If the botanical garden outside could still be called beautiful, then the other side of the wall was another sight entirely.
It reminded Li Wei of scenes that often appeared in alien horror movies: corridors surrounded and covered by flesh and blood. Blister-like growths spread wildly through the corners of the once-manmade building like moss, giving off a nauseating stench.
Clearly, this was not a pleasant place to visit.
"What the hell did you bring into the botanical garden?"
As they walked, Marquess Kalent finally lost his patience. Despite his good manners, even he struggled to maintain his composure in the face of such a sickening scene.
"Lord Kalent, I assure you, this is merely a new species of plant..."
"I don't care whether it's new. This thing has no place in a botanical garden."
Marquess Kalent pointed his gun at the vines on the nearby wall, which kept twitching like blood vessels.
"And you call this a plant? It looks more like some kind of monster to me!"
Li Wei noticed the vines flicker again, as though reacting to the marquess's words.
Could it tell that the marquess was insulting it?
The staff said nothing. Perhaps they did not know how to explain, or perhaps they had no explanation at all.
"I want to see just what sort of plant could possibly be this hideous."
Marquess Kalent shook his head and continued down the stairs.
The smell below was even more nauseating. Unlike the fragrance Li Wei had smelled at the banquet, it was intensely concentrated, with a cloying sweetness that turned his stomach. Still, it did bear a resemblance to the banquet's fragrance-the difference was that it was hundreds of times stronger.
Nor did it have the same effect as those scented candles.
At last, Marquess Kalent reached