At first, no one paid any attention to Chen Ye’s question. Zhou Xiaoxiao instinctively objected.
“That girl is just… just…” he stammered, the rebuttal dying on his lips.
For no particular reason, Xiaoxiao always wanted to contradict Chen Ye. But searching his memory now, he realized he could not even name the girl.
In fact, he had never seen her before today.
The expressions of those nearby slowly changed.
“How can you be sure you haven’t seen her?” Xiaoxiao insisted. “Her hair was so long you couldn’t see her face!”
Yet his voice grew quieter as he spoke.
Chen Ye sneered and looked toward where the girl had gone. “This is Longevity Village. A strange girl turns up in a place like this and follows us. Doesn’t that strike you as suspicious?”
Xiaoxiao was about to argue again when Zhou Lan caught hold of him. “Xiaoxiao!”
Chen Ye gave the boy—or rather, the girl—an indifferent glance. Zhou Xiaoxiao was a girl who had been passing as a boy in the convoy all along. He understood why, but had never exposed her. He was not putting up with her provocations out of patience. There were few people left in the world; if danger came, he might still use her to shield himself.
“We should get moving and gather enough supplies to leave before four,” Nana said, watching their surroundings warily.
Suppressing their unease, the group pressed on toward the village center.
From outside the village, the Great Willow had merely looked large. Up close, its size was astonishing: it would take three people with their arms outstretched around it to encircle the trunk. A willow this big would have been rare even before the apocalypse.
“Is this willow turning into a spirit?”
“It’s huge… I’ve never seen anything like it. My god.”
“This willow would fetch a good price if we could sell it!”
“It’s the apocalypse. Who would want a huge willow?”
The survivors traded remarks as they walked. Beyond the next corner, they would be able to see the whole tree and the Great Willow Mini-Mart beneath it. Iron Lion, Nana and Chen Ye quickened their pace. The others did not know why the Beyonders had come here, but following them would be much safer.
Iron Lion took the lead, rounding the corner first.
He stood there without moving.
Nana’s eyes narrowed. “Iron Lion? What is it?”
The big man swallowed, his voice dry. “Nana… you… come here…”
The young Sword Immortal quickened her pace, stepping up beside him.
As soon as she saw the whole tree, Nana stiffened and began trembling uncontrollably, as though she had seen something terrifying.
Chen Ye had a bad feeling. Nana was the convoy’s strongest fighter, well ahead of even Iron Lion. What had happened?
He raised his Hand Crossbow, slowing his approach. Behind him, the survivors caught the mood, their footsteps faltering.
“Iron Lion, Nana,” Chen Ye called out softly. “What do you see?”
Nana turned toward him. Her pupils widened, and her face was full of terror, as though she could not shake the sight before her. “Chen Ye… you… come here…”
Chen Ye frowned. What was wrong with these two? They did not seem to have been attacked.
After a moment’s thought, he moved closer. They had to reach the mini-mart beneath the tree; without supplies, they would die out here. Slowly he rounded the corner, and the view opened before him.
Under the dim sky, the sun outside Longevity Village seemed very far away. A large square lay at the village center, with the Great Willow filling almost his entire view.
Green strands trailed down like silk ribbons. On a sunny afternoon, or at a scenic spot, this tree would have made a beautiful sight.
If not, of course, for the corpses hanging from its green branches.
Yes, corpses—one at the end of every trailing branch.
At a rough count, there were at least a hundred bodies, perhaps two hundred. Each hung from a branch, with no wind and no sign of life.
Now Chen Ye understood Iron Lion and Nana’s stunned expressions: he wore the same one. He swallowed, trembling all over, his throat too dry for words. His gaze quivered. The sight was more horrifying than the worst horror movie.
What had happened here? What was this willow? Why were those people hanging from it? Fear and questions crowded his mind.
A low, stifled sob broke the silence.
Chen Ye shuddered and turned stiffly. Zhou Lan and Zhou Xiaoxiao had clamped their hands over their mouths, afraid of making a sound that might disturb some unknown horror. The survivors behind them stared wide-eyed in fear.
Chen Ye took a hard drag and bit the filter until it creaked. The cigarette’s ember lit a small patch of murky darkness.
“Stop staring. We need to gather supplies,” Chen Ye reminded them in a dry, quiet voice.
A small, single-story building stood beneath the tree, with a wooden sign beside it reading Great Willow Mini-Mart. A small door stood open next to the sign. In the faint light, they could make out glass counters inside.
“Careful,” Chen Ye whispered. “Don’t disturb them.”
Iron Lion carefully edged toward the store. Nana gripped her sword, moving like a nimble cat. Chen Ye held his Hand Crossbow; his cigarette had burned down to the filter, but he had forgotten to throw it away.
Still terrified, the survivors gritted their teeth and followed the Beyonders.
They slipped into the mini-mart.
Iron Lion and Nana switched on their flashlights, revealing the store’s interior.
It was an ordinary village store. A row of glass counters stood by the entrance, with a large bank of shelves behind them. Cigarettes and liquor took up more than half the space on those shelves. More rows of shelves stood to the right.
For a village store, it was quite spacious.
Everyone’s eyes lit up at the supplies. An old woman hiding at the back seemed to forget her aching legs and poor eyesight, her face full of greed. It was the grandmother who had clashed with Chen Ye. Perhaps knowing that following the Beyonders would bring rewards, she had trailed them quietly, saying nothing and trying not to attract attention. Now she felt certain she had made the right choice.
Outside, a breeze rose from somewhere.
It set the corpses hanging from the willow swaying slightly.