She cried for a long time, and gradually, her heart grew calmer.
Sitting on the grass, she murmured to herself, "Ray! Mama misses you so much! If your spirit is watching over me from above, please send me a dream..."
Just then, something suddenly bounced into her palm.
Grace froze, her eyes widening as she stared at it.
It was a plump, round Parasitic Bean, about the size of her thumb.
She had no idea whether it had leapt up from the ground or fallen from a tree, but it landed right in her palm.
She looked up—the pine tree was spotless, not a single vine in sight.
There weren’t any birds in the tree either.
She glanced at the grass around her.
The ground was covered in fresh little sprouts, but none of them looked like they could produce a bean like this.
"Weird, where did this come from?" Grace set the Parasitic Bean down on the ground.
But to her surprise, the Parasitic Bean bounced right back up and landed squarely in her palm.
What the heck?!!
This time, she saw it clearly.
It was really hopping on its own!
She looked it over from every angle—it was just a bean... How could it possibly jump?
Once again, she carefully placed the bean on the ground.
The Parasitic Bean stubbornly bounced up again and landed in her hand.
Grace stared at the bean in her palm, and suddenly remembered a story.
When she was little, her grandmother used to tell her a story.
Legend had it that in Eastwood Forest, there lived a magical creature called the Parasitic Bean.
It would sneak into a person's belly, take root and sprout, and then the person would turn into a bean sprout.
Once the sprout grew up, it would produce more Parasitic Beans, searching for its next host...
"Oh no, could this really be a Parasitic Bean?" Grace suddenly hurled the bean into the pine forest and dashed away.
But she’d barely run a few steps before the bean chased after her, floating right in front of her face, almost as if it had eyes glaring at her.
Grace whipped out her Scarlet Sky Sword and slashed at it.
But the bean was quicker than lightning—it flashed and darted straight into her forehead.
Grace frantically patted her face all over—there was no trace of it.
"Oh no! The Parasitic Bean has possessed me!" Grace bolted, panicking all the way back to the inn.
Evan Xiao was already back.
Grace grabbed his arm and said, "Evan Xiao, this is bad, really bad! The Parasitic Bean has possessed me!"
"Parasitic Bean?" Evan Xiao frowned at her. "What’s that?"
"It’s this thing that latches onto people, and then I’ll slowly turn into a bean sprout! You really haven’t heard of it?"
Evan Xiao touched her forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I’m serious! On my way back from the Spirit Alliance, this black bean actually burrowed into my body!"
Evan Xiao looked her up and down. "Everything about you seems fine, except for, well, your period."
Period?
Grace clutched herself protectively. "You—are—not—allowed—to—look!"
"Already did."
"You pervert!"
Evan Xiao didn’t say a word.
"Are you sure there’s no bean?"
"Nope."
"Then where did it go?"
"No idea."
Grace rummaged through every pocket, but still found nothing.
"Did I imagine all this because I’m too sad?" Grace eyed her little body nervously, terrified that one day she’d wake up as a bean sprout...
Evan Xiao decided to distract her from her wild ideas. He reached into his coat and handed her something wrapped in a handkerchief.
"What’s this?" Grace took it, opened it, and her eyes lit up instantly. "Celestial Spirit Jade! It’s Celestial Spirit Jade! Where did you find this?"