"…this human-faced bean could transform into a person's likeness by feeding on human blood. This was not mentioned in any books."
Wu Tianzhen squatted down and carefully picked up a stunned human-faced bean through a layer of clothing.
The human-faced bean bore the face of a middle-aged man, looking somewhat weathered. It appeared incredibly lifelike, and with its eyes closed, it resembled a real person.
He was about to say more when he was suddenly interrupted by Fatty.
Fatty had already taken countless photos with his optical computer. Hearing Wu Tianzhen's muffled speech, he almost burst out laughing.
"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!" He slapped Wu Tianzhen's shoulder repeatedly, nearly causing Xiao Wu to fall face-first onto the ground. "Tianzhen, please, I'm begging you, can you just stop talking for now, hahahaha!"
"If Fatty here dies of laughter prematurely, what will happen to the large sum of money that Hua Ye painstakingly prepared, hahahahaha!"
Wu Tianzhen: ...?
A breath was held in his chest, finally condensing into a gentle smile filled with brotherly affection.
Although Zhang Qiling had rescued him in time and disinfected Wu Tianzhen's punctured face with his Qilin blood, the damage caused by the human-faced bean could not be erased.
…Under the needling skill of the human-faced bean, comparable to Rong Mama, Wu Tianzhen's face was now as swollen as a dog stung by a bee.
"Xiao Ge!!!" Wu Tianzhen glared at Fatty, trying to get some of the dwindling brotherly affection from Xiao Zhang.
He looked over with his round, swollen face and then watched as the usually expressionless Zhang Qiling stared at him and slowly curved his lips.
Wu Tianzhen: ?????
"Quick, quick, quick, secure the prisoner!" That detestable little black guy chose this moment to reappear and assert his presence.
Hei Yanjing, with a sincere expression, handed the Rong Mama-like human-faced bean to the victim, Xiao Wu. The bean, now suppressed by a smear of blood applied by Zhang Qiling, shed its facial features and returned to its original smooth, bean-like appearance.
Wu Tianzhen stared blankly at the apprehended bean in his hand. He saw that the human-faced bean was now bound and gagged by an unknown person (Hei Yanjing), with a thin grass stem mockingly attached to its rear as a criminal tag.
With a "click," another photo, destined to become a classic, was taken. Fatty and Hei Yanjing huddled together, laughing heartily, completely forgetting their past heroic affection with Wu Tianzhen!
"Alright, you rest for a bit. This kind of swelling does need time to heal." Fortunately, there was still a "proper person," Xie Yuchen, who gently soothed Xiao Wu's heart, which was on the verge of tears.
"We've understood what you were saying," Xie Yuchen continued Wu Tianzhen's unfinished words. "This human-faced bean can change its facial skin according to human blood. The appearance of this bean in your hand now proves that their initial form is a smooth sphere."
"Then, for this batch of human-faced beans that have already transformed into various forms, we don't know how much human blood they have actually absorbed."
After Wu Tianzhen discovered the problem, Xie Yuchen had already carefully examined all the human-faced beans present. He did not find the appearance of any missing clan members recorded in the family archives, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
However, this did not alleviate even a sliver of the human-faced bean tree's malevolence.
The group turned their gaze towards what was revealed inside the split trunk of the human-faced bean tree. After the commotion, the dust in that area had slowly settled, revealing a clear form.
Deep within the tree trunk, there was actually a paper effigy!
At first glance, the human-shaped figure was incredibly pale, with paper-like creases, as if made from a thick, white paper.
On the head, with its angular features defined by the creases, a large, crudely drawn smiling face was painted with some kind of pigment. The dark red lips looked incredibly eerie.
"Holy crap, what kind of infernal thing is this?!" Fatty felt as if the fox-like eyes of this thing were staring directly at him, and he couldn't help but spit to ward off bad luck.
"By the way, Xiao Ge, that thing, did Zhang Haike give you something that can maintain a signal in the forbidden area?"
Fatty's sudden question made Zhang Qiling, who was meticulously examining the infernal paper effigy, pause. He lowered his eyes and thought carefully before finally remembering that Zhang Haike had indeed given him a device.
The device was currently in his pocket, squeezed among Xie Yuchen's white cloth and various other peculiar small items, appearing quite insignificant.
He fumbled through his pocket and handed the device to Fatty.
Fatty had initially wanted to carefully study how to open this high-tech-looking gadget, but after a thorough inspection, he realized that the thing was already in an open state.
This was definitely not opened by Xiao Zhang. It was likely that Zhang Haike had given it to Xiao Zhang after activating the device.
Keeping a signal-maintained device constantly open was a complete waste of energy. He didn't believe Zhang Haike wouldn't know this, but Fatty thought about it carefully and then understood Zhang Haike's intentions.
…This old fellow probably knew that his descendant was unwilling to deal with these things, so he directly handled all the details for him, allowing Zhang Qiling to use it immediately.
Fatty: Good heavens, with such strong reserve energy, it would probably take a considerable amount of time to study.
He clicked his tongue twice, marveling at Zhang Haike's thoughtful consideration, and then arrogantly taped the equipment directly onto his optical computer.
Instantly, the optical computer, which had been experiencing intermittent signal loss, became vibrant and lively, as if it had returned to its prime.
Then, Fatty even more arrogantly played a song called "Good Fortune Comes."
Wu Tianzhen, unable to speak: ?????
Under the festive sound of "Good Fortune Comes," the pale paper effigy suddenly seemed to be in a joyous atmosphere of the New Year. It no longer looked infernal; in fact, it even appeared benevolent, as if about to give out red envelopes.
Paper Effigy: ...You'd better sleep with one eye open tonight (smile).