At least a dozen of the Mori Worms fell into the reception hall of Ariau, and their combined body weight of up to half a ton managed to hit two tourists, their screams mixed with the screams of others.

Driven away by the mating group, the male, who was in an extremely irritable and frenzied state, certainly did not have any tolerance for the extra obstructors, and while one of the tourists, who was only holding down his legs, paddled his arms and struggled to crawl out, a male duck broke off from the mass of the cockroach, and it wound around the unlucky bastard's body as quickly, softly, and lightly as a stream of water, and then tightened.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...... People heard the tiny clatter of birds as they took off, and it took them a moment to realize that it was human bones and muscles shattering and twisting.

The enraged Mori used its strength without hesitation, and within a minute, it relaxed and tightened twice in a row, successfully completing the least time-consuming and most effective weight loss course ever achieved - according to Catherine's eye, the apparently overweight guy had managed to reduce his volume and surface area to one-third of his original size, which was a real thing to congratulate, even though the coach was being paid a little too much.

The same strange smell and color of the liquid trickled down from the spring-like shape of a ballpoint pen between the oyster and its prey, gradually increasing, until finally coalescing into a viscous column of water, like a sponge sucking up water being wrung dry by a slowly strengthening hand.

Perhaps attracted by the smell of blood, the second and third males broke away from the mass and fell to the ground, raising their heads slightly, swimming towards the "fresh food" that crowded around the corners of the house.

Their actions are a wake-up call to the poor fellows who have been dazed by the sudden situation, and they are not now in a warm room, snuggled up on a soft couch munching on a bag of potato chips, watching a horror movie or a National Geographic documentary; Nor is it in the cosy and secluded club library, drinking mellow coffee and flipping through a book of brightly colored, lifelike animal paintings; They were coming face-to-face with reptiles at the top of the food chain in the Amazon jungle, no more than three feet apart, not even a piece of bulletproof glass that is common in the snake section of a zoo.

The tourists screamed again and shoved into what seemed like a safer passage, where a man who resembled a gorilla, both physically and mentally, slammed into Jack.

Jack was knocked against the wall, dizzy and glazed, and when he was finally able to stand on his own, he looked to his left hand—it was empty.

Catherine ran.

"Hell!" Jack cursed loudly, then turned and rushed out, he had no intention of accommodating Catherine any longer, and a vicious premonition was drilling through his head like an ice pick, something Jack had never encountered before.

He dared to swear by his mother's grave that death was imminent.

***

"Please be careful, ma'am." Anthony. Hopkins reached out and grabbed a skinny female tourist, gently pushing her deeper into the passage while saving her from falling.

He was still dressed in a tight-fitting hunting suit of good texture and workmanship, but the style and color were very similar to Ariau's work uniform, which allowed him to stay for long periods of time at the junction of the hall and the passage without arousing anyone's mind.

He watched quietly as the tourists came in and out, watched half of the roof collapse under the crushing of the swarm, watched the people run around in panic, watched Catherine take advantage of this "accident" to get rid of her partner and run towards Sasha, who was hiding in a corner, who stretched out her arms and Catherine picked her up at once.

Very well, Anthony thought, all the best, he was glad to see that "Catherine's" sister loved Sasha as much as she did, and he hoped that Sasha would get out of this woman the parts that had to be missing because of "Cather's" untimely death.

Of course, there are a few things he has to do if he wants to make sure that this intimate little date will not be disturbed by some unpredictable accident.

Anthony. Hopkins stepped out of the aisle and quickly searched the bar in the corner of the reception hall, using his long arms and dexterous fingers to pull a long spoon from the counter.

He tossed the weight and determined that it was made of stainless steel.

***

Jack found himself unable to get out of here for a while.

Most of the Pythons were still dying, but four males had already broken off the mating balls, and the reception hall had become their makeshift playground, and they were happily swimming around, spitting out letters curiously, feeling everything around them, while the other two Pythons had already begun to eat to replenish the energy expended during mating, and the ingredients were of course the two poor worms that had been smashed.

Even so, the mating ball was still incredibly large, and Jack estimated that there were at least eight to ten male and one large female in it.

They reeked of a dead man who had rotted for a week, wrapped tightly around each other, muscles sliding slowly and in waves under the scales, as elastic and tough as a steel cable big enough to lift tons of building materials.

No one dares to disturb such a group full of love and strength.

He stared at them, retreating cautiously, not noticing an agile green shadow that was walking behind a charming golden terrestrial orchid, silently walking behind him.

A hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Please get out of here, sir," Anthony. Hopkins said softly, "It's dangerous here. ”

There was a brief chill and pain above the belt, and Jack's limbs went limp, along with his tongue.

***

Anthony hugged Jack tightly and dragged him back, what seemed to him to be just a member of the staff in charge helping a guest who was too frightened to move out of the danger zone.

Mr. Hopkins led Jack into a slightly musty hallway, and after making sure no one had rushed in to take refuge, he opened the door to the second room at the end.

The room was small, piled high with white sheets and pillowcases waiting to be washed, which looked like clouds on a rainy day in the dim light.

Anthony. Hopkins carved out a small nest in the "clouds", he threw Jack in it, and then calmly tore his pants directly with his long, pale fingers, the muscles and blood vessels inside.

Blood gushed out and was immediately absorbed by the fine cotton fabric.

"It's quiet and it's safe," Anthony said, "depending on your luck." He lifted a stack of sheets and poured them all over Jack's.

***

As Anthony left the hallway, he met an old friend, at least here, Joe, the captain of Arriaou's guard.

"What the fuck is going on?" He shouted in despair, "No matter who is to blame for the death of two tourists, he will definitely have to fuck off as the captain of the guard, but if he doesn't get things done before then, or if it gets worse, then it is likely that the prison electric chair awaits him."

"I think," Anthony followed him as he walked briskly toward another tower, understandingly, "a charismatic mature woman with her fanatical suitors." ”

"In the name of the devil's cousin, the forest worm should not be in heat now," Joe staggered as he ran, his eyes blank and pale, "this is not their favorite place to mate." "At some point, the surveillance system and guards around the perimeter of the tower were damaged - this should not have happened, at least not to the point where it was out of control.

Mr. Hopkins let out a sigh of approval and regret.

He turned the spoon in his hand, and on the tip of the fork of the spoon stained with a slight dark red liquid was a ripe purple berry, which had just passed a green acai berry branch. Mr. Hopkins hunted it with his hand.

He put it in his mouth, and the sour taste of the thin flesh matched perfectly with the fishy sweetness of the blood.

***

Jack heard the door open, then approaching footsteps, and finally, the sheets on his face were pulled open.

A priest.

Jack remembered that Catherine had said that there was a priest among the visitors.

The priest looked a little surprised, he was not young, but he was not old either, he had gray hair, blue eyes, a black robe with a white collar showing a stiff collar, he wore a wide-brimmed hat that the clergy liked, and a large silver cross hanging from his chest, which might have been inscribed with scriptures or other patterns, and Jack could not see it very clearly, after all, the light was too dim, and he had already shed a lot of blood.

He struggled to make a life-saving gesture, but even if he didn't say anything, what the priest saw should be able to tell the whole story.

"'Tell me what you have done, and don't hide it from me.'" The priest said, his gray eyes glittering in the darkness, and then leaned down towards him, "Tell me, is there a little girl here with curly blond hair and amethyst eyes?" ”

Jack's eyes widened, this guy ...... He instinctively wanted to keep his mouth shut, only to find that he couldn't do anything, oh, he remembered, his tongue and body were in limbo. Well, he gloated at the priest, another lawless and dangerous man, but unfortunately you won't get anything from me.

But the priest was already smiling with satisfaction, and many times, even when people were silent, he could tell the answer he wanted from their faces, their bodies, their fingers, and even a piece of hair.

He pulled up the sheet and let it cover Jack's face again.

"I'm sorry," he said, "bothering me." ”

"Also," he added before closing, "thank you very much." ”

(To be continued)

Note 1: 'Tell me what you have done, and do not hide it from me'. —From the book of Joshua in the Bible—Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I beseech you to give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and confess your sins before him, and tell me what you have done, and do not hide it from me." ”

Note 2: Spoon – a tool for stirring cocktails. Usually one end is fork-shaped, which can be used to fork lemon slices and cherries; With a spoon on one end, you can stir the mixture or mash the ingredients.