"Tree Infant? Isn't that a demon from Hell in European mythology?" I turned around, and Zhang Shuying stood not far away.
Next to Zhang Shuying, there was a man in a white tank top who worked in the fields.
The farmer's white tank top was all bloody and muddy, his dark skin covered in muscles, yet he was missing an arm.
Before Zhang Shuying could speak, the farmer beside him cursed angrily, "I told that Melon Lady not to keep that monster, but she insisted on keeping it! She even used the family savings to buy formula and wheat paste to feed it, raising it as her own child. Now look what has happened..."
Listening to the farmer's crimson eyes and his desperate cursing.
I was completely shocked. I couldn't imagine it at all!!
This family actually kept a... monster at home...
Weren't they afraid?
Indeed, this world is full of all sorts of people.
"Cough, cough, cough... It's just because I didn't feed it enough, that's why it suddenly acted this way... It's my fault..." the middle-aged woman on the ground suddenly spoke at length, making excuses for the Tree Infant.
Then she spat out blood, convulsed a few times on the ground, and lay still.
I didn't know what exactly was going on and wanted to check if she was breathing.
Yu Longting grabbed my wrist, "There's no saving her, she's gone. Don't look at her, okay?"
"Oh... oh..." I obediently looked away.
Yu Longting knew me too well, aware that I'm especially queasy about those bloody and horrific scenes.
"She's dead!! Woman, in the end, you've harmed others and yourself!" the farmer cried out in both anger and sorrow.
Seeing the dead woman's husband, his chest heaving dramatically with emotion, it seemed he couldn't clearly express what exactly had happened.
So, I asked Zhang Shuying.
Zhang Shuying briefly explained.
The farmer's wife, while tending the field, had found an infant that looked like a tree root in the wheat field.
Moved by maternal instincts, she took it home to raise, though they were poor farmers.
Yet, the woman even dipped into their savings to buy a lot of formula to feed it.
Her husband was against this, but could not overcome his wife's persistence.
The monster today, triggered by who knows what, suddenly started attacking people, and the farmer had his arm bitten off and escaped to seek help.
Zhang Shuying, in a lazy tone, made the process sound very succinct, described it in just a few words, then sighed, "This thing probably came with someone's luggage from abroad. For thousands of years, I've never seen anything like it recorded in any ancient text."
I listened, bewildered, with involuntary images of gore flashing in my mind, desperately trying to banish these horrible thoughts, then asked Zhang Shuying, "So... are you going to deal with this?"
"How can I not deal with it? I've been running the sect here for over three years; Ancient Water Village always comes to me when there's trouble. If we don't find that Tree Infant, more people will die."
Zhang Shuying withdrew the Money Sword and used the end of it to scratch his back, "Snake Lord, since you're here, and with your wife, why don't you both lend a hand?"
"I don't want to help." Yu Longting clearly didn't want to get involved with anything related to Zhang Shuying, just when I thought he was going to take me away, I saw a wicked smile curl on Yu Longting's lips, "But that thing scared my wife, and I need to kill it to avenge her. If you want to help me, you can."
"How is that different?" I couldn't understand; wasn't it all about us working together to deal with that cruel Tree Infant?
Zhang Shuying clicked his tongue and walked outside the farmhouse, "Of course, it's different. If it weren't for Snake Lord bringing this up, anyone else daring to compete with me for the lead, I'd kill him!"
I remained silent; oh, the deadly competitiveness of men!
"Eh? Miss Su Wan, why are you... here?" Bearded Man saw me and looked surprised.
Uncle Zhong saw me and was calm, "Probably also noticed something odd about the village and came along with Snake Lord to investigate."