Chapter 55: Ugh, such shamelessness!

Upon seeing the Greedy Pot, the fat man’s eyes, which were initially slits, widened to the size of small peas. Before this moment, upon witnessing the ‘slime,’ he had suspected that Hu Fu might have fallen at the hands of this young newcomer. Now, he was absolutely certain that Hu Fu met his demise.

What seemed like a promising hunt turned out to be a setup for someone else’s gain.

As soon as the fat man laid eyes on the Greedy Pot, his sincerity became more pronounced. “Master, don’t let Hu Fu deceive you. Although the Greedy Pot has potent effects, each wish costs you an organ: first a kidney, then the heart, and finally the brain, leading to the wisher’s death. I understand your concern about Vena escaping and attracting more Nightwatchers, but allow me to assist instead. There’s no need to waste one of your precious wishes.”

While speaking, the fat man extracted a significant amount of straw from the wound where the doll had sliced him earlier.

He resumed manipulating Vena’s straw figure, but those familiar with him would notice his movements were unusually slow. Although it seemed plausible due to his obesity, in reality, during life-threatening situations, the fat man could work swiftly on the straw figures.

Occasionally, he strained to lift his plump hands before his eyes, expressions of anxiety and frustration flickering across his face, as if deeply distressed by his inability to assist Duan Wenxuan more quickly.

“Don’t worry, Master, I’ll finish this soon, very soon,” the fat man repeated nervously. His hand trembled momentarily, dropping the straw figure onto the ground. As he tried to pick it up, his obese body hindered him, causing both embarrassment and annoyance.

Clearly, his acting skills were exceptional enough for an award-winning performance.

After witnessing the fat man’s full act, Duan Wenxuan unhesitatingly wished for Vena’s escape to be fraught with difficulties.

As Duan Wenxuan voiced his wish, the fat man unconsciously paused his performance. For a brief moment, confusion surfaced when he realized Duan Wenxuan genuinely used the Greedy Pot. No one casually employs such an artifact; after all, the Greedy Pot isn’t a benevolent tool—it demands lives.

After pondering for a moment, Duan Wenxuan, to ensure effectiveness, made three more wishes in quick succession—all aimed at hindering Vena’s escape. Following his wishes, Duan Wenxuan instructed the slime to keep watch over the fat man while he himself rushed in pursuit of Vena.

The fat man was genuinely stunned, almost unable to comprehend what had just transpired.

Th-this… these frequent wishes, and yet Duan Wenxuan didn’t die? Moreover, he seemed perfectly fine, showing no signs of any adverse effects?!

Could such a person exist? Someone capable of using unique items recklessly without suffering harm?

The fat man’s gaze shifted back to the monstrous creature, its blood-red liquid emitting a faintly foul odor as it slowly slithered across the ground. The chilling and malevolent aura made the monster appear deeply unsettling.

Has this young man truly tamed even that creature? As the fat man calmed down, cold sweat broke out on his back. Could there be a genuine divine presence behind the Universal Church this youth promotes, making him a saint?

Beyond the mainland provinces of Northern Province, numerous small, disorganized cults existed, but most were scams targeting gullible people. Is this one actually real? Otherwise, the fat man couldn’t fathom how Duan Wenxuan managed to control a monster or wield mutant energy fearlessly, without concern for potential backlash.

While the fat man’s thoughts oscillated wildly between various possibilities, Duan Wenxuan returned. He had a firm grip on someone’s arm, dragging Vena inside like a dead pig.

Vena’s appearance was utterly dismal; her once doll-like face, meticulously adorned with thick makeup, now looked swollen and disfigured. Her clothes were torn, and she seemed half-unconscious, consumed by self-doubt.

She couldn’t help but question everything. After initially managing to escape, things took a turn for the worse. She stumbled multiple times, and a venomous snake suddenly bit her foot, leaving it bloody. Finally, when Duan Wenxuan caught up to her, his relentless punches forced her hand. As she tried to dodge, the pain from the snake bite caused her ankle to buckle, inadvertently directing her face straight towards Duan Wenxuan’s fist.

With a thud, Duan Wenxuan tossed Vena next to the fat man.

The fat man had already retrieved the straw figure he dropped earlier, and his speed in making more straw figures significantly increased.

Upon seeing Duan Wenxuan return, the slime slowly slithered back to his feet, emitting squishy sounds.

“What’s wrong?” Sensing the slime tug at his pant leg, Duan Wenxuan looked down.

The slime expelled its contents again, regurgitating those dolls. Strangely, the re-emerging dolls now appeared more sinister, even distorted and moving erratically… almost like… those mutants!

“Your ability is practically a natural disaster.” Duan Wenxuan stared incredulously at the dolls. Previously, whenever the slime consumed people, it transformed them similarly, and he had experienced attacks from such mutants. However, he didn’t expect this effect to work on dolls as well.

Upon witnessing the dolls’ transformation, Vena, with her pig-like face, strained to open her swollen eyelids, gazing fearfully at the dolls. The fat man also displayed a look of terror, realizing that monsters could indeed be quite exploitable.

Seeing Duan Wenxuan engage with it more than usual, the slime eagerly opened its mouth, intending to swallow Vena and the fat man, indicating that they too could undergo such changes. Duan Wenxuan hastily restrained the slime.

After calming the slime, Duan Wenxuan boldly took hold of the Greedy Pot. “Now do you believe me when I say I’ve never met Hu Fu?”

Vena struggled to speak but managed a determined nod.

The fat man’s expression turned solemn, avoiding any glance towards the Greedy Pot. “Master, you’ve never even met Hu Fu before; it was our oversight in the investigation that led to falsely accusing you. Just now, Master spoke truthfully with good intentions, hoping to save us time, yet we didn’t believe and wasted your kindness. Truly deserving of punishment, indeed.”

Vena glared at the fat man, her eyes welling up with tears out of sheer anger.

Damn him! She couldn’t even speak due to her injuries. That insufferable fatso - striving for improvement is one thing, but he didn’t need to go overboard!

“I said I didn’t take the Greedy Pot, do you agree?”

“Mmhm, mmmmmm,” Vena nodded vigorously, trying to respond through her muffled speech. Unfortunately, during her fall earlier, she had bitten her tongue severely. Several teeth were now loose, and her tongue remained injured, leaving a metallic taste of blood in her mouth.

“Of course, given how kind-hearted our Master is, we truly lacked judgment by suspecting them of taking the Greedy Pot.”

“Luckily, I’m quite clever,” Vena managed to mumble through her injury, “and under your guidance, Master, I’ve reformed my ways, realizing my mistakes. Speaking of which, although you didn’t take the Greedy Pot, I know that Westphalia’s Night Church possesses another mutant artifact called the Twisted Eye, supposedly its counterpart.

Since you refrained from taking the Greedy Pot, it wouldn’t be right for me not to fulfill your wish somehow. How about we retrieve the Twisted Eye instead? Consider it as compensation from me?”

When it comes to shamelessness, Vena couldn’t help but admire the dead fat man beside her.

“Sounds good, sounds good.” Duan Wenxuan appeared rather pleased. “Your suggestion makes sense; I’ll go after the Twisted Eye later. But first, we have some serious business to attend to.”

Duan Wenxuan swiftly opened the gate and dragged Vena back to reality with him. Witnessing their sudden disappearance nearly made the fat man explode.

Just who is this young man?!

Could he possibly be an incarnation of the Universal Church’s deity?

The thought alone sent shivers down the fat man’s spine. He briefly considered running away but ultimately restrained himself. If even Vena couldn’t escape, where could he possibly run?

Less than a minute later, Duan Wenxuan returned.

“Don’t worry, I just wanted to ensure your safety by sending you somewhere else. I truly am very benevolent. Here’s what I propose: For the next three years, if you remain alive, I will grant you freedom afterwards.”

Upon hearing this, the fat man immediately brightened.

He didn’t particularly care about freedom or its absence. The fact that Duan Wenxuan mentioned needing them for three years implied he had a way to address the mutant within him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even last three days. A miserable life was preferable to a good death, and as far as the fat man was concerned, he would do anything just to stay alive.

Seeing the fat man visibly relieved, Duan Wenxuan brought him back to reality by revealing two bewildered individuals before him.

The paper figurine continued murmuring incessantly to Duan Wenxuan. Earlier, his lengthy conversation with them served the same purpose as Hu Fu’s approach—to relax their minds and allow the paper figurine to probe their thoughts.

Vena was originally the daughter of a circus ringmaster. One day at the circus, she stumbled upon a small wooden puppet. Unbeknownst to her, this puppet was a mutant artifact, and its properties remarkably resonated with hers.

Following that encounter, Vena gained the ability to bring life to wooden puppets she carved. However, the price was steep: her own body began slowly transforming into a puppet-like state. Her legs, arms, and internal organs gradually turned to wood. Eventually, when the transformation reached its peak, she would become a motionless yet sentient wooden puppet.

Vena had already planned that before this day arrived, she would set herself ablaze to end her life.

The fat man’s name was Wyda, originally a very frail beggar. One night, while huddled with other beggars for warmth, he unexpectedly woke up halfway through the night. Just then, he witnessed the Nightwatcher battling a monster. During their struggle, a tiny straw figure fell from the creature. Upon picking it up, it mysteriously fused with him.

From that moment on, his body gradually filled with straw, almost completely displacing his original organs. The day his body could no longer accommodate more straw would mark the end of the fat man’s life. As for how to utilize his mutant, Duan Wenxuan was well aware.

“Not bad, not bad. Something may be imminent in the real world, and you two can come in handy.” Duan Wenxuan scrutinized Vena and Wyda, then invoked the gate’s power to create their second personalities.