Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Shi Yu waited and waited, but got no response.

He started to hesitate.

Wait, had he actually grossed the guy out?

His initial rage slowly faded, and only then did he finally realize—had he gone too far?

Shit, had he messed with the straight dude too much?

Was the big boss too pissed to even reply?

Staring at the screen for a while, just as Shi Yu truly began to think he might’ve gone too far, a message finally came through:

"In a meeting. Talk later."

Sang Huaiyu shut his eyes for a second, not wanting anyone to notice this moment. When he came to, he realized his behavior just now had been kinda... human.

Humans, when it came to things they liked, seemed to have that kind of possessiveness.

Sang Huaiyu, who had never acknowledged these insect-like beings, narrowed his eyes and looked at the picture once more, burning Shi Yu’s face into his memory before putting his phone away.

"Continue the meeting."

His gaze shifted to the product manager beside him. His tone sounded different from his usual calm and gentle manner. The product manager jolted back to reality and hurriedly continued his presentation.

On the other side, Shi Yu stared at the message from the big boss.

For a moment, he wasn’t sure whether to panic or relax.

He’d definitely crossed the line with that joke. But… the big boss didn’t seem angry right away?

Did "talk later" mean he wouldn’t chew him out immediately?

Shi Yu’s eyes darted around nervously. He tossed his phone aside, yanked the covers over his face in frustration, and started regretting his impulsive actions earlier that day.

Ugh!

What the hell was he thinking?!

Time passed, minute by minute, and by noon, the big boss still hadn’t reached out again.

Shi Yu glanced at his phone, wondering if the other man had forgotten—when suddenly, a call came in, making him bolt upright.

"Hello, boss?"

The moment he saw the caller's profile picture, Shi Yu straightened up real quick. Who else could it be but the boss calling at this time?

Back in his office, Sang Huaiyu heard the slightly nervous voice on the other end. That restless feeling in his chest didn’t subside—it only grew stronger.

Typical pathetic human response.

He thought coldly, yet found himself pulling the phone closer, his fingers resting on the clear glass of water.

"Mm."

Shi Yu waited a beat before hearing the reply. He blinked, figuring the quiet meant the other was waiting for an apology.

Now that he'd cooled off, he wasn't so shaken anymore. He even thought his earlier petty revenge was kinda immature. He cleared his throat and decided to go with it: "Sorry, boss."

"I shouldn't have sent that photo this morning."

He had meant to say he shouldn’t have grossed the other person out, but he was afraid of bringing up bad memories. He chose his words carefully.

Sang Huaiyu shifted his gaze from the water glass when Shi Yu spoke, though the image of the ankle in the photo still lingered in his mind.

"Don’t worry about it."

This was His own problem.

Sang Huaiyu thought—He’d actually gotten distracted by a human. Squinting slightly, He added during the silence, "I was in a meeting before and couldn’t reply right away."

"Oh, I see."

The boss was being way too polite, making Shi Yu—who had only apologized on instinct at first—actually feel bad now.

After pulling a stunt like that, the big boss hadn’t even scolded him. Talk about self-control.

As Shi Yu hesitated over what to say next, the other suddenly said, "I saw the photo."

"Your ankle’s really nice."

After giving that offhand compliment, Sang Huaiyu looked down.

"But—you feeling okay?"

Huh?

Feeling okay?

Shi Yu was thrown off by the compliment, then paused for a moment, attention redirected.

Seeing the boss unexpectedly asking about his health, he hesitated slightly. "What’s up, boss?"

Sang Huaiyu tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, eyes fixed on the screen as he asked, "Your calf looked a bit puffy in the photo. You hurt?"

Puffy?

Shi Yu instinctively glanced at his leg, skeptical. He saw his body every day—other than his stomach—he hadn’t noticed any changes. Only after the boss brought it up did he take a closer look.

—His calf *was* a bit puffy?

But the swelling was so slight it was almost invisible unless you looked closely. The boss actually noticed?

Shi Yu felt weird, and after touching his sore, swollen calf—courtesy of pregnancy—he fumbled an awkward reply.

"Uh… maybe I slept too much? It gets puffy in the morning."

"I wouldn’t have noticed if you didn’t mention it."

At a time like this, he could only blame it on oversleeping—he definitely couldn’t say it was because of pregnancy.

"I’ll soak it in hot water—no big deal. Don’t worry, boss."

As their conversation started to get awkward, Shi Yu snapped back to reality and shut down any topic that might make the boss overthink.

After apologizing for the prank and seeing that the boss wasn’t pressing the issue, he quickly prepared to dip out: "Well, you’re probably busy. If nothing else, I’m gonna go soak."

Sang Huaiyu nodded, listening to the voice on the phone without saying anything else. He didn’t speak again until the person on the other end had logged off, at which point he fell into thought.

He really shouldn't be thinking about that human any further. He had approached them only because they were amusing—not because he was emotionally invested.

This had already gone beyond his original plan. Yet after a moment of silence, Sang Huaiyu found himself inexplicably lifting his hand to search on his phone.

"—What to do about morning leg swelling?"

Various entries quickly appeared online. He skimmed through them, then unconsciously memorized them one by one.

Ugh, so awkward.

After putting down his phone, Shi Yu twitched his lips, thinking everything from last night until now had been way too dramatic.

He must’ve lost it—how could he get so emotional in front of his boss?

He could usually keep it together with others—even with Han Chuyi, he managed not to get angry.

But today… why did he act so childish?

Maybe it's because of the physiological changes during pregnancy? Shi Yu lowered his head, unable to help but wonder.

Does getting worked up make people more emotional?

Stop, stop, stop—this ends here. No more thinking about it. He should go take a bath first. He hadn’t noticed before, but his legs had already started changing.

Prompted by his boss’s reminder, Shi Yu ran a hot bath and carefully looked at himself in the mirror.

With recent growth and added nutrition, his belly had gotten slightly bigger. Though the change wasn’t obvious at first glance, it showed when measured. Even touching it lightly revealed the small bulge of life inside.

Shi Yu: "……"

Wait, was this little one just waiting for him?

Every time he reached out, the Little Monster would press closer, as if it had a weird obsession with cuddling.

It was just a Little Monster, after all.

The Little Monster gave a happy little “wala~” when Mommy’s fingers touched it.

Mommy… was… good today.

Shi Yu cleared his throat lightly. “Alright, got it.”

“Don’t jump around.”

After talking briefly with the Little Monster, he grew a bit worried.

It was growing faster and faster. For now, it was getting enough from the Horror Item, keeping up with its needs—for now—but what about later?

He had a feeling the Little Monster needed more than just Horror essence—something else. But he still hadn’t figured out what.

First, he needed to deal with the leg swelling. The rest could wait—no use worrying about it now.

While Shi Yu soaked in the tub, elsewhere, the Horrors who had retreated from City B weren’t about to give up after only a brief overnight stay.

That scent was way too tempting to Horrors. After the “Spirit Car” vanished, instead of fading, it had grown even stronger—if anything, more noticeable.

Even they couldn’t escape its pull.

After observing the area from the mountain, the "No. 255" Horror scarecrow suddenly turned its head and waited silently.

A few minutes later, a cargo truck drove by.

Hidden among the mountains, several strands of straw silently detached from its body and, unnoticed by the naked eye, crept along the ground into the passing vehicle…

"Huh? Did I hit something?"

With a *crunch*, the truck driver felt as if he had run over something strange.

After getting out to check, he found nothing unusual and assumed it was just his imagination. Little did he know, while he was outside, a few strands of straw had drifted into the truck bed with the wind, landing on the freshly picked fruits.

Shi Yu yawned, drowsy after soaking in the tub. After finishing his bath, he was about to dry his hair when he noticed several unfamiliar messages on his phone—sent by someone named Dr. Shen?

Dr. Shen?

He and Dr. Shen weren’t exactly close, were they? Hesitating slightly, Shi Yu opened the messages and saw that Dr. Shen had warned him not to eat fruit from outside sources recently.

The alarmist headline made Shi Yu almost think he’d clicked the wrong link. But weren’t these kinds of “don’t eat outside fruits” warnings usually fake?

If Dr. Shen specifically forwarded it, did that mean there was actually something wrong this time?

Shi Yu immediately thought of Horror Items—were there fruit-related Horrors lately?

His guess was correct. A newly emerged Horror was indeed connected to fruit.

After ramping up inspections at all entry points, the Ability User Association detected signs of Horror corruption in a fruit truck at one of the checkpoints that morning.

The personnel on duty immediately reported it. After cautiously stopping the truck, Fu Nanyao discovered large amounts of straw fibers inside the fruits.

—These fruits had already been contaminated by straw.

The "No. 255" Horror, which had seemingly retreated last night, wasn’t done yet.

"No. 255," dubbed the scarecrow by the Ability User Association, resembled a handmade scarecrow. It could consume humans through contamination via straw.

After exposure to the straw, ordinary people would start showing symptoms within three days—straw filling their vital organs like lungs and hearts. By the third day, they would be completely taken over by the straw inside their bodies and die.

When the first case was discovered, the surgeon performing the operation almost gagged at the sight of the straw inside the patient’s body.

A normal human, filled entirely with straw—the scene was surreal and horrifying. Realizing something was wrong, the medical staff immediately contacted the Ability User Association.

However, the surgeon who had handled the straw was found to have developed abnormalities in his own body three days later.

The original "scarecrow" incident had infected nearly everyone on-site.

Fortunately, for unknown reasons, the scarecrow had voluntarily left City B, bringing some temporary peace to the area.

Now, unwilling to give up, it was attempting to return—probing for weakness through the fruit truck.

Both the truck driver and the entire cargo of fruits were intercepted. However, they still couldn’t be sure whether anything else had already slipped into City B. Since that route was a major supply route for supermarkets, fruits and vegetables were the main focus of the Ability User Association’s investigation.

After issuing a notice to inspect all recently arrived vehicles, Shen Yan had a sudden thought and forwarded the message to Shi Yu.

Shi Yu worked as a Mukbang host, constantly around food, making him especially vulnerable.

After seeing Dr. Shen's message, Shi Yu thought it over.

"Thank you, Dr. Shen. I'll be more careful."

"But is this also a Horror incident?" he asked again.

Shen Yan took a moment to check the reply: "Yes."

"We're not entirely sure of the details yet. If you have stuff at home, eat that first."

Shi Yu nodded.

Han Chuyi had been waiting ahead for a while, getting annoyed as Shen Yan stayed glued to his phone.

"Are we going or not?"

"There are still a few vehicles ahead."

Just their luck—no one knew how they'd ended up paired together.

Han Chuyi scowled, and Shen Yan glanced up at him.

"I just forwarded a warning to Shi Yu."

That one remark silenced Han Chuyi.

Shi Yu...

Right.

That guy was always the first to hit the supermarket. Better safe than sorry. Biting back his words, Han Chuyi softened slightly, frowning. If Shi Yu hadn't blocked him after that gaming incident last time, Shen Yan wouldn’t have needed to step in.

What a fake.

Thinking this, Han Chuyi couldn't help but glance at his phone again. Once this inspection was over, he’d definitely go find Shi Yu.

Unaware of Han Chuyi’s plans, Shi Yu put his phone away after checking.

Fruits and vegetables...

Hmm, he still had some stuff in the fridge—should last him three or four days, right?

He opened the fridge door. Eggs, milk, veggies—still had some. He'd be fine.

But what bothered Shi Yu was: What was this Horror incident about?

From how Dr. Shen put it, it seemed sudden. Was it targeting him again?

With how he and Little Monster weirdly attracted Horrors, Shi Yu couldn’t help but wonder.

The “Spirit Car” thing had been. Could this Horror Item be the same?

With a slight frown, he looked out the window.

Because they'd acted quickly, most problematic vehicles were intercepted. But a few had let a batch slip through unchecked routes, allowing tainted "straw fruits" to appear on the market.

The Ability User Association turned their attention to checking new shipments.

And just moments after Shen Yan texted Shi Yu...

A notice about "recent pesticide residues found in fruits" appeared in their neighborhood group chat.

Since they couldn't directly mention the scarecrows, the notice simply referred to them as pesticide residues.

When news broke about tainted produce on the market, the group blew up with chatter, everyone jumping in to comment.

Shi Yu put away his phone, thought for a moment, and decided to wait a few more days to see what would happen.

During these days, many people reduced their trips to the supermarket.

Shi Yu stayed home, living off his stockpile. After three days, even his eggs were gone.

Shi Yu: ...

Guess he had to go out.

Early in the morning, before most people were awake, he bundled up in concealing clothes, put on a hat, and caught the bus to the supermarket like usual.

The Little Monster didn’t understand why Mom was hiding so much but curiously nuzzled against his belly, looking around.

"Wala."

Someone's here.

"I know."

Shi Yu gently patted his belly. Seeing the Little Monster’s curiosity toward members of the Ability User Association, he followed its gaze.

There, not far away and facing away from them, stood Fu Nanyao.

Huh, it's him?

Luckily, it was this captain handling inspections in their area.

Tch, if it had been Han Chuyi instead, Shi Yu wasn’t sure he could have kept a low profile lately.

He quietly turned his face away, acting like he hadn’t seen a thing.

Fu Nanyao, who was inspecting roadside fruits, suddenly sensed something and looked up—only to see a bus driving past.

"Captain Fu, what's wrong?" a nearby team member asked curiously.

Fu Nanyao shook it off.

"Nothing."

Shi Yu took the bus two stops before arriving at the supermarket. After getting off, he glanced around. There were no members of the Ability User Association nearby. He couldn’t tell if they hadn’t checked this area yet or had already finished.

Whatever, might as well check it out.

He pushed a cart inside and noticed that the fresh food section was pretty much empty today.

Most people were hanging out in the snack aisles.

After grabbing a few instant noodle cups, Shi Yu hesitated, then headed over to the produce section. When no one was looking, he wrapped his hands in Spirit Threads and picked up an apple.

The newly stocked apples were bright green, looking fresh. But when Shi Yu looked inside with his Spirit Threads, he weirdly felt that under that fresh look was—a wad of straw?

What the hell?

He was stunned for a moment, thinking he might have imagined it, but no matter how many times he tested, the result remained the same.

Shi Yu picked up another strawberry and let the Little Monster try it.

"Wala."

The Little Monster was also stunned.

Mommy... grass... yucky!

The broken words echoed in his ears, and Shi Yu was now completely certain—there was indeed straw inside the fruit, not just his imagination.

So this was the Horror the Ability User Association warned about—the one contaminating fruits and vegetables?

He set the fruit down, planning to tip off Captain Fu at the nearest branch of the Ability User Association after leaving.

Just as he was about to turn away, something felt off. The moment he put the fruit down, something suddenly closed in?

As a top-tier SSS-Class Horror, the Scarecrow's abilities were still something the Ability User Association hadn't figured out.

Besides devouring with straw, the Scarecrow could instantly switch places between its main body and ordinary straw.

The moment Shi Yu touched the apple, the Scarecrow sensed it. After weighing the risk, it left a single strand of straw on the mountain and switched to the apple in the supermarket.

In the quiet, empty produce section, under Shi Yu’s gaze, the green apple suddenly sprouted thick strands of straw, giving off creepy vibes.

At the very moment the straw appeared, Shi Yu quirked an eyebrow—but showed no surprise whatsoever.

He had known it couldn’t be this simple.

What kind of coincidence was this?

The Ability User Association was already investigating, and yet he walks out and just happens to run into a straw-infested apple?

This was clearly a setup—it was waiting for him here.

Expressionless, Shi Yu felt slightly disappointed that the Little Monster had stuffed itself recently and wasn’t up for seconds. If that was the case, there was no need to hold back.

He had been eager to test how his Spirit Threads would hold up against a top-tier SSS-Class Horror.

Back then, when he first faced "Men's High Heels," he’d been flying blind. Later, "the Ghost Car" blew itself up before he could even lift a finger.

Now… wasn’t this new SSS-Class Horror the perfect test case?

He wasn’t about to let it get away. Sensing the straw fully engulfing the apple and creeping toward him, Shi Yu suddenly wrapped the apple in his Spirit Threads and violently pulverized it.

It happened in an instant. Nearby shoppers didn’t even notice as the straw-covered apple turned to bloody pulp.

"Hah!"

Out in the mountains on the outskirts of B City, the Scarecrow was blindsided. Before it could react, its main body was destroyed. Only after retreating did it realize… its physical form was gone?

Yet it had no idea what had even happened.

Mortal terror seized it, reeling in confusion.

Shi Yu withdrew his hand, taken aback that the thing actually bled. He quickly fished out a wet wipe from his pocket to clean up. When he noticed the Little Monster curiously approaching, he stopped it immediately.

"Don’t you touch that."

"Don't touch anything dirty."

"Wah?"

Dirty things?

The Little Monster cocked its head, puzzled, but still obeyed Mom's words.

It kept turning this over in its little mind.

Grass is dirty... so Mimosa is... dirty.

Gotta throw it away later!

Shi Yu had no idea what Little Monster was thinking. After coolly handling business, he calmly and systematically disabled the supermarket cameras before checking out and walking out of the store.

Only once outside did it hit him with weird clarity:

Shit, when did I get so good at this?

Whatever.

Shi Yu's mouth twitched. Once outside, he swapped out his SIM card and quickly sent a tip.

Well, that pile of straw he'd already wasted—the fruits in the supermarket were probably just leftovers, so getting rid of them should do the trick.

After sending the anonymous message, Shi Yu broke the SIM card in half and smoothly pushed the cart back home.

But the moment he returned, he felt Little Monster suddenly get excited.

Shi Yu ignored it—until a moment later, when he heard Little Monster say, "Wala."

"Mom... where throw Mimosa?"

"Trash can... okay?"

After looking at the flowerpot across the room.

Shi Yu froze: ???

When did he say anything about throwing away the Mimosa?

A vein pulsed in his temple, but Little Monster waggled its tentacles excitedly, declaring, "Wala."

Mimosa... dirty.

Mom... throw away.

It was Mom's one and only treasure—Little Monster had hated that potted plant forever.

Even though it wasn't great at talking yet, it had already figured out the important part: throw away the Mimosa!