QT- I’m Almost Died
Chapter 268. Wealth Bearing Tree
More police cars arrived with sirens blaring and completely sealed off the orchard. All orchards in the surrounding areas of Beijing were no longer allowed to supply fruit, and supermarkets and fruit shops have removed all fruit from their shelves. This will certainly be a blow to fruit farmers and merchants, but since it concerns everyone’s safety, the authorities have no choice but to do this.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.
The owner of Hongxing Orchard initially had reservations about the decision and even planned to join forces with other fruit farmers and merchants to write a joint letter and petition the relevant departments in the city. The idea of pricking fruit with needles was utterly absurd, they had never even heard of it!
But at this moment, seeing this apple tree, which harboured a corpse inside it, all his anger, resentment, and sense of grievance dissolved into sheer terror. He glanced at the police officers who were methodically stringing up the police tape, and then at the forensic doctor who was opening his toolbox to prepare for the autopsy. He then realized that everyone seemed very calm, as if they were used to such bizarre scenes.
In other words, the so-called fruit needle-pricking case is completely fabricated, right? The real problem lies with the fruit trees?
Thinking of how much he loved eating the apples from this tree, the orchard owner turned away and vomited. Hearing his frequent dry heaving, Duan Xiaoyun couldn’t help but vomit violently as well.
Actually, the owner misunderstood. Meng Zhong and the others were not calm at all, they were just used to managing their expressions.
They had all eaten commercially available honey-core apples, and each one could potentially have come from this orchard, grown on this very tree. Their stomachs were churning and they felt extremely uncomfortable, but the major breakthrough in the case made them ignore these feelings.
Meng Zhong took out his notebook and asked, “Teacher Fan, did you sense the corpse inside the tree a long time ago, which is why you broke it?”
“I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even have time to sense it. I just placed my palm on it, and it withered and broke.” Fan Jialuo shook his head in denial.
Meng Zhong asked suspiciously, “Then why did it suddenly wither?”
With a sharp scalpel, Forensic doctor Zhou dissected the body and the tree trunk, and said with barely suppressed fear, “I think I know why the fruit tree withered. It wasn’t actually one tree, it was two trees.”
“What do you mean?” Meng Zhong immediately pressed for an answer.
“Look inside the corpse, aren’t there many holes and cavities? And look at these tree trunks, aren’t there many cavities as well, crisscrossing like blood vessels throughout the human body? This shows that the inside of the corpse and the tree trunks was originally filled with tubular structures.”
Forensic doctor Zhou, dissected a section of the treetop and further explained, “These tubular structures become thinner towards the crown, like capillaries, and then converge where the fruit hangs. I suspect that these tubes function like blood vessels, providing nutrients to the fruit. A tree can’t possibly have blood vessels, so what causes these cavities?”
Meng Zhong exclaimed in horror, “It’s those vines! Their shape looks a lot like blood vessels!”
Forensic doctor Zhou nodded, slightly dissected the upper right arm of the corpse, and said, “Look, the inside of the corpse is also full of holes, as if it has been eaten away by parasites. So it is actually two trees, one on the outside and one hidden inside, like a female ghost wearing a painted skin.”
Liu Tao and the others also gathered around, watching this extremely unsettling scene.
Fan Jialuo stood on the periphery and slowly began to speak, “That vine parasitized this apple tree, using this corpse as nourishment to bear fruit. These fruits were actually nourished by human blood and flesh. No wonder Ms. Duan cried when she ate these apples, she was actually eating her husband’s flesh and blood.”
Meng Zhong and the others were terrified by his description.
Forensic doctor Zhou’s hand holding the scalpel trembled slightly.
Having only just stopped, Duan Xiaoyun was instantly thrown into another fit of violent retching, crying as she did so, sticking her fingertips into her throat as if she wanted to rip her stomach out.
The owner of the Hongxing Orchard stared intently at the broken tree, his once dark skin now appeared as white as paper.
His reaction was normal, but Fan Jialuo gave him a deep look, a dark glint flashing in his eyes.
Meng Zhong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and guessed, “That vine knew we were here to investigate it, so it ran away from underground? Quick, dig it up!”
Liu Tao and the others immediately picked up hoes and dug down, and sure enough, they discovered a black hole that stretched out into an unknown direction. Following the black hole was definitely impossible, it was too deep.
“Go find an underground scanner.” Meng Zhong ordered.
“It’s no use. The underground cave is too deep, and the scanner will lose signal very quickly.” Forensic doctor Zhou shook his head.
Meng Zhong wiped his face helplessly before standing up and beginning the most traditional investigative method——interrogation. He led the orchard owner to a nearby shed, found him a simple table and chairs to settle in, then spread out his notebook and asked, “How long has that apple tree been growing here? Has there been anything unusual?”
The orchard owner’s eyes flickered, and he pretended to be trying to remember, “I planted this tree three years ago, and it only started bearing fruit six months ago. There’s nothing unusual about it.”
“Are you sure?” Meng Zhong questioned sternly.
Fan Jialuo stared intently at the other person, his dark eyes like two whirlpools, making one’s head spin.
The orchard owner hurriedly lowered his head, avoiding his gaze, and said weakly, “I’m sure.”
“He’s lying.” A magnetic voice came from the doorway, causing a clear smile to appear in Fan Jialuo’s unfathomable eyes.
“Have you eaten anything?” He asked, patting the empty chair beside him.
Song Rui, who rushed over, originally wanted to glare at him, but when he caught sight of the undisguised joy on his handsome face, his heart melted.
“I cooked a bowl of noodles.” Song Rui softened his tone, then looked at the orchard owner and exposed, “He has been hiding a lot of facts.”
“I……I didn’t.” The orchard owner wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, then clutched his stomach, explaining, “My stomach hurts, and my mind is a mess, I can’t remember anything.”
“Then you don’t need to think about it. Just put your hands up here, and I’ll read your memories directly from your mind.” Fan Jialuo placed his hands on the table, palms up, and waited patiently.
Under the gaze of his calm, unfathomable, and pitch-black eyes, the orchard owner broke out in an increasingly heavy cold sweat. He clutched his arms tightly across his chest, adamantly refusing to extend them. He knew this man was called Fan Jialuo, the most powerful Psychic in the country, capable of seeing into everyone’s deepest secrets. He would rather die than let him touch him.
“I remember now.” The orchard owner said anxiously, his eyes darting around, “I remember now. Three years ago, when this tree was transplanted to my orchard, it withered for a while. All the leaves had fallen off, and the branches had all died. I thought it was beyond saving and that I would have to dig it up one of these days to avoid taking up space. But the very next day, it inexplicably sprouted many tender green buds and came back to life.”
Meng Zhong looked through Duan Xiaoyun’s statement and asked, “What day was the day it came back to life?”
“It’s been three years, how could I remember?” The orchard owner shook his head, wiping away a few drops of cold sweat.
“Then I’ll take a look for you directly.” Fan Jialuo’s hands remained on the table.
The owner was anxious and quickly said, “That day was…… Ah! I remember now, it must have been in early April, around the time of the Qingming Festival. I even said I would wait until after the Qingming Festival to cut down the tree, because I was afraid it would be unlucky.”
“Early April?” Meng Zhong pondered for a moment, then asked, “Besides that, was there anything else unusual?”
“No, that’s all.” The orchard owner shook his head stiffly.
“Where did you get those saplings from three years ago?” Song Rui asked.
“The saplings were sourced from an online fruit seedling wholesale market.”
The online fruit seedling wholesale market brings together merchants from all over the country. Buyers browse and select randomly, and if there are not enough goods after placing an order, the merchants can transfer goods from other provinces. This process is difficult to control artificially. Therefore, the invasion of that plant into the orchard on the outskirts of Beijing should not be arranged by someone, but rather it was its own choice.
Judging from the various signs discovered so far, it is highly intelligent, probably not much less so than humans.
Once Song Rui had a better understanding of the situation, he leaned back in his chair and spoke slowly, “Just confess the truth, stop hiding it. Even if you don’t tell us, we’ll find out the secret you’re trying to cover up.”
Fan Jialuo lifted his eyelids, staring intently at the orchard owner. His thin, crimson lips parted, uttering three playful words, “Wealth bearing tree?”
Meng Zhong looked completely bewildered, then quickly went to the window to examine every tree around them. Weren’t they supposed to be searching for the sentient plant? Where did this money tree come from all of a sudden? And where exactly is it?
The orchard owner shuddered, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
Fan Jialuo withdrew his outstretched palm, his tone indifferent, “Your emotions are far too intense. Without needing to sense them, I can clearly hear your inner thoughts. You keep repeating one sentence, the wealth bearing tree has broken…… You see me as the culprit, wishing you could kill me with a hoe. But you have to endure it because there are police all around. You can only suppress your raging anger and resentment. This violently churning emotion has already betrayed your inner self to me. So, do you want me to continue?”
“Stop talking!” The orchard owner’s mental defenses were completely broken down. Cold sweat mixed with tears streamed down his face, making him look like a punctured water bag, and he looked extremely disheveled.
Fan Jialuo raised his chin at him, his voice low and bewitching, “Come on, tell me what you’re hiding.”
The orchard owner’s pupils gradually lost focus, and he said in a daze, “That broken apple tree was my wealth bearing tree.”
Meng Zhong, who was excitedly searching for a money tree by the window, suddenly felt embarrassed.
“Seven months ago, that tree started bearing fruit. The yield was no different from other trees, but the taste was exceptionally good, especially sweet. I told the fruit farmer at the time to take good care of it and use it for grafting to cultivate more superior varieties of trees.”
“I am very interested in improving new varieties, and I usually take care of this tree myself to observe the ripening of the fruit. One night, I came to the park to keep watch, and somehow I walked to that tree, picked a fruit and took a bite.”
The orchard owner took a deep breath, his voice trembling, “The strange thing happened at that moment. On the branch of the tree from which I had picked the fruit, another fruit quickly grew, large, round, and red, already ripe. I——”
The orchard owner, trying to calm his racing heart, continued, “I thought I was seeing things, so I picked another fruit, in the same spot. Guess what? Another fully ripe fruit grew there. I couldn’t believe my eyes, so I kept picking and picking, filling a whole basket, but it kept growing and growing.”
Meng Zhong was stunned.
Fan Jialuo and Song Rui, however, kept their eyes calm as they looked at the orchard owner.
The orchard owner’s story continues, “That night I didn’t sleep a wink. I filled one basket and then moved to another. On the same branches, in the same spots, I picked five or six hundred kilograms of apples, but not a single fruit was missing from the tree. At dawn, I heard roosters crowing and the fruit farmer coughing. That’s when I realized this secret absolutely could not be discovered. I stopped, and the spot where the fruit had been picked still had a single fruit hanging there, as if nothing had happened.”
The orchard owner lowered his voice, as if afraid others would hear the secret, “It took me a lot of effort to move those baskets of apples away and hide them. I also told the fruit farmers not to pick any fruit from that tree, because I had a use for it. I called my wife and son and told them about it. At first, they didn’t believe me.”
“Later, my son came over and, avoiding the fruit farmers, secretly picked an apple. But this time, it didn’t grow any new fruit. My son thought I had gone crazy and wanted to take me to see a doctor. I showed him the hundreds of kilograms of fruit I had picked the night before, but he didn’t believe me.”
“Whether I’m insane or not, would I not know by myself? That response from my family nearly choked me with rage! So the next night I went to keep watch again and picked another fruit. Guess what? It grew back! No matter how many times I picked it, it would always grow back! I was overjoyed and immediately called my son and wife to come and see.”
“After they saw it, they finally believed it, so the three of us picked apples all night long, picking several thousand kilograms of them. Each one had thin skin, sweet flesh, and a crisp texture. We were absolutely ecstatic.”
Recalling this, the orchard owner couldn’t help but smile, “After dawn, we picked a few more apples and then we discovered that the tree was actually quite clever, knowing how to hide its abnormality. During the day, it was just an ordinary fruit tree, the fruit that was picked wouldn’t grow back, but it would keep growing at night.”
The orchard owner’s smile deepened, his dark face revealing a crazed greed, “Other trees can only grow a little over two hundred kilograms of fruit a day, but this tree can grow tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of kilograms of fruit! How much money is that? As long as we can pick it, it can keep selling for money. Don’t you think it’s a wealth bearig tree?”
At this point, the orchard owner seemed to come to his senses, pursed his lips, and refused to speak again.
Fan Jialuo asked casually, “And then?”
These words once again caused the orchard owner’s eyes to lose focus, plunging him into an inescapable reverie, “From that day on, I began to take care of it myself. During the day, I would constantly wander around it, and when I saw ripe apples, I would personally pick a basketful and ask the fruit farmers to take them to sell, so as not to arouse their suspicion. At night, my wife, son, and I would frantically pick the remaining apples and then secretly hide them.”
“Those fruits were of exceptional quality, with vibrant coloring and a crisp, sweet taste. I secretly contacted a distributor, repackaged them, and sold them as imported apples. Regular apples usually fetch a wholesale price between 5 mao to 5 yuan per catty, but this kind can sell for 10 yuan a catty. As long as there was one fruit left on the tree, it would grow fruit continuously. It made me a lot of money, it was a wealth bearing tree sent to me by God!”
At this point, the orchard owner began to pant heavily, as if he were extremely excited.
Meng Zhong slammed his fist on the table in anger, “Come on! That’s not a money tree at all, it’s a demon tree! It uses human corpses as fertilizer. What’s the difference between the fruit you sell and human flesh? There are mutant people in the world, you must know that. Our police station broadcasts on TV every day, telling you to report any abnormalities. Why didn’t you report it? Just for a few yuan? Do you know what the consequences would be if the public ate this kind of fruit?”
The orchard owner remained silent, only glaring at Fan Jialuo with hatred. Now that all the secrets were revealed, he no longer needed to pretend. In truth, upon seeing the corpse, he didn’t feel particularly disgusted, rather, he felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.
Yes, such a magical tree must require magical methods to survive. So what if he eats human flesh? If he had known it needed human flesh to grow, he would have bought some orphans to use as fertilizer. What is human life compared to making money?
Fan Jialuo sensed the foul thoughts emanating from the orchard owner, and said with a half-smile, “Your family thinks it’s a divine tree, so you must have eaten quite a few of its fruits, right? Guess what would happen if you ate those fruits that were watered with human lives and blood?”
Upon hearing this, the orchard owner felt a sudden pang of panic.
Fan Jialuo held his hand in front of his face, lowered his eyes to sense for a moment, and slowly said, “I advise you to call your wife and son immediately and see where they are now.”
The orchard owner instinctively reached for his phone.
Meng Zhong immediately went outside and asked Liu Tao to send a team of men to find the orchard owner’s wife and son.
Every word Teacher Fan utters is meaningful, something must have happened to those two.
Back at the work shed, it came as no surprise to Meng Zhong to find the orchard owner in a state of frantic desperation, his eyes bloodshot from exhaustion as he repeatedly dialed his wife and son’s numbers. He had just moments before thought there was nothing wrong with using human lives to nourish trees, but now that his own family was in trouble, he couldn’t accept it.
Half an hour later, Zhuang Zhen called back and said in a deep voice, “Those two people have disappeared. They vanished hand in hand on the street. The surveillance footage only captured their backs, it didn’t show where they went. I’ll send you the surveillance video, take a look.”
Disappearing down the street, hand in hand——didn’t that phrase sound a bit familiar? Meng Zhong hurriedly flipped open Duan Xiaoyun’s deposition and found that when she described the scene of her husband and son’s disappearance, she said the same thing——They disappeared hand in hand down the deserted street……
Three years later, Duan Xiaoyun’s husband’s body was found inside an apple tree. Where will the orchard owner’s wife and son eventually appear?
This inexplicable, terrifying, and absurd association caused Meng Zhong to break out in a cold sweat.
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