Chapter 5 Visitor on a Rainy Night

The glass door of the greenhouse was pushed open, and a musty smell of decaying vegetation mixed with dust rushed towards him.

Lin Mu coughed and raised his hand to turn on the light, instantly illuminating the greenhouse.

Although it was called a glass greenhouse, the material used for the roof was actually shading material.

The small greenhouse was divided into different areas, each with different humidity and temperature, suitable for the growth of different plants.

It was evident that Lin’s parents had put a lot of thought into this greenhouse.

But now, it was in a state of chaos.

Thick layers of dust accumulated on the table and the floor, and the plants were left uncared for, withering and leaving behind decaying and brittle branches.

“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry…”

Lin Mu lowered his head and whispered.

It had been so many years, and if it weren’t for this strange world, he would never have mustered the courage to step into his parents’ favorite place.

He was afraid that if this world really was the end, he would never have another chance to come in.

That winter day, his parents said they were going on a trip to Changbai Mountain to see what kind of unique flowers and plants could still be found in the depths of winter in nature. At that time, Lin Mu was studying abroad and couldn’t accompany them.

Countless times, he had thought that if he had known that his parents would never come back, he would have gone with them, even if he couldn’t protect them, at least they could be together…

Even in death.

Lin Mu lifted his foot and walked inside. The greenhouse was mostly devoid of any surviving plants.
The surroundings were sealed off, with no one to care for them, no water, no sunlight, and even the air felt lifeless.

They had been neglected for several years, and indeed, they had lost their vitality long ago.

After staying for a while, he returned to the door, ready to turn off the lights and leave.

With a “bang,” he kicked something on the ground.

In a broken flower pot, there was… a tree?

Leaves in a three-lobed shape…

He remembered that in their last video call, his parents had mentioned their plan to venture deeper into the mountains to see if they could find anything.

Unfortunately, they encountered a car accident on their way back and tragically passed away. This small tree was sent back as a memento.

It was very small, less than ten centimeters in size, and the leaves resembled maple leaves with a three-lobed shape.

The entire plant had only three small leaves on the main stem, which seemed ready to fall off, with no other peculiar features.

From the main stem, two small branches sprouted, with the one on the right slightly longer. The one on the left, near the base of the small tree, appeared to be a newly emerged shoot.

Lin Mu couldn’t be sure if it was a precious plant that his parents had found. He hadn’t seen anything like it in the many books he had read, so he decided to keep it locked in the greenhouse.

Now, the plant beneath his feet was undoubtedly the same tree from back then. Lin Mu squatted down and examined it carefully.

The tree had grown a bit larger, approximately fifteen centimeters in height.

Two new leaves had grown on the branch on the right, which was strange because the three original leaves on the main stem seemed unchanged. Other than growing slightly larger, their positions remained exactly the same.

The flower pot had already shattered, and this tree grew amidst the broken shards and soil. Despite the lack of water and sunlight, there was no sign of withering or decay. It was surprisingly thriving.

Aside from the fact that it had very few leaves, it could even be described as vibrant.

There seemed to be something that attracted Lin Mu to the tree. He stretched out his hand and tried to pull it out. Unexpectedly, before the tree was pulled out, he saw the backside of the upturned leaves.

Under the light, the veins on the leaf were particularly clear, as if something were flowing within them.

If trees are said to transport nutrients through their leaf veins, then it’s as if you can now see the nutrients flowing within the leaf veins, a faint green color mixed with a little bit of golden substance.

He reached out to pick up the porcelain fragment on the mud, wanting to study it along with the soil.

“Bang, bang, bang –“

Just as Lin Mu carefully separated the broken porcelain fragments from the mud, a loud knocking sound came from the darkness of the night.

He had been waiting in the corridor for a long time, and now it was past one o’clock in the night.

The knocking sound was eerie in the rainy night, and Lin Mu was startled. His fingertip was cut open by a porcelain piece, causing blood to drip onto the mud.

Who could it be, at such a late hour?

Images of zombies from videos flashed through his mind, making his whole body stiff.

Before he could recover from the shock, what he saw before his eyes widened his eyes.

The tree seemed to have suddenly come to life, not the kind of vitality that plants have, but as if it… came alive all of a sudden?

It quickly grew thin white roots, sucking up the few drops of blood from the soil.

Yes, it’s as if its roots… drank… without leaving a trace.

Lin Mu stood there in shock, while the tree, seemingly unsatisfied, sniffed the scent of fresh blood and suddenly attached itself to his wound.

The roots licked around his fingertip, not wasting a drop of blood, and then forcefully burrowed into the wound.

His fingertip throbbed with intense pain, and Lin Mu quickly reached out to grab the tree. However, as soon as his hand touched the branches, the tree slipped out of his grasp, smoothly sliding out from the palm of his hand. In the blink of an eye, it seemed to transform into water and delved into his body…

Or perhaps… inside his blood vessels.

This incident occurred in an instant, as the intense pain tore through his entire arm from his fingertip.

Beads of sweat immediately formed on Lin Mu’s forehead, and he couldn’t help but let out a cry of pain, “Ah!”

However, at this moment, the knocking sound resounded once again, even louder than before.

Lin Mu tightly pressed his arm, attempting to stop this peculiar tree, but it had no effect.

That tree entered his body, as if merging with his blood.

The intense pain spread wildly from his arm to his heart.

Lin Mu pressed his chest, sweating profusely, his teeth biting his lower lip until it bled.

It’s too painful. In Lin Mu’s life, he had never experienced such agony before.

His heart felt entangled by intertwined branches, desperately struggling and resisting.

The thunderous beats in his chest made him feel like his heart could explode at any moment.

“Bang bang bang——”

“Bang bang bang——”

The person knocking on the door was gradually losing patience.