After Lu Shiyan finished handling Li Xinhu's funeral arrangements, he returned to the SUV and saw Su Wan curled up in the back seat, huddled into a ball. "Come out and eat something."
Su Wan buried her face in her knees, unmoving, her voice thick with a nasal tone, vaguely refusing, "I'm not hungry, I don't want to eat."
"You must eat!" Lu Shiyan's voice held a hint of helplessness. "Don't forget there's still one in your belly. Do you want him to starve to death with you?"
Su Wan suddenly lifted her head, her swollen red eyes looking at Lu Shiyan with a complex gaze. She opened her mouth, intending to retort, but then she turned her head to look at Li Kui, who was kneeling in the sand not far away, his shoulders shaking violently, letting out a trapped beast's whimper.
Finally, she took a deep breath, pushed open the car door, and with a sense of numbness and heaviness, stumbled out of the vehicle.
Su Wan expressionlessly took out compressed biscuits, canned beef, and bottled water from her spatial storage, distributing them to everyone.
No one spoke, no one had an appetite, but everyone silently accepted the food, mechanically tearing open the packaging, and numbly chewing and swallowing.
The food had no taste in their mouths, like chewing dry wood.
Just then, a faint "squeak, squeak" sound broke the suffocating silence.
A small, snow-white creature poked its furry head out of Su Wan's pocket. Its ruby-like eyes rolled around, showing a hint of human-like concern.
It was Hongdou.
It leaped lightly onto Su Wan's shoulder, gently nuzzling her cheek with its warm little face, emitting weak whimpers, as if comforting her.
This subtle gesture brought a little warmth to Su Wan. She reached out her hand and cupped Hongdou in her palm, feeling its soft fur and its tiny heartbeat.
Hongdou rubbed against her palm, but seemed a bit restless. It quickly leaped down, landing steadily on the sand.
Its tiny nose rapidly sniffed the air, and its two pink little ears perked up alertly, turning a few times. Then, as if it had locked onto a target, it scurried on its four short legs, "swish," to Xiao Han's feet, desperately pawing at Xiao Han's pant leg with its two front paws.
Xiao Han was full of grief, indignation, and irritation with nowhere to vent. Seeing this usually somewhat eccentric little creature inappropriately pawing at his pant leg, a surge of anger rose, and he impatiently snarled in a low voice.
"Get away! Don't cause trouble!"
He instinctively wanted to move his foot to avoid stepping on it, but seeing Su Wan's pale, haggard face, his heart tightened. In the end, he only sighed heavily, waved his hand irritably, "Don't bother me, go find your master."
Hongdou completely ignored Xiao Han's rude attitude. Instead, it turned its head and urgently squeaked a few times towards Su Wan, raising its small paw and pointing directly at the emerald green crystal core Xiao Han held tightly in his hand.
"It wants the crystal core?" Su Wan was startled, following Hongdou's paw with her gaze.
Everyone's eyes involuntarily focused on the significant crystal core and this palm-sized white mouse, and the atmosphere instantly became strange.
"Give it to him."
Lu Shiyan spoke without warning.
"Wh-what? A Shi, this..."
"Give it to him." Lu Shiyan repeated again, looking directly at the small white mouse that did not retreat, but instead raised its small head to confront him.
"This mouse has warned us several times and behaved extraordinarily. Su Wan once said he seems sensitive to energy. This wood-type crystal core has pure energy, and perhaps it can cause some changes we need in him, or... be beneficial to Su Wan's body."
"I need to know what he truly is. If he's just an ordinary pet, wasting a crystal core is fine, but if he truly has something special, now is the time to verify it."
Xiao Han looked at the crystal core in his hand, then at Lu Shiyan's resolute attitude, and finally his gaze fell on Su Wan's bloodless face. He finally gritted his teeth, steeled his heart, and slowly opened his palm, gently placing the emerald green and translucent crystal core on the ground.
Seeing this, Hongdou's ruby-like eyes instantly burst with light of surprise, and with a "whoosh," he transformed into a white blur and darted over.
He didn't crudely gnaw at it like other mutated beasts. Instead, he cautiously circled the crystal core twice, his tiny nose sniffing it carefully, and only then did he extend his two pink little paws and gently press them onto the surface of the crystal core.
The moment his paws touched the crystal core, an anomaly suddenly occurred!
The fist-sized wood-type crystal core suddenly erupted with dazzling green light. The dense, almost liquid, life energy, like a floodgate opening, formed a clearly visible emerald green pillar of light, forcibly pulled by an invisible force, surging wildly into Hongdou's tiny body!
"Om—" With a faint tremor, Hongdou's entire snow-white fur stirred without wind, each strand standing on end, and his whole body was enveloped in a dense green aura.
His tiny body trembled violently, and he emitted suppressed "woo woo" sounds from his throat, whether enduring an unimaginable energy impact or immensely enjoying this energy feast.
The surrounding air became exceptionally fresh due to this immense energy, and even the heaviness and despair that had accumulated in everyone's hearts due to Li Xinhu's death were somewhat diluted by this sudden anomaly.
This incredible scene lasted for almost a minute.
When the last trace of green light was completely devoured by Hongdou, the dazzling brilliance gradually receded. The wood-type crystal core, which was originally full, lustrous, and radiant, had now become dull and Gray, its color changing from vibrant emerald green to dead gray-white, and its surface was covered with spiderweb-like cracks.
"Crack!" With a crisp sound, the crystal core completely shattered, turning into a pile of useless white powder on the ground.
Looking at the little white mouse again, its size seemed unchanged; it was still that harmless, palm-sized creature.
Upon closer inspection, one could notice that his already snow-white fur was now even more lustrous and smooth, faintly shimmering with a jade-like glow.
The tip of his tail, adorned with a small tuft of bright red, now wagged triumphantly, and his ruby-like eyes were even brighter and more spirited, exuding an aura of vitality, completely devoid of the sickly appearance he had when first seen.
"Oh my heavens!" Xiao Han stammered, "This... what kind of monster is this?! Such a large, top-tier crystal core, and he just absorbed it dry?!"
He had never seen such an outrageous way of absorbing crystal cores, nor had he ever seen anything with such a monstrous absorption efficiency!
A Mo also frowned tightly, involuntarily clenching the hand holding his gun. This seemingly harmless little mouse's potential and strangeness had far exceeded his comprehension.
Lu Shiyan stared at the smug little creature. This mouse was indeed no ordinary being.
Su Wan's intuition, at times, was startlingly accurate.
Just as everyone was lost in various thoughts, filled with surprise and uncertainty, Hongdou, who had absorbed the immense energy, let out a very human-like little burp, then opened his cherry-red mouth—
"Pfft."
A tiny, emerald green object, only the size of a pinky fingernail and emitting a faint glow, was gently spat out by him.
It was, astonishingly... a seed?