Chapter 153: The Corpse Flower

Saul had a dream.

When he opened his eyes, he suddenly turned over and stuck his head out of the bed, dry-heaving a few times.

Since he hadn't eaten properly in a long time, he only vomited a bit of stomach acid.

Instead, his throat burned painfully as a result.

He wiped his mouth casually with the back of his hand, forgetting that his hand had already turned into bare bones.

Now both his mouth and throat hurt.

He sat up and was pleasantly surprised to find that the exhaustion and headache from the night before had completely vanished.

"Does sleeping work this well? Have I been wrong all along, using meditation instead of sleep?"

Feeling energetic, Saul got up and freshened up.

"What should I do today?"

Should he see Mentor Kaz first? Or should he go to the registration office to exchange his badge for a second-level apprentice one?

Or perhaps find Senior Byron to divide the rewards from this mission?

This trip had brought Saul many gains, but it had also raised even more questions.

However, things had to be handled one step at a time.

In the end, he decided to visit Nick for a body check-up first.

After all, he might have a spirit attached to him, and that was something he needed to deal with as soon as possible.

Otherwise, it would be inconvenient to do many things.

However, when Saul arrived at the twelfth floor of the west tower to find Nick, he discovered that several second-level apprentices were gathered there.

Unlike first-level apprentices, second-level apprentices rarely gathered out of curiosity, making this scene quite unusual.

Saul couldn't help but walk over.

There weren’t many spectators, so despite his short stature, he easily found a gap to peek through.

When Saul saw the scene inside, he frowned slightly.

Someone was dead.

It was a servant, likely no older than fifteen.

One leg, reduced to a skeleton, stood firmly on the ground, while the other had been twisted forcefully upward at an unnatural angle. Both arms were also raised high.

The head had bloomed into a flower—

Flesh and blood formed the petals, while white bone served as the stamens.

Two arms and a leg acted as leaves, with the remaining limb as the stem.

Saul pressed his lips together tightly.

He felt a little sick.

Not because of the corpse’s grotesque appearance—he had seen far worse in the mortuary.

But because he recognized this corpse.

Last night, he had carefully pruned this young servant into this very shape.

He also remembered how he had chewed and swallowed the excess flesh and bone piece by piece.

"Saul."

Someone suddenly called his name.

Saul turned his head—it was Nick, the very person he had been looking for.

At this moment, Nick also noticed the dead body in the crowd, and his eyebrows twitched slightly.

"A Corpse Flower."

"What?"

"Also called a Bone Bloom, it was a ritual used by a now-extinct race to honor the dead. I never expected it to appear in the Wizard Tower."

At that moment, someone else chimed in.

"This isn’t the first case."

The speaker stood with his arms crossed, his face full of disgust.

"Sari? You’ve recovered?" Nick seemed to recognize him.

"Just barely surviving. What, you expect me to die instead?" Sari replied rudely.

Nick didn’t get angry and instead introduced Saul.

"Saul, recently promoted to second-level."

Suppressing his nausea, Saul nodded toward Sari.

But Sari only glanced at him indifferently, not even pretending to be polite.

"You mean this has happened before?" Saul ignored the attitude and focused on the Corpse Flower.

Sari gave him a cold look, just about to say something when Nick cut in.

"Be more polite to Saul."

Sari looked at Nick in surprise. Seeing that Nick wasn’t joking, he awkwardly replied to Saul.

"This is already the fourth case in the past half month," he said stiffly. "The steward had already issued a task for second-level apprentices. Now, it looks like a third-level apprentice will have to step in."

As if feeling an itch, Sari raised his hand to scratch his cheek.

He did it too forcefully—his sharp nails immediately pierced his skin, and a few drops of blood seeped out, soaking into his nails.

But neither Sari nor Nick seemed to care.

"Happy now?" Sari lowered his hand and looked at Saul, his gaze now tinged with curiosity.

Saul didn’t hold back. "Who do you think did this?"

Maybe because Saul’s attitude was so natural, Sari instinctively answered, "Probably some unlucky second-level who’s given up on advancing."

After speaking, Sari turned and left, giving Saul no chance to ask further.

Nick had been watching the scene with interest. Now, he finally spoke to Saul.

"Did you come to move in, or were you looking for me?"

"I want you to check if I have any spirits attached to me."

Nick agreed immediately. "No problem. Let’s go to the lab."

Sitting in the electromagnetic induction chair again, Saul had mixed feelings.

"Just check for spirits, don’t turn up the power too much."

"No problem."

Nick was busy inserting electrode needles into Saul. But when he reached his arm, he hesitated.

"Your hands are like this now?"

Saul looked at his skeletal hands—indeed, there was no way to insert the needles.

"Let me fix my body first."

Nick tried to insert the needle between the bones but failed. Frustrated, he threw those wires aside.

"Forget it, missing a few won’t matter. Ready to start?"

Maybe because Nick really did lower the power this time, or maybe because Saul was now fourteen and had stronger willpower,

This time, he didn’t feel so overwhelmed that he lost consciousness.

In fact, he had enough presence of mind to recall his dream from last night.

In the dream, he had wandered through a snowy wasteland for a long, long time.

Finally, he found a small house with candlelight shining through the windows.

"It must be warm inside!"

Despite being cold and starving, he restrained himself and knocked politely on the door.

There was definitely someone inside—he was sure of it. But they refused to let him in.

Saul grew angry.

Even if they didn’t want to share food, they could at least let him take shelter from the snow!

How could people be so selfish?

So he knocked harder.

Inside, someone chuckled softly, as if mocking him for being a pathetic beggar.

Saul was furious.

He slammed the door, swearing to teach the person inside a lesson.

After much effort, the lock loosened, and he kicked the door open—

Only to be greeted by a feast.

Saul couldn’t hold back anymore and rushed forward.

Vengeance no longer mattered. He just wanted to devour everything.

But as soon as he bit down, the tough, hard-to-chew flesh, mixed with a heavy stench of blood, jolted him awake.

Finally, he realized he was dreaming.

But in the dream, he had no control over his body.

He couldn't even move his eyes to look around.

His gaze remained fixed on the bloodied boy before him.

His stomach burned with hunger. His tongue screamed—More! More!

And so, while fully conscious, Saul watched himself brutally kill the boy.

After feasting, he carefully folded a fake flower and left it in the room as a token of appreciation.

"Shit!"

Saul snapped his eyes open, nausea overwhelming him.

Across from him, Nick blinked and lowered the control panel.

"Why do you look so pale? Did I mess up the parameters?"

Saul took a deep breath, forcing himself out of the memory.

"No," he said, unwilling to explain. "Did you find any spirits on me?"

Nick could sense Saul’s frustration but didn’t press him.

"No, aside from that little guy on the back of your neck."

Nick unfastened Saul’s restraints.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Suddenly—

A thick, black tentacle slithered out from behind Saul’s neck and drooped to the ground.

At its tip, a gaping shark-like mouth opened, revealing a black tongue that flopped out limply.

It panted heavily.

Nick: "…Its reflex arc is so long."

Saul: "…"

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