Chapter 174: Hungry Poppy
“Is this really the time to be eating?” Lin Mengzhi rushed up to Wu Heng, snatched the sushi from his hand, and stuffed it into his own mouth. Chewing noisily, he mumbled, “It’s time to risk our lives!”
“There may be ears behind the walls,” Xue Qi reminded quietly. He casually picked up a piece of dry bread and started chewing on it. “Not bad.”
Yang Ao followed closely behind Ruan Silian, sneaking a glance around before whispering to everyone, “Actually… we’re basically inside a insect nest right now.”
“Hm? What do you mean by that?”
“Normally, people wouldn’t associate with Ning… with him. If Jingzhou makes a move to deal with him, it’s only a matter of time. So the ones who managed to come today might have already been planted with his parasitic gu,” Yang Ao said.
Yang Yu elbowed him from the side, signaling him not to bring that up here.
“Should we go find Shen Ping’an?” Lin Mengzhi looked around.
“What’s the point of finding him? He doesn’t recognize anyone anymore,” Dou Lu sighed. “This cake is really good, there’s a milky flavor. Does Ning Bizhen even raise cows?”
“There’s a breeding farm outside,” Yang Ao said, trying his best to be useful by sharing everything he knew, even without being asked. “They don’t just raise cows, they also keep chickens, ducks, and fish. All mutated animals. Besides livestock, they also grow a lot of crops—rice, wheat, corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes—basically everything needed to guarantee humans’ daily food supply.”
Wu Heng nodded slightly. “Are ordinary humans responsible for those activities?”
“How did you know?” Yang Ao wondered. Back when Wu Heng was in school, was he this smart?
Wu Heng gave Yang Ao a ‘Isn’t that obvious?’ look. Then he casually picked up a palm-sized egg tart, scooping out only the soft custard in the middle while speaking as he ate.
“Since he divides humans into different ranks according to his own standards, then in his eyes, simple, highly repetitive daily work like that would naturally be most suitable for the lowest tier of humans.”
Yang Ao knew perfectly well that his own abilities were limited. He sighed and said, “But you can’t have ability users feeding chickens and raising pigs either. If it were me, I’d think that was a waste too.”
Xue Qi sneaked a glance at Wu Heng and said to Yang Ao, “Wu Heng really did make ability users feed chickens.”
“Huh?”
After finishing the custard from an egg tart and leaving just the shell, Wu Heng looked around. There was a trash can nearby, but throwing it away felt like a waste, so he simply held it up to X’s beak above Lin Mengzhi’s head.
Whether the tart had custard or not, X had never eaten one before. Its craving overpowered all dissatisfaction. It lowered its head and snatched the tart shell into its beak, crumbs falling everywhere as it ate.
“You stupid bird, if you’re going to eat, don’t do it on top of my head! I washed my hair specially before coming out just to celebrate Empress Shen’s birthday!” Lin Mengzhi bent down and practically dumped X off his head onto the ground.
Half-grown boys can eat their parents poor. The group gathered around the table and devoured the food like a whirlwind. Gradually, everyone stopped talking, silently cooperating—once they finished clearing one spot, they moved to another section of the table and surrounded it.
No one had a spare hand to feed X while eating. X had grown to be as tall as Wu Heng but three times as thick. It lowered its head to the table and helped itself.
Yang Yu even took the opportunity to stuff quite a few small bottles of milk into her bag.
Wu Heng gnawed on some freshly served fried ribs. He could easily chew the bones to pieces. While eating, he didn’t forget to keep observing the surroundings.
Hardly anyone else was eating like they were. Most people took a plate of food and left after a bite or two, maybe grabbing a glass of juice at most.
These people weren’t interested in the food; instead, they all seemed to enjoy gathering around Shen Miao.
The restaurant had a floor-to-ceiling window. Outside in the courtyard, many lights had been set up, and quite a few people were chatting outdoors.
Wu Heng picked up a rib and quietly moved to stand by the window. X stood beside him.
Outside, not only was Shen Miao there—Ning Bizhen was too. Shen Miao had his arm looped through Ning Bizhen’s as he spoke with four or five people in front of them.
“I feel like these people look very familiar,” a voice suddenly said near his ear.
Wu Heng almost thought it was X talking.
Xue Qi, now full and satisfied, wiped his mouth. In one hand he held a glass of champagne, the other propping up his elbow. Among all of them, he looked the most like someone actually attending a banquet. Even though he knew the real purpose wasn’t the party, he had still tied a short silk scarf around his neck. Over a light blue shirt he wore a loose beige knitted vest. The temperament of someone steeped in music for more than a decade showed in him from beginning to end.
Wu Heng answered honestly, “I’m a bit face-blind.”
“They do look familiar,” Dou Lu said, walking over as well.
If only Xue Qi recognized them, it might just be his personal connections, or perhaps people from the music world that only musicians would know. But if Dou Lu recognized them too, then it wasn’t that. That meant the only ones who didn’t know them were probably Wu Heng and his bird.
“They’re the heads of the education groups from all the middle schools in your district. Their whole family is still alive,” Yang Yu said from behind them. “The husband and wife, plus two sons and a daughter.”
“Then who’s that one in the white dress next to them?” Lin Mengzhi asked. He didn’t recognize them either—he had never gone to high school. “He’s practically hugging those people from your education group.”
“The one in the white dress on the left? That’s Team Leader Pi’s second wife. He’s actually a man. That group leader swings both ways. But today he only brought the original wife and the second wife. Right now he has five wives in total.”
“Old Pi is very favored by Ning Bizhen. He’s done quite a lot of dirty work for him. Not counting zombies, he’s probably got eighty or a hundred human lives on his hands.”
“…I’m speechless,” Dou Lu said, tilting her head back and finishing her drink in one gulp.
“Since we’re full, when are we going to—” Xue Zhi began.
“Not yet,” Wu Heng finally spoke. He stared straight out the window and silently said, “First figure out the number of guests. Try not to hurt the wrong people.”
“A’Heng, why aren’t you moving your mouth when you talk?!” Lin Mengzhi covered his ears. “But I can still hear your voice. What’s going on?”
“You’re my vassals now. If I want you to know what I’m thinking, I don’t necessarily have to speak it aloud,” Wu Heng replied, still looking outside.
“Whoa—” Only then did Lin Mengzhi notice something strange about Wu Heng’s gaze. It was far too exposed—like a male lion crouched in the grass, staring at its prey. “What are you looking at?”
“At the feudal remnants outside, of course,” Xue Qi said, taking a sip of champagne after speaking.
Wu Heng didn’t answer. He was watching the humans outside whose silhouettes swayed as they chatted and laughed. At the same time, he was smelling the alluring scent coming from their bodies—flesh stimulated by the insect queen, their spirits invigorated and fragrant. And there were also the poppy plants that had quietly climbed all over the railing, now poised eagerly to leap toward the nearby humans.
The boy was full.
But it was hungry.
X was the first to sense that something was wrong with its master. It suddenly took a large step to the side, nearly knocking Dou Lu flying.
“Brother Fork, what are you doing?” Dou Lu was shoved straight into Ruan Silian. With a bang, Ruan Silian’s body hit the wall. She groaned, clutching her stomach, unable to straighten up for a long while.
“A’Ruan, are you okay?! You dumb bird!!” Dou Lu roared while supporting Ruan Silian, who was sweating from the pain.
However, her anger faded quickly. Instead, she held Ruan Silian and leaned in to sniff the thickest blood vessel in her neck.
“A’Ruan, you smell so good.”
Hearing that, Wu Heng finally came back to his senses a little. He slowly shifted his gaze and looked thoughtfully at Dou Lu, who was rubbing against Ruan Silian while sniffing her.
“I forgot something. The poppy plant’s diet is living humans. It hasn’t had a proper meal in a long time.”
“So…” Xue Zhi, slightly quicker than the others, was the first to react.
Ying Liuquan was second. His face, as usual whenever something unexpected happened, immediately turned pale. “If the mutated plant wants to eat people… then we’ll also want to eat people.”
“So…” Xue Zhi now realized that Dou Lu clinging to Ruan Silian and sniffing her wasn’t because their relationship had suddenly gotten closer—
She wanted to eat Ruan Silian.
Ruan Silian couldn’t break free. Dou Lu’s behavior—sniffing her like that—made her feel a chill run down her spine.
Fortunately, it was only an influence, not her true desire.
Lin Mengzhi yanked Dou Lu back from behind, landing two sharp punches against her back. Dou Lu immediately braced herself against the wall and retched.
“Ugh… I—ugh—”
Ruan Silian patted her back to help her breathe and calm down, worry etched on her face for Dou Lu and everyone else. “No… if the poppy plant stays hungry, A’Heng, you might be able to control it. But what if it just turns on the humans inside and eats them directly?”
“Everyone else had already eaten before tonight. It’s just that it’s hungry now while working—no wonder it’s complaining,” Xue Qi said, swallowing nervously without fully understanding why.
“A’Heng, was this the feeling when you used to eat like crazy?” Lin Mengzhi grabbed a handful of cold beef salad and shoved it into his mouth. It didn’t quench his anxiety at all and somehow felt like chewing mud.
“Much worse than this,” Wu Heng said. But now he could fully suppress the poppy plant, so it wasn’t nearly as chaotic as at the beginning.
“Here’s what we do,” Ruan Silian said softly, wiping Dou Lu’s mouth, her eyes calm and flowing like water. “First, feed the poppy plant until it’s full. Once it’s full, everything starts.”
Everyone understood what Ruan Silian meant by “feed it.” Except Wu Heng, the others hadn’t expected her thoughts to be so sharp and ruthless—so different from her gentle appearance.
Ruan Silian looked out the window and spotted the ridiculous-looking Team Leader Pi.
“He’s not that bad, is he? Then let’s start with him,” she said, unusually candid. After speaking, she turned back to the group and gave a gentle smile.
“A’Ruan…” Dou Lu quietly held the girl’s icy little finger from behind. “We’re the ones who should be protecting you. You don’t have to act strong, okay?”
Rarely, Wu Heng looked at Dou Lu the way he usually looked at Lin Mengzhi.
“It’s always been you protecting me, taking on all the most dangerous tasks,” Ruan Silian said, gently pushing Dou Lu away, tears glimmering in her eyes. “I want to do something for my friends this time. That man… if he can have multiple spouses, he probably accepts whoever comes.”
“A’Ruan! You’re crazy! He’s an ability user!”
“Do you think you’re in a state where you can control yourselves to do something?” Ruan Silian asked Dou Lu gently. Seeing Dou Lu freeze, she softened her tone even more: “This isn’t a test you can retake if you fail. I need this mission to be flawless. I want all of us to leave Hanzhou safely, without a single person left behind.”
“And if we fail… the class monitor and the class rep—they’ll be surrounded and attacked by tens of thousands of ability users.”
“Can’t I go?” Dou Lu asked anxiously.
Lin Mengzhi suppressed a laugh. “You… probably shouldn’t.”
Dou Lu: “?”
“Never mind,” Ying Liuquan stammered, “I’ll go. I’ll coax him over, let the mutated plant… take him.”
“You going is even worse.”
“Just grab anyone and let it eat them,” Xue Qi said, shaking his glass. His eyes flickered between green and blue, clearly showing the influence of the mutated plant.
“That won’t work,” Ying Liuquan said anxiously. “It’ll cause chaos, the queen insect will notice.”
“Even if it eats Team Leader Pi, the queen insect wouldn’t notice?”
Yang Yu shook his head. “As far as I know, Team Leader Pi hasn’t been planted with any gu.”
“I’ll go,” Wu Heng said, calmly wiping his hands on the curtain beside him. His eyes were downcast, his expression a mix of cold detachment and quiet submission. His gray-green eyes were like spring reeds swaying over the ocean—serene yet full of life. Once he decided, he turned to his incredulous teammates and said lightly, “Isn’t he… bi?”
“That’s a terrible idea,” Xue Qi said. “Old Xie will be furious. If he really gets mad, he’ll be harder to deal with than Ning Bizhen.”
“…True,” Wu Heng said, glancing at Ruan Silian, who visibly relaxed. “Then you should go. Thank you for your hard work.”