Frightening Joke: Above the Mist

Under the influence of this towering giant tree, everyone saw... a series of scenes.

Zhou Tian was no exception.

What he saw was...

————

Zhou Tian's family was not wealthy.

However, he was very smart. In elementary school, he was the top of the school, and in middle school, he remained the top of the school.

Everything should have been smooth sailing, a child from a humble family achieving great things, like a golden phoenix flying out of a chicken coop.

But it seems that fate enjoys playing tricks, as Zhou Tian fell ill.

It wasn't a serious illness, just a common fever that is prevalent in any era.

So, Zhou Tian took a leave to visit the village doctor. The doctor gave him a shot on the butt without much ado, then rattled off a pile of pills like pouring beans, folded them into small paper packets, handed them to Zhou Tian's grandmother, and instructed that they must be taken on time to ensure the fever would subside quickly.

Under his grandmother's care, Zhou Tian took the medication peacefully and went home to nap on his bed, slipping into a deep sleep.

Upon waking, the fever had indeed subsided, except he could no longer hear out of his left ear or see out of his left eye.

He had become disabled.

To an individual, the greatest upheaval in one's life might just be an ordinary day in someone else's.

His grandmother, infuriated, confronted the village doctor, but the process was unimportant as it yielded no results.

From that day on, Zhou Tian seemed to become a different person, lying in bed day after day, staring at the cured meat hanging on the beam. Neither family members nor school teachers could persuade him otherwise.

Then suddenly one day, Zhou Tian expressed a desire to study medicine. Although his family was not wealthy, they did their best to acquire a few medical books for him.

It must be said, Zhou Tian's learning ability was astonishing. The textbooks of that era weren't obscure, and through self-study, he quickly judged that there was no hope for his ear and eye.

There was no one to blame. Village doctors overusing medication was a common situation.

In most cases, common people believed that village doctors could cure them faster than city doctors.

But in some other cases, people like Zhou Tian who couldn't endure the "medicine's power" ended up disabled, and in some cases, even directly dead, were not rare either.

After confirming his ear and eye could not be saved, Zhou Tian stopped reading medical books.

Fortunately, he no longer remained bedridden.

From then on, Zhou Tian stopped attending school and instead helped with some farm work around the house.

Though one ear and one eye had issues, it didn't interfere with much work.

Half a year passed, and a young man arrived in the village, claiming to be an expert from the city, an agriculture expert, looking to rent a piece of land for an experiment, with a two-year lease.

Zhou Tian's family rented a piece of land to the young expert.

Zhou Tian handled the paperwork with the expert since, after all, he was the only educated person in the family.

The first time he saw the expert, Zhou Tian was dressed like a toad, while the city expert had fair and tender skin with bright black eyes.

Zhou Tian couldn't fathom how such a well-cared-for young lady could be an expert, especially one in agriculture.

However, this was indeed the truth.

The expert seemed to know something about Zhou Tian and asked if he knew how to record data or understood control experiments.

Zhou Tian disdained to answer such simple tasks but compromised after hearing that assisting with the experiment offered a substantial salary.

He wasn't someone to curse his fate; he was already disabled and no longer wanted to attend school. He couldn't let his family take care of him for life.

This job truly was his best choice at the moment.

Since then, Zhou Tian dressed a bit more tidily. If he used to look like a toad, now he was at least a frog.

Soon, Zhou Tian learned what the city miss was researching in terms of "crops."

They were abnormal grayish-white plants, only about the size of an adult's palm, not dense, clustering like a fist.

What puzzled Zhou Tian was that no matter how the plants were grown, they showed no change.

No growth, no wilt, no life, no death.

This completely contradicted Zhou Tian's understanding.

Of course, it equally bewildered the city expert.

It was around this time Zhou Tian found out the expert's full name—Meng Zhen.

One day, Meng Zhen came to the experimental field looking a bit pale. Zhou Tian glanced at her and asked, "Are you sick?"

"Hmm, it's my physiological period and I have a slight fever. I'll get some medicine from the village later; it's no big deal." Meng Zhen's expression was calm.

Zhou Tian looked at the gray plants in the experimental field and said softly, "Go back to the city for a check-up."

Meng Zhen seemed to realize something, glanced at Zhou Tian, and nodded slightly, "Okay, but these things..."

She also looked at the plants in the experimental field.

This was her reason for coming to this small rural village. There weren't many of these things. She only discovered a few and didn't dare let others know at all.

"While you're away, I'll conduct the experiments."

"You can?" Meng Zhen's question reflected curiosity, not disdain.

Zhou Tian nodded, "I've learned how."

Meng Zhen was speechless.

After spending some time with Zhou Tian, she realized he was a true genius.

Sharp, intelligent, with an incredibly strong ability to learn.

But these plants... were the only clues about her parents' disappearance; could she truly leave them to him...?

He had already realized the abnormality of these plants; they shouldn't exist in the material world.

Yet, the words turned into a simple "Okay."

Meng Zhen temporarily entrusted the most precious thing in the latter half of her life to Zhou Tian.

Going back and forth to the city wasn't easy. Since she was returning to the city, Meng Zhen also had matters to attend to, making it a one-week trip.

During that week, Zhou Tian systematically conducted research and records.

The abnormal gray plant, though seeming planted in the ground, actually did not absorb nutrients from the soil at all.

Zhou Tian even boldly conducted an airtight test on one of the few plants, isolating it from air, light, water, and soil for three days.

Yet, three days later, the plant remained unchanged!

This made no sense... unless the thing was made of plastic.

Upon examining it carefully and repeatedly, Zhou Tian still found nothing unusual.

Due to the loss of vision in one eye, Zhou Tian had poor spatial awareness, which caused him to accidentally bump his blind left eye socket when closely observing the suspicious plant.

However, at that moment, something bizarre happened!

The previously dead gray plant suddenly surged with life!

Like a living creature, it burrowed into Zhou Tian's left eye socket, with its roots quickly spreading all over his entire left eyeball!

Zhou Tian's mind buzzed, and before fainting, the last thought in his head was—

How am I going to explain this to Meng Zhen…