22. Heretical Sect's Treachery

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"Mom, I want to spend 998 yuan to buy a catty of Phantom Squid Meat, which is a type of Exotic Beast Meat,"

"No problem, if you want to buy it, then buy it. When you bring it back, Mom will cook it for you."

In the video, Zhang Wanxin thought that Lin Zichen just wanted to eat the Phantom Squid Meat and agreed with a smile without thinking.

Although spending 1000 yuan per catty on meat is a bit extravagant for their ordinary family,

her son had always been sensible and had never wasted a penny. Now that he rarely wanted to buy something, as a mother, she would definitely agree.

After a brief chat, Lin Zichen quickly ended the video call.

Immediately after, he saw that Zhang Wanxin had transferred 2000 yuan to him via WeChat and sent a text message asking him to buy more and invite Qinghan and his family over for a meal.

Lin Zichen replied with a thank you to his mom and then turned to the clerk in front of him and said, "My mom has agreed to my purchase, please give me three catties of Phantom Squid Meat."

"Alright, I'll pack it up for you right now," the female clerk said enthusiastically with a smile.

A moment later.

Lin Zichen paid 2994 yuan and left with the three catties of well-packed Phantom Squid Meat.

On the road, Shen Qinghan couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you say you were just going to look at Exotic Beast Meat? Why did you suddenly buy it?"

"Because I wanted to buy it for you to eat."

"I don't believe that. It's obviously because you wanted to eat it," Shen Qinghan said, then remarked with amazement, "This Exotic Beast Meat costs 998 yuan per catty, it's really expensive, and I don't know what it tastes like."

Lin Zichen didn't speak anymore, worrying about whether or not to absorb the Phantom Squid Meat.

Originally, he planned to secretly buy some Phantom Squid Meat to absorb, but because he was a minor and couldn't buy it, he needed his parents' approval.

Now that his family knew he had bought Phantom Squid Meat, they were all waiting for him to bring it back to eat. How could he absorb it now?

Meat isn't like teeth; if the life source inside was absorbed, it would most likely go bad.

"It seems I can only absorb a little bit now, and later I will need to find someone to help me buy Exotic Beast Meat," he thought.

Lin Zichen silently reached into the bag to touch and absorb a small portion of the Phantom Squid Meat.

It wasn't much, just a small piece, about one liang in weight.

[You have absorbed a strand of "Phantom Squid" life source]

[Phantom Squid Compendium: 0.1%]

Absorbing one liang of meat yielded a 0.1% progress.

By this calculation, he would have to absorb 100 catties of meat to fill the compendium's progress bar to 100%.

And the price of Phantom Squid Meat was just 998 yuan per catty.

Which means by spending about 100,000 yuan, he could open the Phantom Squid compendium.

That amount wasn't too much to be unacceptable.

Lin Zichen decided to purchase Phantom Squid Meat for absorption in the future.

About the Exotic Beast Phantom Squid, he had seen an introduction in a book when he was very young.

He learned that this was a common low-level Exotic Beast that mainly lived in the ocean depths thousands of meters undersea, occasionally venturing into shallow waters to hunt for food.

Because it had a special ability to instantly dissolve in water and disappear, it seemed like a ghost, hence it was named Phantom Squid.

Also, because it was weak in shallow waters and there were plenty of them, making them easy to catch, they gradually became a food source for humans and were traded in various Exotic Beast markets.

"Instantly dissolving in water and disappearing? I hope I'll gain this ability after opening the compendium," Lin Zichen thought silently.

Having thought that, he took out the piece of meat from which he absorbed the life source, intending to find a trash can to throw it away.

After all, without its life source, the meat would surely have gone bad and needed to be discarded.

However, when he looked at the piece of meat he took out, he was surprised to find it hadn't gone bad!

It just seemed less fresh to him, perhaps just a psychological effect.

However, it didn't affect its edibility.

Lin Zichen was a bit baffled.

The life source had been absorbed, so why hadn't the meat gone bad?

What exactly is a life source?

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Could it be genes?

Or rather, are genes a kind of origin of life?

After all, the term "origin" does seem to have a broad scope.

Lin Zichen couldn't figure it out, so he decided to search for answers online.

He took out his phone, opened the browser, and with some anticipation, searched for "origin of life."

But he found nothing.

There was no such thing as the origin of life.

Forget it, no need to obsess over it, he thought; it's enough to know meat won't spoil after its origin of life is consumed.

Soon, Lin Zichen had devoured all the remaining Phantom Squid Meat.

Increasing the progress of the album he had opened to 3%.

After he finished, he and Shen Qinghan went down to the ordinary commercial area for a stroll.

Shen Qinghan saw a claw machine and was very fond of the dolls inside, not thinking twice before she started to play.

Clumsy yet enthusiastic about the game, she quickly spent twenty bucks without managing to grab a single doll.

Lin Zichen couldn't bear to watch anymore and decided to help her.

After only three tries, he was spot-on every time, grabbing three of her favourite dolls.

Time flew by, and before they knew it, it was already ten at night.

Since they both had classes the next day, they didn't linger long at the mall, quickly leaving and cycling home.

"Xiao Chen, the night breeze feels so nice," Shen Qinghan said.

"Indeed it's nice," he replied.

"I really love the three dolls you helped me win," she expressed.

"Glad you like them," he said.

"Xiao Chen, I can't wait to try the Phantom Squid Meat, I've never eaten Exotic Beast Meat before in my life." she exclaimed eagerly.

"..."

On their way home, they chatted sporadically.

Most of the conversation was led by Shen Qinghan, with Lin Zichen responding.

Their chat could have gone on.

Until, as they passed by a park, they were suddenly interrupted by a commotion coming from inside.

"Put down the knife!" rang a voice.

"Fuck your mother! I'll fuck her! You delusional people, if humanity perishes, you hardheads will be to blame!" another voice yelled.

"I'm going to repeat myself one last time, put down the knife now!" the first voice demanded.

"Being human won't save the people of Earth! Being human won't save you, don't you get it!!!" the second one bellowed hysterically.

The shouting that reached them sounded utterly hysterical.

Lin Zichen's brow furrowed at the sound; were people from the Heretical Sect causing a disturbance in the park?

Curiosity immediately piqued, he sped up his cycling towards the commotion.

As he passed by the source of the noise, he glanced in the direction of the voices.

And in the next second, he spotted an unexpected familiar face.

It was the intelligence development class teacher from Rainbow Kindergarten—Miss Strawberry.

At that moment, Miss Strawberry was being held hostage by a deranged man with a knife at her throat, and blood was already seeping out; things were looking dire.

Yet, the several public security officers on the scene were still just verbally negotiating and warning without taking any physical action.

Seeing Miss Strawberry's complexion grow increasingly paler and the blood on her neck oozing more profusely, Lin Zichen knew he had to do something within his power. He brought his bike to a halt, got off and picked up a rock from the ground.

Then, with a steely gaze, he aimed at the hand that held the knife and hurled the rock with all his might!

…

PS: Asking for monthly and recommendation tickets!