This invitation was a bit strange, so in the end Zhou Xiangzhe didn’t agree.

He talked to Shen Wang again and was about to leave. Just as he turned to leave, Shen Wang smelled something.

It was a very light sandalwood scent, similar to the smell of incense burning in temples for many years. Shen Wang covered his nose and looked around to find the source of the smell.

“There is a strange smell.” Shen Wang called Zhou Xiangzhe, “Do you smell it?”

Zhou Xiangzhe paused. Since he became blind his other senses have become sharp, but a strange smell?

In addition to the cold wind, Zhou Xiangzhe only smelled paint. That’s why when Shen Wang said this was a hospital, he couldn’t guess it at all. His hand touched the cold wall, but in his nose there was only the smell of paint.

“It’s paint.” Zhou Xiangzhe replied, “This is the place most affected by the pollution ability of [Hundred Eyes]. She was a painter before her death. I guess that this place is also related to paintings. It’s normal to have the smell of paint.”

“Paint?” Shen Wang frowned, “Is this the smell of paint?”

In the end, he personally sent Zhou Xiangzhe back to his ward. When Shen Wang came back, the thorns had eaten up the pollutant, leaving only a cracked shell. He threw the shell into the corridor, took back the thorns and sat on the bed.

Although Zhou Xiangzhe explained that it was the smell of paint, in Shen Wang’s judgment, it didn’t smell like paint at all.

Shen Wang had smelled such a smell before. When he was in the hospital, he met the patients’ family members praying to the gods, and the incense they lit had faintly this smell.

In fact it can’t be compared, because this smell is stronger and better.

It’s wonderful. It inexplicably makes people want to smell it again, and we could even say that it smells a bit…delicious.

Shen Wang swallowed his saliva.

A little hungry.

Hmm? Hungry?

Shen Wang was stunned for a moment, and then stood up suddenly. He finally realized what was wrong with him. Isn’t this state of hunger his most common symptom when he’s sick? !

He’s sick again? Not long after the onset period just passed? Why?

Shen Wang remembered what his brother said to him: [When you encounter a high-level pollutant and you judge that the other party cannot threaten you, your body will spontaneously enter the eating state. ]

But Shen Wang was still very sure that he could not underestimate [Hundred Eyes]. This is a A-level pollutant! He would be stupid if he underestimated her!

But he got sick, right inside the art hall of the Class A pollutant.

Damn, too bad.

Shen Wang frowned, he stood up and began to think about how to get through this onset period. How to get through it without being discovered by Zhou Xiangzhe.

Sizzle. A noise interrupted Shen Wang’s thoughts. He reached out and pressed the communicator on his ear, the sound came from this thing.

“Is there…?”

Someone is talking.

The sound was initially distorted, but it was slowly becoming clearer as time went by.

“Is anyone there…? This… Lily.”

“Hello?” Shen Wang responded, “I can hear you, but the sound is not clear.”

The other party seemed to have heard his voice, so he tried harder to adjust the channel. Soon Shen Wang finally heard the other party’s voice clearly. Although it was still mixed with noise, now he could understand what the other party said. Even if there were unclear words, it was easy for him to supplement them.

“This is Lily.”

“The signal is unstable. I’m not sure when it will be disconnected, nor who it will be connected to, so I’ll just talk about the key points.”

“This place is called ‘Art Gallery’. After we got separated, we were scattered among various paintings of [Hundred Eyes]. [Hundred Eyes] is obsessed with art and paints everything she has experienced. She believes that people who can meet her must have artistic taste, so she set up various levels outside the gallery. Only through the paintings she arranges in the form of art can you see her true self.”

“Different painting series have different rules. For example, the theme of my painting should be dreams, so I have a pair of strange wings.”

“Her pollution ability is [Drawing Reality].”

The communication stopped abruptly. The signal was probably disconnected again. Shen Wang calmly clicked another button, and a melodious singing came into his ears.

Very good, first listen to the song to calm down, and then make a plan.

There must be a way.

There must be a way… What the hell, Shen Wang lowered his head and covered his stomach.

I’m so hungry, I want to eat something, I’m going to starve to death if I don’t eat, I need to eat something…

/

Shen Wang has suffered from this kind of torture since he was a child.

Endless hunger, no matter what he eats, he won’t feel full. He is so hungry that he seems to want to eat a cow, but he can only endure it.

When he was young, he would wonder why he was the only one who gets sick, why he was the only one who suffered so much?

This is why Shen Wang doesn’t cherish his own life. He was diagnosed with terminal illness at a young age, it was said that he wouldn’t live long. He lived long because he was unwilling to die like this. Sometimes he was unscrupulous and sometimes he did whatever he wanted.

Fortunately, he is now in the domain of the A-level pollutant [Hundred Eyes], which has many low-level parasitic pollutants.

Just eat them…

Shen Wang walked out of the ward, holding on the door frame and panting softly, he looked exhausted and weak. Small seeds fell from his drooping sleeves and grew rapidly the moment they landed on the ground.

As parasitic pollutants, they act entirely  following the will of their owners.

‘I’m so hungry, I’m almost starving to death! ‘

‘Eat, eat, eat! Eat everything here! ‘

‘I’m so hungry, I need to eat quickly! ‘

thorns climbed on the walls of the ward corridor, covering every painting, entangling all the sculpture eyes, and covered the corridor with thorns.

They attacked every low-level parasitic pollutant and began to eat.

Shen Wang leaned on the thorns. He had no way to pay attention to whether his actions would cause any problems. He had to get rid of his hunger state first.

The medical staff played by the low-level pollutants were pierced by thorns. They didn’t even have time to scream.

Shen Wang’s breathing became heavier and heavier. He gradually couldn’t stand properly. He slid down the wall and sat on the ground.

With a creak, the door of the ward in front of him opened and Zhou Xiangzhe came out.

“Shen Wang?” Zhou Xiangzhe heard Shen Wang’s obviously abnormal breathing, “What’s wrong with you?”

Shen Wang raised his head, and his blood-red pupils reflected Zhou Xiangzhe’s figure.

With a puff, the thorns pierced a low-level pollutant that tried to escape, and the pollutant fell to the ground with a bang.

Zhou Xiangzhe turned his head and looked over there, “What was that sound?”

“A group of medical staff died.” Shen Wang answered him in a very light voice, and under the strong appetite, he was still trying to pass the blame, “[Hundred Eyes] is very cruel. It seems that she has arranged a plot in this painting. The medical staff just killed each other, and it’s not over yet.”

“It’s terrible.”

Zhou Xiangzhe’s expression was a little indifferent.

He didn’t care about the medical staff killing each other, he just tried to take a step forward, and when he took a step forward, the thorns under his feet retreated instantly, leaving him space.

Shen Wang: …

These little things are born to seek benefits and avoid harm.

“There is something wrong with your voice.” Zhou Xiangzhe was concerned about Shen Wang, “Your tone is so weak. What’s wrong with you? Are you sick or…” Sick?

He still remembered Shen Wang when he was sick as a child.

Unsatisfied appetite, unstable emotions, extreme aggressiveness and weakness under aggression.

Only at that moment could Xiao Qi feel that Xiao Shiwu was really a patient.

Zhou Xiangzhe approached Shen Wang, Shen Wang squinted his eyes and looked at him. He sat lazily on the ground, and the thorns on his body had not retracted.

The faint sandalwood scent was still there, Shen Wang gently moved his nose, feeling the fragrance lingering around him.

Where did this scent come from?

This level of fragrance is not like an ordinary pollutant, it must be at least A-level to be so tempting.

[Hundred Eyes]? No, she doesn’t look like a pollutant who can have this kind of scent.

With his thoughts running wild, Zhou Xiangzhe walked in front of him. He squatted down and tried to touch him, and because of Shen Wang’s panting, he raised his hand accurately and touched Shen Wang’s cheek.

Shen Wang suddenly raised his head and looked at Zhou Xiangzhe.

The moment Zhou Xiangzhe touched him, a huge fragrance surrounded Shen Wang. Shen Wang couldn’t look away for a moment.

The scent came from Zhou Xiangzhe!

It was Zhou Xiangzhe!

Shen Wang grabbed Zhou Xiangzhe’s wrist with his backhand, with such force that it would leave a red mark. Zhou Xiangzhe tilted his head and then turned back. His brows slowly frowned, because he felt that the atmosphere around him changed the moment Shen Wang grabbed him, as if even the air became stiff.

A great sense of threat and tension came over him. Even though he couldn’t see anything now, he could still feel the atmosphere.

Also, something seemed to have climbed up his arm. It looked like the root of a plant, with thorns…thorns? Is it a thorn?

“Shen Wang, let me go.” Zhou Xiangzhe said hurriedly, “You have been parasitized by Blood Thorns.”

He couldn’t see. He couldn’t see Shen Wang’s different appearance, the thorns coming out of his arm, or his bloody eyes. Zhou Xiangzhe could only come to the conclusion that the blood thorns had parasitized Shen Wang when he was in Qianzhen Community, and now, the parasitic pollution had erupted.

“Shen Wang!”

Shen Wang didn’t let go. He even moved closer to Zhou Xiangzhe. He put his face very close to Zhou Xiangzhe’s, and his nose next to Zhou Xiangzhe’s neck.

Zhou Xiangzhe felt Shen Wang’s warm breath on his exposed neck and ears.

“Shen Wang?” Zhou Xiangzhe called him again.

“Hmm.” Shen Wang squinted his eyes and answered lazily, then asked: “Zhou Xiangzhe, are you a human or a pollutant?”

Zhou Xiangzhe was stunned for a moment, even if his golden eyes were unfocused, one could see he momentary stunned.

“Why do you smell like a pollutant?” Shen Wang whispered, “Like incense in a temple. So fragrant.”

“Zhou Xiangzhe, you are not a pollutant, right?”

Zhou Xiangzhe’s face became extremely ugly. He broke the thorn on his arm, letting the thorns pierce his arm and bleed bright red. Zhou Xiangzhe threw the broken thorns aside, and he reached out to embrace Shen Wang, trying to tear off the thorns on his body.

Shen Wang frowned and avoided his hand.

“Shen Wang, wake up.” Zhou Xiangzhe pressed his hand, “I am not a pollutant.”

“If you think I am a pollutant, it means that your current pollution level is exceeding the standard!”

Hmm?

Shen Wang heard something wrong in this sentence.

What does it mean? Why would he think he is a pollutant based on when the pollution level exceeds the standard?

What kind of weird equation is this?

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TLS: just realised that thorns means thorns but maybe it will be difficult to imagine how Blood Thorn looks like, I think it’s entirely made of thorns, I’ve found these pictures and the game Terraria has something similar lol.