Learning to play games, a 40-year-old woman achieves a remarkable turnaround.

The photo shows a young Professor Chen and several researchers standing in a medicinal herb garden with red soil. Yuan Bao noticed a thin boy standing in the corner, his eyes gloomy.

"That's... Zhou Hongyuan?"

Professor Chen nodded: "He was my graduate student at the time, and he volunteered to participate in human experiments. What we didn't know was that prolonged exposure to red soil could lead to gene mutations."

He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "His body began to resonate with the plants, and he could control their growth. The experiment was immediately halted, and all data was sealed."

“But he’s still continuing his research,” Bao Guo said.

“Yes, he has been secretly continuing his experiments all these years, even expanding their scale.” Professor Chen’s voice was filled with pain. “By the time I discovered it, it was too late. His abilities were growing stronger, and his mind… had changed.”

Yuan Bao shuddered, recalling the way Zhou Hongyuan had looked at his notebook in the cafeteria: "What is he planning to do?"

"He believes the red soil can create a new kind of human and plans to spread it throughout the entire university," Professor Chen said seriously. "We must stop him, tonight."

Bao Guo and Yuan Bao exchanged a glance and nodded.

Professor Chen took out several test tubes containing blue liquid and a tattered notebook from the safe.

“This is an inhibitor I’ve developed over the years; it can temporarily weaken his abilities.” He gave each of them one dose. “But to completely resolve the issue, we must purify the mother plant in the center of the herb garden—that’s the source of all the mutated plants.”

"What should we do?" Yuan Bao asked, noticing his hands trembling slightly as he took the test tube.

Professor Chen turned to the last page of his notebook, where a complex molecular structure was drawn: "The inhibitor needs to be injected into the roots of the mother plant, and at the same time..." He hesitated for a moment, "...my blood is needed. As the initial test subject, my blood contains antibodies."

A heavy thud suddenly came from outside the door, shaking the entire laboratory.

"He's found us!" Baoguo jumped up, grabbed a fire extinguisher, and held it in front of the door.

Professor Chen quickly drew a map of the medicinal herb garden, marking the location of the mother plant and several concealed routes: "Listen, I'll hold him off, you go purify the mother plant. Mix the inhibitor with this," he handed Yuan Bao a small bottle, "pour it at the base of the mother plant, then leave immediately."

“But Professor, you…” Yuan Bao’s words were interrupted by another impact, and the door frame had begun to deform.

"There's no time!" Professor Chen pushed them towards the back door. "Remember, leave the herb garden immediately after you're done, and don't look back!"

The back door had just closed when the front door was kicked open.

Yuan Bao saw through the crack in the door that countless vines were pouring in, and Zhou Hongyuan was standing in the middle, his eyes emitting a blinding red light.

She considered whether she could use the Mind Network to control Zhou Chongyuan, but looking at Professor Chen and her elder brother present, she decided to wait and find another opportunity.

Professor Chen raised the blue test tube, said something, and then Zhou Hongyuan let out an inhuman roar.

Baoguo pulled Yuanbao along and ran towards the medicinal herb garden.

As night deepened, an eerie silence permeated the campus; even the chirping of insects had ceased.

They went around to the back of the herb garden and climbed over a broken wall.

In the center of the herb garden, a huge, twisted plant pulsates slightly in the moonlight, its roots surrounded by the darkest red soil, almost black.

Yuan Bao trembled as he mixed the inhibitor with the liquid Professor Chen had given him, and the liquid immediately turned into a dazzling gold.

“I’ll pour it, you keep watch,” Bao Guo said, taking the bottle and carefully approaching the mother plant.

Just then, the ground suddenly shook, and countless roots burst out of the soil, wrapping around Baoguo's legs.

Yuan Bao screamed and rushed over to help, but was caught by another vine around his waist.

“Professor Chen is right...you’re always in the way.” Zhou Hongyuan’s voice came from the darkness.

He approached slowly, the red light in his eyes even more intense than before. "Why stop evolution? Imagine if humans could control plants, they could solve the food crisis and cure all diseases..."

"What's the price?" Yuan Bao asked, struggling to answer. "To become a monster?"

Zhou Hongyuan's face twisted in disbelief: "Ignorant!" He raised his hand, and vines lifted the two of them into the air. "Since you insist on courting death..."

Suddenly, a blue light flashed, and the vines binding the two withered instantly.

Professor Chen staggered out of the shadows, a terrible wound on his chest, but the device he held in his hand was emitting a strong blue light.

“Now!” he shouted.

Bao Guo seized the opportunity to break free and rushed towards the mother plant, pouring all the golden liquid onto its roots.

The moment the liquid came into contact with the soil, a golden light spread out from the mother plant, and the red soil in its path quickly faded.

Zhou Hongyuan let out a scream that sounded inhuman and fell to his knees.

The red light in his eyes flickered, and bark-like patterns began to appear on his skin.

"No...it's impossible..." He struggled to crawl towards Professor Chen, "Teacher...save me..."

Professor Chen walked with difficulty to his side, tears welling in her eyes: "It's over, Hongyuan. I should have stopped you twenty years ago."

The golden light continued to spread, and the mother plant began to wither at a visible rate.

Zhou Hongyuan's body gradually stiffened, eventually turning into an object resembling a wooden sculpture, with only his eyes retaining a last glimmer of red light before slowly fading away.

The herb garden returned to silence.

Yuan Bao and Bao Guo helped the injured Professor Chen up, and the three of them watched all this in silence.

As dawn broke, the campus radio rang out, signaling the start of a new day, as if nothing had ever happened.

A week later, Yuan Bao helped organize materials in Professor Chen's office.

The old man's injuries have mostly healed, but his spirits are noticeably lower than before.

"The School of Pharmacy has decided to convert that herb garden into a regular garden," Professor Chen said, handing her a cup of tea. "All relevant records will be sealed away."

Yuan Bao nodded, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Senior Zhou... in the end..."

“He wasn’t entirely human twenty years ago,” Professor Chen sighed. “The red soil altered his genes, and I just…couldn’t stop it in time.”

Outside the window, sunlight shines on the stone path of the campus, and students hurry by, chatting and laughing.

Yuan Bao shuddered as he recalled the terrifying experience of that night.

"Professor, that red soil...was it really all purified?"

Professor Chen gazed into the distance, his expression complex. "I hope so. However..." He took a brand-new notebook from his drawer and handed it to Yuan Bao. "Scientific exploration is endless; the important thing is to remember the lessons learned. This notebook is for you; I hope you can become a researcher who is both courageous and cautious."

Yuan Bao took the notebook; the four gold-embossed words "Scientific Observation" on the cover gleamed in the sunlight.

She gently turned to the first page and found a dried red leaf tucked inside, next to Professor Chen's neat handwriting:

"Remember: Curiosity is the driving force of exploration, but a sense of awe is the guarantee of safety."