Withered Seeds

"Here, these are the seeds you wanted."

Zhang Jixin rummaged around in his robes for quite a while before finally pulling out a small paper packet and tossing it in front of the black cat. "There isn't much, only enough for two or three uses. Be careful when recording."

The packet was brown, with distinct grease stains still visible on it. Zhang Jixin had probably torn it from the paper bag that had held his fried dough sticks after breakfast that morning.

Smelling the heavy scent of oil wafting from the packet, the black cat recoiled in disgust, afraid the grease would stain his beautiful black fur.

"Got it, got it... With my skills, twice will be enough." The black cat shrank back while stretching his paws forward, deftly flipping the packet open.

Inside lay three shriveled green beans, resting quietly amid the grease stains. They did not look the least bit alive.

"Are these even live seeds?!" The black cat raised his head and gave the Red-faced Male Wizard a suspicious look, his crimson eyes full of doubt. "Why are they so shriveled...? I remember the two seeds we planted in the dorm before were round and plump. Can something this dried out still live?"

A few weeks earlier, Fatty Xin had obtained two seeds supposedly from "inside sources" at the school paper's editorial office. They had grown an image of the beautiful Su Shijun singing in Würzburg—though Su Shijun had only shown her back at the time, she had still left a very deep impression on Zheng Qing.

The young scholarship student clearly remembered that the two seeds Fatty Xin had received were both bluish-gray, about the size of peanuts. More importantly, they had been full and round, not shriveled in the slightest.

"How could they be the