Care Guide to Raising a Max Level Leaf in Apocalypse - 55
The Fleshy ball
Ji Jiu blinked and straightforwardly revealed that Chen Zhaonian had shared this information with him.
Si Yin Yuan suppressed his anger and asked, “What else did he tell you?”
After thinking for a moment, Ji Jiu answered honestly, “He said you were my sugar daddy and that you’re a heartless man.”
“What does ‘heartless’ mean? Will you really leave me again?” Ji Jiu suddenly felt sad, saying earnestly, “If you don’t want me anymore, I’ll be very upset.”
He decided that he would just capture his owner and keep him locked up somewhere only Little Grass knew.
Si Yin Yuan had no idea about the slightly yandere thoughts running through Ji Jiu’s mind and said gently, “That won’t happen. He was lying to you.”
He had never considered Ji Jiu to be his play thing, and he had no intention of abandoning him.
Despite his reassurances, Ji Jiu was still anxious. He recalled the three years he spent alone in a flowerpot. Even though Little Grass couldn’t perceive loneliness like humans, he didn’t want to be separated from his owner again once he found him.
His fingertips, clutching the hem of his clothes, turned pale from the pressure, and he remained silent with his head bowed.
Observing Ji Jiu’s lack of security, Si Yin Yuan’s anger flared even more, not only directed at Chen Zhaonian but partly at himself as well. This sudden surge of turbulent emotions made him gently embrace Ji Jiu, burying his head in the young man’s neck, and whispered, “We won’t be separated.”
Ji Jiu had a unique scent, which calmed the wrath in Si Yin Yuan’s heart. Without realizing what he was doing, he took a deep breath, inhaling more of Ji Jiu’s scent.
Realizing what he had just done, Si Yin Yuan suddenly felt a bit guilty. He had acted like a pervert, smelling another person like that.
Ji Jiu was unaware of the internal struggle within his owner. He looked up at Si Yin Yuan with watery eyes and asked, “Really? Then you don’t need me to be obedient all the time?”
Si Yin Yuan hadn’t yet figured out why he had done what he did and was confronted with Ji Jiu’s innocent question. He rarely had headaches, but this was one of those moments. “No,” he responded with a sense of relief.
He was surprised that he had acted so obedient and clingy today. He had listened to things he shouldn’t have heard.
Ji Jiu tilted his head, still innocently curious, “Then, you don’t need me to touch you?”
What on earth had Chen Zhaonian taught him?
Si Yin Yuan’s expression turned slightly serious, and his tone softened, “No… I don’t.”
He hesitated briefly as he answered Ji Jiu’s question.
Ji Jiu didn’t notice the shift in his owmer’s tone. His eyes lit up, “So can I have five extra strawberry-flavored nutrient packs for dinner tonight?”
Chen Zhaonian had taught him far too much. The strange way Ji Jiu was acting had thrown Si Yin Yuan off balance.
He felt a bit flustered when responding, “No.”
This was entirely taking advantage of the situation, and Si Yin Yuan, adhering to the principles of scientific feeding, rejected this request.
Ji Jiu’s round, inquisitive eyes quickly filled with mist.
Si Yin Yuan immediately surrendered, “Alright, just for tonight.”
The Chief of the Hunter Guild, praised for his principles, couldn’t withstand Ji Jiu’s pitiful pleading for more than two minutes.
“Yay!” Ji Jiu gave a small cheer and eagerly took hold of his owner’s hand, pulling him forward.
His strawberry-flavored nutrient packs were waiting outside, and there was no time to waste in this cold underground room.
The underground chamber was fully equipped, and a solar-powered generator kept the corridor’s motion-activated lights on, illuminating their path step by step.
They found traces of the person who had once lived in this room.
This person had even kept a mutant fish, though it had lost its combat capabilities. Now, it had starved to death in a bathtub that had become dirty and murky, and its belly-up body was barely recognizable.
Calmly analyzing the situation, Si Yin Yuan commented, “The fact that this fish was alive before he encountered trouble suggests that he had a certain stock of supplies.”
But there was no response to his remarks. He turned to look around and realized that Ji Jiu, who had been following closely behind him earlier, was nowhere to be seen.
…
Ji Jiu was not interested in searching for clues about the world before the apocalypse. He was more intrigued by the hidden supplies in the room. The black mist he had released quickly reported the location of the food.
There were more supplies than they had anticipated. Boxes filled with food were piled high, and they made Ji Jiu, who stood at only 1.75 meters tall, look particularly petite.
Ji Jiu had a blissful expression, delighted by all the delicious food. He was now beginning to appreciate this place.
Most of the supplies consisted of compressed biscuits and canned goods. The room was well concealed, and this person had cherished it dearly. Only with the help of the black mist could a normal person have found this secret room.
The compressed biscuits were a bit hard, and Ji Jiu had to put in some effort to nibble on them.
When Si Yin Yuan found him, he was engrossed in munching on a palm-sized piece of compressed biscuit, his expression remarkably serious and focused, as if he were a hamster nibbling on seeds.
Si Yin Yuan couldn’t help but think, “He’s too cute,” and he couldn’t find the words to blame him.
When Ji Jiu saw his owner approaching, he excitedly showed him the treasure he had discovered and even offered him a piece of the compressed biscuit.
With a slight smile, Si Yin Yuan asked, “Do you like it?”
Nodding his head, Ji Jiu continued to nibble slowly, entirely absorbed in eating, and he was somewhat perfunctory in his attention to his owner.
With Ji Jiu’s safety confirmed, Si Yin Yuan began to inspect the room that had almost been overlooked.
The most conspicuous sight was this large pile of food supplies. After counting them, Si Yin Yuan couldn’t help but express some regret, “If he could have stayed here a bit longer, these supplies would have been enough to sustain him until we came to rescue him.”
Unfortunately, he was devoured by the large red lips when he planted outside.
Some communal-type mutants would raise a king to take care of the entire group. This was particularly true for plants with intertwined roots. Most of the food would be allocated to the king, and in return, the king would ensure the safety of the group and share some nutrients through the roots.
When the king died, some communal plants would wither in large numbers, and a portion of them would quickly devour the king, competing for the most nutrients to become the new king of the group.
That awakened individual who had been killed had underestimated those red lips. He hadn’t been paying constant attention to the outside world and didn’t realize that mutants would continue to evolve, leaving behind even stronger individuals.
As Ji Jiu nibbled on the compressed biscuit, he suddenly looked up and said, “Someone’s coming.”
Then came Yu Feichen’s loud voice.
“Captain Si, are you there?”
Si Yin Yuan opened the door to respond, completely surprised that there was a hidden secret door here. Yu Feichen jumped back, startled, “Damn!”
Li Chao nodded in the back, “Captain Si.”
Understanding his meaning, Si Yin Yuan didn’t mind. “As long as everyone is fine.”
Ban Tang asked, “Is there any clue in this hidden door?”
Si Yin Yuan slightly turned his body, revealing the abundance of supplies behind him. “Only food.”
“Putting food in the most hidden place?” Yu Feichen pondered for a moment and said reluctantly, “That does seem reasonable.”
Ji Jiu obediently raised his hand and agreed, “If it were me, I would also hide the food in the deepest place before the apocalypse.”
Unfortunately, he didn’t have a hoarding hobby. The food would probably not survive long enough for him to hide it.
Si Yin Yuan’s expression turned serious. “Did you just say ‘before the apocalypse’?”
“Yep,” Ji Jiu tilted his head.
In fact, he didn’t have much concept of the term “apocalypse.” For his identity as a mutant, this word had no meaning.
Li Chao asked, “Do you find something unusual?”
Si Yin Yuan nodded. “Yes, the fact that this person chose to take refuge on a private island full of plants implies that he probably, like Chen Zhaonian, believed in the possibility of a disaster. However, he may not have been well-informed about the specific situation. Someone who is uncertain about what might happen could indeed gather a significant amount of supplies out of caution. But it’s highly unlikely that he’d place those supplies in the most secretive room.”
People who had grown accustomed to stable lives rarely had this kind of awareness. He wouldn’t expect that, on a private island where everyone was as wealthy as he was, someone would come to steal his supplies.
Putting these food items here likely served another purpose, such as attracting attention.
It seemed that what the person really wanted to hide might be something else.
Ji Jiu nibbled on the compressed biscuit in a daze.
Well, humans are really complex creatures, he thought.
Si Yin Yuan ordered, “Let’s keep searching the room for any other mechanisms.”
“Understood!”
The group scattered around the room, searching like a well-organized search party.
Ji Jiu finished his compressed biscuit, and not wanting to disturb his owner’s work, he quietly climbed up a stack of boxes, opened one, and took out a can of meat to eat.
Sitting on top of the tall stack of boxes, he dangled his legs, and like a child inspecting his treasure, he opened other boxes while munching on his food.
From one box, he took a biscuit; from another, a can of food. Soon, his hands were filled with various food items.
Just as he was opening the twelfth box, he suddenly noticed something unusual.
This box felt surprisingly light, like it was empty.
Ji Jiu, who had already incorporated these items into his personal stash, felt anxious. He squatted down to open the box.
There was indeed no food inside; only a small black remote control.
The remote control wasn’t edible, so Ji Jiu, uninterested, pouted and casually pressed a button on it.
The next moment, the sound of gears turning came from the wall.
Yu Feichen received his second scare, “Damn!”
The previously seamless wall was slowly opening.
Even Si Yin Yuan hadn’t expected that the triggering mechanism would be hidden within the stack of food. Without Ji Jiu, they might not have found it even if they searched all night.
Ji Jiu, who initially thought he was in trouble and was planning to get away with it, suddenly received praise from his owner.
Ji Jiu: ovo??
What was there to be happy about for these humans? Could there be food in a secret room within a secret room?
Ji Jiu’s curiosity was piqued. He nimbly turned and jumped off the box, following them into another hidden room.
Floating in mid-air was a projection.
Gigantic, twisting tentacles intertwined to form a fleshy ball. The nearly transparent exterior concealed a thick, inky black liquid inside. The mottled colors and the disgusting writhing might make people think of many things. It was uncomfortable to look at, like staring into the eye of a dead bird, unsettling. Inside, there was a slowly pulsating creature, making the entire fleshy ball seem to beat like a heart.
Walking behind the group, Chen Zhaonian had been desperately lowering his presence all along. But at this moment, he shouted, “It’s that seed!”
And finally, at this moment, Ji Jiu understood why he had felt a sense of familiarity when he heard his description. That day when he accidentally infiltrated the Inner Sanctum of the Church, he had seen a stone carving of a similar grotesque fleshy ball.