Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

唐一, who was behind Wen Yu, tried to grab him, but Wen Yu shook him off. Wen Yu just turned back and gave the slightly uneasy Tang One a glance, then yanked Tang One along into the cave.

This was really ”know there’s a tiger on the mountain and still head for the tiger’s mountain”... but Wen Yu didn’t give a damn. He honestly wanted to see what tricks this Tang Three had up his sleeve!

...

”Wasn’t Tang Three a moron before?”

The cave was unexpectedly not dark at all. Oil lamps were everywhere. The lamps had unique shapes, very pretty, full of artistic flair. The soft yellow light spilling from them made the whole cave look hazy and dreamlike.

”He was. Now he’s not.”

Hearing Wen Yu’s voice transmission, Tang Haofei fell briefly silent, then still opened his mouth to explain.

”I don’t know exactly when it started, but the original Tang Three began acting weird...”

Tang Haofei’s tone turned bleak, as if he was recalling some terrifying scene.

”He was sealed in the original cellar. Before, Tang Three would only roar and howl like some wild beast. But a few years back, Tang Three suddenly stopped that pointless behavior. He became completely silent, just sitting there. At first Tang Two and I didn’t think much of it—Tang Three finally quieting down could only be a good thing. But then one day... Tang Two was bored out of his mind... and that’s when he realized Tang Three had developed awareness...”

...

”Hey, hey, hey! Idiot, can you hear me?”

”Tsk tsk, an idiot is an idiot. If it weren’t for me being bored to death, why would I come talk to a dumbass like you.”

”Crack~~ crunch~~”

Tang Two chewed the peanuts in his mouth with loud crackling sounds. Only when he’d rambled on long enough to feel a bit tired did he glance at the silent Tang Three in the cage, then flick a peanut into the cage—just a random little trick to kill time.

Speaking of seclusion, that’s a damn life-taking job. Tang One had a calm temperament and could actually endure the loneliness, but Tang Two was on the verge of going insane. Still, Tang Two wasn’t brainless; he knew seclusion was the best option for him, so he picked a simple pastime—playing with Tang Three...

The peanut fell to the ground, rolled several times, and finally rolled to a stop right in front of Tang Three. Tang Three still sat there like a corpse, not reacting at all. Tang Two shook his head, grumbling inwardly about how bored he must be—what the hell was he doing competing with a moron...

Thinking this, he turned to head back up to the surface, but the sudden chewing sound from behind made Tang Two halt mid-step.

He turned his head and saw Tang Three’s mouth moving, accompanied by the crack crack of chewing. Tang Two narrowed his eyes.

Tang Three took almost three minutes to finish that one peanut. Only when his Adam’s apple moved and he swallowed everything in his mouth did he raise his head.

The once lifeless eyes now flickered with tiny sparks of spirit. He looked at his brother, split his mouth wide open, and let out a weird yet sincere laugh.

”Tasty...”

...

”At first, he was like a baby babbling its first words, couldn’t even form a complete sentence, let alone any sense of logic or thinking style. But then Tang Two did a bad thing... He thought he’d found a new toy. He didn’t tell me about any of this. He just treated it like some kind of raising-sim game, secretly teaching Tang Three things, bringing him food—like a real brother would...”

”But Tang Three’s learning speed was crazy fast. A lot of stuff he’d get after being told once; he’d understand as soon as he heard it. Tang Two felt like he’d accomplished something big, but later he realized things had slipped out of his control.”

At this point, a flicker of fear shone at the corner of Tang Haofei’s eyes. He looked at Tang Three, who was leading the way ahead, and unconsciously swallowed.

”As for skills application, Tang Two never taught him. That was the bottom line. Tang Two might be a bit wild, but not that wild. But Tang Three figured out how to use the skills on his own. Until a little over a year ago, when Tang Two was chatting with Tang Three, Tang Three finally revealed his power.”

”He used the True Words Technique to break the seal on the cage, then grabbed Tang Two...”

”He ate Tang Two...”

...

”Ate him?”

Wen Yu lifted his head in astonishment to look at Tang Haofei... When he’d just entered the World of the Heart’s Image, he’d seen Tang Two perfectly fine...

”He did eat him, alive and whole at that. But the World of the Heart’s Image isn’t the same as the outside. There’s no real aging or death here, no sickness or injury in the usual sense. So ’eating’ in here is just eating in name only, it doesn’t have any actual effect. After Tang Two was eaten, he immediately resurrected in the World of the Heart’s Image. But purely in terms of power, Tang Two wasn’t Tang Three’s match, so he got captured again... and eaten again...”

”When I came in, what I saw looked like a Shura Field—blood and intestines everywhere. No idea how many times Tang Two had died. Tang Three’s belly was swollen from how much he’d eaten—though honestly, I didn’t have any good way to deal with Tang Three either. Coming in here, the only ending for me was getting taken out as well—until that cycle repeated a few dozen times, and Tang Three finally calmed down...”

Wen Yu finally understood why Tang One was a bit afraid of Tang Three...

Being swallowed alive dozens of times by a monster that looks exactly like you—that can’t be a pleasant experience.

”Aside from that, I found out Tang Three can actually communicate. Once he’s full, uh, although it’s just a kind of illusionary ’fullness’, you can’t really call it being full. He just likes that bloody, gory feeling... Anyway, once he’s full, this guy finally settles down.”

”I tried talking to him and found his logic is very clear. He asks me for food, for drinks, for books, for movies and shows. But he never mentioned wanting to seize control of the body. So I figured, instead of letting this guy out, better to keep him well-behaved in the World of the Heart’s Image... and that’s how things ended up like this.”

After Tang One finished, Wen Yu fell into thought. After a long moment, Wen Yu asked another question.

”How strong is he?”

”No idea, can’t find his bottom line. But I’d guess... he can probably push the body’s potential to the absolute limit...”

If it was just that, then he didn’t sound all that strong.

Wen Yu thought so, then another question came to mind.

”Then if you handed over control of the body to him, what do you think would happen? After all, this time Tang Three isn’t just some mindless beast. As long as he has reason, he’ll weigh the pros and cons—like Tang Two back then. Look, Tang Two didn’t cause any big waves, did he?”

Tang Two didn’t fail to cause any big waves; Wen Yu had just smoothed it all over...

Hearing Wen Yu’s ’suggestion’, Tang One rolled his eyes at him.

”Then you should ask him, why the hell are you asking me...”

Tang One understood Wen Yu was just talking... more like a joke, a hypothetical...

Though in Tang One’s eyes, this suggestion was pretty damn stupid.