After being pinned down in front of the school players, the monster immediately recovered and tried to struggle violently. Being torn apart by these despised ants was a humiliation for a dungeon boss.
But as soon as it struggled, Li Mo pinned it down hard, threatening it with its mouth open. Whether it was bitten to death or tortured by the players, it was doomed now.
The monster's crimson eyes were fixed on Yin Xiu, who was being protected by enormous tentacles. "Why... can you accept it, which is also a monster, but not me!"
"We're all monsters! We're all the same kind!"
Yin Xiu narrowed his eyes slightly, "You're the same? How are you the same?"
"You alter my perceptions, modify my memories, and try to keep me by your side by turning me into a monster, but that's not how it works."
He raised his hand and pointed to the shattered school and the players being caught by the tentacles. "You're destroying the school and killing them, while it's catching the school and the players who are about to fall into the sea. Don't you see the difference between you two?"
The monster stared intently at Yin Xiu, "I can't understand... I can't understand... What's the point of saving those meaningless players? My only goal is you. As long as you live, as long as you stay, that's enough. What does it matter if all these people in this instance die... It's just a waste of time."
Yin Xiu stared at it and gave a faint, cold smile. "It seems that no matter how many people you kill or how many souls you fill your empty shell with, it's all useless. You and it are completely different. You are just a living creature with the same appearance, but you have no soul or thoughts at all."
"How could this be…" The monster's red pupils widened. "My goal is you, obtaining you is my desire… I can think… I am a living soul…"
It tried to explain, but the gaping wounds on its body revealed only dark, empty holes; nothing filled this huge, hollow shell.
Driven by instinct, it wanted to learn to be human, killing many people and turning players' bodies into puppets, simulating what it believed humans should be like. It constantly obtained human souls to fill its own void, but it could never possess a true soul.
Humans are not such callous beings, nor do they have three heads and six arms. Their hearts are diverse and colorful, and they are not stereotypical creatures manipulated by the same kind of organism.
But this is something the monster will never understand.
"Is that so? In my opinion, your desire to obtain my thoughts... may not even be thoughts that you yourself have generated." Yin Xiu stared at it indifferently, watching the huge body rapidly wither away as the player cut it open and continuously pulled out the soul crystals inside.
Its tentacles were severed, its eyes gouged out, and the beings on its body that resembled Li Mo were being hollowed out little by little. Even it began to doubt its own inner self.
"I am alive... I have a soul, my body... my body is full of souls..." It slowly looked at its ever-emptying shell, and let out a terrified cry, "My collection! The souls I collected! The things I wanted! Give them back to me!"
The monster thrashed about, trying to snatch its belongings back from the players with its tentacles. Suddenly, the ground shook violently, and the tentacles slammed down on the players.
To suppress it, the enormous, dark monster beside it opened its huge mouth and bit down hard.
Suddenly, the monster froze, its body trembling and slowly shrinking as if deflated, finally transforming into a giant tentacle in front of everyone, looking exactly like the one on Li Mo's body.
"Isn't this... one of my fallen tentacles?" The dark monster slowly approached the giant tentacle on the ground, recognizing it. "It's a part of the tentacle I replaced. How did it get here?"
Yin Xiu remained unmoved by its claims about shedding skin, but confirmed that this monster, which was indeed extremely similar to Li Mo, was its imitation.
It's probably something created from a dungeon; it's not a complete being at all, it doesn't have an independent soul, and even that slight desire to obtain Yin Xiu is...
"Hmm?" Yin Xiu noticed something and looked up at Li Mo. "When did you change your touch?"
"Several years ago, right? It changes every few years." The huge monster shook its tentacles and moved closer to Yin Xiu. "I only bit it. I didn't kill it. It suddenly turned into that shape on its own."
Yin Xiu completely ignored the monster's clamoring explanations, lost in thought. "How could the tentacles that were replaced a few years ago be targeting me..."
Yin Xiu couldn't figure it out. He was convinced that the tentacles' desire for him must be influenced by his original body, but a desire that had existed for several years...? The timing wasn't right, was this also a problem with the copy?
He shook his head, determined not to think about the problem, and then turned and jumped back to school from the tentacle disc.
The players who were excitedly cutting down the monster and digging out the soul gems from its body were a little disappointed when they saw the large piece of tentacle left. They hadn't cut enough yet!
"Do you have any storage items?" Yin Xiu patted the huge tentacle and felt it tremble. It was probably in this state, but its consciousness was still inside. Letting it go like this would be too easy for it.
"Yes, yes, yes." Someone immediately came over happily with the storage item, watching Yin Xiu put the huge tentacle into the item, and then waved it, "I'll lend you the item first, and return it to you when I'm done using it."
"Brother Xiu has helped us a lot. We can give it to you directly, not just borrow it!" The players were very polite. After all, many of the items in the town were obtained by Boss Ye leading them into the dungeon. Brother Xiu's act of bringing back Boss Ye's soul was a great favor to the town.
"Okay." Yin Xiu replied, putting the small glass marble-like storage item into his pocket. Then he realized that he had been so busy killing monsters that he had forgotten about Ya Ya, and now he didn't have Ya Ya's item coin in his pocket.
He turned his head and looked around, and saw that at the edge of the shattered school, Li Mo, who had turned back into a human, was smiling and using his tentacles to pull the wet Ya Ya up from the side.
Yin Xiu asked in surprise, "Why are you soaking wet?"
"Brother... I was hugging your lap when I came out..." Ya Ya, soaking wet, pouted and looked at Yin Xiu with a wronged expression. "When you were busy cutting the tentacles, you kicked me into the sea..."
Yin Xiu paused for a moment, then said, "Sorry... I forgot..."
I completely forgot that I was holding Ya Ya on my lap; all my attention was focused on dodging the tentacles.
"It's okay, Ya Ya is very strong anyway, she swam back by herself." Ya Ya landed on the tentacles, shook her soaking wet little red dress, and twisted her wet braids. "As compensation, next time we go into a dungeon, brother, you have to remember to braid my hair again, okay? My braids have all come undone."
"Okay, okay..." Yin Xiu replied apologetically, relieved that Ya Ya was still a monster.
Otherwise, the little red figure would be so pitiful, constantly thrashing about in the sea.