The North American Gourmet Demon Handbook

"So, the restoration of my divine grace—or perhaps more accurately, my willpower—was bestowed upon me by the Anabaptist 'heretics' of this village. It is inconsistent with the previous gift from the Catholic Church."

Li Shanze interjected at the right moment, "So, that's why you like this village so much. You must be a knight of the Anabaptist sect now?"

"No, the doctrine I preach is the Catholic interpretation, the sacraments I celebrate follow Catholic rituals, and I consider myself Catholic, so I am a Catholic."

The old knight was not bothered by his heretic identity.

"My real suspicion is that, since the way and means I obtain my vows are essentially the same as this 'virtual Saint Vivian,' am I also part of this 'heretic conspiracy to steal authority'?"

The old knight raised his eyebrows, his eyes sparkling and his gaze seemed particularly sharp.

It would be even more appropriate if there was thunder outside the window at this moment. Isn't that how it's shot in TV dramas when important characters suddenly realize something or reveal the truth?

Li Shanze thought without hesitation.

"Well, judging by your expression, you've probably figured something out, haven't you?" the old knight said. "To express my apologies, I've answered all your questions completely. Now, isn't it your turn to satisfy an old man's curiosity?"

Li Shanze said happily: "Okay, I do have some ideas to share--"

Then, there was a bang.

The belated thunder finally came.

A deafening explosion caused Li Shanze's ears to tinnitus.

The shock wave caused by the huge explosion knocked Li Shanze against the wall. The US dollar bills on the ground were once again lifted into the air by the air wave, fluttering and dancing.

Li Shanze leaned against the wall and used the force to quickly run towards the window.

He pulled open the curtain.

What came into view was not bright sunlight, but a huge vine that blocked out the sun.

It broke out of the ground like a huge earth dragon.

It is still growing proudly upward, and the soil and rocks it blows up turn into heavy rain in the air.

Sulfur-smelling steam gushed out from the twisted roots, and pieces of scorched earth peeled off the vine dragon.

The scorched earth fell to the ground, even burning out one pit after another.

"Lord, what the hell is this?"

"I don't need to tell you my guess now. We can just see it with our own eyes."

Li Shanze narrowed his eyes and looked at the huge monster, and all he could hear were the villagers' exclamations and screams.

"Call for help and evacuate all the villagers. I'll handle it."

For Li Shanze, dealing with this supernatural giant creature is not difficult; the difficult part is how to minimize the resulting disasters when dealing with it.

"I don't know when the mad dog hiding behind it will show up." Li Shanze muttered softly.

"You mean, this ghost thing was summoned by someone?" The old knight struggled to stand up against the wall, his expression still calm - only a few beads of sweat on his forehead showed that he was in severe pain.

"Ah, yes. The heretics you mentioned, those wizards, actually have more than one school. The Boiling Sage is the alchemist school, and the Root Sect is responsible for manipulating plants." Li Shanze replied.

"As soon as I entered the village, I felt that this group of people was responsible."

"Ha, the Root Man Esoteric Cult, it looks like the Vatican's heresy materials need updating." The old knight sneered, "No wonder I always feel like those potted flowers are eavesdropping on me!"

Then he waved his hand to Li Shanze, who was about to come over to help him: "Don't worry about me, you took the trouble to attract its attention, I'll go help the villagers."

Now was obviously not the time for nonsense. Li Shanze nodded and said, "Well, take as many villagers as possible and retreat as far away as possible. I'll find a way to deal with it."

After saying that, Li Shanze picked up the flowerpot on the windowsill and threw it hard at the vine dragon.

"Well, you have to be careful. If it is really dangerous, don't worry about others and protect yourself." The old knight nodded, broke the chair apart with a click, made it into a simple crutch, and went out with it.

After a brief agreement, the two of them took action separately, and neither of them took a second look at the dollars flying in the room.

210 Chaos

The flowerpot that Li Shanze threw casually hit the giant dragon made of vines, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea, nothing happened.

At this time, the old knight, who had just reached the door with a makeshift crutch, said, "By the way, don't throw the flowerpot, throw this."

Then he tapped the stone niche beside the door, opening a secret compartment.

The old knight took out a spare pistol and several magazines from the secret compartment and stuffed them into his waist, then patted the shrine: "These are all yours."

All that's left in the secret compartment are grenades.

This old guy seems to live in a very simple place, but why are there so many traps everywhere? Where did you get all these grenades?

"These things are specially used to deal with heretics and are very lethal. I got them from some old friends, so there's no need to save them." The old knight said, then walked out of the room using the chair leg that he had temporarily converted into a crutch.

Li Shanze grabbed a few grenades, but the village was in chaos.

Dogs were barking, people were wailing, and the village clock that usually told the time was roaring angrily.

In the dust that covered the sky, several ponies were letting out their final cries.

Several cows that had been peacefully grazing in the corral suddenly broke through the fence in shock and anger and ran wildly in all directions. The sound of the copper bells on their necks was as chaotic as their running pace, and it sounded like a countdown to death.

A thorn broke through the ground and ripped open the belly of the cow that had escaped the farthest. However, the woman who was not far away and was so frightened by the charging cow that her legs were weak and she could not walk, survived.

As the cow gradually died with a wailing sound, the only two pots of unnamed plants left on the windowsill suddenly bloomed, blooming in the wind, as if they were cheering.

Soon all the cattle were pierced by thorns hidden deep in the ground that suddenly appeared.

Wait, something's wrong.

Li Shanze, who was about to throw a grenade, noticed something unusual.

It seems that this vine dragon is just slaughtering these cows?

And those injured and wailing people seemed to be just affected by this inexplicable vine dragon's rampage?

In order to see more clearly, Li Shanze hid the grenade, then climbed out of the window and came to the open area.

The coachman who brought Li Shanze and Loganfield here had not gone far when he was rescued from the broken carriage by someone.

The frightened coachman hugged the neck of his beloved horse, which had fallen in a pool of blood, and shed tears.

The poor old horse died in a similar way to the cows, all of them were disemboweled.

There were holes in the ground where the thorns had broken through the soil, and the old horse's intestines and blood had flowed into them.

What the fuck is going on?

Li Shanze became more and more confused. The huge body of this vine dragon seemed to be just a demonstration. Apart from the buildings that collapsed when it drilled out of the ground, the real damage was caused by the thorns that drilled out of the ground and were hard to guard against.

Looking at the dead rabbits, dead cows, and dead horses all over the ground, although the scene was very bloody and the air was filled with the smell of blood, no one was seriously hurt. Except for a few unlucky guys, most of them were just frightened and not even injured.

Li Shanze was puzzled.

This dragon made of vines seems to be only slaughtering these herbivorous animals... Neither humans nor dogs seem to be seriously hurt?

What is this? Retribution from the food chain?

"What the hell is going on?" Li Shanze was confused by the situation.

Making such a fuss, only to slaughter some herbivores?

Since this vine dragon seemed to show mercy to humans, the old knight quickly took control of the situation without even needing Li Shanze to intervene.

He quickly gathered the people together and settled them in the chapel.

The chapel is one of the few stone buildings in the village, and even the ground is paved with stones. At this moment, a solid-looking ground can make people feel more at ease.

"Is everyone here?" The old knight simply performed emergency bandages on several wounded people, and then asked the crowd.

People gathered around their families and snuggled up to each other for support.

When they heard the old knight's question, they immediately shook their heads.

"Is everyone here?" The old knight looked relieved and nodded to Li Shanze who had rushed to the church. He murmured, "I'm glad everyone is okay. I'm glad everyone is okay."

…………

Ai Kou: Fu*k! Such a big scene turned out to be a public service announcement! (doubtful) (doubtful)

Anjie: Is this really a live-action shoot? It's probably a special effect, right? It looks like someone's injured?

Ai Kou: It's the acting. This show has been running for so many years, and there's never been a single flaw in the performances. I really don't know where they found these actors. (Admiration)

Angel: Yeah, that’s right. There are dead cows, horses, rabbits and sheep all over the ground, but there is no blood. It must be a special effect.

Ai Kou: The actors performed really well, except for Li, who was out of place. I laughed to death, hahahahahaha. (laughing) (laughing)

Ai Kou: Some of the actors were anxious, some were panicking. Only Li Shanze had a look on his face that said, "What the hell is going on? How am I supposed to act?" I had to laugh at him. I have no idea how he even got on this show. (Laughs)

Anjie: But isn’t this public service announcement that claims that being a vegetarian will lead to karmic consequences a bit excessive?

Ai Kou: It's an online reality show, and maybe this kind of ridiculous "public service announcement" is actually a promotional tactic to boost traffic. (Adjusts glasses) (Adjusts glasses)

Aikou: Look, I told you, just look at the real-time trending searches on Twitter.

#MeatIsBack (Trend 1)

Marketing giant @GrillMaster jointly tweeted: "When God sends a dragon to judge herbivores—it's time to pay attention to steakhouses! Retweet for a chance to win 499 rib-eye steaks!" 6.8 retweets/12 likes

#GoVeganChallenge failed year one (trend ②↑)

Conspiracy theorist @Illumibites: The Vegetarian Society once received $870 million from a multinational logging group—just look at the cattle and sheep that were slaughtered! They knew plants were the real culprits long before you and I did! Attached is a 4K analysis of the vine dragon's head! 4.2 shares

#SaladIsMurder (Salad is murder) ?203%

A photo of a dragon's head photoshopped to look like the Beyond Meat logo, with the caption "Vegetable protein even dragons can't stand! We want to eat natural protein!" went viral in six countries within 10 minutes of posting.

#FoodChainConspiracy Food chain conspiracy theory? 65%

Hot post: "Known: Tenglong destroyed the farm → vegetarian food was out of stock → forced to eat meat → stock price skyrocketed → (scary when you think about it) this is a stock squeeze by a large meat company!" Tag: Today's Finance

@PETA: This is exactly why animal agriculture needs to be abolished! Look how vulnerable animals are to natural plant attacks! #StopAllAgriculture

…………

Li Shanze could not have imagined that the bloody scene in front of him would cause a frenzy of meme-style traffic on the Internet.

It was turned into a public service announcement and traffic effect, and even gave rise to many weird and brainless conspiracy theories.

Of course, due to some special treatment, the audience did not see any bloody scenes.

But Li Shanze is different.

The only shot that netizens saw was the scene where the old knight was relieved to confirm that no one was harmed.

But the follow-up was completely different from the happy ending presented in the online show.

Li Shanze stared at the vine dragon while walking into the church to confirm the situation.

Then he heard a scream.

"No, old James! Old James isn't here!"

Loganfield explained to Li Shanze in a low voice: "Old James is the mill manager in the village and a widower."

Li Shanze nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go take a look, but how do I get to the mill?"

"The water mill is by the river. Walk along the church and you'll see it." The old knight pointed.

Li Shanze set off without saying a word.

Then he found old James next to the ruins of the mill.

To be precise, they found the dead body of old James, held high up by the protruding thorns on the ground.

"Why is this happening?" Li Shanze was puzzled as he looked at Old James's body, which looked like it was made for manual labor.

How can a manual laborer be a vegetarian?

Then he heard a gentle question: "Friend, do you like animals?"

He turned around and saw that the person asking the question was a gentle young man wearing glasses.

What is this? A fatal question?

Li Shanze narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I love animals, especially cooked ones."

Author's words: Thanks to Qianxiao Anran for the recommendation vote

211 Plant Conservationists