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墨書 Inktalez
Seeing this, I instinctively dropped the two cabbages in my hands. With a crisp "crack," they hit the ground and shattered into several pieces.
At that moment, I noticed a faint red liquid slowly oozing out from the broken cabbages. Although there wasn't much of it, the metallic scent was overwhelmingly strong.
"Shen Xu, what kind of vegetables did you buy? Amaranth? It doesn't look like it..." Death Apostle leaned over from the window, sniffing the air before saying, "This can't possibly be something grown by that Blood Farmer you mentioned yesterday, right?!"
I frowned and replied, "I don't know for sure, but it's very likely to be that."
"Did you go out just now to find that woman who told you about the Blood Farmer?" Yao Long asked from the side, hurriedly kicking the fallen cabbages aside, worried they might pose some danger.
To my surprise, Yao Long's kick caused the already broken cabbages to shatter even more, and from within them fell an object resembling a potato but blood-red in color. The object was about the size of a fist and rolled into the corner.
"What is that..." I stared intently at the thing that had fallen from the cabbage and slowly walked toward the corner. As I got closer, the bloody smell became even more pungent. At that moment, Yao Long warned me from behind, "Be careful; what if that thing is poisonous?"
I reached the corner and gently touched the red object with my toe. It felt soft and somewhat elastic, almost like flesh.
"It seems to be something meat-like..." I said.
Just then, Li Zhisheng and Hu Fang happened to wake up. They saw me nervously extending my foot to probe something in the corner and looked rather comical in their posture.
"Shen Xu, what are you practicing? Or have you been possessed early in the morning?" Li Zhisheng rubbed his eyes.
Hearing him, I withdrew my foot and explained what had just happened. After listening, Li Zhisheng remarked, "It doesn't seem like a trap set by Yang Master."
"I think so too. Moreover, I believe that old man is likely connected to that middle-aged woman we saw earlier. After all, he seemed genuinely sorrowful when he mentioned her son's death. If it were just a neighbor or an outsider involved in such a tragedy, he wouldn't have reacted like that..."
I paused for a moment, pondering whether that old man was related to the middle-aged woman. However, their previous behavior didn't seem to indicate any familial connection.
The more I thought about it, the more suspicious I felt about this matter. I glanced at the red object in the corner; it remained still and showed no signs of changing or becoming dangerous.
At that moment, Hu Fang, who had been silent until now, exclaimed curiously, "So that red thing in the corner is that fruit? Is it tasty?"
Without hesitation, I reached out and tapped her on the forehead. "Have you lost your mind? That's something grown from dead people! Do you think it's tasty?!"
Li Zhisheng stood by, urging Hu Fang, "Hu Fang, don't listen to Shen Xu's nonsense. Have you ever heard of ginseng fruit? It’s said that ginseng fruit is grown from living people. Why not give it a try? You might stay youthful forever!"
After hearing my words, Hu Fang shook his head vigorously, like a rattle drum, leaving no room for Li Zhisheng's comments to sink in.
"Stop interrupting. We need to focus on the matter at hand. Can you both stop joking around?" My train of thought had been derailed by Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng's banter, and I was momentarily at a loss for how to proceed. Reluctantly, I turned to Death Apostle and asked, "What do you think about this situation?"
Death Apostle seemed unfazed by the earlier jokes. He glanced at the cabbage leaves that had been kicked apart on the ground and then at the fruit in the corner that resembled meat. "This doesn't seem like Yang Master's style. If Yang Master wanted to set a trap for us, he wouldn't go through all this trouble. Besides, if they were setting a trap for you at the market, it means they already know where we live and could simply use force..."
Seeing Death Apostle pause, I grasped his implication and continued, "So we can conclude that this matter has nothing to do with Yang Master. But could it be related to another Onizuka? Or might we find clues about the next Onizuka through this?"
Death Apostle shook his head. "That's unclear. However, since there is a potential lead available now, we have no reason not to investigate."
"Alright then, since we've decided, I'll go look for that old man again and see if I can extract more information about where this Blood Farmer is..." As I spoke, I turned to leave.
Li Zhisheng chimed in, "I'll go with you; I might be able to help."
I thought about it and agreed; two heads are better than one. So I nodded in agreement and headed out with Li Zhisheng. Before leaving, I instructed Death Apostle and the others to stay home and wait for news, advising them not to leave in case Yang Master discovered them.
Afterward, Li Zhisheng and I quickened our pace toward the market. When we arrived back at the old man's stall, I found he was nowhere to be seen, though his Vegetable Stall remained intact.
"Where is he?" I kept scanning the area.
"Could it be that you remembered the wrong place?" Li Zhisheng asked.
I replied confidently, "No way! This is my third time here; I've come back like a devoted visitor. How could I possibly forget?" As I looked at the baskets of vegetables in front of me, I noticed that one of them was slowly leaking a faint red liquid from its bottom.
However, due to the chaotic smells of the market—where the stench of pork and beef had long masked any blood-like odor from the liquid—it was hard to detect anything unusual.
"See? There's no doubt about it," I whispered to Li Zhisheng as I pointed out the basket's bottom.
"I see that too..." Li Zhisheng replied. "But where is the person?"
"I want to know too..." At that moment, I noticed a younger Buddy squatting in front of his Vegetable Stall, playing on his phone.
Seeing this, I hurried over and asked, "Hey, boss, could I ask you something?"
The Buddy quickly put down his phone and smiled as he approached, "Welcome! What would you like to buy?"
"I'm sorry, but I actually wanted to ask you something."
"What is it?" The Buddy replied cheerfully, showing no signs of annoyance.
"I was wondering where the owner of this stall went. Do you know?"
The Buddy thought for a moment, scratching his neck as he said, "He left about half an hour ago. I'm not sure where he went; he hasn't come back yet. Maybe he had some urgent matter at home..."
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