The person turned and ran.
Fang Xin stared at the other person's retreating figure.
After a brief thought, he followed.
Anyway, he had a treasure like the Rewind Treasure Mirror.
If there was really something particularly dangerous, it wouldn't matter.
To see success or failure in life is heroic; it's just starting over.
After running a few steps, the person turned his head to look at Fang Xin again, making sure Fang Xin was following in real-time.
The eye and mouth that had suddenly appeared on half of his face quietly vanished.
The mass of slime beneath his skin wriggled to the back of his head.
Then, behind the hair at the back of his head, two slits appeared in the skin—one an eye, one a mouth—looking quite bizarre and eerie.
The two people exited the restaurant, one after the other.
Perhaps the mass of slime's ability to control people wasn't quite up to par.
So, the person he controlled had somewhat uncoordinated limbs, ran with a slight shuffle, and occasionally almost bumped into passersby.
Wherever the controlled person passed, many passersby sang praises for his mother.
Fang Xin's perception net was spread wide.
He was constantly monitoring for danger.
Fang Xin had never heard of this method the other person used and found it quite unusual.
They followed each other like this for nearly ten minutes.
The two arrived at an alley.
The controlled person's left foot stepped on his right foot, and he tumbled to the ground with a splat.
The mass of slime wriggled out from his eye socket.
It quickly squirmed across the ground.
Then it burrowed towards a sewer, half-burrowed, and then propped up its half-body, looking at Fang Xin, signaling him to come along.
Fang Xin pondered for a moment, then, holding the Rewind Treasure Mirror in one hand, he pried open the manhole cover and jumped down.
The city's drainage system was in disrepair, and the passage below was filled with a foul stench, dark and damp; dim, yellowish lights on the tunnel walls added to the eerie atmosphere.
The light was too dim, so the mass of slime made squeaking sounds to guide Fang Xin.
It twisted and turned through the passages.
Finally, it stopped in front of a heavy iron door.
A lamp hung outside the door; its lampshade was greasy and grimy with accumulated dirt, and the light bulb also had many years of old grime.
Fang Xin pricked up his ears and heard the rustling sound of turning pages coming from beyond the door.
The mass of slime wriggled and climbed up the wall, then burrowed into the keyhole; the lock cylinder turned, and with a click, the heavy door opened with a grating sound.
From the vantage point outside the door, it appeared to be a cavernous room, seemingly inhabited; a television hung on the wall inside, playing an educational film.
Takeout containers were haphazardly piled on the table and floor; some hadn't been thrown out for a long time, and small creatures had grown inside them.
A single bed was placed along one wall, cluttered with many blueprints; upon closer inspection, they were anatomical diagrams of the human body, in addition to many diagrams detailing the stages of human structural mutation.
The other side was a blind spot in his vision, which was where the sound of turning pages came from.
After the mass of slime emerged from the keyhole, it quickly wriggled towards that side.
Fang Xin put on his Blasting Gauntlets, holding the Rewind Treasure Mirror in one hand and communicating with the Panlong Spear inside his spatial ring with the other; if anything felt off, he had to stab once and then run, otherwise, he would feel incredibly regretful and unable to sleep when replaying it at night.
He slowly walked into the cavernous room.
Fang Xin looked towards the source of the rustling pages.
As he approached, he only saw a back.
The person was sitting at a desk, flanked by mountains of various books, journals, and documents.
The figure was somewhat hunched, with messy, bird's nest-like hair; when Fang Xin entered, the person seemed not to notice, still immersed in his own world, muttering some professional terms, flipping through books, and diligently writing something at the desk.
The other person's combat power was barely Level One; Fang Xin felt that with his current combat strength, a mere fart could make the other person stumble.
Fang Xin cleared his throat softly.
The figure remained motionless, still deeply engrossed in his own world.
Fang Xin walked over to that side.
Standing beside the person, he looked at what the person was writing under the dim desk lamp.
It was all complex calculation formulas, in addition to some notes he had made himself.
After a full five or six minutes, the person stopped writing, vigorously scratched his messy, bird's nest-like hair, and muttered softly, "No, what exactly is wrong? How did Mr. Fang do it back then!"
In the midst of scratching his head, his peripheral vision finally caught sight of someone standing beside him.
When he saw Fang Xin, the person jumped in fright, his chair wobbled, and he stumbled directly, followed by the mountains of books on the table toppling over like dominoes with a clatter.
His thick glasses also slipped down, and he fumbled to straighten the broken-legged glasses.
"Who are you?"
"Didn't you tell that snot-like thing to bring me here to meet you?"
The other person froze for a moment, then struggled to stand up, his two eyes behind the thick lenses gleaming, and he stepped forward to grab Fang Xin's hand.
"You are Mr. Fang's son?"
"Which Mr. Fang?" Fang Xin asked deliberately.
The other person paused, then said, "Aren't you Mr. Fang Zhengping's son?"
"Who are you?"
The other person tidied his hair and clothes, "My name is Ma Fuxiao, I am a loyal fan of Mr. Fang, and also half his student; I once received his kindness."
Fang Xin recalled briefly; it seemed he had indeed heard his parents mention this name at the dinner table before. Fang Zhengping also taught at the school; this person was very intelligent, from a very difficult family, had a mother with intellectual disability due to a car accident, and pursued his studies while caring for his mother. Fang Zhengping had provided financial assistance. He heard that Ma Fuxiao particularly loved reading, so he also had a nickname like 'Little Bookworm'.
He heard that this person later suffered a mental breakdown after his mother passed away, became mentally ill, and was ordered to withdraw from school by the administration.
"You're that 'Little Bookworm'?"
Ma Fuxiao scratched his head sheepishly, somewhat shyly saying, "So, Mr. Fang mentioned me to you?"
"He did! What do you want from me? And what exactly was that snot-like thing just now?"
Ma Fuxiao righted the chair and wiped it with his sleeve, "Please, sit! Let's talk sitting down!"
Fang Xin sat down, and Ma Fuxiao moved a box from the side and sat on it, "I am also very sorry about Professor Fang's passing. His achievements in the academic field can be said to be unprecedented and unmatched. I imagine you've heard such words many times, but I'll get straight to the point: Professor Fang once conducted a study during his lifetime, and that study ultimately achieved great success, developing a potion that could alter human genes with minimal cost."
Fang Xin's eyebrows raised slightly at his words, staring at Ma Fuxiao. Ma Fuxiao, noticing the change in Fang Xin's expression, smiled and said, "Actually, when Mr. Fang was doing this research, he mentioned some things to me. He often praised my unconventional thinking, saying it brought him a lot of inspiration." Ma Fuxiao scratched his messy hair and chuckled.
"From the bits and pieces he told me, I have already deduced seventy percent of his research.
Now I'm only thirty percent away; then I can replicate Mr. Fang's potion.
The reason I called you here today is to tackle the remaining thirty percent. Someone told me that as long as I can find you, my progress can reach ninety percent, or even higher!"
Upon hearing this, Fang Xin couldn't help but lean forward slightly. If that were truly the case… then he’d be rich beyond belief!
But Fang Xin quickly noticed another problem, "Who said that?"
Ma Fuxiao adjusted his thick glasses and looked at a large box in the corner, "Come out!"