Part 2
Luo Shizhen swallowed hard and took out his phone to search:
(Can humans eat grass?)
(Are wild weeds edible?)
(Can wild weeds growing in flower pots be eaten raw?)
He hadn’t had this habit before. When he was a child, he wanted to eat everything he saw on the roadside, often picking unfamiliar fruits and stuffing them into his mouth.
Later, his grandmother feared he would be poisoned and made him check if something was toxic before eating it. Since then, Luo Shizhen only ate food he considered safe.
This blade of grass looked safe no matter how he viewed it; every fiber of its being screamed the words “delicious.”
If it were anyone else, even if they thought the grass looked tasty, they wouldn’t actually eat it.
A child might do it, but what adult would?
Luo Shizhen, however, found no results saying wild weeds couldn’t be eaten and immediately perked up, deciding it was edible.
However, eating it raw wasn’t hygienic, so he decided on a different cooking method.
Luo Shizhen walked over and plucked the weed out in one go. Without further scrutiny, he washed it at the sink and then went to the small kitchen to put a pot of water on the stove.
Cheng Yunshao walked in after settling the patient. Seeing him boiling water, he wasn’t surprised.
Luo Shizhen had a massive appetite, ate a lot, and got hungry quickly, often eating several meals a day. Thus, when Cheng Yunshao selected the location for the Zhen Family Hall, he specifically chose one with a kitchen.
“Are you going to eat? I’ll wait to call the next number, then.”
Luo Shizhen was incredibly hungry. “It’s fine, I’m quick. I’ll be finished in a moment.”
Cheng Yunshao assumed he was making noodles, so he nodded and left the small kitchen.
Once the water boiled, Luo Shizhen impatiently tossed the washed weed inside. He also seriously prepared a dipping sauce, chopping some millet chili and adding vinegar, intending to eat it that way.
After a thought, he also cracked an egg into the pot to make a poached egg—meat and vegetables together made for a very healthy meal.
That weed had been perfectly quiet all along. It hadn’t moved when plucked or when being washed in his hand.
Now that it was tossed into the scalding water, it could no longer remain motionless and began to struggle and roll frantically.
But because the water was already boiling, Luo Shizhen assumed the weed was just being pushed around by the bubbling water. He stood before the pot with chopsticks in hand, filled with anticipation as he waited for it to be cooked.
He didn’t know what species this grass was, but even after five minutes of boiling, it remained a vibrant green, showing no signs of being “cooked.”
The poached egg was ready, though.
Luo Shizhen poked it with his chopsticks and decided not to wait any longer. He picked it up, placed it on top of the poached egg, and took a large bite of both.
As he bit down, he seemed to hear a shrill, piercing scream in his ear.
It was faint and indistinct, sounding as if it were simultaneously very close and very far away.
Luo Shizhen: ?
Anyone else would likely have put down their chopsticks and gone to investigate where the scream came from.
But Luo Shizhen was different.
He looked left and right, chopsticks in one hand and bowl in the other. He continued to eat while pushing open the window to look outside.
Yes—since he was a child, as long as he was in the middle of a meal, he would keep eating even if a sudden interruption occurred.
In fact, because he was distracted, Luo Shizhen didn’t keep his eyes on his chopsticks and failed to notice that the weed he was chewing on was actually squirming on its own.
Only after he finished the last bite did he drink some water with satisfaction and pat his chest.
“Assistant Cheng, did you hear someone screaming?”
Cheng Yunshao walked out. “No, I didn’t hear a thing.”
Luo Shizhen scratched his head. “Then I must have misheard.”
At the same moment, a tall tree in the center of Luoxia City suddenly collapsed with a thunderous crash.
A tree falling was usually nothing special, but the point was that after it fell, it shattered into pieces, revealing a heap of white bones inside.
They were all human bones, numbering well over a hundred. This sudden scene terrified passersby; who would have thought that a tree they passed every day was actually a man-eater?
The Guardian Center immediately sent personnel to cordoned off the area. They discovered that most of these remains belonged to people reported missing; the police had searched for them for a long time without success, yet they had been right under everyone’s noses.
While the authorities were investigating, two Bizarres flickered in the dark of the night. Their green, cat-like eyes stared in confusion at the collapsed giant tree.
“How did He suddenly die? Wasn’t He a Rank 5, the most skilled at concealment?”
“Doesn’t look like the Guardians’ handiwork. It must have been one of our own kind. How hateful!”
The green-eyed Bizarre was furious.
“I said long ago that He looked delicious and we should have shared Him. You insisted on collaborating instead of eating Him. Now look, we didn’t get a single bite!”
The other Bizarre was also angry. “Stop being a ‘Monday morning quarterback’! When I suggested collaborating, you didn’t object, did you?”
“What is a ‘Monday morning quarterback’?”
“You illiterate! You don’t even know that? I told you to suck out the memories of smart people! If you suck from someone with only a primary school education, what can you achieve? Look at me—I sucked the memories of a university student. See how smart I am now?”
The green-eyed Bizarre licked its lips. “Wasn’t there no time back then? But it doesn’t matter. I’ve discovered an incredibly smart human. Many people say he’s amazing; he can even treat pollution. Once I consume him, I’ll be the smartest one. When that happens, those mere Guardians will be our… our… uh…”
The memory it had consumed was that of a complete illiterate, and it couldn’t find the right word to describe it.
“Illiterate! They’ll be our defeated foes!”
“Yes, defeated foes! Heh, this tree wanted to compete with me for him before, but now that He’s dead, I can have that doctor all to myself.”
Above the two Bizarres, a scent of flowers drifted by.
The pair, who had been fantasizing about the future, instantly froze, paralyzed with terror.
“H-High Rank…”
They were too terrified to even move. Only after the floral scent passed over them did they scramble away in fear.
Several petals ignored the two Bizarres, continuing to drift forward like ordinary petals swaying in the wind.
But wherever they drifted, whether it was an ordinary person, a Guardian, or a police officer, everyone instantly fell into a trance. Their eyes went blank as they stood rooted to the spot.
A petal drifted gently to the ground. Upon contact, a bare, jade-white ankle landed on the pavement. A small bell hung from the ankle.
Bells hung from all four of the youth’s limbs, tinkling with every movement. He sat down and gently stroked the fallen tree, a look of pity on his face.
“Eaten so cleanly. Not a scrap left.”
“So… unfortunate.”
His gaze shifted, landing on the blank-faced pedestrians, Guardians, and police officers. He gave a light, airy laugh.
“The feast is gone, but a little dessert isn’t bad either.”
More and more petals appeared in the sky, almost covering everyone present.
The youth, who was wearing a look of gluttonous satisfaction, suddenly paused and looked back into the distance.
He saw several men wearing the uniforms of High-Rank Guardians sprinting toward him.
“So fast~”
A sharp dagger, carrying the Qi of a High-Rank Awakener, flew from a distance and pierced through the youth’s chest. Instantly, his human form transformed back into scattered petals.
The petals caught the wind and flew far away.
Once these High-Rank Awakeners arrived, they immediately checked the conditions of the others. They breathed a sigh of relief upon finding them still alive.
One person wanted to give chase but was held back.
“Don’t go. It was detected as a Rank 8 Bizarre. Chasing it might lead to a counter-kill. Report it first.”
The petals drifted far away, and when they landed again, they once more took the form of the youth.
He had landed in an alleyway where a phone was ringing. He naturally picked it up and answered.
His tone was full of joy, like an innocent boy who had seen little of the world.
“Gege, I didn’t hear the ring just now. My trip is over, and I even brought your favorite sugar cakes~”
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