“Hey, say something. You really just gave those seeds to that man.”
“Weren’t those seeds something you worked so hard to collect and planned to save for your sister in the future?”
“Those few useless things almost cost this tree my life.”
A huge tree stood among a group of ruined houses.
Its trunk was pitch black.
The closer the emerald-green leaves got to the tips, the lighter their color became.
The outermost circle even shimmered with a faint white glow.
After receiving no response, the tree had already gotten used to it.
The person it was parasitizing spent every day doing nothing but staring into the distance.
In an entire day, he could barely force himself to say ten words.
The phrase he always repeated was:
“Why hasn’t Big Sister come back yet?”
“An’an misses Big Sister so much.”
The tree couldn’t help but sneer.
Where did this ultimate sister-obsessed person come from?
Can’t you have a little more ambition?
“Why did I choose someone as silent as you to parasitize back then?”
“How much longer are you going to wait here?”
“Your sister isn’t coming back.”
“Maybe your sister got lost. Try looking somewhere else.”
“You can’t keep staying in this ruined place forever.”
The tree didn’t dare say that after waiting for hundreds of years, that person might have already died several times over.
It was afraid the little brat inside its body would go crazy.
When this kid went crazy, he didn’t care about anything.
If he was angered enough, he could even drag the tree down with him.
Once, the tree had casually said something bad about his sister.
The little brat became furious and directly broke one of the tree’s branches.
He would rather hurt himself than allow anyone to say even one bad thing about his sister.
He was seriously sick.
Hearing the familiar words, another consciousness inside the tree slowly responded.
“Big Sister will come back.”
“If I leave this place, when Big Sister comes back, she won’t be able to find me.”
“She won’t be able to find our home.”
“Big Sister won’t fail to find An’an.”
“No matter where An’an is, Big Sister will find me.”
A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy curled up inside the tree trunk.
His soft black hair rested against his forehead.
“Big Sister, An’an listened to you.”
“An’an didn’t run around.”
“An’an has been waiting for you to come back.”
……
Hopeless.
The tree sighed.
A late-stage sister-obsessed person.
Even if he was cured, he would probably still only say “Big Sister” like a little kid forever.
…
“Is this where he stays?”
Lin Suisui poked her small head out from inside the cloak.
The cloak was specially made for her by Grandma Kong.
It could block the wind and sand while also allowing the little cub to observe her surroundings.
Broken houses.
Empty streets.
It was even more desolate than the places she had seen before.
“Yes.”
“This was one of the worst disaster areas when the apocalypse broke out. People moved away from here long ago.”
Cheng Fifteen explained.
Even after the apocalypse ended, no one was willing to live here.
Other than that strange tree, Cheng Fifteen had never seen anyone else.
Since he arrived here, the tree had remained here.
It had been at least more than ten years.
During those ten years, he had never seen the tree take human form.
If not for the fact that plant-type beings could sense each other, he probably would have just treated it as a mutated tree.
Being alone as a tree for so long… how lonely must that be?
Thinking about this, Lin Suisui’s heart started hurting again.
She didn’t want to see that tree being lonely.
Somehow, a small figure appeared in her memory.
A tiny child sitting alone on a windowsill.
“Almost there.”
“Heiyun, take care of Suisui.”
Cheng Fifteen said.
Heiyun gave him a look.
Do you even need to say that?
His little cub would definitely be protected.
Cheng Fifteen closed his eyes.
He wouldn’t argue with this reckless man.
…
“Hey! Hey! Wake up!”
“Don’t sleep anymore. Someone came again.”
The tree became excited.
This ghostly place could go ten days or even half a month without seeing a single person.
It was unbearably boring.
Unfortunately, it was being suppressed.
It had lost control over its own body and couldn’t run away.
It could only stay rooted here with the boy.
The tree’s excitement did not affect him at all.
The boy’s consciousness remained still.
There was no sign of waking up.
The tree became bored.
Its huge branches swayed slightly.
It seemed like…
Maybe there were some other things coming too.
…
“Dad, what are those black dots?”
Lin Suisui sat on Heiyun’s shoulder and pointed toward a distant place.
“Black dots?”
Cheng Fifteen narrowed his eyes.
He followed Lin Suisui’s gaze.
Those black things were moving extremely fast.
At first, they were only tiny dots.
In the blink of an eye, they became a large dark mass.
When Cheng Fifteen saw clearly what they were, his pupils shrank.
“Not good!”
“Heiyun, take Suisui and leave quickly!”
“It’s filth!”
“Damn it, why is filth appearing here now?!”
Countless vines spread out from all directions.
They quickly formed a defensive barrier.
Heiyun reacted extremely fast.
The clumsy and awkward giant man who acted helpless in front of the cub seemed to disappear.
He immediately pulled Lin Suisui into his arms.
Before Cheng Fifteen even finished speaking, Heiyun had already carried Lin Suisui more than ten meters away.
Filth?
During the few days she had been here, Lin Suisui had heard several uncles mention it.
Not only could it hurt people, but being injured by it could also severely damage a person’s spiritual sea.
It could cause mental instability and eventually turn people into monsters without consciousness that only knew how to attack.
Lin Suisui had never seen her own spiritual sea.
She suspected she might not even have one.
“Dad, can Uncle Cheng handle it alone?”
Lin Suisui asked worriedly.
Before Heiyun could answer, a familiar voice came from beside them.
“Little Suisui really underestimates Uncle.”
“Those things aren’t worth worrying about.”
It was Uncle Cheng!
Light appeared in Lin Suisui’s eyes.
Cheng Fifteen’s lower body had already completely transformed into vines.
“Uncle Cheng, are you okay?”
The little cub asked with concern.
“I’m fine.”
“They’re just some filth that hasn’t found a host yet. I can handle them.”
He had been worried about frightening the cub.
But seeing that Lin Suisui wasn’t scared at all, his heart finally relaxed.
Suddenly, Heiyun stopped.
“Dad?”
Lying in Heiyun’s arms, Lin Suisui could only see the man’s firm face.
Even at a time like this, she somehow thought:
My dad is really handsome.
He was the kind of handsome man with strong features and a heroic aura.
Most importantly, just seeing him gave her an overwhelming sense of security.
Every time she stayed in Dad’s arms, she felt especially safe.
Heiyun’s sharp gaze looked forward.
A group of fully formed filth appeared in front of them.
At first, filth only existed as black mist.
They infected mutated beasts and mutated plants, parasitizing inside their bodies until they completely occupied the body and devoured the original consciousness.
Once fully formed, their strength was more than five times stronger than their original host.
The ones in front of them were infected mutated beasts.
Heiyun’s expression didn’t change.
His calm face showed no emotion.
His large hands firmly protected Lin Suisui in his arms.
A huge wolf tail swept forward.
Several mutated beasts crashed to the ground.
Lin Suisui couldn’t see what was happening outside.
She could only feel the vibration of Heiyun’s chest.
Holding the cub, Heiyun kicked them more than ten meters away.
Cheng Fifteen glanced over.
The infected mutated beasts were all powerful and fierce creatures.
But Heiyun’s casual attack had knocked all of them down.
Then another group of mutated beasts rushed over.
Huge vines tightly restrained them.
“Go!”
Cheng Fifteen said.
The lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses reflected a faint white light.
Controlling the vines, he pierced through the bodies of the mutated beasts with sharp thorns.
“Your agitation period is coming soon. Leave first.”
During the agitation period, a beastman’s spiritual sea was more likely to become unstable than usual.
Without a guardian nearby, there was a huge risk of being infected by filth.
If Heiyun was infected, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Agitation period.
This was the first time Lin Suisui had heard this term.
Just hearing it, she felt it wasn’t something good.
“Dad…”
Lin Suisui felt a little guilty.
If it wasn’t because of her, Dad and Uncle Cheng wouldn’t have come here.
They wouldn’t have encountered the filth either.
She had caused trouble for them again.
Feeling the cub’s lowered mood, Heiyun thought she was scared.
His large hand gently rubbed her head.
“Don’t be afraid.”
“Dad is here.”
Lin Suisui tightly grabbed the man’s clothes.
The group quickly retreated from the area.