Chapter 118: Devil's Moss

"Why are you here?" Mo Sanpang asked, attempting to approach the man who was perhaps the most legendary figure in Zhengzhou—or even the entire Henan Province. Yet, he seemed hesitant, not daring to get too close.

"I came to see a friend and, incidentally, to inform him of a few things." Li Qingshui nodded, stood up from the bar stool, and walked over to Liu Chang and Xiaojing. Looking at the young girl, he said, "Little one, you've grown taller."

"Mm." Xiaojing looked at Li Qingshui with a reserved expression. In the face of this man, she lost the playful, impish demeanor she usually displayed around Liu Chang, retreating behind his tall frame instead.

"Haha, still afraid of me?" Li Qingshui chuckled at her reaction. "What exactly have I done to make you so scared?"

"Perhaps she has an instinctive fear of organisms with excessively high life intensity," Liu Chang said, stroking Xiaojing’s hair. He looked at Li Qingshui with a stoic face. "You must have come for a reason. Usually, you wouldn't visit for two or three months at a time."

"Heh, nothing special. I just wanted to chat with you." Li Qingshui turned his gaze back to Xiaojing. "If you say my life intensity is too high, then tell me, Xiaojing, what do you think my current intensity level is?"

Xiaojing, standing beside Liu Chang, felt around for a moment before asking in confusion, "How did you do that?"

"I can't tell you that—or rather, I'll tell you once you dye your hair back to black," Li Qingshui said, seemingly teasing her because of her fear. "The way you look now isn't very pretty. No wonder your Brother Liu Chang doesn't like you."

"None of your business."

"I'm not interfering. I’m just saying, according to logical theorems, when a heinous person decides to turn over a new leaf, they are not far from death. The reverse is also true. You used to be so well-behaved, but now that you're acting out like this..." Li Qingshui stopped mid-sentence, clearly understanding that an unfinished threat is the most effective.

"I'm not talking to you anymore." Xiaojing shivered at his words, stomped her foot, and rushed into the inner room.

"Go look after her," Liu Chang said, patting Mo Sanpang on the shoulder as he watched Li Qingshui chase her off. "Go on."

"Right." Mo Sanpang looked at Li Qingshui, then at Liu Chang, and finally back at Li Qingshui. Though he couldn't fathom their relationship, he knew this was not his place to speak.

Once Mo Sanpang had left the room, Liu Chang offered Li Qingshui a bitter smile. "Why are you scaring her? She’s just a young girl, fifteen or sixteen, right in the middle of puberty."

"She’s being too unruly; I’m just teasing her." Li Qingshui looked toward the door of the inner room. "You don't discipline her either. Look at her now. It’s like she has no one to guide her. Why don't you hand her over to me for a few days? I guarantee that when she comes back, she’ll be exactly as she was before."

"Forget it," Liu Chang sighed helplessly. "I trust you with everything else, but not with raising children. If you hadn't insisted on taking Xiaojing away last time, would she have turned out like this? She’s acting out against me on purpose now, as a form of retaliation. What on earth did you do to her during those days?"

"Nothing much. I wanted to make her stronger, so I gave her some special training. I didn't expect such a rebound! Actually, you’re the real culprit here," Li Qingshui said, looking at Liu Chang. "Human psychology always has a rebound period; her behavior back then was normal. It’s because you couldn't let go that she ended up like this. The day I took her away, she was crying and begging you not to let her go, yet you did."

"Since you let her go, you should have trusted me to handle her. I told you three months, and it would have been three months. There was bound to be a rebound period, but with time, it would have been smoothed out and suppressed. But you were anxious, visiting her at my place every few days. No matter how mature she is, she has the temperament of a child and is incredibly dependent. Your visits not only ruined my training plan but gave her an infinite rebound period."

"She cried every time she saw you, and it got worse each time."

"And that’s not all. You ended up taking her back before the three months were up. Your coddling is the root cause of how she acts now!"

As he spoke, Li Qingshui looked at Liu Chang with an expression that said, "Too much motherly love spoils the child."

"Then what do you suggest? It's already come to this," Liu Chang sighed after hearing Li Qingshui's long-winded lecture. He didn't bother arguing, knowing he couldn't win.

"Give her to me for another three months. Don't go see her, and I guarantee she’ll be as obedient as before."

"No," Liu Chang shook his head. "That won't work."

"Then you'll just have to suffer," Li Qingshui said. "You're in for a rough time. She resents you for sending her away. Orphans are like that—they have an intense sense of dependency. Sending her away means she’ll hold a grudge for a lifetime. Plus, she likes you. That orphan mentality coupled with a girl's teenage infatuation will make her do everything she can to spite you. Just wait and see."

"Isn't there any other way?" Liu Chang felt a pang of fear at Li Qingshui's alarmist words.

"Yes. You die, and she’ll realize she was wrong," Li Qingshui smiled.

"Stop joking. Is there any other way? Something serious."

"Well, or you could accept her, and she’d become even more obedient than before," Li Qingshui said, suddenly bursting into a laugh that felt deeply unsettling.

Liu Chang knew that Li Qingshui had always been stoic and indifferent. For some reason, every time he saw him over these past few months, he seemed to have become more emotionally complex—it was baffling.

"Have you been too influenced by Zhao Zhuo? Why are you making such terrible jokes?" Liu Chang frowned.

"Zhao Zhuo? Actually, Zhao Zhuo is a good man. He lives like a real man—dares to think, dares to act, and takes responsibility. There aren't many men who live as boldly as he does." As Li Qingshui spoke, the inner door opened again, and He Zhizhi walked out.

"You're here." He Zhizhi looked at Li Qingshui, her voice trembling. If the young girl felt only a little fear toward Li Qingshui, He Zhizhi felt a terror etched into the depths of her soul. The memories of her severed limbs and the experiments she endured made her feel deeply uncomfortable whenever she saw this man.

"Mm." Li Qingshui wasn't as casual with her as he was with Liu Chang and Xiaojing. He nodded once and then ignored her.

"Would you like something to drink?" He Zhizhi used her one arm to tidy the bottles on the shelf, then pulled two out from behind the bar and poured them drinks.

"Yes, thank you." Li Qingshui took the glass, glanced at the iron hook on her stump, and asked, "Are you sure you don't want me to fit you with a new one?"

"No, thank you. I’m a bit afraid of the laboratory." He Zhizhi smiled, looked at Liu Chang, and said, "You two talk," before falling silent.

"Right, okay." Liu Chang took a sip of his drink, glanced at He Zhizhi, and asked Li Qingshui, "By the way, we’ve been talking about Xiaojing the whole time—I haven't had a chance to ask why you came to see me today."

"Ah, take a look at this!" Li Qingshui pulled a bottle from his coat. Inside was a piece of strange, moss-like vegetation.

"What is this?" Liu Chang leaned over the bottle, peering closely at the contents.

"A mutated plant. A monster," Li Qingshui said.

"Mutated plants are everywhere these days. This isn't just something ordinary, is it?" Liu Chang knew that whatever Li Qingshui brought out would have extreme characteristics.

"Correct. This is a true monster. The side effects of Zhao Zhuo’s defoliant and Liang Dou have finally manifested." Li Qingshui pulled out another small, perfume-like bottle. "This is the special-effect defoliant Zhao Zhuo synthesized back then. Let me show you what happens when these two meet."

He opened the cork of the bottle containing the plant, sprayed a bit of the defoliant inside, and quickly sealed it again.

Immediately—*Screech!*

A strange, agonizing shriek erupted from the bottle. Liu Chang watched with wide eyes as the moss-like substance, upon contact with the defoliant, recoiled like a fish doused in sulfuric acid. It thrashed and screamed, twisting into various shapes. The agony was palpable; the mere sound of that strange, high-pitched wail gave Liu Chang a headache.

"What on earth is that?" Liu Chang frowned. "It's disgusting. It looks like a demon."

"I agree. I’ve named it 'Demon Moss.' They possess demon-like vitality, along with destructive power and reproductive capabilities that transcend those of a demon."

Li Qingshui continued to shake the bottle. The thing inside was still struggling, slamming against the glass walls with a *ding-ding-dong* sound.

"Destructive power?" Liu Chang stared at the little creature in Li Qingshui's hand.

"Yes. This is specially reinforced glass; if it were anything else, it would have been shattered long ago," Li Qingshui explained. "This is a parasite from Liang Dou. Theoretically, the monsters Zhao Zhuo synthesized shouldn't have parasites, because they possess the superior genes of every plant. Where they exist, no other flora can grow. I was surprised to find this sliver of green, so I collected it."

"Later, research revealed that this organism's genes are completely distorted and twisted, yet its vitality is incredibly strong. Even the defoliant can't kill it. It’s an entirely abnormal genetic species—you could say it exists solely for the purpose of destruction."

"A species that exists solely for destruction?"