People Growing in the Soil

Inside Zhang Zhonghua's office.

Zhang Zhonghua, Zhao Xiao An, Wu Wang, and Lin Shan sat together.

Upon hearing that Lin Shan had returned, Zhao Xiao An and Wu Wang had set aside their work and hurried back to see him.

Zhao Xiao An was quite busy compiling the Medical Canon. As for Wu Wang... he had gone into business and opened a trading company, giving it the rather flashy name "Wu Wang Trading Company."

And sure enough, the name "Wu Wang" drew attention all on its own. In the eyes of ordinary people, the Pioneer Wu Wang was a figure of legend.

With that name behind it, the Wu Wang Trading Company had successfully established itself as the only trading company currently in the Clan Territory. Grain piled up like mountains in its warehouses, and he was the one funding the three days of free food and lodging for new transmigrators, along with various charitable assistance programs.

"How long are you planning to stay this time?" Zhao Xiao An asked Lin Shan.

"That'll depend on how things go. Once I get back later, I'll start my seclusion. It might be a long time before we meet again," Lin Shan replied.

"Seclusion? We take potions. Are you cultivating immortality now, needing to go into seclusion?" Zhao Xiao An rolled her eyes.

Lin Shan smiled. "I found some things outside that can speed up potion digestion."

Everyone nodded without asking further.

"Oh, right." Lin Shan suddenly asked, "How did you get back after completing your advancement in the Purple Soul Flower Forest last time?"

That question had been on Lin Shan's mind all along. He had meant to ask several times, only to forget.

"Do you remember the golden thread we encountered when we first transmigrated here?" Zhang Zhonghua asked.

"The one connected to the Clan Artifact?" Lin Shan asked.

"Yes," Zhang Zhonghua continued. "Once everyone had successfully advanced, that golden thread appeared again. We followed its guidance back to the Clan Territory and found the Human Race being slaughtered by the Cat Clan. You know what happened after that."

Lin Shan understood. So it had been the Clan Artifact's guidance. There were far too many unknowns surrounding the Clan Artifact; its known functions might only be the tip of the iceberg.

Finally, the four of them spent a while sharing their views on the clan's current development. By the time they finished, the Red Moon hung high in the sky.

Inside his room.

Lin Shan sat cross-legged on the bed, with forty-eight spirit medicines scattered casually across the floor.

He had not dared retrieve the spirit medicine growing at the two-headed monstrous bird's nest. If he encountered the bird again, there was no telling whether he could shake it off a second time.

Half a year had passed since he gathered the earliest of these spirit medicines. During that time, nothing had changed except that their leaves had wilted. Being removed from the soil did not kill them.

He casually picked up a spirit medicine shaped like a starfish, plump and fleshy, with five fleshy points.

Crunch.

Lin Shan bit straight through one of its fleshy points with a crunch. It was very crisp, with a slightly fishy taste and a trace of sweetness beneath it.

The next second, an incredibly dense surge of spirituality gathered at Lin Shan's heart. With so much spirituality concentrated there, his heart soon failed to withstand the pressure. In an instant, pale-golden cracks covered it.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Lin Shan finished the spirit medicine in a few bites. An even fiercer, more violent surge of spirituality flooded his heart, instantly shattering it where it was already riddled with cracks.

The half of his heart made of flesh and blood exploded directly into a bloody mist, while the pale-golden half formed from pure spirituality broke into dozens of pale-golden fragments.

Darkness welled up from some unknown source and enveloped the heart fragments. Propelled by that darkness, the pieces gradually fitted themselves back together.

After an unknown length of time, the pale-golden half of his heart had been restored. Darkness writhed over it, and as it moved, the flesh-and-blood half gradually formed. The newly grown flesh bore an additional trace of pale gold.

Lin Shan watched it all. Merely having his heart shatter was no longer enough to make him lose consciousness.

It turned out that the spirituality released by the spirit medicine was not absorbed by his heart. It only tempered it, thereby accelerating the potion's digestion. What was being digested was not the potion's medicinal potency, either, but some invisible, intangible rule. From beginning to end, the Sequence Potion served only as a key; its own medicinal potency had been exhausted the moment it opened the door.

Once his heart had fully recovered, Lin Shan opened his eyes. Red and golden light flashed alternately within them before quickly returning to normal.

Seeing daylight outside the window, Lin Shan got up and went downstairs to Si Zhennan's office, the closest one to him.

"How many days has it been?" Lin Shan asked as he pushed the door open.

Si Zhennan and a group of people were gathered around something, all of them frowning deeply. Lin Shan's sudden entrance made their hearts jump, and embarrassment covered their faces.

Only when they saw that it was Lin Shan did they breathe a sigh of relief.

"What is it? Why all the secrecy?" Lin Shan asked curiously.

"You're here just in time. Come take a look." Si Zhennan stepped aside to let Lin Shan approach.

Lin Shan walked closer, and his brow furrowed as well.

A "person" had been planted in a flowerpot, staring blankly ahead. Her eyes were faintly moving, but so slowly that it was difficult to notice.

It was a woman, every detail of her body lifelike, her skin smooth and lustrous as jade. No wonder the others had reacted that way when they saw him.

Lin Shan leaned closer and discovered that her feet were planted in the soil. Her body held a very strange pose, as though she were embracing something.

Everything about her was indistinguishable from a real person, except that she was only the size of a palm.

Lin Shan frowned. "Where did this come from?"

"We dug her out of the soil," Si Zhennan said. "What do you think? Is this a plant, or something else?"

Lin Shan asked in return, "There's more than one, isn't there?"

"That's right," Si Zhennan replied. "The first was discovered three days ago. We've found three in total so far. I've studied them for several days and still haven't figured out what they are."

"She's human," Lin Shan said flatly.

"What!" Everyone was startled.

They had considered the possibility that she was human, but ultimately leaned more toward her being some sort of plant.

"Surely not," Si Zhennan said. "We dissected her. There was no flesh or blood, only the fibers found in plants. And the places we cut grew back after just one day."

"Stop studying her," Lin Shan said. "Look into whether anyone has gone missing recently. If my guess is right, there will be more and more of these 'plants.' We have to deal with the source."

Lin Shan beckoned toward the tiny woman in the flowerpot. Threads of blood gathered together, forming a droplet in the air so small it was almost invisible.

This was human blood, distributed throughout the tiny woman's body. Unless they used a microscope, it would have been impossible to see with the naked eye.

"Is it an anomaly?" Si Zhennan asked gravely.

"Not necessarily. It could be something else. Some Fallen have strange abilities too. Let me know if you track down the source," Lin Shan said.

"All right. I'll notify the Police Department and the Revenue Department," Si Zhennan replied with a nod.

Then a troubled look crossed his face. "Then how... should we handle this..." He pointed at the tiny woman in the flowerpot.

"She died long ago and has already become a real plant. If you want to keep growing her, go ahead," Lin Shan said.

"Then let's burn her," Si Zhennan replied.

"Mm." Lin Shan nodded.

"Oh, right." Lin Shan suddenly remembered why he had come. "How long has it been since I returned?"

"It's November 27, Year 3 of the Human Calendar. I think you came back on November 1 last time, so it's been almost a month. I don't remember too clearly either," Si Zhennan said uncertainly.