Chapter 153: The Corpse Flower

Saul had a dream.

When he opened his eyes, he suddenly turned over and stretched his head outside the bed, retching a few times.

Since he hadn’t eaten properly for a long time, only a little acidic liquid came up.

Instead, his throat began to burn with pain.

He casually wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, only to realize that his hand had turned to bone.

Now both his mouth and throat hurt.

He sat up on the bed, pleasantly surprised to find that the exhaustion and headache from last night had completely disappeared.

“Is sleep really this effective? Does that mean I was wrong to replace sleep with meditation all this time?”

Saul, now full of energy, got up and tidied himself up.

“Think about what to do today?”

Should he go meet Mentor Kaz? Or should he head to the registration room to swap for the Second Rank apprentice badge?

Or maybe find Senior Byron and divide up the payment for this task?

There were many gains and more questions after this outing.

But things could only be done one at a time.

In the end, he decided to check his body with Nick first.

After all, he might have a wraith attached to him, and that issue should be resolved as soon as possible.

Otherwise, many things would be inconvenient to do.

However, when Saul went to the 12th floor of the West Tower to find Nick, he found that a few Second Rank apprentices had gathered around.

Second Rank apprentices weren’t as prone to gathering around like First Rank apprentices, so this was a rare sight.

Saul couldn’t help but walk over.

There weren’t too many onlookers, and even someone as short as Saul could easily find an opening.

When he saw what was inside, he furrowed his brow slightly.

A corpse.

It was a servant, and judging by the age, they couldn’t be more than fifteen.

One leg, now only a skeleton, was standing firmly on the ground, while the other leg was twisted upward at a strange angle. Both arms were raised diagonally upwards.

The head had blossomed into a flower.

The petals were made of flesh and blood, with the flower’s center formed from white bones.

The arms and one leg were the leaves, and one limb was the flower’s stem.

Saul tightened his lips with difficulty.

He was a little disgusted.

Not because of the bizarre appearance of the corpse—he had seen worse in the morgue.

But because he recognized this corpse.

It was the young servant he had slowly turned into this state last night.

He also remembered how the excess flesh and bone were slowly chewed and swallowed.

“Saul,” someone suddenly called him.

Saul turned around, and it was Nick, the one he had been looking for.

At this moment, Nick also saw the body among the crowd, and his brow twitched slightly.

“Corpse Flower.”

“What?”

“Also known as Bone Stamen, it’s a ritual from a long-extinct species for honoring the deceased. I didn’t expect to see it again here at the Wizard Tower.”

At this time, someone beside them spoke up, “This isn’t the first time.”

The person speaking had his arms crossed, and his face was filled with disgust.

“Sari? Your health improved?” Nick obviously recognized him.

“Just barely alive, what, should I die instead?” Sari replied curtly.

But Nick wasn’t angered. He even introduced Saul.

“Saul, recently promoted to Second Rank.”

Forcing down the disgust, Saul nodded at Sari.

But Sari only glanced at Saul, unwilling to even fake politeness.

“You’re saying this kind of thing has happened before?” Saul didn’t care about the other’s attitude; he was more curious about the Corpse Flower.

Sari coldly glanced over, about to say something, but was interrupted by Nick.

“Be polite to Saul.”

Sari looked surprised at Nick, and seeing that he wasn’t joking, he awkwardly responded to Saul.

“This is already the fourth one in the past half month,” his tone was already bad but now even stiffer, “The master had already assigned the task to Second Rank apprentices. It seems like to resolve this, a Third Rank apprentice will be needed.”

Sari seemed to feel itchy, and he raised his hand to scratch his cheek.

He scratched too hard, and his sharp nails pierced his skin, with a few drops of blood seeping out and soaking into his nails.

But neither Sari nor Nick seemed to care.

“Happy now?” Sari looked at Saul, now with a hint of scrutiny.

Saul didn’t hold back and continued asking, “Who do you think might be doing this?”

Maybe because of Saul’s natural attitude, Sari subconsciously answered, “Maybe it’s some hopeless Second Rank who couldn’t advance.”

After saying that, Sari turned and walked off, not giving Saul any more opportunities to ask.

Nick stood by, enjoying the show, and then said to Saul, “Are you here to move in, or did you come to see me?”

“I want you to check again to see if there’s a wraith attached to me.”

Nick readily agreed, “No problem, let’s head to the lab.”

Sitting in the experimental chair again, Saul’s mood was very complex.

“It’s just a check for wraith, don’t turn the power up so high.”

“No problem.”

Nick was busy inserting lead wires into Saul’s body, but when he reached his arm, his movements stopped.

“Your hands… are like this?”

Saul looked at his skeletal hands, and it was indeed impossible to insert the needles.

“I’ll deal with the problem with my body first.”

Nick tried inserting the needle into the crevices of the bones, but failed. With a sigh, he threw the wires on the ground.

“Forget it, it’s not like we’re missing these. Shall I start now?”

Maybe after the warning, Nick didn’t turn the power up as high, or maybe Saul, now 14, had stronger willpower than before.

In any case, this time, he didn’t lose consciousness with the comfort; he even had time to recall last night’s dream.

In the dream, he had been walking through a frozen wasteland for a long time.

Finally, he found a little house with candlelight shining out of the window.

It must be warm inside!

That’s what Saul thought at the time.

Even though it was cold and he was starving, he controlled himself and knocked politely on the door.

Someone was inside; he was sure of it, but they refused to let him in.

Saul got angry.

He felt that even if they didn’t want to give him food, they should at least let him in to escape the snowstorm.

How could people be so selfish?

So he knocked harder.

A faint laugh came from inside the room, as if mocking him for being a pathetic beggar.

Saul became angrier.

He slammed the door even harder, swearing to show the people inside what he was capable of.

Finally, with his persistent efforts, the door lock loosened. He kicked the door open, and what he saw was a table full of delicious food.

Saul couldn’t hold back anymore and rushed in.

He no longer cared about revenge; he just wanted to eat all the delicious food.

But as soon as he took a bite, the tough and inedible meat, mixed with a strong blood scent, immediately awakened Saul’s consciousness.

Finally, he realized he was dreaming.

But in this dream, he couldn’t control his actions at all, not even moving his eyes to look around.

His eyes remained fixed on the bloodied boy in front of him.

His stomach burned with hunger, his tongue screamed that it wasn’t enough! It wasn’t enough!

And so, Saul, while remaining conscious, watched himself cruelly murder the boy.

After enjoying the feast, he personally folded a fake flower and left it in the room, as a token of appreciation from the host.

“Damn!”

Saul suddenly opened his eyes, the feeling of disgust completely overtaking any remaining comfort.

Nick, on the other side, stared at him blankly and put down the operation panel, “Why do you look so bad? Did I mess up the parameters?”

Saul took a deep breath, pulling himself away from the memory.

“No,” Saul didn’t want to answer that question, “Did you find anything on me? Any wraith?”

Nick could feel Saul’s irritable mood, but since Saul didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t press.

“No, there’s nothing, except for that little thing at the back of your neck. There’s no other presence. If you think it’s a wraith, it might just be some lingering trace, it will probably disappear in a couple of days.”

Nick walked over to help Saul unfasten the restraints.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Nick hesitated for a moment before asking a question that had been on his mind all night, “The Tower Master, he really is your…”

“This matter isn’t to be discussed.”

“I understand.” Nick immediately stopped his curiosity but still gave Saul a reminder, “Just so you know, there was more than just me on the boat that day. This matter is likely to get out.”

Saul wobbled his wrist, the electric shock just now had activated the anti-electric field etched into his bones, and now his joints were a little sore.

“It’s fine,” he said.

After all, the Tower Master had been the one to reveal it to the public, and Saul didn’t care whether this secret would be leaked.

Suddenly, a thick black tentacle stretched out from behind Saul’s neck, dropping to the floor.

The tip of the tentacle split open like a shark’s mouth, and a black tongue came out, also drooping to the floor.

The mouth continued to breathe heavily.

Nick: “It… has a long reaction time.”

Saul: “…”

(End of Chapter)

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