Strange Feelings of Being Eaten

The sensation of being “eaten” was remarkably strange.

Yuan Anqing was almost entirely submerged by the mass of red hands emerging from the floor, but he didn’t feel oppressed or smothered. He simply relaxed and let Zhuo do as he pleased. Zhuo, sensing Yuan Anqing’s lack of resistance, stopped the massage and instead began to gently wrap the red limbs around him like a living cocoon.

Because Yuan Anqing was currently inside the pocket dimension of his body, Zhuo could sense him with startling clarity. Zhuo’s awareness was split; his actions within his internal domain didn’t interfere with his movements in the real world. As his human form sat on the bus heading toward the government building, his mind was focused entirely on touching Yuan Anqing.

Yuan Anqing lay quietly against the massive white Angora cat, allowing the red hands to cover him. He felt no sense of danger. If he were truly threatened, his pupils would have flared gold. His black hair, tousled by the monster’s tactile curiosity, hung over his forehead, but he didn’t bother to tidy it.

Zhuo’s red fingers traced the line of Yuan Anqing’s neck. Yuan Anqing shifted slightly toward the touch—a subtle, instinctive rub against the palm. Zhuo couldn’t discern if it was an expression of affection or just a comfortable adjustment, but one thing was certain: Yuan Anqing wasn’t afraid.

Emboldened by this realization, Zhuo became even more brazen. He began exploring further—Yuan’s back, his abdomen, his ankles, his knees.

“Zhuo,” Yuan Anqing finally murmured when a hand lingered too long near a particularly sensitive nerve. He was no longer acting like a passive doll.

“What’s wrong?” Zhuo’s voice echoed through the room.

Yuan Anqing’s brow furrowed slightly, but he quickly reminded himself that Zhuo wasn’t doing this with sexual intent. Because Zhuo viewed human biology through a clinical, “predatory” lens, reproductive behaviors lacked any romantic filter in his mind. To him, it was just another biological process, stripped of its allure. While Zhuo could imitate human seduction to manipulate others, he was fundamentally uninterested in the act itself.

It was just… a very strange, personal kind of entanglement.

After a moment of silence, Yuan Anqing simply replied, “Nothing. Carry on.”

“Are you sure?” Zhuo was surprised. He had expected a reprimand about “boundaries,” but Yuan Anqing offered none.

Was he being dismissed, or indulged? Zhuo wondered.

Inside the warm “stomach,” Yuan Anqing closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. He had been “eaten,” so there was nowhere else to go. He chose to trust the monster completely.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

A woman sleeping by the window on the late-night bus woke up, startled by what sounded like heavy construction equipment. She opened her eyes to see a hulking man standing by the bus door. He was so tall that he had to hunch his shoulders just to fit under the ceiling.

From her angle, she couldn’t see his face, but she could see his thick, scaled tail swaying rhythmically back and forth. It was hitting the metal floor with a heavy thud that vibrated through the entire bus.

Even without seeing his expression, the woman could tell the man was experiencing a moment of pure, unadulterated joy. The tail’s swaying would stop for a second, then restart with a high-frequency wiggle, accompanied by the man’s shoulders shaking with silent, overflowing laughter.

Is he that happy to be going home? she wondered.

The reason for Zhuo’s excitement was simple: inside his domain, the sleeping Yuan Anqing had instinctively reached out and hugged one of the red arms.

Yuan Anqing had grown so accustomed to sleeping beside Zhuo that when he was in deep slumber, his subconscious felt the void in his arms. Touching that red hand made him feel secure.

Zhuo, feeling the hug through his shared senses, suddenly realized just how important he had become. Yuan Anqing couldn’t even bear to be apart from him in his sleep. This secret, intimate bond was theirs alone.

Zhuo’s secret joy lasted until he arrived at the office the next morning.

The work atmosphere in this world was much more relaxed than in Yuan Anqing’s original world. Because the inhabitants lived so long, the government provided nearly double the holidays to prevent the populace from succumbing to the “immortality blues.” Yuan Anqing and Zhuo’s company was currently on a ten-day summer break.

However, Bai Tian’s security unit only received six days of rest, as the government building had to remain operational.

On the first day of the official work week, Zhuo walked into Bai Tian’s office exactly on time.

“Where is Mr. Yuan?” Bai Tian asked, looking behind the giant man.

“I ate him,” Zhuo said, flashing a wide, sharp smile.

Bai Tian did not show the expected expression of horror. He merely looked confused. “What do you mean by ‘ate’?”

“I swallowed him whole!” Zhuo insisted.

“To better protect him during the identity leak investigation?” Bai Tian nodded thoughtfully. “That’s a very proactive security measure, Zhuo.”

“No! I ate him! I kidnapped him! He’s my prisoner!” Zhuo slammed a hand on the desk, frustrated that his villainy was being misinterpreted as “proactive security.”

“Ah?” Bai Tian’s brow furrowed. “I don’t follow. You posted a photo of the two of you hiking together yesterday. It was a nine-square grid of the Savior. I even liked the post.”

Bai Tian didn’t know much about photography, but in Zhuo’s photos, Yuan Anqing always looked tranquil and peaceful. To an outsider, the man in the photos looked warm and cherished. Bai Tian had interpreted it as a “boyfriend filter.”

Zhuo’s eyes shifted. He adjusted his posture and smirked. “Yeah, I take pictures of him because he’s my prize. That doesn’t mean I don’t hate him.”

“Did you two have an argument?” Bai Tian asked, sounding like a concerned counselor.

“No. I just like him so much that I decided to swallow him in one bite,” Zhuo’s tone turned teasing and ambiguous. He was slipping back into the seductive, dangerous persona he had used with his keepers for decades.

Inside Zhuo’s abdomen, Yuan Anqing heard everything. He could perfectly visualize the arrogant, mocking expression Zhuo was wearing.

At the same time, the large white Angora cat inside the domain began to nudge Yuan Anqing’s hand, looking pitiful and whimpering softly. I’m sorry I’m lying to them, the cat seemed to say.

Yuan Anqing, submerged in the soft white fur, could only stroke the cat’s ears to comfort it. “It’s fine. It’s just a small prank.”

The white cat cuddled closer, seeking forgiveness.

Outside the office, Zhuo leaned back in his chair, laughing brazenly, his red pupils glowing. “I tricked him into my stomach. As long as I don’t agree to let him out, he stays there forever.”

The white cat inside looked up at Yuan Anqing with huge, watery eyes. I’m lying to them, but I’m telling you the truth. Please don’t be mad.

A scaled red hand reached out from the void of the room, holding a paper bag of warm steamed buns. “Want breakfast? You haven’t eaten since we left the house.”

“I’m not hungry,” Yuan Anqing said, though he took the bag.

“Because you are inside me, my energy is keeping you sustained. You won’t feel cold or hungry here,” Zhuo’s voice explained. “Usually, the people I swallow are filled with despair. They die in this ‘land of milk and honey’ because their fear consumes them.”

“Sounds unpleasant,” Yuan Anqing said, taking a bite of a bun. “But you only eat mindless monsters. They shouldn’t have enough logic to feel complex fear.”

“That’s why their instinctual terror is even stronger,” the red hand poked Yuan Anqing’s forehead affectionately. “But you… you have no fear at all. You’re just eating my breakfast.”

Yuan Anqing looked at the bag. “Wait—did you swallow this too? How does the logistics of you ‘eating’ work?”

“I don’t ‘digest’ the things I want to keep,” Zhuo explained quickly, terrified Yuan Anqing would find him unhygienic. “I just ‘throw them in.’ I didn’t even chew the bag. You see? The plastic is still intact.”

“Your biology is truly a mystery,” Yuan Anqing said, finishing the bun. “Should I leave the plastic bag here?”

“I can digest the trash later. Plastic doesn’t taste good anyway.”

Outside, Bai Tian was still trying to mediate the situation. “Zhuo, why are you acting like this? If you argued, we can talk it out.”

Zhuo could feel Yuan Anqing stroking the white cat’s fur. In a moment of sensory overlap, he unconsciously placed his own hand over his human abdomen and rubbed it gently.

The action horrified Bai Tian. “Are you… pregnant?!”

“ARE YOU INSANE?!” Zhuo roared, his villainous facade crumbling. “I am a male! MALE!”

“Oh, sorry. Your expression was just so gentle when you touched your stomach,” Bai Tian stammered.

“It’s because Yuan Anqing is in there! I’ve told you, I’ve kidnapped him!” Zhuo shouted. “If you don’t do exactly what I say from now on, he stays in the void!”

“What do you want us to do?” Bai Tian asked, finally taking the threat seriously.

“Are my parents Saviors or not?” Zhuo asked directly. He was tired of being indirect. “Only powerful Saviors could have given birth to a monster like me.”

Bai Tian was stunned. “Ah? I… I honestly don’t know. I’ve never heard of such a theory.”

Zhuo narrowed his eyes. “Tell your superiors. If only Saviors have maxed-out mental stats, then my origins are obvious. Go report it.”

Bai Tian realized the gravity of the question. “Wait here. Let me contact the Director.” He pointed to a tray on the side table. “There’s soda and snacks. Just… please don’t ‘digest’ Mr. Yuan while I’m gone.”

Zhuo huffed, a bit disappointed. “I thought they would try to arrest me,” Zhuo whispered to Yuan Anqing. “But they just gave me soda.”

“No conflict is a good thing,” Yuan Anqing reminded him.

Suddenly, a red hand reached out from the floor of the internal domain, holding a fresh bottle of fruit juice. “Here. For you.”

Yuan Anqing took it. “Thank you.”

“He has other snacks out there. Do you want them? I can ‘throw them in’ for you.”

“No thanks. I’m not here to mooch.”

“Okay,” Zhuo said, a little dejected. He wanted to see Yuan Anqing eat more, but the Savior’s appetite was small. He spent the next few minutes simply observing Yuan Anqing drink the juice, his pupils dilating slightly at the sight of Yuan’s throat moving as he swallowed.

Suddenly, Bai Tian’s phone rang. It wasn’t a message from the Director; it was his wife.

“Ah? The kid is getting married?” Bai Tian’s single brow furrowed. “Wasn’t he a shut-in two years ago? He was terrified of meeting people.”

Zhuo’s attention snapped to the conversation.

“Has he become that open to the world?” Bai Tian rubbed his temples. “I don’t think I can attend the banquet tomorrow. Work is crazy.”

It was just mundane, everyday chatter, but it made Zhuo’s instincts flare with vigilance.

Inside the domain, Yuan Anqing, who was peacefully finishing his juice, was suddenly wrapped tightly by a dozen red hands. He was pulled flush against the giant cat.

Did ‘becoming open’ mean falling in love and getting married? Zhuo wondered fiercely.

He would never share Yuan Anqing with the world. Never.