Chapter 40

When Feng Yi woke up in the morning, he thought he was still dreaming.

After a while, his expression turned blank.

This doesn't feel like a dream...

He extended his forearm to his mouth and bit it with his sharp teeth.

"Ouch!"

Feng Yi immediately sat up.

Not a dream!

Then why is everything around wet?

If it weren't for the lack of an odd smell, he would have suspected he wet the bed!

That's not right; even if he had wet the bed, it wouldn't have soaked the entire bed.

He reached out and pressed his palm on the pillow, looking at the water stains on his hand, Feng Yi became even more confused.

Did someone sprinkle water on him while he was sleeping?

The room was covered in water stains, and the surface of the wardrobe was dotted with water droplets.

Feng Yi got up to take a closer look. When he stepped down, his slippers, which seemed to have been soaked in water, squished out a small puddle.

The floor was even more of a mess.

Feng Yi, like a wandering soul, wandered out of the bedroom to check the living room.

!!

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The furniture, the ceiling, everything was damp, as if it had been soaked in water, emitting various...

Heart-wrenching odors...

Leaning against the door frame, Feng Yi felt his liver trembling.

This was the first apartment he bought with hard-earned money from working and starting a business during his college years. He had supervised the entire renovation process, personally selecting each piece of furniture, placing each item in the most suitable position, and every detail was a product of his hard work!

Now, it was all ruined...

After a while, Feng Yi regained his composure and went to check the dehumidifier.

The room was so humid, but the dehumidifier was still quiet, clearly malfunctioning.

Feng Yi then checked the dehumidifier's operation records on his phone. Around 1:00 AM, the indoor humidity data suddenly spiked, automatically activating the strongest dehumidification mode, but it broke down after two hours.

"1:00 AM?"

Was he still dreaming then?

Thinking of something, Feng Yi's eyelids twitched, and he rushed to the bathroom.

The bathroom mirror was still covered in a layer of water mist, and the tissues were all clumped together.

He wiped the mirror with his hand and looked at himself.

There were no strange changes on his face, and nothing seemed out of place on his body, but the events unfolding before his eyes made it hard for Feng Yi to convince himself that this had nothing to do with his evolution.

So, did the one-month period Uncle Ya mentioned really pass without any warning?

Feng Yi opened his phone and checked the chat in the neighborhood owners' group.

Sure enough, the owners' group was already in an uproar—

[The humidity is too high! The floor is all wet!]

[It's like the plum rain season. But hasn't the plum rain season in Rongcheng not arrived yet?]

[Plum rain season my ass! My place is on a high floor, and it's never been this humid during the plum rain season! The clothes I hung up last night were even wetter this morning!]

[All the windows are closed, and only the indoor air purifier is on. Can't it block the outside humidity?]

[Is it due to the building materials? A quality issue with the house? My place is also humid, but not as exaggerated as you guys say.]

Mentioning the building issue, the property management couldn't pretend to be dead and came out to clarify, saying it was definitely not a problem with the house. They suggested it might be due to "stratus clouds" that appeared last night, making the homes of residents on certain floors particularly humid.

"Stratus clouds," also known as "high fog," feel similar to fog but do not touch the ground. They often envelop mountains and high-rise buildings, lasting only a few hours and disappearing when the sun rises.

Many people believed this explanation, but some still had doubts about whether the neighborhood could meet the conditions for the formation of stratus clouds.

But apart from the "stratus clouds" explanation, no one could think of any other reason.

Moreover, the situation in the neighborhood was indeed such that, although everyone felt the humidity last night, it was particularly noticeable for residents on the higher floors of one building and the nearby two buildings.

To be precise, for these three buildings, the humidity was especially noticeable for residents above the 25th floor, especially around the 30th floor. Residents on the same floors of other buildings did not experience such extreme humidity.

Reading through these chat records with a sense of dread, Feng Yi felt a sense of guilt.

Intuitively, he felt this was related to him, but he couldn't explain it and didn't know how to compensate. To avoid causing more trouble for the residents, Feng Yi decided to leave as soon as possible.

He sent a message to Wu Ji, knowing he was at home, and went directly to the 29th floor via the stairs.

The door was open, and Wu Ji was lying on the floor, carefully using a hairdryer to dry the sofa.

Feng Yi looked at the situation in Wu Ji's home, which was clearly damp but still salvageable.

Wu Ji, while trying to save his beloved fabric sofa, said, "I'm really worried. One day is okay, but if the humidity is this heavy every night, I'm afraid all my furniture will be ruined. How about your place? It should be similar, right?"

"All ruined. The ceiling probably needs to be redone," Feng Yi said.

Wu Ji gave him a sympathetic look.

"You said that 'stratus clouds' just appeared here? And they sneaked in at night! No one was prepared!"

Feng Yi: "…Yes, they sneaked in at night!"

After leaving Wu Ji's place, Feng Yi inquired with the residents upstairs and downstairs. Their situations were similar to Wu Ji's—noticeably damp but still salvageable. However, if this happened a few more times, all the furniture and decorations would likely be ruined.

Back home, Feng Yi called the butler and explained the situation.

"The water mist is indeed a phenomenon that occurs during the evolution process, yes… earlier than I expected," the butler said. "If you don't want others to find out, you can move out. However, Mrs. Feng has no property in Rongcheng, so you'll have to figure it out yourself."

"I'll handle the house myself," Feng Yi said, his purpose being to confirm if this situation was related to his evolution.

After hanging up, Feng Yi opened a real estate app and searched for rental information, looking for a remote, standalone villa.

Buying a house wasn't something he could do immediately. He originally thought he had time to look around, but now he needed to leave as soon as possible. If he couldn't buy a house, he would rent one, and if he couldn't find a suitable one, he would…

Sleep in the park?

After browsing for a while, Feng Yi received a call from Lu Yue.

"The house near Yuxi Mountain I mentioned yesterday, are you available to see it today? The owner is my cousin, and he's going there this afternoon to pick up some things. If you want to see the house, I can let him know. Just to clarify, I haven't seen the house myself, only seen photos, but I've heard it's nice, with a great environment, just a bit remote."

"Remote is not a problem, I'm available to see the house today!" Feng Yi said.

A remote location is good; it means fewer people will notice his unusual activities!

If there's more humidity, it won't affect the neighbors.

After a while, Lu Yue added, "He's there now. I'll give you the detailed address, and you can go directly and talk to him. I have work to do and can't leave the office."

"Okay."

Receiving the detailed address, Feng Yi searched it on the map. It was indeed far from the city center, close to the Yuxi Mountain Reserve. For him now, the farther from the city center, the better.

After a quick pack, Feng Yi drove to the location Lu Yue mentioned.

Upon arrival, he found the neighborhood to be quite remote, with few residents, and he hardly saw anyone.

The house Lu Yue mentioned was near a river and was the most remote in the neighborhood. It looked somewhat desolate, possibly due to the owner's long absence and lack of maintenance.

When Feng Yi arrived, the owner was putting a storage box and two books into his car. The owner looked to be around the same age as Lu Yue, but compared to Lu Yue's sharp business acumen, this person had a more… artistic and melancholic aura.

Seeing Feng Yi, the man wiped the sweat from his forehead, "You're the one Lu Yue said wants to buy a house? The one with the surname Feng?"

"Yes, that's me," Feng Yi stepped forward and picked up the book that had fallen to the ground, handing it to him.

"Thanks." The man took the book and put it away, "I'm Xue Lin, Xue as in Schrödinger, Lin as in 'retreat to the mountains.' Lu Yue is my cousin. He said you're interested in a remote, standalone house."

Feng Yi was momentarily stunned by the "Schrödinger" reference but replied, "I'm Feng Yi, Feng as in 'tornado,' Yi as in 'the archer who shot the sun.' Just call me Feng."

"I am indeed interested in a house… closer to nature."

He couldn't say he wanted to be far from others to avoid trouble.

When he saw the chat records in the neighborhood owners' group this morning, he considered finding a remote village to live a secluded life.

However, his mindset wasn't ready for "retreat to the mountains" yet, so Feng Yi temporarily gave up on the idea of seclusion. He might have to live a secluded life due to his evolution in the future, but not now; he would become depressed.

Hearing Feng Yi say "closer to nature," Xue Lin smiled lightly, looking at the overgrown house with a nostalgic expression, "There are many houses close to nature, but they come with their own set of problems. Let me explain.

"This neighborhood, being close to Yuxi Mountain and the reserve, is strictly regulated. Any changes require prior approval. Renovations, modifications, even significant changes to your own garden, need to be applied for. There's a code you can scan to apply online. As long as the changes are not too significant, they are quickly approved.

"Some people found the procedures for modifications too complicated and moved out. However, recently, due to the Little Green Dragon incident, some owners have moved back. Some, like me, are taking advantage of the increased interest to sell at a higher price."

Xue Lin sighed heavily, "To be honest, I'm selling this house partly because of the price increase, but mainly because I don't want to live here. Leaving it unoccupied is a waste. For almost two years, the grass in the yard has grown taller than me in the summer."

As he spoke, Xue Lin seemed to fall into a nostalgic state, his melancholic aura becoming even stronger: "For me, this is a place of sorrow…"

Feng Yi watched him get lost in his memories several times, wanting to remind him:

You have three large black mosquitoes biting your face and arms!

There are also a group of mosquitoes eyeing you!