Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 543 The Rose Feast

Flowers bloom and blood falls, delicacies are born of nature; a grand feast is about to begin, but those who eat people are not human.

—From *Zi Bu Yu: The Bloodthirsty Flower Chronicle*

Miranda's projection had just faded, leaving only warmth in the ancestral hall.

Just as everyone was about to turn and leave, a low "click-click" sound came from under their feet.

The ground trembled slightly, and dust fell silently.

"The ground is shaking." Roland frowned, and before he could finish speaking, the floorboards suddenly cracked open.

Bright red vines burst forth from the soil.

They were like a swarm of hungry snakes, quickly crawling into every crevice of the ancestral hall.

Blood-red roses bloomed simultaneously on the walls and beams, their petals curling up to reveal dense rows of teeth on the inside.

That's not a flower, that's the mouth of a man-eating flower.

In less than three seconds, the entire ancestral hall transformed into a vibrant sea of ​​flowers.

The air was filled with a sweet, rusty smell.

"Retreat!" Si Ming shouted, pulling Selian back.

In the center of the flower bushes, a slender figure slowly emerged.

That was a woman.

She was wearing a white lab coat stained with blood, and twirling a gleaming silver knife in her hand.

A white mask covered half of his face, revealing only his eyes, which were blood red like roses.

She walked gracefully and calmly over the carnivorous plant vines.

The sprawling petals automatically gave way at her feet, as if submitting to her garden.

She looked up, smiled, and spoke in a gentle, almost polite tone.

"Director of the Plant Aberration Research Laboratory,"

"The Aberrant Beast King - Harano Miyoko".

The voice was soft and melodious, yet it sounded like the murmur of a predator before licking its fangs.

“Lady Miranda told me to be patient,” she said, raising her knife and lightly drawing it through the air.

"But I'm just...so hungry right now."

Her gaze swept over the crowd, landing on Si Ming, and her smile deepened.

"May I?"

"Tonight, will you be my dinner?"

No one answered.

The sea of ​​flowers moved first.

The carnivorous plants on the ground suddenly raised their heads and neatly opened their bloody mouths.

The air was filled with a sweet fragrance, and the edges of the petals were wriggling, so sharp they reflected light.

"Be careful!" Si Ming whispered.

Everyone leaped to the sides to avoid the first wave of vine strikes.

But the people who darted out of the flowerbeds were even faster.

That was Miyoko's body breaking down and rebuilding.

Her skin cracked open, and red roots grew out; her arms transformed into vines.

Each vine was covered with serrated petals, which flew through the air with a piercing screech.

“She’s transformed!” Celian exclaimed alarmed.

"Don't take it head-on!" Si Ming shouted, leading his men to retreat towards the back corridor.

A cold glint flashed through the sea of ​​flowers.

Chen Shi, providing cover on the flank, had just dodged one vine when he was struck from behind by another.

"puff!"

The vine pierced his shoulder, and drops of blood dripped down the vine.

He grunted, his hand trembled, and the time reversal instrument fell to the ground.

"Chen Shi!" Roland rushed over.

Chen raised his head, his face pale: "It's nothing."

However, Si Ming caught a glimpse of a thin, scarlet streak creeping along the vines into his wound.

Like a snake slithering into a hole.

In that instant, his pupils contracted slightly.

The sea of ​​flowers was abuzz with excitement.

The Ghoul Rose fully unfolded its form.
Midoriko's upper body still resembled that of a woman—elegant and beautiful.
But below the waist, it's all intertwined roots and vines.

Her voice came from deep within the sea of ​​flowers, gentle and calm, yet carrying a sense of oppression:
"You can't escape. The smell of blood tells me you're delicious."

The group retreated to a side hall of the ancestral hall.

Selene stood at the back, waving her hand to unleash her blood claws, tearing several vines apart in one go.

Si Ming turned around, his eyes cold: "Run, don't stand still, watch out for the plants on the ground."

Miyoko smiled gently from the other side of the sea of ​​flowers.

Her voice was like silk brushing against my eardrums.

"Yes, run! Prey tastes better when it's running away."

She raised her right hand, and the vines stretched out in unison, sweeping through the air like whips.

Each lash left a scorched bloodstain on the ground.

The fire was extinguished, and the night was completely swallowed up by the red of roses.

The ancestral hall has completely collapsed, and the sea of ​​flowers outside has swallowed up the entire ruins.

The air turned into a sweet, red mist, carrying a dizzying floral fragrance.

"Split up and fight!" Si Ming whispered, then leaped onto the broken beam.

With a flick of his fingers, several playing cards transformed into sharp blades of light that spun between his fingers.

“Cut leaves,” he murmured to himself.

The blade swept across, slicing through an outstretched vine with lightning speed. The vine stem was cut in two, and blood-like sap sprayed into the air.

He leaped down and threw three more playing cards in mid-air, accurately severing the joints of several vines.

Selene stood protectively at the front of the group, her claws transforming into blood-red light, tearing apart the charging Gluttonous Demon Flower.

The moment the petals were torn apart, a pungent sweet fragrance burst forth.

The smell, like a poisonous fog, made her body stiffen and her vision blur.

"Serian!" Si Ming's voice came from afar.

She bit her tongue, and the taste of blood instantly sobered her up, causing her to abruptly retreat.

"Damn it... this tastes like paralyzing agent!"

"She's using the scent of flowers to create mental interference," Roland's voice came from the shadows.

He has transformed into the "incarnation of plague," with dark green poisonous mist emanating from his entire body.

The fog spread rapidly, completely obscuring visibility.

"I can strip her of her sight and touch! Give me ten seconds!"

"enough!"

Lei Qun clenched his fists, and cracks on his body crackled with electricity.

"World-Shattering Calamity Lord - Explosive Thunder and Fire!"

boom--!
His entire body erupted with blazing lightning flames, arcs of electricity dancing wildly like angry snakes.

The Gluttony Flower was ignited in large numbers, its petals exploding into charred fragments, and the air was instantly burned into a scorching vacuum.

Almost simultaneously, Serian's blood claws and Si Ming's card blades slashed down from both sides.

Lightning, poisonous fog, and blood-red light intertwined in an instant, turning the entire ancestral hall into a chaotic torrent.

A large portion of the flower field was cleared away.

“Beautiful!” Selene laughed, panting.

However, before she could even stand up, she heard a "sizzling" sound from the ground.

The burned petals and broken vines miraculously grew back in the blink of an eye.

As the sap gathered, new flower buds began to rise again.

Miyoko's laughter came from deep within the vines, light and cheerful.

"Very good, it forced me to undergo distortion and reconstruction."

She emerged, her white lab coat replaced by crimson flower petals, her entire body entwined with vines.

It was a perfect human-shaped rose.

“LV37,” she said softly, “facing a bunch of… ants?”

She extended one finger and bent it.

A giant flower bursts forth from the ground, its opening resembling a swirling abyss.

“Hmm,” Miyoko smiled gently, “Don’t worry, I have enough energy to keep you company while you warm up.”

She raised her hand.

The vines burst open again. The flower sea regenerated faster than their attack.

The area that was cleared just seconds ago is now covered with dense flowers again.

Lei Qun gasped for breath: "Her regeneration speed is too fast...it's practically cheating!"

Roland cursed under his breath, "She's inhaling my poisonous fog! That fog has become her nourishment!"

Si Ming frowned slightly.

He leaped onto the broken beam and looked down over the entire Red Sea.

The boundary of the flowerbed is closing inward.

Their operational area is becoming increasingly narrow.

"The passage has been blocked a second time," Roland reminded him, looking up.

Miyoko's laughter echoed in the air: "Now, let's begin the second round. Where should you run to?"

She opened her arms.

The sea of ​​flowers behind us rose up, rolling forward like a tide.

Si Ming jumped off the beam and landed steadily in front of everyone.

“Don’t gamble,” he said coldly. “Use secrets.”

Selene wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and asked in a low voice, "So, what's your plan to kill her?"

“No,” Si Ming said calmly, “but there is a way to survive.”

A wave of flowers surged towards her, and Miyoko's silhouette became blurred in the red light.

Her voice was close at hand, soft yet cruel:
"You look the most delicious."

The wind whipped up the petals on her body, like blood and blades.

The battle broke out again.

Thunder, fire, poisonous fog, and blood-red light intertwined to form a chaotic vortex, and the sea of ​​flowers closed in wave after wave.

Selene's blood claws were once again forced back by the vines; she was breathing heavily, and her eyes were red.

"Master, if you don't come up with a solution soon, I'll burn my star!" She gritted her teeth, her blood wings already half-unfurled.

"Calm down." Si Ming's voice was calm to the point of being cruel.

He raised his hand to block her shoulder, "The difference in strength is too great; a direct confrontation would mean certain death."

Selene was taken aback, a look of resentment flashing in her eyes.

"Then what should we do? Her regeneration."

Si Ming lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, "I'll think of a way."

He slowly raised his hand, and a circle of silver light shone from the life lines on his palm.

The light quickly spread throughout his body, and the hem of his clothes was lifted by the airflow.

"The False God, the Truth of All Lies, the Burning Star."

The light suddenly brightened, and the air seemed to tighten instantly.

A black playing card spun between his fingers, revealing an ancient red seal on its surface.

That was the privilege of his lie-weaver, the Star Calamity: to replicate the "truth" that had already been revealed.

Si Ming closed his eyes and whispered a name that had been buried for a long time.

"Usum, the God of Mars".

In an instant, silvery-gray mist overflowed from his palm.

The mist carried the scent of plants, not pungent, but with a strange sweet fragrance.

It's so sweet it makes you dizzy.

"Fragrance... hypnotic mist," Si Ming murmured.

The silvery mist dispersed with the wind, instantly covering the sea of ​​flowers in front. The red vines trembled gently in the mist, like drunken snakes.

Miyoko paused, tilting her head slightly to one side.

Her pupils changed from blood red to a hazy look, and her tone softened.

"...It smells so good..."

"Sleeping...for a thousand years..."

Her body slowly tilted, and the rose vines, losing their support, drooped to the ground.

Si Ming suddenly looked up, his voice low and urgent.

"Now!"

Roland acted immediately.

The black mist surrounding him suddenly thickened, swallowing up all the light on the battlefield.

"I'm sealing off her sight and touch. Move fast!"

Lei Qun roared and crossed his arms.

Light cracks gathered within his body, and fire and lightning spread along the ground, burning through the sea of ​​flowers.

"The Lord of World-Shattering Calamity, Thunder and Fire Piercing to the Roots!"

The ground was blasted open, flames poured into the flower roots, and the burst of heat directly tore apart large swathes of vines.

Selene followed closely behind, her blood wings unfurling as she leaped into the air.

She crossed her claws, transforming them into a crimson flash as she swooped down from the sky.

"Give it to me, broken!"

Blood claws pierced through Miyoko's chest cavity.

Chen raised the reverse instrument, twisted his finger, and the timeline briefly distorted.

He locked onto the star trails, momentarily halting the regeneration of the flower sea.

Lei Qun roared out his secret technique again, clasping his hands together.

"World-Burning Thunder Curtain!"

Fire and thunder converged into a massive curtain, which then crashed down.

The heatwave engulfed the entire sea of ​​flowers.

boom--

The fragrance of roses evaporates under high temperatures, turning into a burnt smell.

The crimson light was replaced by raging flames, and the vines collapsed in large swaths.

Midoriko's body twisted and shattered in the flames, eventually turning into a cloud of black ash.

The sea of ​​flowers has come to a standstill.

The only sound in the air was the crackling of thunder and lightning.

Almost simultaneously, everyone collapsed to the ground.

Selene withdrew her blood claws, her breathing rapid, sweat trickling down her forehead.

"Is she...dead?"

The God of Fate did not answer.

He looked at the playing cards in his hand; the cards were dull, and the silver light had faded.

“The effect has worn off,” he said in a low voice, “but it’s enough to last these few seconds.”

Roland stood up, the black mist dissipated, revealing a tired face.

"Where did you copy that card from?"

Si Ming wiped the blood from his hands and said calmly, "A lie can become the truth, provided I've seen it."

Lei Qun chuckled: "You really are a liar."

“It’s a fortune teller,” Si Ming corrected.

Selene stretched and a smile appeared on her lips.

"Winning is enough. It seems she's not all that great after all."

The wind blows across the ruins of the ancestral hall.

The fire gradually died down in the distance, and the charred petals were swept up by the wind.

Everything seemed to be over.

But Si Ming's brows remained furrowed.

He whispered, "That's not right."

Roland turned his head: "What?"

Si Ming's gaze fell on Chen Shi.

Chen Shi was leaning against the wall, panting, his face pale.

The puncture wound on his shoulder... was slowly swelling up.

Inside, something seemed to be wriggling.

A soft laugh came from Chen Shi's body.

The laughter was soft, like rose petals rubbing together.

Selene's nerves tensed instantly, and she almost instinctively raised her hand to defend herself.

"Don't move—" Si Ming had just uttered the words when...

"puff--"

Blood splattered.

Lei Qun's body suddenly froze.

A blood-red vine pierced through his chest.

The ends of the vines wriggled, and the petals slowly unfurled, revealing the fangs within.

"Lei Qun—!" Roland rushed forward, but was stopped by Si Ming.

Almost simultaneously, Chen's scream rang out.

He clutched his chest tightly with both hands, his body convulsing violently.

"I...I have something inside me!"

Before he finished speaking, his abdomen suddenly swelled up.

The skin is swelling and cracking!

"Click!"
A scarlet rose burst forth from his belly.

The flower slowly opened, revealing a smiling woman's face.

is her.

Miyoko Harano.

Her upper body slowly emerged from Chen's body.

It's as if it's been reborn from a flower bud.

His eyes were gentle, and his smile was serene, as if he had just enjoyed a sumptuous dessert.

“Dessert,” she said, licking the blood from the corner of her mouth. “It tastes good.”

Roland's face turned pale: "She? She's resurrected!?"

Serian roared, her blood wings unfurling: "Damn it!"

Miyoko chuckled softly, her voice as gentle as if she were coaxing a child.

"Resurrection? No, my dear, this is reincarnation."

She lowered her head, her fingers tracing her still-bloody abdomen, as if showcasing a perfect scientific research achievement.

“This is called ‘Kagune Reincarnation,’ and it’s my third secret mystery.”

Her tone was so gentle it was chilling: "Kagune is the hunting organ inside a ghoul, and I've evolved it."

"If I so choose, the venom will be implanted into the host's body through the blood vessels I've bitten."

She raised her head, her gaze sweeping over Si Ming and Celian, her smile growing even gentler.

“When my body is destroyed, the Hexpoison will bloom. Look.” She pointed to the empty shell of the Chen family at her feet, “What a beautiful flowerpot.”

She opened her arms, and crimson vines swayed at her feet like a gown.

"Therefore, you cannot kill me unless you uproot all the roots that I have bitten."

Selene's face turned ashen: "Disgusting parasite!"

“Parasitism?” Midoriko chuckled softly, her voice like a gentle breeze rustling through flower petals. “No, it’s symbiosis. The weak sacrifice themselves, and the strong give them ‘rebirth.’ That’s evolution.”

After saying that, she stretched out her vines and wrapped them around Lei Qun's corpse.

The serrated edges of the vines gleamed coldly as she lowered her head and gently bit down on Lei Qun's neck.
He bit off a piece of flesh, his expression one of satisfaction.

"Ah...so sweet." She sighed, as if savoring a glass of wine.

She looked up at Si Ming, her blood-red pupils reflecting the figures of everyone around her.

"The main course of the banquet will be for you, Lord of Destiny, Your Excellency."

Si Ming's expression was cold, and he remained silent.

The roots beneath the ground began to wriggle, and the broken bricks of the ancestral hall began to collapse.

The red vines quickly curled downwards, and the petals scattered in the wind.

Even though half of Miyoko's body was already submerged in the ground, she still smiled.

"Next time we meet, let's go to a more romantic place to eat together."

After saying that, she sank completely into the ground.

Only the stench of blood and the scent of roses remained.
And two hollowed-out shells.

The air freezes.

Selene roared and tried to rush forward, but Si Ming grabbed her.

"calm."

"She killed them!"

"Not kill, but eat," Si Ming whispered.

His gaze fell on the pool of still-wet blood on the ground.

There are tiny red lines wriggling inside.

"see it?"

"Her parasite is still moving."

Roland knelt on the ground, his fists white.

"She treated them like food..."

Siming looked at the charred petals.
His tone was chillingly calm: "Not just them, but also us."

Selene's breathing was erratic.

"Then what do we do? She'll come back."

"Finish the task first." Si Ming stood up, his tone firm.

"Mastering the dungeon is more important than dealing with the ogres."

The wind blew by, carrying a faint, sweet smell of blood.

In the ruins of the ancestral hall, the petals scorched by lightning are still slowly emitting smoke.

The firelight illuminated Si Ming's profile, his expression colder than the night.

He turned and walked towards the deeper mountain path.

"Let's go."

Selene whispered, "Where to?"

"The next altar."

Roland took a deep breath, stood up, and followed with heavy steps.

Their figures were swallowed by the fog.
The charred petal tumbled in the wind.

It flickered slightly.

It's like the system is updating in secret.

The flames died down, leaving a faint red trail in the air, as if words had been lit.

The resentment of the Bloodthirsty Rose.

It was she who remembered your taste.

The wind whistled softly, like a snicker.

Crimson petals scattered in the wind.

Disappeared into the distant fog.

If flowers become a plague, people are the bait; if people become the bait, fire is the warning. If the fire is not purified, the flowers will not stop blooming.

—From *Zi Bu Yu* (The Master Did Not Discuss), Chapter on Fire Prevention

(End of this chapter)