Chapter 27

It's amazing! It sprouted.

It will sprout.

It has sprouted.

It's sprouting.

———So why on earth would he, a human being, sprout!!!

Yu Tu looked at the small sprout above his head on the screen. Under Yu Tu's gaze, it swayed happily back and forth, as if doing a set of radio gymnastics.

After it stopped swinging, Yu Tu suddenly felt thirsty. He grabbed the mineral water on the small table beside the bed and drank half a bottle, but the dry mouth feeling still existed.

Yu Tu: “……?”

He sat on the bed and pondered for a while, then poured a small bottle of water and, using the front camera of his mobile phone, poured the bottle of water over his head.

As soon as the water poured on it, I felt a cool feeling right in the middle of my head. It is no exaggeration to say that it was like a cat inhaling catnip, with a kind of intoxicating sobriety.

The good news: It’s the right approach.

Bad news: The young sprouts on his head still need watering.

Yu Tu's face was dull.

Is he still a human? I've never heard of humans sprouting!

Perhaps sensing Yu Tu's disbelief, the young buds on top of its head, which had been green and upright just now, suddenly "snapped" and bent forward. The edges of the green color began to turn burnt yellow, and it looked unhealthy and about to die.

“Don’t, don’t die!”

Yu Tu was instantly in a panic. Although he didn't know what this sprout was, he felt that he must not let it go under the circumstances. He still hadn't figured out the mystery of why he sprouted!

Yu Tu poured another bottle cap of water on his head. The young buds were still wilted, without the vitality they had just now.

Yu Tu felt the situation was getting tricky, and to make matters worse, he heard the sound of the doorknob being turned.

Yu Tu: “!!!”

Frightened, Yu Tu turned around and met the person who opened the doorknob with a horrified look—it was an old lady wearing a nurse's uniform with faint white hair on her head.

Yu Tu's first reaction was to cover his head with both hands and hold the tender sprout in his palms.

"Don't move your hands when you wake up!" The old lady took a few steps forward subconsciously when she saw Yu Tu's movements and shouted, "Put your hands down, the blood is coming back!"

Yu Tu realized belatedly that the back of his hand felt a little painful, but the thing on top of his head was even more deadly!

I heard it, but I refused to do it.JPG

The old lady walked quickly to his side and tried to pull his hands off. During the stalemate between Yu Tu and her, he accidentally slapped the bud on his head, and the pain made him burst into tears: "I don't--ooh!"

The old lady saw his tears falling, and hesitantly withdrew her hand slowly. She coaxed Yu Tu like a child: "Okay, okay, I won't pull your hand anymore. But you have to remove the needle after the medicine is injected. Your hand will swell when the blood is restored. Be good."

Yu Tu: QAQ

His toes were already scratching in the air out of embarrassment, but he really didn't dare let anyone see the sprout growing on his head!

The old lady has worked in this hospital, which is a special state institution, for more than 20 years. She has treated all kinds of patients and seen many strange injuries. Although she still doesn't know why some patients' symptoms look so strange after so many years, this does not prevent her from keeping the secret firmly in her heart.

Most of the people who can enter this hospital are those who have made contributions to maintaining national stability. Looking at Yu Tu, who is about the same age as her grandson, the old grandmother understands the mentality of young children who sometimes value face above all else—she wonders what's wrong with his head?

She softened her voice and smiled kindly, "Can I just remove the needle for you without looking at your head?"

Yu Tu had already seen the blood flowing back from the IV tube. He hesitated for a while, then raised one hand to cover his head and stretched out the other hand with the needle in front of the old lady: "Okay, thank you."

The old lady kept her word and removed the needle for Yu Tu. She took out the medicine bottle hanging next to him without looking away, without even looking at his head. After she was done, she left.

After hearing the sound of the door closing, Yu Tu breathed a sigh of relief. He turned on the front camera of his phone again and began to observe the tender sprout above his head.

The buds that had just wilted were frightened and patted by him. Not only was they not damaged, but they became more energetic. But seeing Yu Tu looking at it, it shook its leaves and fell forward with a "snap". The edges of its leaves began to turn scorched again.

Yu Tu: “…”

What the hell is this?

Yu Tu sat in the single room, doubting his life, while on the other side, the dusty special team, accompanied by Gu Hongying, stepped into the hospital gate when the sun was setting.

After verifying their identities through facial recognition, they went to the floor where Yu Tu was. As soon as they stepped into the elevator, they heard the loudspeaker installed in the elevator start to ring—

"Captain Meng, please come to the nurse's station."

Meng Ziqiu: “……?”

He was a little confused, but he still pressed the intercom button in the elevator and replied "Received".

The group went to the nursing station first. The one on duty today was the old lady who had just been in Yu Tu's ward. When she saw them, she put down her pen with a smile.

"Captain Meng, I want to talk to you about the patient you brought in yesterday."

Meng Ziqiu's expression suddenly became serious: "What happened?"

Gu Hongying told them before that Yu Tu had woken up and sent them a message. Could something have happened again?

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal." The old lady looked kind, "I'm just reminding you to pay proper attention to the mental health of your team members."

Meng Ziqiu: “……?”

"You know, our hospital always admits some strange patients. What seems to be strange diseases to others are already common here." The old lady did not say it clearly, but just said, "If there is a minor problem on the top of your head, you should seek medical treatment immediately. Reputation is not as important as health."

Meng Ziqiu was even more confused. When they sent Yu Tu to the hospital, there was nothing wrong with Yu Tu's head! Could it be that there was some hidden danger that they didn't detect?

Meng Ziqiu thanked him politely, then walked towards Yu Tu's ward with a heavy heart.

After receiving a response from inside, Meng Ziqiu pushed the door open first, and then—his words got stuck in his throat.

Yu Tu had a towel wrapped around his head, sitting on the bed with a dazed look on his face, as if he had suffered a major blow.

Gu Hongying poked his head out from behind Meng Ziqiu and asked the question that everyone else was wondering: "Tu Tu, why do you wrap a towel around your head?"

Yu Tu turned around and tried to give a polite smile, but found that he couldn't smile.

"If Hongying hasn't mentioned us to you, let me introduce myself first." Meng Ziqiu did not approach Yu Tu rashly. He could feel that from the moment he opened the door, the child on the bed was extremely nervous, with all his muscles tensed, proving that he was quite alert.

"I'm Meng Ziqiu, the leader of Special Team 7 under the name of the Special Department." He said, "This is Lu Yayin, and this is Qin Fei. We are both here for the D-level mission [Blood Wedding Dress]."

"You are clearly proving your official identity to put people at ease, but how do you manage to make bystanders feel pressured as soon as you open your mouth?" Qin Fei complained, and took over the conversation for the taciturn Meng Ziqiu, "Yu Tu - I'll just call you Tu Tu like Hongying."

He smiled and half of his body was exposed, looking very friendly: "Tu Tu, don't be nervous, if you have any problems, tell us and we can solve them together. The world inside is not as scary as you think, don't worry."

Yu Tu looked at the four people standing at the door. Perhaps they sensed his nervousness, so no one approached him. Yu Tu cleared his throat and tried to suppress the trembling in his voice: "I have a question."

Four pairs of eyes looked at him at the same time.

Yu Tu: "If you encounter citizens who obey the law and live honestly but are not human, will you take them for experiments?"

Meng Ziqiu: “……?”

Qin Fei: “???”

Lu Yayin: “???”

Gu Hongying: “???!”

"We are an official organization, not an illegal den." Qin Fei was amused by his question. "As long as the non-human race abides by the law, they also have human rights!"

"Not lying?"

This time it was Meng Ziqiu, who seemed silent, steady, serious and reliable, who answered: "I don't lie."

Yu Tu pulled down the towel on his head hesitantly: "I have something to say - I seem to have sprouted."

"It's no big deal." Qin Fei didn't react at first, "Isn't it just sprouting?!"

His head suddenly twisted 90 degrees, and then he saw a wilted little sprout on the head of the boy who was sitting on the bed in a hospital gown with a well-behaved face.

Three minutes later——

Qin Fei: "Fuck! It's a real bud!"

Lu Yayin: "Let me take a picture and identify it!"

Gu Hongying: "Slow, Slow Sheep?!"

Yu Tu: ...

Life is worthless dead fish eyes.JPG

Among the four people, only the captain Meng Ziqiu remained reliable and reassuring after encountering such an unexpected change: "Wait a moment, I will contact the elders of the grass and wood tribe."

Yu Tu was surrounded by three other people. Seeing how excited they were and not afraid at all, he actually felt strangely relaxed, as if he had given up everything.

Anyway, no matter what happens, it can't be worse than it is now, right?

Lu Yayin's thousand-degree consciousness map has produced results. She glanced at her phone, then at the top of Yu Tu's head, then at her phone, then at the top of Yu Tu's head again: "Pedicel, scales, axillary buds, fish leaves, true leaves..."

"Tu Tu," she said, "you seem like a tea tree spirit~"

Yu Tu didn't react yet, but the wilted bud above his head suddenly stood up, and the true leaves bent into the shape of an ear, making it look like it was eavesdropping openly.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on it, it fell back with a "snap", its edges burnt and dry, and continued to play dead.

Everyone: “…”

How come it is so popular among people?

Yu Tu had reshaped his worldview in the afternoon, so being judged as a suspected tea tree did not shock him more: "Can you tell my variety?"

"I may not be able to do it." Lu Yayin shook her head, "I have never seen a cub of the Grass Clan in my life."

She turned around for help: "Boss——"

Meng Ziqiu pushed his glasses and said, "The growth period of the young of the Grass Clan is very long. It takes many years for them to transform from their true form into a human form. Before they can completely transform into humans, they have no power to protect themselves, and the clan will not let them out."

Under Lu Yayin's expectant gaze, he paused and said, "So I haven't seen it either."

Meng Ziqiu comforted him: "But don't worry, Yu Tu. Regardless of whether you are human or not, the situation you imagined will not happen."

Yu Tu breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was still a little scared, at least he was not panicking anymore.

Taking the attention away from himself, Yu Tu turned his attention to another matter: "Mr. Meng, I want to ask An Jiajia and Ying Ling, how are they?"

Meng Ziqiu didn't answer right away. He stared at Yu Tu for a while, until the little bud on his head couldn't help but lift a leaf: "An Jiajia went crazy on New Year's Eve and almost took your life. Don't you hate her?"

"The ghosts on the seventh day will lose their minds. This cannot be entirely blamed on her, but it is definitely impossible to say that there is no negative emotion at all. As for hatred..." Yu Tu shook his head, "I don't hate her."

"She has been fighting against the inevitable law, and both she and I have done the best we can." Yu Tu said, "I bear the consequences of my choice at that time, and I don't blame others."

"So—" Meng Ziqiu asked, "are you going to forgive her?"

Yu Tu smiled and said, "He's not really dead, why are you harping on this?"

"We sent you to the hospital and examined you with special equipment," Meng Ziqiu said. "Your heart had already been exposed to deadly ghost energy. If you hadn't been lucky enough to meet a mysterious senior who saved you, you would be dead now."

He asked, "Even so, you don't hate it?"

Yu. The mysterious predecessor himself. Tu: "..."

"Don't rush to answer." Meng Ziqiu said, "Although An Jiajia didn't kill you, she seriously injured you, so she owes you karma."

"If you hate her, then after the D-rank mission is completely completed, we will send her to reincarnation to offset her debt to you; if you don't hate her, then the cause and effect between you will be cancelled, and she can go to the inner world to practice as a ghost cultivator." Meng Ziqiu spoke slowly, making every word very clear. "The meaning of the cause and effect being cancelled is that no matter what happens in the future, this matter will no longer be a constraint on her."

Without waiting for Meng Ziqiu to confirm with Yu Tu again, Yu Tu immediately said, "I choose the cause and effect cancellation."

"No need to confirm with me, I really don't hate you." Yu Tu asked back, "Do you need me to issue a letter of apology?"

Meng Ziqiu was stunned for a moment by his interruption, and then a rare smile appeared on his face.

He took out a folded piece of paper from his chest pocket and handed it to Yu Tu, who took it with a puzzled look on his face.

It's a rating scale.

The task column had a rating of D, the task name was [Blood Wedding Dress], the completion level was perfect, and the signer was... An Jiajia.

"The final process of the D-rank mission [Blood Wedding Dress] is finally complete!" Qin Fei was the first to cheer among the three people who had not dared to say a word since Meng Ziqiu started asking questions. He looked at Yu Tu's surprised expression and raised his eyebrows, "No way, no way, there must be someone who doesn't know that some missions are scored by the victims themselves, right?"

The degree of mission completion is divided into seven levels: perfect, excellent, good, acceptable, passable, average, and poor. No matter how difficult the mission is, few people can achieve the perfect level.

Just like a G-level mission that Gu Hongying had accepted before—helping an elderly family in Xingfu Community find their lost cat.

Gu Hongying did find the cat, but because he pulled out a tuft of the cat's fur in the process, the cat's anger was transmitted to Lingye. After Gu Hongying sent the cat back, Lingye directly judged it as passing the test and only got a pitiful 0.3 points.

While Yu Tu was staring at the score sheet, Lu Yayin retreated to the door and asked, "Why aren't you coming in yet?"

She said with a hint of sarcasm: "People are asking if I want to issue a letter of apology!"

After she finished speaking, a long while passed before the tightly closed door opened and a "person" walked in.

An Jiajia was no longer wearing the ugly red wedding dress. She had changed into a light purple skirt and was carrying a large bulging bag on her back. Although her face was pale and corpse spots could be vaguely seen on her body, she finally looked a bit like a girl.

She is not a daughter-in-law bought for tens of thousands of dollars for a ghost marriage. She is An Jiajia, she is just herself.

An Jiajia walked forward slowly, staring at Yu Tu with bloodshot eyes, her eyes filled with guilt: "I'm sorry..."

"I received your apology. The cause and effect are both cancelled." Yu Tu looked at her with a smile, "Congratulations on starting a new life."

He was sincerely blessing her. After going through so many ups and downs and hardships, An Jiajia finally welcomed her second rebirth. Her future was bright and every day would be better than the previous one.

While the two of them were talking, the bulging bag on An Jiajia's back kept moving. There was a bulge on the top and a concave on the left. There was a bulge on the bottom and a concave on the right, as if there was some restless living creature inside.

An Jiajia seemed to be alerted by the movement in the bag. She put the bag on the ground stiffly and unzipped it.

First a doll's paw popped out of the bag, then a pink bear's head appeared, and next to the bear was a cotton doll with two ponytails. The bag was full of bear dolls, bunny dolls, cotton dolls, and wooden figures. They grunted and used their hands and feet to crawl out of the bag.

Their movements were a bit stiff at first, but then they became more and more flexible. They climbed along the foot of the bed to Yu Tu's quilt, and then stumbled over to Yu Tu's body. Soon, Yu Tu's back, shoulders, and head were covered with all kinds of dolls.

Yu Tu: “!!!”

Help! I can't breathe!

"Ahem." Lu Yayin coughed lightly. "To bring the spirits out of the old building, it's not convenient to use living things as carriers, so I had to buy some dolls at the supermarket. Because they missed you a lot, I asked An Jiajia to bring them here together."

The furry doll squatted from the shoulders to the top of the head. In the center of Yu Tu's head, the wilted little bud curiously lifted a leaf, and the burnt edges disappeared like a miracle.

It looked at this and that, pushed away the cotton doll's hand, pushed away the bear doll's arm.

Now, it no longer pretended to be dead, but stood up straight again and began to move back and forth, looking lively and alert again.