TFOF Ch43: Beginning and End

[ID: XS001]

Observation Date: xx/xx/20xx

Temperature Record: 36.5°C

Daily Behavior:

06:21 AM – Woke up

07:14 AM – Left home

School reported everything was normal.

07:33 PM – Arrived home

12:15 AM – Went to sleep

Daily communication time: 24 minutes, focused on studies.

No obvious emotional fluctuations.

No abnormalities observed.

Diet Record:

Breakfast: 200ml milk, 2 slices of whole wheat bread, 1 boiled egg.

Lunch: Some rice, several stir-fried dishes, 100g stir-fried vegetables, 1 apple.

Dinner: 200g spaghetti, 100g tomato sauce, various lettuce salad.

---

[Observation Date: xx/xx/20xx]

Temperature Record: 37.9°C

(Note: Slightly elevated, suspected to be related to mental stress)

Daily Behavior:

05:49 AM – Woke up

06:58 AM – Left home

06:12 PM – Arrived home

10:07 PM – Went to sleep

Emotionally suppressed, tense, anxious.

No communication today.

Exams indeed bring him immense stress, leading to a rise in temperature.

No significant effect on the surrounding environment or animals observed.

Diet Record:

Breakfast: 200ml milk (Note: Self-induced vomiting)

Lunch: 1 apple.

Dinner: Some water, half a slice of bread.

Medication: 3 pills (2 placebo, 1 fever-reducing medication)

Note: No significant effect observed, plan to eliminate placebo tomorrow and increase fever medication dosage.

---

[ID: XS001]

Observation Date: xx/xx/20xx

Temperature Record: 36.5°C, temperature upon return home: 37.4°C

Daily Behavior:

06:12 AM – Woke up

07:11 AM – Left home

07:21 PM – Arrived home

01:12 AM – Went to sleep

Daily communication time: 6 minutes

Emotion…

…

“The temperature fluctuation is probably still related to stress, but today there were no exams, and… when discussing daily school matters, I noticed the pupil dilation, increased temperature, and a slight increase in heart rate.”

A beautiful woman stared at the blinking cursor on the computer screen. After a brief pause, she opened another document.

Then she pressed the voice recording button again.

“I am very concerned about the noticeable emotional changes. This is the first time I have observed such a reaction. Both temperature and heartbeat are somewhat…”

She paused involuntarily once more.

She stared at the document on the screen for a long time. The blue light from the screen illuminated her pale face, casting a soft glow on it.

After a while, she took a deep breath, as if this could help her maintain the previously calm and indifferent tone.

“Considering that this individual has entered puberty, I suspect he may have mating instincts.” The woman’s expression tightened under the computer light. “Although there is no clear evidence yet to prove that this individual has an awareness of otherness, nor can we determine the reproductive method he might adopt within the human shell, but…”

At this moment, the door to the study was suddenly pushed open with a creak.

A man wearing an apron, holding a spatula and with a smile on his face, poked his head in. “Honey, do you want steamed fish today? I just bought a fresh one…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was met with the woman’s knife-like sharp gaze, and he froze in place. The smile on his face slowly faded.

“Uh… you’re still recording that…”

The woman coldly looked at her husband, her voice unusually grim.

“Didn’t I tell you? Don’t come into my study without permission.”

The man sighed heavily.

“Look, my foot is still outside the door,” he pointed to his toes with his chin. When he spoke again, his expression was full of helplessness. “You don’t need to be so tense, it’s at home, not at the lab. And I’ve proven many times already, Xiao Shu is just an entirely normal child.”

As he spoke, the man put down the spatula, and his tone became more serious.

“So many experiments have clearly shown that mammals respond most strongly to geothermal magma radiation. If the radiation from the earth’s core really affects Xiao Shu, he would undergo serious mutations. He wouldn’t even be able to maintain basic human form! Let alone go to school and live a normal life. Darling, you’re really too nervous, too anxious. Sometimes I feel like your attitude toward him… He’s really just a kid.”

The last sentence was said with some hesitation, but the woman clearly understood what he meant.

Her expression gradually softened into a state of contemplation.

“I hope everything you said is right, but… I’m still so scared. Don’t you think that child is a bit strange? Sometimes I even feel like this room is strange— the wallpaper color, the furniture arrangement, the feel of the dishes. It always feels different from what I remember. I keep having nightmares, dreaming that the house is sticky, with so many things hanging down, all connected to that child, and…”

“And what else?”

The man, unable to hide his agitation, spoke up.

“And you.”

The woman suddenly looked up, staring intently at her husband.

“You’re not right. There are so many strange things in this house, but you always choose to ignore them. Every time I tell you, it’s as if you don’t understand, you always change the subject and then tell me to go see a psychologist—”

“Honey, how about… you go see a psychologist…”

“I’m not right either.”

The woman interrupted her husband before he could finish speaking.

She took a deep breath and hugged her head with her hands.

“It’s terrifying. We have no idea what that thing we brought back from the earth’s core actually is. How could we be so reckless, so scientifically ignorant, and conduct human experiments on our own child? Don’t you think the whole situation itself is strange?”

“What did we actually bring back from the earth’s core? Damn, what was that? Was it really just a special kind of lava? Really?”

The woman’s voice gradually became sharp and frantic. As she seemed to become more unstable, the man furrowed his brow. Uneasy, he walked into the study, holding the spatula, and wrapped his arms around his wife.

“Hey, darling, listen to me, you need to calm down. It’s not like you think. You’re just having an anxiety attack. Did you not take the medicine the doctor prescribed? Baby, you really can’t keep going on like this, you need to take your meds or…”

The man’s voice paused when he heard the sound of a key turning at the door.

Both he and the woman looked toward the entrance.

Despite it being the most normal sound of a door opening, they both froze for a moment.

“Creak—”

The door opened.

A young boy, head lowered, walked into the house, unaware of the awkwardness in the study. He seemed a bit distracted.

“Xiao Shu, you’re home?”

Hearing his father’s voice, the boy seemed startled and shivered, then looked up, blankly greeting his father.

“Ah, dad.”

He then glanced over his father’s shoulder and saw his mother, who looked extremely thin, her face showing signs of stress.

“Mom.”

He softly called out.

“I… I’m home.”

He said in a dry voice.

However, neither the man nor the woman could fully detach from the emotions of their earlier conversation. When faced with their child, their expressions were stiff and unnatural.

Xie Xishu seemed to sense the invisible distance between them. After briefly exchanging a few words with his parents, he quickly grabbed his backpack and rushed to his room.

As the door closed behind him, Xie Xishu unconsciously let out a deep sigh.

His tense nerves immediately relaxed, but what followed was a tinge of sourness in his heart.

He could feel that his parents didn’t like him.

Despite all his efforts, he could never meet their expectations. In the end, he was just a failure. Sometimes, he even felt like his parents didn’t want to look at him.

Though he had gotten used to this treatment, there were times when it still made him sad.

Burying his head in his knees, Xie Xishu sat on the floor for a while, sniffing and then lifting his head again.

Then, as if remembering something, he hesitated for a moment before cautiously picking up his backpack again. From the bag’s inner pocket, he pulled out half a cigarette.

The cigarette was carefully hidden inside the tube of a pen that had its ink cartridge removed.

Xie Xishu stared at it for a few seconds before lowering his head, gently placing his nose near the filter, and sniffing.

All he could smell was the scent of tobacco.

This made him feel a bit disappointed.

What followed was an uncontrollable sense of shame.

“Ah, I’m just like a freak.”

Xie Xishu covered his eyes with his arm, muttering in despair.

But no matter how much he despised himself, the faint smell of the cigarette still lingered at the tip of his nose.

This scent immediately brought him back to a few days ago…

---

“Bang—”

As Xie Xishu passed through a narrow alley, he heard a heavy thud.

Then came the sound of someone groaning, followed by other people’s fearful whimpers and the scattered pleas for mercy.

“Qi-ge… sorry…”

“Spare us, we overestimated ourselves…”

“Qi-ge, Qi-ge, just say we were out of our minds…”

---

A steel pipe scraped against the rough wall, creating a sharp, grating noise, before being heavily thrown onto the ground.

The alley, which had long been filled with the stench of sewage and garbage, now carried a faint smell of blood.

Then… a faint smell of tobacco.

Ah, it’s Qi Wu.

When Xie Xishu heard the panicked voices calling out “Qi-ge,” he immediately recognized the person standing in the alley. It was the famous troublemaker from school.

He was also a symbol of danger and trouble.

Xie Xishu subconsciously tightened his grip on his backpack strap. He didn’t understand why he had inexplicably stopped in such a dangerous place, nor did he understand why he was minding his own business and looking deeper into the alley.

In the shadow of the alley, several gangly young men were hunched over on the ground, clutching their stomachs and groaning in pain, while only one person remained standing.

From the scene, it was clear that Qi Wu had been ambushed and surrounded.

Yet, despite being surrounded by so many people, he was unfazed, even beating everyone mercilessly, leaving them crying and howling in pain.

Though his face and head were covered in blood, and there were some bruises on his forehead, inexplicably, the boy still seemed to handle everything with ease, even appearing somewhat indifferent.

Like a fierce and unruly beast.

Looking at Qi Wu’s expressionless, emotionless profile, Xie Xishu inexplicably thought of the ruthless, dangerous lone wolves in certain animal documentaries.

After dealing with the “little trouble” in the alley, the person leaned lazily against the wall, head down, and carelessly took out a lighter to light a cigarette, taking a few puffs.

Xie Xishu was certain that he hadn’t made a sound the entire time, and his position was also in a blind spot, so theoretically, the person in the alley shouldn’t have noticed him at all.

But the next second, Qi Wu suddenly raised his head, his dark eyes filled with hostility, like a dagger, stabbing straight at Xie Xishu.

“Have you had enough of watching?”

He said coldly.

In that instant, Xie Xishu even felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and he froze, unable to move.

Qi Wu, holding the cigarette, casually walked toward him step by step. Xie Xishu realized that he couldn’t even move his pinky.

It was fear.

Or maybe it was nervousness.

Xie Xishu’s heartbeat went out of control, and cold sweat began to form on his back.

But when Qi Wu walked out of the alley and squinted at him, his originally violent and fierce expression suddenly disappeared.

“Tsk, I thought some idiot was causing trouble again… turns out it’s you.”

Qi Wu scratched the back of his head and, with a shift in his demeanor, he relaxed and seemed much more at ease.

“You scared me.”

He gave Xie Xishu a casual glance, muttering.

When he saw that Xie Xishu still looked pale, Qi Wu wasn’t too bothered.

“Hey, let me give you some advice. Don’t casually watch people fight, or maybe next time, you won’t be so lucky,” the boy said indifferently, taking a few more puffs of his cigarette before jamming the still-smoking butt into the crack of the brick wall next to Xie Xishu.

“… Or else you might get beaten too.”

Qi Wu suddenly leaned in close to Xie Xishu and smiled, his grin wide.

Of course, he knew that his smile had nothing to do with being “friendly” or “gentle”—and sure enough, the next second, he saw the bookish boy in front of him widen his eyes in terror, his face going deathly pale.

The sight of the trembling boy made Qi Wu’s lips curl upward again, but this time, there was a genuine, satisfied amusement in his smile.

He straightened up as if the previous intimidation had been nothing more than a small joke.

“Tsk, with a small heart like yours, you shouldn’t get close to trouble. Be good.”

Qi Wu, in a good mood, patted Xie Xishu’s shoulder and adjusted his backpack strap before turning and walking away.

In the distance, some people stumbled off motorcycles, shouting “Qi Ge” as they hurried toward him.

It was likely that they had just heard the news and rushed over.

Naturally, these lackeys didn’t serve much of a purpose at the moment, and now they were just around, sucking up to Qi Wu.

---

Qi Wu quickly disappeared from Xie Xishu’s sight, surrounded by the others.

Xie Xishu, however, stood there for a while, slowly regaining the strength to move again.

“Phew…”

He took deep breaths, pressing his hand against his chest. For some reason, even though Qi Wu had walked so far away, his heartbeat was still unbelievably fast.

At that moment, his peripheral vision caught sight of the cigarette butt in the crack of the wall.

Just like he couldn’t understand why he had inexplicably lingered at the alley’s entrance to watch the fight, Xie Xishu couldn’t understand why he had reached out and picked up the cigarette butt, keeping it with him and playing with it until now.

Maybe it was because he envied that boy’s aura.

Carefree, indifferent, unconcerned about anything, and undeniably strong.

Xie Xishu told himself.

And Xie Xishu… he really, really admired that strength.

Or rather, he liked that strength.

---

Those days, Xie Xishu’s sleep started to suffer.

He began to dream about things.

Soft, semi-transparent tentacles like sea anemones.

From a high vantage point, they looked incredibly fragile and soft. But as Xie Xishu started descending toward them, he realized, as the distance closed, that these “sea anemones” were astonishingly huge.

Even the thinnest of their tentacles could easily cover his entire body.

As they swayed in the endless earth and ocean under the deep red sky, it seemed like even the entire universe rippled with their movements.

Gorgeous patterns spiraled and flashed in his vision, while at the same time, Xie Xishu felt a subtle, aching sensation in his abdomen.

The next moment, Xie Xishu’s body became heavy.

His slow descent turned into a true plummet, and Xie Xishu couldn’t move, simply letting himself sink into the center of those soft and immense, beautiful tentacles.

Layer upon layer of tentacles gradually blocked his view.

Something reached out, attaching to him, sucking, writhing, melting, tearing…

He began to feel a warmth.

It was a strange sensation.

Xie Xishu felt like he was a mass of cream, wrapped in something soft, as heat surged from deep within his body, and he was helplessly melting in that warmth.

Melting, then being consumed.

A strong, fishy odor filled his nostrils… no, by this time he no longer had nostrils.

He had already been digested.

Gently swaying within the “sea anemone” was just a thick, unclear, sticky meat-like substance. The delicate and beautiful skeleton emitted a mysterious glow under the blue light, and many soft, fine tendrils swayed, gradually wrapping around his bones, consuming his flesh and blood. They reminded Xie Xishu of small animals—very cute, and very warm. They became extraordinarily intimate as they intertwined with one another.

Xie Xishu could still feel its touch, its warmth, and its seeds.

Some things began to grow.

Xie Xishu couldn’t see them.

But he could feel their presence—

a thick, scorching slime constantly emerging from his body, while the “sea anemone” kept sowing its seeds deep within.

Some tiny, almost invisible, tender “sea anemones” started to grow.

They drifted continuously with the wind and ocean currents. The light spots on their surface allowed them to bypass the human eye’s light-sensing system, silently occupying all regions of the world.

Xie Xishu instinctively knew they would grow…

Free from such harsh environments, in regions rich in nutrients and space, his children would grow taller, fiercer, and stronger than any generation before.

A wave of intense pleasure vibrated throughout his body.

Xie Xishu woke up that day with the corners of his lips still carrying a satisfied smile, a remnant of that chaotic and vague dream, one that he could not suppress.

But soon, a new round of exams arrived, and the joy from the dream gradually faded from Xie Xishu’s consciousness.

Under the immense psychological pressure, Xie Xishu threw all his focus into studying, quickly forgetting his inexplicable behavior and the strangely happy dream, no longer thinking about it.

Of course, he didn’t think that the frequent high fever had anything to do with anything other than the exams.

And at the same time…

---

“Achoo—”

Qi Wu sneezed at home.

“Ah, did you catch a cold?”

The nanny immediately looked at him with concern.

Qi Wu rubbed his nose, not really paying any attention.

“No, just a little itchy nose… Aunt An? What did you put in the soup today? The smell is so strong…”

---

Chapter of the Tongue—end

Author’s Note:

Yay, the first story is finished!

The original outline for this story started with just one sentence: the evil god glanced at him, and he became a pure monster.

Then… after lots of revisions, it turned into what it is now.

The entire outline was actually rather dark, damp, twisted, and crawling.

But as I wrote, the two characters seemed to gain a strange vitality and started inexplicably falling in love.

Leaving me outside the computer, crying every day, wondering what to do.

But… fortunately, in the end, I still followed the original outline.

Let’s congratulate Qi Wu on having such a sweet romance!