Frightening Joke: Above the Mist

Every day in life is actually very ordinary; what makes it extraordinary is what happens on that day.

Zhou Tian has already experienced it twice.

The first time, he who once had a great life turned disabled because of a fever that was neither painful nor itchy, and his life took a turn.

And the second time is this moment.

The bizarre plant brought by Meng Zhen burrowed into his already blind left eye socket and grew in his body in an almost parasitic manner.

And the result… his eye got better.

A week later, Meng Zhen returned from the city, and after listening to Zhou Tian describe his experience in detail now that his eye had healed, she fell silent.

"So you think your eye healed because of these plants?" Meng Zhen asked.

"I wouldn't say it's healed; it just restored its original function," Zhou Tian said after pondering for a moment.

Although now his left eye could see, this "seeing" seemed a bit different from what he felt before.

It wasn't clearer, nor was it more blurred, but… it seemed the left eye could vaguely see some indistinct outlines on human bodies.

He really couldn't understand it.

"How about the ear?" Meng Zhen asked again.

Zhou Tian shook his head; he didn't find it strange. If it was the effect of that bizarre plant, then his ear still being deaf was normal, after all, it only took root in his eye and had nothing to do with the ear.

"I think, if you want to continue researching these plants, you can use me as a test subject."

Zhou Tian said.

Meng Zhen looked at him in surprise.

Zhou Tian nodded; he wasn't joking, nor was it to fulfill Meng Zhen's research, he didn't have such noble reasons.

It's just… he saw hope to completely rid himself of disability, he needed these "weeds"; if his ear could also let them parasitize, and they could restore his ear's function, Zhou Tian would gladly be a guinea pig.

Meng Zhen asked no more but carefully inspected his eye, and the plant that burrowed into his eye socket and rooted on the surface of his eyeball had completely vanished.

"You must think it through, letting something whose origin isn't known enter your body, even if so far it hasn't shown harm to you, its inherent risk is still significant, you might even lose your life because of it."

Meng Zhen said seriously.

Zhou Tian thought for a moment and said, "I still want to continue experimenting, using my body."

"Our world doesn't have the soil to nurture them, but the human body might; I don't want to give up."

Meng Zhen said nothing more.

It was then Zhou Tian suddenly asked, "So, can you tell me how you discovered it, and how you know it might make me lose my life?"

Meng Zhen was speechless; she knew Zhou Tian was smart and keen, but she didn't expect he could hear the clue just from her casual words.

But indeed, these bizarre plants hadn't shown any aggression so far, instead reversing Zhou Tian's health issues.

But mentioning that it might cost a life…

Meng Zhen focused her thoughts; at this point, she also tacitly acknowledged this smart young man would be her fellow traveler.

She… indeed needed him, and did need someone to bear the secrets she knew.

"Because it was because of them that my parents died."

Meng Zhen said softly.

Zhou Tian frowned, "Was it the process of obtaining them that caused their death, or was it because of the anomaly they themselves caused?"

"It was because of them themselves..." Meng Zhen finally let down her guard completely, "Rest assured, this isn't some treasure many forces vie for; my parents were just ordinary geologists; these things were discovered in caves beneath the city."

"The city you mentioned is..."

"Ye City."

After speaking out, Meng Zhen's expression relaxed significantly.

"After discovering them beneath Ye City, my parents immediately began researching, coming to the same conclusion as us; these plants are alive but do not belong to our world; the way they draw nutrients is unknown, the ecosystem under which they were born is unknown."

"So, they decided to return to the place where they discovered these things, which is to go and check the caves below Ye City again."

"Later on... they disappeared."

Meng Zhen remained relatively composed, yet the longing in her words was still palpable.

"I know they were likely doomed, but I couldn't just forget it and start a new life."

"Meanwhile, due to my parent's disappearance, the Ye City police also got involved in the investigation; these plants, I don't want them taken away; these things are likely the only clues to finding out their whereabouts."

She let out a long breath, looking towards Zhou Tian, "So, I brought them here, continuing research under the guise of a new type of crop experiment."

After listening carefully, Zhou Tian was a bit puzzled, "You still haven't explained why you think they would cost me my life."

Meng Zhen got up and walked to her backpack, rummaging for a while, then handed Zhou Tian a notebook.

"This is my parents' record, although they also didn't figure out what exactly this thing is, they recorded the peculiarities when they discovered it."

Zhou Tian opened the notebook.

After quickly reading through it, he was silent.

Strictly speaking, this isn't a research record; it's more like a diary or something similar.

And the most useful information recorded was the discovery of these plants.

According to Meng Zhen's parents' description, these things grew on the edge of a grayish-white glowing Earth Cave, and surrounding this Earth Cave... were full of remains.

Not animal, but human remains.

————

In the real world, at this moment.

Bai Yanliang and Bai Yanren stood in Song Que's house, falling silent after hearing Song Que's words.

One was becoming human, the other, becoming what?

The silence did not last long.

Bai Yanren proactively broke the silence, looking at Song Que, more accurately, looking at his eyes, "I want your eyes."

"You want to dig them out?" Song Que was not afraid.

Bai Yanren said no more, about to step forward, but Bai Yanliang took the initiative and stepped up first.

"Have your eyes been ill?" Bai Yanliang asked.

Song Que frowned slightly, and at this time, an old voice came from outside.

"Yes, Young Master Bai, when the young master was little, he had an eye disease, which was cured by a pair of doctor couples."

Song Que's eyes opened slightly, "Why do I not know?"

"You know, young master, there are still photos of them in your study, they are friends of the master... the research funding received a lot of sponsorship from the master."

Song Que seemed to realize something as well, his eyes... weren't born strange; is this anomaly acquired through post-natal transformation?

He immediately turned and rushed to the study.

Bai Yanliang followed closely behind, as did Bai Yanren, silently.

The search process wasn't complicated; the photo frame with the group photo was placed high on the bookshelf because Song Que didn't like reading; this bookshelf hadn't been moved much; it was indeed the first time he knew there was a photo framed here.

Bai Yanliang stood next to Song Que, looking at the photo.

The picture didn't include many people, Song Que's father, a middle-aged man with neatly combed hair.

Then there were a man and a woman.

However, the moment he saw the man and woman, Bai Yanliang was shocked!

The man, albeit aged, still had unmistakable facial features on close inspection... exactly Zhou Tian!

And the woman...

Xun.

Xun!

The woman who appeared at the last moment of the Wuji World's collapse in Snow Festival Village, the woman who possessed Liu Ruonan...

The woman who traveled through the door at Eighteenth Middle School to the future, inexplicably close to me, yet called Dr. Zhou "father"...

"Xun, how could she be here?" Bai Yanliang's mind was in chaos.

At this time, the old butler stepped to the study door and slowly said:

"Young Master Bai, you may have mistaken her."

"The woman in this photo, her name is Meng Zhen."