

“Hey?”

He must have heard my footsteps.

Thump thump

The door was knocked, as if knocking on my heart.

“W-what is it?!”

Instinctively replied, then immediately covered my mouth.

“Why did you lock the door?”

“I…I need to change my clothes!”

A quick-witted excuse.

“Huh?” He was startled, “Since when did you learn to feel embarrassed?”

“None of your business!”

“Alright, just call me when you’re done. I don’t want to sleep outside all night.”

I said nothing as his footsteps faded away.

I slumped against the door and stared absentmindedly at the patterns on the floor.