Chapter 16: Decomposition and Absorption
Zhang Wei and that short, fat man were walking in the corridor of the 26th floor.
Suddenly, Zhang Wei spoke to the short, fat man: “Li Anguo, do you smell a strange fragrance?”
The short, fat man named Li Anguo ignored him and continued walking forward on his own.
“Hey! What’s wrong with you?”
Zhang Wei sensed something was wrong, reached out and waved his hand in front of him, but he directly ignored Zhang Wei’s actions, his steps not stopping.
Zhang Wei reached out and grabbed Li Anguo, but he still didn’t stop, continuing to walk towards the stairwell.
“What on earth is wrong with you?”
Just as these words were spoken, the corridor in front of him began to distort; the doors of the various rooms shifted under his feet, while the original ground shifted above his head.
Zhang Wei’s eyeballs were about to pop out; he couldn’t believe everything before his eyes.
“Wh... What is going on?”
He opened his mouth wide, wanting to speak, but couldn’t say anything, as if someone was tightly covering his mouth.
“No! My body can’t move!” Zhang Wei wanted to flee backwards, but his body stood rooted to the spot, motionless.
Time passed second by second; Zhang Wei’s head gradually became muddled, as if he would lose consciousness in the next second.
His body began to slowly walk towards the stairwell in front, just like Li Anguo.
“What the hell!” he cursed inwardly, his footsteps beginning to move towards the upper floors.
27th floor, 28th floor, 29th floor, 30th floor!
Two minutes later, Zhang Wei, struggling to stay awake, and Li Anguo, already unconscious, stood in the corridor of the 30th floor.
The fragrance in his nose grew stronger and stronger, and an extreme sense of unease spread in Zhang Wei’s heart.
Step by step, they walked towards the end of the corridor; finally, the two of them stopped in front of Room 3006.
Zhang Wei suddenly felt the surroundings return to normal, his mind cleared a little, no longer muddled, and his body could move.
He quickly ran towards the stairwell behind him, wanting to escape this place immediately, but just as his right foot took a step, he fell to the ground.
It wasn’t because his right foot tripped over his left foot in a flat-ground fall, but because his foot was entangled by something hard.
Enduring the pain coming from his body, Zhang Wei looked back at what was entangling his right foot.
A thick green plant root extended from inside Room 3006, tightly entangling his right foot, constantly dragging him inwards.
“Damn! What the hell is this thing!”
Zhang Wei kicked hard at the green plant root with his left foot; his foot was trembling from kicking, but the root showed no sign of loosening at all.
Seeing no way out, Zhang Wei dug his hands firmly into the floor, but the smooth floor had no protrusions for him to grip.
The flesh on his fingers was mangled, his fingernails all bent back; ignoring the pain, he still struggled.
Streaks of blood were left on the floor; finally, just as Zhang Wei was about to be dragged into the room, he grabbed the door frame with both hands.
Although he felt like his right foot was about to be torn off, at least he had stopped himself, but Li Anguo wasn't so lucky; he was dragged in directly.
Zhang Wei wanted to look back to see how Li Anguo was doing, but not looking was one thing, one look and his pants got wet.
He saw a huge plant rooted in the living room of Room 3006; many bottle-shaped things hung down from its huge branches, with a leaf covering the top.
The mouth of the bottle was a deadly red, its body somewhat translucent; looking from the outside, it seemed to be filled with some liquid, and that fragrance was emitted by the liquid inside.
As a plant enthusiast, Zhang Wei recognized what plant this was at a glance.
“Pitcher plant? But why is it so big!”
The pitcher plant’s body almost filled the entire living room; its terminal bud seemed about to break through the ceiling, like a plant growing towards the sun, breaking through the soil.
Zhang Wei looked at the roots constantly dancing in the air, swallowed hard, and forced himself not to scream.
His gaze swept around, and soon he saw a human figure in one of the traps of this mutated pitcher plant; that bloated appearance was clearly Li Anguo.
His figure struggled constantly in the trap, frantically hitting the inner wall; he couldn’t make a sound because it was filled with deadly liquid, and the heavy leaf on top tightly covered the mouth of the trap.
Li Anguo had no chance of escape!
Gradually, sweat seeped from Zhang Wei’s palms, and the soreness in his arms grew stronger and stronger; Li Anguo in the trap also stopped moving.
It seemed he had drowned in the liquid inside; gradually, his body began to decompose, his flesh disappeared, and his bones were also slowly decomposed.
This entire process did not exceed twenty seconds!
Zhang Wei was also about to lose his grip; his hands had reached their limit, and the pitcher plant’s roots were still exerting force. With only a cracking sound.
"His hands were dislocated, and a wave of powerlessness accompanied by intense pain assaulted him."
Zhang Wei’s entire body was hung upside down in its mouth, constantly swinging.
He watched the opening trap get closer and closer to him, a sense of despair in his heart.
“Am I going to die?”
Just as he closed his eyes, waiting for death to arrive, a voice like heavenly music sounded in his ear.
“Unexpectedly, it’s actually second-tier.”
Zhang Wei opened his eyes and saw a black figure leaning against the door frame, holding a pistol, coldly looking at the pitcher plant behind him.
That was none other than Su Qinghan.
“Save... Mmph!”
Just as Zhang Wei was about to call for help, his mouth was entangled by plant roots, rendering him unable to speak; he could only look at Su Qinghan with tears streaming down his face, his eyes revealing a strong desire to live.
“Don’t look at me like that, how could I possibly have a way to save you.”
Su Qinghan used her gun to shoot off the top of a root that was approaching her, and said casually.
The mutated pitcher plant seemed to feel pain, and the root extending towards Su Qinghan recoiled slightly.
Su Qinghan looked at the healing root and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger again; several bullets, as if about to tear the air apart, shot towards the pitcher plant.
Instantly, several traps were broken, and sweet liquid slowly flowed out.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Wei felt he was saved and quickly thrashed his body violently, trying to break free, but it was still too slow.
His entire person had already been thrown into a trap; the remaining liquid inside was still plentiful, enough to decompose and absorb him.
A magazine of bullets had already been fired; Su Qinghan put the pistol away again.
The Mind Creation System ability activated, and many transparent small knives instantly appeared in her hand, continuously throwing them towards the pitcher plant.
But they were all blocked by its huge leaves; those leaves were very hard, about three centimeters thick, and the small knives couldn't pierce through them at all.
"Su Qinghan created another longsword and cut off the roots attacking her."
Time passed minute by minute; crystal clear sweat began to seep from Su Qinghan’s forehead, and she gradually fell into a disadvantage.
“No, fighting a second-tier is still too much of a stretch, I have to escape!”
A large boulder appeared beside Su Qinghan and smashed towards the pitcher plant, slightly slowing its attack speed.
Only then did Su Qinghan quickly disengage and run towards the stairwell in the corridor.
The boulder she had just created had already drained her spiritual power; she couldn’t create anything now, escaping was the wisest choice......