Chapter 001: He Really Can’t Bear It

Year 650 of the Great Ming calendar, Jiangdong Province, outside the campus of Jiangzhou University of Science and Technology. As Henry Sutton walked toward the campus, a figure suddenly rushed out from the roadside, throwing a blazing fist that landed on Henry Sutton’s abdomen.

With a single punch, Henry Sutton lost all his strength, his skin burning hot as if scalded. As he gritted his teeth and forced himself to circulate the Wood God Technique to endure the pain, the figure sneered and spat, “Henry Sutton, I’m here on behalf of Young Master Xu to greet you. Stop stirring things up online. This is just a small lesson for you. Next time, next time it’ll be broken arms and legs, or you’ll end up dead like your short-lived father. Got it?”

“Aren’t you afraid? Tsk tsk, what about your mother? Do you want her to end up lying in a hospital bed like your father, not knowing if she’ll live or die the next time you see her?”

“Our Great Ming Empire has over 20 billion citizens. Accidental or unexpected deaths happen every day. Remember me, my name is Helen Dudley. Don’t make me come looking for you again, or it’ll be your death!”

After a string of sinister words, Helen Dudley took a drag of his cigarette, blew smoke right in Henry Sutton’s face, then swaggered off with a loud laugh.

Henry Sutton stared hard at the receding figure. His skin still felt like a boiled shrimp, the pain was excruciating, but he didn’t make a sound, just gritted his teeth in silence.

A few minutes later, after circulating the Wood God Technique several times, Henry Sutton’s body recovered a bit, and he forced himself to keep walking toward the school dormitory despite the pain.

Jiangzhou University of Science and Technology, Spirit Wood Department, freshman dormitory building 701. As soon as Henry Sutton entered the room, he lost all strength and collapsed onto the floor with a thud. At that moment, he felt so stifled he couldn’t describe it, hating his own uselessness to the extreme.

His father, Brian Sutton, had recently offended the powerful Xu family in their hometown county—specifically, one of Young Master Xu’s concubines—with a careless remark. As a result, Young Master Xu viciously sent people to beat him, leaving him disabled. Because he wasn’t taken to the hospital in time, he’s still in a coma. The doctors said that without high-grade spiritual medicine, he might remain in a vegetative state for a long time.

When Henry Sutton, a freshman at Jiangzhou University of Science and Technology, heard the news, it hit him like a thunderbolt. He immediately took leave from school and rushed home.

But the Xu family is a super-powerful clan in his hometown county. Don’t underestimate the local tycoons of a single county—out of the Great Ming’s 20+ billion people, each county averages tens of millions. Henry Sutton’s hometown is a populous county with thirty or forty million people, and the influence of the powerful families there is astonishing. If it weren’t for the fact that Henry Sutton is a top student at a second-tier evolution university, the Su family’s situation would be even worse.

He sought justice at the local authorities but got nowhere, so he started posting online, hoping to bring public attention to the matter, force the local officials to act, punish the Xu family, and get compensation for his father’s medical bills. But just as he started to gain a bit of attention online, the Xu family retaliated?

That punch from Helen Dudley just now was only a warning, but Henry Sutton was sure that if he kept going, with the Xu family’s resources, if they really decided to do something, even as a student at Jiangzhou University of Science and Technology, he could still end up in a mysterious “accident.”

Death wasn’t what scared him. What pained Henry Sutton was that his parents had worked so hard to raise him, and now, with his father nearly a vegetable and his mother’s hair turning half white overnight from grief, if he died unexpectedly, how much more would that hurt her?

The Xu family, the Xu family?!!

As Henry Sutton’s breathing grew more and more labored, a vine-like plant on the wooden floor beside him suddenly stretched out a stem like a spirit snake. The leaf brushed across Henry Sutton’s face, injecting a warm current into his body and calming his emotions a little.

This dormitory was a wooden building with an ancient, elegant style. Everywhere inside were vines and unknown flowers and plants. Small trees had naturally grown into the shapes of tables and chairs, and some of the plants beside the furniture emitted a warm, gentle light, illuminating the space.

Two vine-woven hammocks hung on either side of the dormitory like suspended beds.

This is the typical layout for the Spirit Wood Department; all these plants are sentient.

Henry Sutton let out a bitter laugh, grabbing a leaf and pressing it to his face. “I really am useless!”

Just then, his phone rang. Henry Sutton picked it up and saw it was his mother calling. As soon as he answered, a frantic, desperate voice came through: “Xiao Heng, Xiao Heng? Are you okay? You mustn’t let anything happen to you. The Xu family sent someone to warn me again, telling you to behave. Xiao Heng, I’m begging you, your father is already like that—even if he’s in a coma, he’s still alive. When you become strong one day, you’ll have a chance to cure him. Don’t do anything foolish. We can’t afford to provoke the Xu family. I’m really scared. They threatened me, saying if you keep stirring things up online, they’ll... I’m so afraid of losing you too. Xiao Heng, promise me, promise your mom—this is the first time in my life I’ve ever begged you—don’t do anything foolish. Let’s just let it go, okay?”