A Curious Experiment and a Sealed Building

Huang Xiu remembered it clearly.

Last night, only a few drops of blood had fallen on the cactus in the pot. Yet it had transcended the nature of a plant, as if it had come alive, gaining powerful offensive capabilities.

‘Is it because the plant is different?’ Huang Xiu speculated. ‘Because one was a cactus and the other was roadside grass?’

‘No, that shouldn’t be the reason.’

‘No matter how it grows or mutates, a cactus should just remain a plant. It shouldn’t gain the ability to actively shoot spines. After all, you can’t say that wheat with Jin Kela added isn’t wheat anymore!’

‘Also… is my blood only effective on plants? What about other living things, animals, insects, or… people? Does it work on them?’

Huang Xiu was filled with curiosity. This process of exploration, self-summarization, and uncovering secrets one by one made him somewhat intoxicated.

He quickly made an attempt. Afraid that animals might mutate too much and pose a threat, and also unable to find any animals easily, he temporarily chose ants.

Unfortunately, after consuming his blood, the ants showed no change.

‘Insects are also animals. From the small, I can infer the large. Maybe my blood only works on plants.’ Huang Xiu touched his smooth chin.

Boys usually start growing facial hair at fifteen or sixteen. His classmates of the same age already had stubble. But surprisingly, he had none. However, Huang Xiu didn’t really care. After all, beard means shaving, which is troublesome.

Next, Huang Xiu tried several different plants, like wild chrysanthemums, foxtail grass, and moss. Actually, what he most wanted was to test the effect on a tree, but he feared it would cause too much commotion, so he put it aside for now. It seemed his blood only worked on plants. After being nourished by his blood, these plants all showed varying degrees of growth and change. But none exceeded the category of plants. They just became bigger, better, and more vigorous.

Time passed imperceptibly during the experiments, until his growling stomach protested. Huang Xiu stopped. Rubbing his tired eyes, he took out his phone and saw it was already 1 pm.

‘Let’s eat first.’

Huang Xiu stuffed the box cutter back into his pocket, crumpled the tissue stained red from wiping the blade, and buried it in a pit. Perhaps because he had lost quite a bit of blood and healed the cuts many times, he was exceptionally hungry. At seventeen, he was naturally in a growth spurt and already had a big appetite. Combined, this was a recipe for disaster. At the restaurant, ordering a twelve-yuan meal with two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, he devoured four large bowls of rice and three bowls of free soup. He ate until his stomach was round and the food reached his throat. The restaurant owner’s eyelids twitched, afraid that Huang Xiu might explode right there in his restaurant.

‘It seems healing consumes a lot of energy.’ Huang Xiu wiped his mouth and left the restaurant, heading toward school. The threat of the Pig-headed Teacher was real, but not finishing homework was no small matter either. Though still somewhat scared, he couldn’t just skip school. As a student, school was inescapable. Besides, according to Huang Xiu’s guess, monsters like the Pig-headed Teacher probably only appeared late at night. And there might be in some different space. That day, he might have met the conditions to stumble in. Otherwise, with so many students going in and out of the teaching building every day, something would have happened long ago.

‘Sigh, even with a great enemy looming, I still have to do homework. That’s the tragedy of being a high school student!’

Huang Xiu walked slowly toward the teaching building. Before reaching it, he saw a crowd of students gathered not far away, pointing at the building. His heart stirred. He quickly approached the crowd and looked. On the empty ground in front of the teaching building, a yellow and white cordon had been set up, sealing off the entire building. Men in black vests with ‘Rong’an Pest Control’ printed on the back stood guard, forbidding entry.

Huang Xiu, already sensitive, instantly heightened his vigilance. He grabbed a nearby student.

‘Excuse me, the Rende Building was fine this morning. Why is it suddenly cordoned off?’ he asked.

‘I heard it’s because there are too many cockroaches. They’re doing pest control. The insecticide is toxic, so no one is allowed in until it clears,’ the student replied.

Cockroaches? Pest control? It sounded normal. The school had done it before. He remembered last year there was a school-wide fumigation that gave them a half-day off. But… he had just reported the police visit that morning, and in the afternoon the building was locked down. Was it really such a coincidence?

Huang Xiu’s eyes flickered. He put on an anxious expression and tried to cross the cordon. ‘Ah, but my homework is inside! I need to ask if I can get it out, or I won’t be able to finish it.’

The worker reacted quickly, blocking Huang Xiu. ‘Student, the building is being fumigated. Please come back tomorrow.’

‘Ah, tomorrow? But school starts the day after. I won’t finish my homework!’ Huang Xiu pleaded pitifully. ‘Uncle, can I just go in for a minute? I’ll be quick!’

‘The insecticide is toxic. You don’t have a gas mask. Can’t go in. It’s a matter of principle. If something happens to you, I’ll be in big trouble and get fired!’ The worker smiled amiably. ‘Tell me where your homework is, and I’ll have my colleague bring it out. How about that?’

Neither soft nor hard tactics worked. But Huang Xiu felt more and more that something was off. His eyes darted. He stood on tiptoe and whispered in the worker’s ear, ‘Uncle, I’m Huang Xiu.’

‘Huang Xiu? Don’t know him!’ The worker laughed rudely. ‘Even if you were Li Gang, it wouldn’t matter. Even the school principal can’t get in today. It’s toxic, no joke.’

Huang Xiu saw that his probe had failed and was a bit puzzled… They didn’t seem to know him. It didn’t seem like they were sent because of his morning report.

‘Fine!’ He was a bit disappointed and told the worker his seat number. After about ten minutes, a man in a full white hazmat suit came out of the building. The workers made way for him. The man wore a mask inside and was covered by the suit, so his face was unclear. But his exposed eyes were strikingly sharp.

‘Here’s your homework. Take care of it.’ The man handed over his homework, whose cover was slightly wet.

‘Thank you, uncle.’ Huang Xiu took it obediently and thanked him. As he turned to leave, he suddenly felt an extremely cold gaze from behind. He instinctively turned and met a pair of dark eyes behind the transparent plastic of the suit.

‘Study hard.’ The man in the suit smiled warmly at Huang Xiu, gave a thumbs up, and then turned and left. The boy was left scratching his head in confusion.