“Senior, please accept my knees.”

The girl kowtowed so hard she almost dropped her bath towel.

“Not that extreme, not that extreme.”

Liu Zheng reached out his hand to steady her.

If he got too serious, he’d probably get chopped into mince.

“Yesterday, I revised the draft as you said, and it got approved right away. The editor is very optimistic and said they want to promote me.”

The girl said excitedly.

“Congratulations, congratulations.”

“It’s all thanks to your good teaching. By the way, what kind of gift do you like? I’ll go buy it right away.”

The girl asked.

“Remember it for now. I’ll tell you when I think of something.”

Liu Zheng thought for a moment and said.

At the moment, he didn’t have anything special in mind, so it was better to keep this opportunity.

This woman seemed quite strong. She might come in handy at critical moments.

“Okay, then remember my phone number.”

The girl recited a string of numbers.

Liu Zheng memorized them in one go.

The mental attribute seemed related to memory; now he was practically photographic.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

He asked.

Although he couldn’t store numbers, he still needed a way to address her.

He couldn’t just call her a dead loser.

Hearing his words, the girl looked a bit conflicted.

“What’s wrong?”

Liu Zheng asked curiously.

“Well, sorry, we don’t seem that close yet.”

The girl hesitated as she said.

Giving a name requires a certain level of familiarity; even the Japanese aren’t this pretentious.

He was speechless.

But considering how strange this world was, maybe names had other meanings here.

“Fine, then I’ll just call you Novelist.”

Liu Zheng shrugged.

“Really sorry.”

The girl gave a deep bow.

Very big, very deep.

When she lifted her head, she naturally met Liu Zheng’s even deeper gaze.

“Should I show you my chest?”

She suddenly got a bright idea and started to untie the bath towel.

“I’m in a hurry. Next time for sure.”

He waved his tentacle.

“All right, if you ever need anything, come anytime. Other parts are okay too.”

The girl said seriously.

Looking into her sincere eyes, Liu Zheng wasn’t sure whether to call her conservative or bold.

He could only say she really just looked human.

“Leaving now.”

Liu Zheng left Building 3A and headed to Building 1.

There was no doorbell at 201, so he could only tap on the door a few times with his tentacle.

It didn’t hurt; the tentacle was very tough, similar in texture to rubber.

The surface was covered with scales like chitin, making a hissing sound on the metal door that grated on the ears.

Luckily, the door opened after only a few taps.

“What’s the matter?”

A little boy wearing a one-piece panda pajama stared at him expressionlessly.

“Delivery.”

Liu Zheng held up the takeout bag.

“Oh.”

The panda boy took the bag.

“Huh, that’s it?”

He said somewhat surprised.

“What else?”

The panda boy retorted.

“Aren’t you supposed to refuse the delivery?”

Liu Zheng said.

So far, no one had honestly signed for a delivery.

Mr. Li did sign, but she didn’t eat it herself.

“Do you think I’m some small fry?”

The panda boy said coldly.

Suddenly, Liu Zheng felt a deep malice.

He instinctively wanted to jump back but found himself unable to move.

The panda boy glanced at him, then opened the takeout box.

He picked at the large intestines with chopsticks, then grabbed one to chew.

Yellow-green filling dripped down the corner of his mouth, making Liu Zheng feel a bit sick.

“Very fresh.”

The panda boy smiled with satisfaction.

“Thank you for your recognition of our restaurant’s dishes.”

He said politely.

“Huh?”

The panda boy’s gaze suddenly focused on Liu Zheng’s abdomen.

“Your intestines look good too.”

He showed an innocent smile.

“Sorry, that’s outside the delivery range.”

Liu Zheng said calmly.

“If you want to sell some, come find me. Remember to eat well.”

The panda boy patted his belly and then closed the door.

“Phew!”

Liu Zheng exhaled heavily.

If he hadn’t discovered the loophole in the first batch of large intestine sashimi, he probably would have been dead by now.

In front of the panda boy, Liu Zheng didn’t even have a chance to escape.

This guy was terrifying.

Liu Zheng raised his tentacle and wiped the fluid oozing from his scalp.

He took a deep breath; the familiar smell of decaying plants gradually calmed him down.

“A bit overconfident, huh.”

Liu Zheng smiled wryly.

He had thought that as long as he didn’t act recklessly, self-preservation wouldn’t be a problem.

Now it seemed he was still far from that.

Back at the community gate, the security guard was still smoking in the booth.

Seeing Liu Zheng come out, he just glanced coldly and ignored him.

Liu Zheng didn’t bother to chat and walked straight out.

Passing by the landscape rock at the entrance, suddenly a messy tuft of hair burst out from the shadows.

“Been waiting for you.”

He sneered inside.

Even though he wasn’t a smoker, he knew that three cigarettes were for dead people.

Without hesitation, Liu Zheng used his skateboard shoes; his figure instantly turned into an illusion and appeared a hundred meters away.

A blood-red path stretched from the community gate all the way to beneath him, paved with countless scraps of flesh.

“Shh!”

Liu Zheng stared at his lower half cut in half and gasped.

The cut was neat and clean, sharper than an amputation saw.

It was a shame the ground had worn it down so badly, or it could have been used as surgical teaching material.

Not just his lower half, all his tentacles were severed as well.

It was obvious the security guard had learned his lesson and planned to first disable his mobility, then slowly finish him off.

Too bad, Liu Zheng had skateboard shoes.

He turned to look at Green Osmanthus Garden; a humanoid figure with black-and-white hair was staring at him desperately but didn’t take a step forward.

“See you next time.”

Liu Zheng shouted loudly.

If conditions allowed, he would have waved politely.

The humanoid opened its mouth and let out a sharp explosive screech, then collapsed and dispersed.

“Okay, next time I’ll bring you some cigarettes.”

Liu Zheng said seriously.

“Friction on smooth ground, friction…”

He hummed as he crawled forward on the ground like a pupa.

His tentacles and hooves still needed some time to grow back; since he had nothing else to do, he might as well train his abs.

He crawled all the way back to Bloody Restaurant, where Bullhorse was cooking.

On the large alcohol stove sat a stainless steel pot, bubbling and simmering.

Compared to what was in the pot, Liu Zheng was more curious about how Bullhorse had lit it.

It didn’t even have tentacles.

“You got beaten up again, huh?”

Bullhorse glanced at him and said with glee.

Liu Zheng looked even skinnier than before going out.

“Living in this world, how can you not get cut?”

He waved his hand.

“But I don’t get cut.”

Bullhorse said proudly.

“Look, freshly slaughtered.”

It pointed at the pot.

Thick green liquid floated with a bunch of heads whose skin was split open.

From the facial features, they looked human.

But judging by their size, they shouldn’t be people.

Even a dwarf’s head wouldn’t be only half a palm in size.

If they were babies, their hair shouldn’t be so thick.

Also, they were ugly—old and ugly.

“What the hell is this?”

Liu Zheng asked disdainfully.

“Underground rat men. They tried to steal the takeout, but I wiped out the whole nest.”

Bullhorse replied.

“Who still dares to steal takeout?”

He was a bit surprised.

So far, the restaurant’s reputation seemed solid.

Those who picked fights with him used coaxing and trickery; even a street boss like the plane tree didn’t dare to make a direct move. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net

The security guard at Green Osmanthus Garden probably dared to sneak attack him because he had started it first.

“There are always those who want money but not life. Oh, it’s cooked.”

Bullhorse said cheerfully.

It lifted the stainless steel pot and was about to pour some into its mouth when it noticed Liu Zheng’s gaze.

“Want some?”

It said reluctantly.

“You enjoy it yourself.”

He politely declined.

“You don’t appreciate good things. Rat men’s skin is the best aphrodisiac. I wouldn’t tell just anyone.”

Bullhorse said mysteriously.

“What are you trying to do?”

He looked at Bullhorse warily.

It was just the two of them in the break room.