Black Glasses moved swiftly.
In fact, he had initially planned to slack off, digging the roots slowly, but since Xie Yuchen had accelerated him with more money, Black Glasses had completely unearthed the root before Fatty could even get comfortable.
The lower part of the root was extremely thick. After it was moved, the blocked exit beneath it was clearly revealed.
"Good heavens, this thing really knows how to grow. If it were out in the open, it'd be a gold-medal resident!"
Fatty was still sitting on the humanoid jar. Without the root, a large hole appeared at the bottom of the jar. The liquid inside, along with some unidentifiable small organs, gushed out from the hole and spilled all over the ground.
As the contents of its belly were emptied, the humanoid jar's struggling force gradually weakened, and it finally became completely still.
Wu Tianzhen circled around to its head and took a look. The swollen skull, which had been filled with Yin energy, now caved inward like a deflated, rotten pufferfish. The two bulging eyes, covered in veins, floated out of their sockets and, like water from a flushing toilet, flowed out through the large hole.
"Damn, that's truly disgusting!" Fatty looked at the mess at his feet and couldn't help but make a suffocating expression.
These organs had likely been soaked for a long time. The moment they were exposed to the air, they emitted an indescribable odor. Fatty had accidentally inhaled some of it and almost left this beautiful world on the spot.
The viscous liquid slowly flowed along the ground. Just as it was about to reach the entrance, a sword energy shot from afar, drawing a deep沟壑 between the entrance and the liquid.
The liquid slowly flowed into the沟壑, finally managing to keep the entrance clean and tidy.
Zhang Qiling, who had snapped out of his daze, walked over with his saber, receiving an appreciative glance from the clean Xiao Hua.
Wu Tianzhen was quite interested in the humanoid jar. Although it now stank to high heaven, he, driven by his passion for scientific research, managed to withstand the olfactory assault and moved closer to the jar for a closer look.
He had just been examining its arm, which had been removed by Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua, two ferocious beasts. The arm was incredibly heavy, and Wu Tianzhen couldn't budge it even with all his strength. So, he had to settle for examining its sharpness.
He took out a dagger and lightly scratched the pointed finger of the humanoid jar. With a sharp "zi la" sound, the dagger was deeply scored.
Wu Tianzhen: ...Holy cow!
It was clear that this humanoid jar was a powerful and ominous weapon. Its creator had likely placed it here with the intention of protecting the entrance to the forbidden land.
However, the humanoid jar had just been beaten to the ground by Hua, Hei, Zhang, and Fatty, as if they were beating up kindergarten children.
Wu Tianzhen: (to the creator) It's not your fault. You tried your best, you were great, but unfortunately, you encountered a group of non-humans.
With these thoughts, Wu Tianzhen focused his attention on the swollen skull. But just as he was taking out his notebook to meticulously record relevant knowledge points, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the skull suddenly twitch inside its black outer shell!
The pale, sunken facial skin slapped against the inner wall with a "poof" sound.
Wu Tianzhen was startled. He instinctively wanted to kick it away, but remembering its hardness, he stopped himself just at the edge of his kick, thus saving his toes.
Looking closer, he then realized the problem.
The facial skin of this human skull violently trembled, like a layer of wet window paper. Something inside was hitting the skin and flesh repeatedly, then bursting through the skin with a "poof" to reveal its true form—
It was a thin, small tentacle, likely detached from the root of the Renmian Dou.
Now that the Renmian Dou was completely dead, this small tentacle, unable to touch soil, probably wouldn't live much longer. It thrashed around in the jar like a headless fly, as if it were a prisoner who knew its doom was sealed.
"The thing in this jar can no longer be called blood; it's more like a rotten corpse fluid," Xie Yuchen's voice suddenly sounded.
"Perhaps the Renmian Dou's transformation isn't limited to obtaining blood."
Wu Tianzhen looked up and saw that Xie Yuchen had, at some point, also come to the side of the humanoid jar, his gaze fixed on the small tentacle swimming in the liquid.
Wu Tianzhen suddenly realized something. He looked down again and indeed found a barely perceptible small bulge on the tentacle, which appeared to be a Renmian Dou that hadn't fully emerged.
"...My blood can temporarily seal it."
Zhang Qiling said indifferently, his expression calm, as if revealing his uniqueness to Xie Yuchen was not a big deal.
Although he had just detoxified Wu Tianzhen, Xie Yuchen had not said a word at that time.
Xie Yuchen had even avoided looking at him, focusing intently on the panel in his hands. He didn't want to pry into others' secrets and knew that exposing this matter to untrustworthy people would be dangerous.
He had initially intended to forget about it, but Zhang Qiling's action now made it impossible for him to remain an outsider.
"Ha." Xie Yuchen chuckled, momentarily unsure how to respond.
Such sincerity and trust were rare for him, and he truly needed Zhang Qiling's help at this moment.
So, in the end, he didn't say any more superfluous words.
"Then thank you."
The group worked together to smash open the humanoid jar and pulled out the small tentacle from a swollen heart.
Zhang Qiling removed the band-aid from his hand, and a drop of blood, like fine blood jade, dripped from his fingertip onto the tentacle.
The tentacle, which had been writhing and struggling like a parasite, instantly quieted down. Wu Tianzhen picked up some soil from the ground and carefully wrapped it around the tentacle, keeping it alive for a period of time.
"It's time to change the band-aid for Brother Xiao. It was all chaotic just now, and the old one isn't even sticking properly anymore."
Wu Tianzhen said with a reassuring smile, taking out a new band-aid from his pocket and applying it to Zhang Qiling. Then he turned to Xie Yuchen:
"Xiao Hua, you keep this. It's okay, we'll always support you."
Xie Yuchen nodded and silently put the tentacle into his embrace.
...With this tentacle, he could identify the deceased based on the Renmian Dou on it.
...And better, find Xie Lianhuan.
If he was truly dead.