Pu Xin stared at the faint green liquid before her, which emitted a gentle fragrance, and fell into deep thought.
She really wanted… really wanted to stick her feet into it and soak them for a while.
She glanced sideways at Su Kai. The restless eagerness in her eyes instantly put him on high alert. He forced an awkward yet polite smile.
“M-Madam, are you tired? Would you like some dessert? The young master likes cherry pudding, walnut milk, and chocolate mousse the most. Would you like to try some?”
Ever since Pu Xin had tasted various fruit juices, she had become full of longing for human food. However, the sweet-smelling plant nutrient solution in front of her also seemed rather appealing…
“Su Kai, what are you doing over there?”
A large group of people approached from the other side of the garden. When Lu Jinyu saw Su Kai standing beside the ageless pine tree, she frowned and asked.
Su Kai was Lu Bieling’s adjutant, and the two were almost inseparable. If he was in the garden, did that mean Lu Bieling was here as well?
The women instantly grew excited upon realizing this. Those willing to come to the Lu residence to flatter Lu Jinyu more or less harbored fantasies of becoming her sister-in-law. Their greatest rival, Fang Zhiren, had not appeared today. This was the perfect opportunity.
Su Kai frowned slightly. Out of respect for his superior’s family, he spoke politely.
“Miss Lu, this is not a place you should be.”
Lu Bieling usually turned a blind eye to Lu Jinyu occasionally inviting guests to the Marshal’s residence. After all, he was rarely home, and Lu Xunzhi had entered military academy at fourteen and seldom returned either. But Lu Jinyu had no authority to bring people into this section of the garden or the buildings behind it.
Thinking of what had happened earlier in the parking lot, Su Kai’s brows knitted tighter.
Over the years, the old rules seemed to have been treated as nonexistent, to the point that even the guards in the residence hesitated when the young master gave orders.
His blunt words made Lu Jinyu feel humiliated. Years of carefree living had long made her forget her proper place. With a cold face she said, “What part of this place can’t I go to?”
Her retort sounded bold, but there was a trace of guilt in her heart. The estate was huge, and she could access many areas. Over time she had even begun entering gardens that had once been off-limits. At present, the only place she had not stepped into was the administrative district behind the garden that belonged to Lu Bieling.
Of course, that place was important, and she would not recklessly intrude and embarrass herself.
Su Kai swept a glance across the group of women behind her, his tone turning colder.
“The Marshal has an honored guest today. Please take your friends and leave.”
The matter of the attempted assassination of Madam had not yet been resolved. If he had known Lu Jinyu would bring people barging into this garden, he would never have agreed to let Pu Xin come here.
Lu Jinyu immediately noticed the words of the honored guest. She was about to ask who had arrived when she suddenly spotted Pu Xin behind the gardening robot.
Raising her brows, she let out a mocking laugh.
“The honored guest you’re talking about wouldn’t be her, would it? Lu Xunzhi refuses discipline and always goes against the family, and you indulge him too? Father has already arranged a fiancée for him. Could he stop bringing random strays back here to embarrass us?”
Lu Bieling was the son of Old Master Lu’s elder brother. After losing his parents at a young age, he had been raised by Old Master Lu and eventually became the pride of the entire Lu family. Whether elders or siblings, everyone regarded him with pride.
Old Master Lu had always been accustomed to having the final say at home. Out of respect, Lu Bieling rarely opposed him, and the old man also knew that the Lu family depended on Lu Bieling. The two had a tacit understanding not to interfere with each other.
But more than twenty years ago, after disappearing for a year, Lu Bieling suddenly returned with a child in his arms and stubbornly refused to reveal the identity of the child’s mother. The relationship between the two sides grew somewhat strained.
Still, after returning, Lu Bieling not only reclaimed his position as Marshal but advanced even further, gaining greater military authority. Old Master Lu could only turn a blind eye to Lu Xunzhi’s existence. In the past year or two he had even begun planning a marriage alliance between him and another family.
Since the matter had never been brought directly before Lu Bieling, he pretended not to know. Lu Xunzhi held little affection for the rest of the Lu family, and when Lu Bieling was absent he rarely returned home, naturally ignoring Old Master Lu’s schemes.
Su Kai’s expression darkened as he listened to Lu Jinyu’s arrogant and rude remarks.
“Miss Lu, mind your attitude. Madam was personally invited by the Marshal. You have no right to question it. And please watch your language. Don’t curse in the street like a shrew.”
Su Kai was Lu Bieling’s most loyal supporter. He carried out his orders without fail and had personally witnessed Lu Xunzhi’s favoritism toward Pu Xin. Naturally, he defended her.
Their quarrel interrupted Pu Xin’s thoughts. She raised her head unhappily and looked at Lu Jinyu for a moment.
“Why are you also using Devil Flower saliva? And you’ve used so much. Your face will rot.”
Lu Jinyu had applied at least twice as much Devil Flower secretion as Fang Zhiren, and it had clearly been used for a long time. Her skin appeared pale, but upon closer inspection it lacked any natural luster.
Devil Flower saliva worked by draining the user’s vitality to create surface radiance. The life force in Lu Jinyu’s facial skin was already nearly depleted. Continued use would not beautify her further. Instead, sores and decay would begin to appear.
Pu Xin’s sudden remark immediately angered Lu Jinyu.
“What nonsense are you talking about? What Devil Flower? Saliva? That’s disgusting!”
Pu Xin blinked in surprise.
“If you don’t know, then what’s on your face? It looks like…”
She paused mid-sentence, tilting her head in puzzlement. Her gaze landed on a certain woman in the crowd. She stared at her for two seconds before asking,
“Your hand looks strange. Why does it have a Devil Flower’s mouth?”
The moment those words were spoken, every woman present felt a chill run down her spine. Whether Pu Xin was telling the truth or not, they instinctively moved away from the woman she was staring at.
Su Kai, meanwhile, immediately stepped in front of Pu Xin without hesitation.
The isolated woman looked around blankly at the friends who had just been laughing with her. Finally she looked toward Pu Xin, who was trying to peer out from behind Su Kai.
“W-What are you talking about? What Devil Flower mouth? My hand is perfectly normal.”
As if to prove her innocence, she raised her hand and showed the smooth, flawless palm and back of it. There was nothing on it at all, much less a mouth.
The surrounding women instantly relaxed. Thinking Pu Xin was exaggerating, Lu Jinyu strode over, grabbed the woman’s wrist, and lifted her hand high.
“Su Kai, she’s insane. Why haven’t you thrown her out yet? Devil Flower? I’ve never even heard of it. And saying someone has a mouth on her hand. Who is she trying to scare?”
Facing the questioning gazes around her, Pu Xin remained unmoved. She simply watched the woman’s hands. Her gaze was soft and harmless, yet the woman’s hands suddenly began to tremble.
Realizing something was wrong, the woman tried to hide them behind her back, but it was too late.
The previously smooth white palm suddenly split open with a red crack. A scarlet tongue slowly pushed its way out. Transparent fluid dripped from it, falling to the ground with wet plops.
“Ahhhhh!” Piercing screams echoed through the entire garden.
Lu Jinyu stood closest to the woman. When the crimson tongue extended outward, its damp tip brushed across Lu Jinyu’s finger. The sticky sensation terrified her out of her wits. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the spot.
Seeing that her disguise could no longer hold, the woman extended her own newly crimson tongue and licked her lips. She glanced disdainfully at the unconscious Lu Jinyu on the ground, then fixed Pu Xin with the gaze of a predator.
Her voice became hoarse and viscous.
“How did you see through it?”
She believed her disguise had been flawless. These women had known her for years and had never noticed anything strange.
Pu Xin was probably the only one present who was not frightened by her… an alien species.
She answered obediently, “Devil Flowers are greedy. Greedy things drool. But their saliva is smelly and disgusting.”
The implied meaning was essentially—You smell.
The blunt explanation made the woman tremble with rage. Yet Pu Xin continued to lean out from behind Su Kai with an innocent expression.
“You’re not an alien species, so why do you have a Devil Flower’s mouth?”
Pu Xin asked seriously, as if she genuinely expected an answer.
The woman chuckled hoarsely.
“Your scent is sweet… You must taste good.”
Her drawn-out tone was sticky and horrifying. A faint chewing sound seemed to come from nowhere, making the hair on one’s neck stand up. Su Kai grabbed the energy gun at his waist and sent out an emergency distress signal.
Besides hybrids born from humans and alien species, there existed another strange group known as demi-humans.
Demi-humans were a secondary race formed when incomplete human genes underwent mutation.
They possessed human traits while retaining characteristics of alien species or insectoids. The earliest demi-humans appeared when alien species or insectoids devoured humans but failed to assimilate human genes, producing grotesque hybrid creatures.
They were not recognized by any nation and eventually gathered spontaneously in the chaotic asteroid belt of space.
Most demi-humans retained human intelligence but harbored deep hatred toward humanity. They were also extremely powerful in combat. The demi-human before him carried Devil Flower genes and radiated a formidable aura. Su Kai was uncertain he could defeat her.
The tongue in the woman’s palm stretched longer and longer. The edges of her lips turned crimson, and red petals began forcing their way out from between them. As the petals grew larger, they fanned outward like a palm leaf.
She reveled in the release of her power. Other parts of her body slowly swelled, her expression twisted and ferocious.
Gray-black roots spread from her feet and burrowed into the ground. The lush green lawn was crushed aside, its roots exposed pitifully. Nearby, the gardening robot seemed to detect something and extended a massive pruning blade from its round belly.
The transformation from a beautiful woman to a grotesque monster took only a few seconds.
Ignoring the revolting sight, Su Kai calmly fired a shot at the Devil Flower’s disk.
The creature’s crimson tongue curled upward and wrapped around the energy bullet. Retracting the tongue, the flower disk chewed slowly. The energy shot vanished silently.
Instead of being injured, the Devil Flower seemed invigorated by swallowing the energy bullet. It greedily licked the flower disk with its tongue, waiting for the perfect moment to devour the sweet prey before it.
Su Kai found the situation difficult. Just as he prepared to fire again, his ankle suddenly tightened.
The Devil Flower had used a feint. At some point its roots had spread beneath his feet and wrapped around his legs.
The enormous force prevented him from breaking free. Small barbed hooks even protruded from the roots, attempting to pierce through his military boots.
Su Kai calmly drew the short dagger at his waist to cut the roots when a pale foot suddenly entered his field of vision.
Pu Xin had slipped her little white shoes back on after soaking her feet by the pond earlier. Now she casually stepped on the Devil Flower’s roots.
The bright softness of her white foot contrasted sharply with the black-yellow ugliness of the roots.
Su Kai froze.
Pu Xin lazily pressed down with her heel and gave the roots a few perfunctory stomps. The gathered strength within them seemed to suffer a sudden heavy blow and instantly collapsed.
The roots wrapped around Su Kai’s calves recoiled as if violently stimulated, fleeing in panic.
Before Su Kai could fully process what had happened, the woman who had transformed into a monster began trembling violently. Her mouth opened as though she wanted to say something, but only hoarse noises escaped.
Pu Xin disliked ugly sights. She turned her head away in distaste, then raised her slender fingers and began secretly counting something. When she lost track halfway through, she shook her head in annoyance.
“Which generation of Ghost Ghost’s descendants are you? How did you inherit none of her aesthetics? You eat everything and end up growing so ugly.”
The speechless woman trembled even harder. For some reason the roots she had embedded in the ground all pulled themselves out, completely beyond her control. They even began carefully tidying up the lawn she had just ruined.
Su Kai was nearly stunned by the scene. He forced his jaw closed again and looked at Pu Xin with deep awe.
Demi-humans had lost their beautiful appearances but possessed terrifying combat strength. Even Su Kai, who had survived countless battles and was considered a prime target by the insectoids, could not guarantee victory against a demi-human mutated from being devoured by a violent-type alien.
He had heard that Pu Xin had calmed a violent-type alien with just a few sentences. He had thought it an exaggeration or assumed she used some trick. Now that he saw it with his own eyes, he was completely convinced.
When Lu Xunzhi rushed over after receiving the emergency signal, he saw Pu Xin directing the gardening robot to trim the roots… and the tongue… of the half-human, half-Devil-Flower demi-human.
“Trim over here too. I don’t know how long it’s been since you groomed yourself. You’re ugly enough to scare people.”
Within Devil’s Eye, alien species who caused trouble were treated harshly. Even the kindly Grandpa Cangshu would mercilessly smack them with his branches. Pu Xin rarely disciplined them, usually preferring to transform into a fluffy little ball and roll around in the grass.
Su Kai did not dare breathe too loudly. He cast Lu Xunzhi a meaningful look that said, As expected of your mom.
Lu Xunzhi approached Pu Xin with a complicated mood. After carefully checking her over and subtly guiding her a step back behind him, he coaxed softly,
“Are you tired from playing? Want some dragon fruit?”
Pu Xin was indeed getting bored. Upon seeing her little one, she immediately forgot about the Devil Flower being trimmed by the robot. She glanced at Su Kai beside her and secretly pulled Lu Xunzhi aside, lowering her voice mysteriously.
“Zhizhi, I want to soak my feet…”
Lu Xunzhi: “……”
“Didn’t you just soak them?” he said patiently, clearly indicating he already knew what she had been doing earlier.
Pu Xin wrinkled her nose guiltily, but quickly became self-righteous again. She glanced at the plant nutrient solution beside the flowerbed, stood on tiptoe, and whispered into Lu Xunzhi’s ear,
“I want to soak them in that…”
It smelled sweet and fragrant. Perfect for soaking.
Following her gaze, Lu Xunzhi realized she meant the plant nutrient solution. His expression grew even stranger.
So she didn’t want water, she wanted a nutrient solution. However, the solutions here were ordinary. The ones used for the rare flowers in the glass greenhouse nearby should be better.
He bent down and whispered something into Pu Xin’s ear.
Her eyes lit up immediately, and she nodded vigorously.
Lu Xunzhi soon led Pu Xin away. Su Kai finally let out a long breath. After cleaning up the meek Devil Flower demi-human, he ordered people to send the unconscious Lu Jinyu, who reeked terribly from being drenched in Devil Flower saliva, back to the Lu residence. Then he thoroughly purged the entire Marshal’s residence from top to bottom.
Within just a few hours, the staff of the residence had been completely replaced, and every location inside had been carefully inspected.
After receiving Su Kai’s report, Lu Bieling went to find Lu Xunzhi. Inside the glass greenhouse in the garden, he saw two heads huddled together as if conspiring over something. Rare curiosity stirred in him, and he walked in with his hands behind his back.
One minute later—
Marshal Lu Bieling: “……………………”
Pu Xin happily splashed her feet in the nutrient solution and invited him,
“Zhizhi’s dad, do you want to come soak your feet too?”
The plant nutrient solution beside them had been completely poured out. The light green liquid flowed inside a small flower pool. All the flowers had been removed, and two pairs of feet, two big and two small, were lined up neatly together.
Lu Xunzhi stiffly turned around and met Lu Bieling’s gaze, which was filled with pure shock.
Major Lu died socially on the spot.