Ye Huizhou immediately retreated.
Su Nian activated her ability even faster, her figure flashing backward in an instant.
The giant brown flower suddenly sprayed a cloud of red mist directly at Ye Huizhou’s face!
Although Ye Huizhou’s reaction had been extremely fast, he was still brushed by the mist.
A wave of dizziness struck him, and the scenery before his eyes began to twist and distort.
Then Ye Huizhou saw it.
Nearby, a wild ginkgo tree was raising a middle finger at him with every single leaf.
?
Expressionless, Ye Huizhou activated his ability.
Crackling lightning exploded outward, instantly engulfing the innocent ginkgo tree.
Ye Xihe hurried over in concern, only to find her Big Brother…
Fighting a perfectly ordinary ginkgo tree?
“Big Brother!”
She grabbed his arm to check whether he was injured.
But in Ye Huizhou’s eyes, a cabbage had run over and was examining him anxiously while speaking in his Little Sister’s voice.
“Why is Xihe inside a cabbage?”
Ye Xihe: ?
Su Nian: ?
Worried that the strange giant flower might attack again, Gu Zhuoye stepped forward and erected a wall of flames between the flower and the group.
In Ye Huizhou’s eyes, however, a pig was charging toward Cabbage-Xihe.
Without hesitation, he threw a lightning blade at it.
Gu Zhuoye: ?
He swiftly dodged to the side.
Ye Huizhou thought coldly, Hmph. It’s quite an agile pig.
Lightning gathered in his palm once more.
Gu Zhuoye spoke rapidly.
“That flower probably causes hallucinations. Ye Xihe, see if you can purify the toxins in your brother’s body!”
Ye Xihe immediately activated her ability.
Gradually, clarity returned to Ye Huizhou’s eyes.
His head throbbed painfully, and a trace of agony appeared in his gaze.
A soft palm gently touched his forehead.
Seeing him recover, Su Nian asked curiously, “Brother Ye, what did you see just now?”
Ye Huizhou pursed his lips.
…
He absolutely refused to answer that question.
“This flower…”
Just as Gu Zhuoye began speaking, Ye Xihe had already walked over.
“Where’s its core?”
“In the center of the flower, hidden beneath the stamens. I’ll cut the stamens away, and you move in when there’s an opening.”
Ye Xihe nodded.
The giant flower looked terrifying, but it wasn’t particularly aggressive.
The two of them dealt with it easily.
Gu Zhuoye clicked his tongue.
“The flower causes hallucinations, and the vines handle the attacks. Ordinary people would be in serious trouble here.”
Then he seemed to remember something and looked down.
Oh, there was still an ordinary person who had already fallen victim lying here.
Only then did Ye Huizhou remember the man who had been hanging from the vine.
As he lowered his head, his pupils contracted.
“Xu Wen?”
The man lying on the ground was unconscious and covered in wounds.
Ye Xihe crouched beside him.
“You know him, Big Brother?”
Ye Huizhou nodded. “He’s one of my former comrades.”
“Then we have to save him, Big Brother.”
Skillfully gathering healing light in her hands, Ye Xihe pressed it against the man’s chest.
His injuries were severe.
This treatment lasted much longer than usual.
By the time it ended, Ye Xihe’s face was pale.
Gu Zhuoye reacted quickly and steadied her before slipping a piece of chocolate into her mouth.
At last, Xu Wen slowly opened his eyes.
The moment he saw Ye Huizhou, he froze.
Then he lunged forward and wrapped Ye Huizhou in a crushing embrace, smacking his back repeatedly.
“Captain Ye! Captain Ye! Waaaah! Captain Ye! I almost died, Captain Ye!”
The corner of Ye Huizhou’s eye twitched.
“Silence! Attention!”
Xu Wen instantly snapped into a military stance, though his face still looked pitifully aggrieved.
“Report what happened.”
“Yes, sir!”
Xu Wen organized his thoughts and was just about to begin when he noticed Ye Xihe resting nearby.
His eyes narrowed.
“You’re… Little Sister Xihe?”
Ye Xihe blinked. “You know me?”
Xu Wen burst out laughing.
“Your brother brought your photo with him when he enlisted. We’ve all seen it!”
Ye Huizhou immediately kicked him in the rear.
“Cut the nonsense!”
Xu Wen quickly suppressed his laughter.
“We escaped from Huxi Town.”
When the gray mist first began thickening around Huxi Town, Xu Wen sensed that something was wrong and tried to organize an evacuation.
But it was already too late.
The mist seemed to engulf the entire town in an instant.
Ability users could barely force their way out, but most ordinary people transformed into zombies the moment the mist descended.
A small number of ability users managed to escape in different directions.
Xu Wen and the two men who had since been drained dry entered Qingmang Mountain together.
None of them had expected plants to mutate as well.
“When we reached this place, we fell into hallucinations. We couldn’t resist the vines at all. The thing eats one person per day. If I hadn’t run into you guys, today would’ve been my turn.”
Xu Wen looked dejected as he licked his cracked lips.
Then he felt two heavy pats land on his shoulder, and a bottle of water appeared in front of him.
Looking up, he saw Ye Huizhou.
Captain Ye!
Xu Wen’s eyes immediately reddened.
The man over six feet tall looked ready to cry again.
“What ability do you have?”
Ye Xihe rummaged through her backpack and handed him a loaf of bread.
“Metal-type ability.”
As he spoke, a sniper rifle actually materialized in his hands.
“At my current level, I can only fire two shots. I can create more knives or needles, but I think sniper rifles are way cooler!”
Ye Xihe nodded. Another damage dealer.
Their team already had three offensive ability users.
Hopefully the next teammate would be a support type.
A shield user would be great.
Only then did Xu Wen belatedly touch his body.
“Huh? My injuries? They’re healed?!”
Ye Huizhou solemnly explained Ye Xihe’s situation to him.
Xu Wen immediately saluted to show that he understood.
Thus, their marching formation changed once again.
Su Nian, Xu Wen, Ye Huizhou, and Gu Zhuoye formed a square around Ye Xihe, keeping her safely in the center.
Two more days passed.
They encountered neither Mutated Animals and Plants nor food shortages. The mountains contained plenty of edible resources, and they even collected dew, boiled it, and refilled their empty water bottles.
However…
Xu Wen talked way too much.
Su Nian and Gu Zhuoye were both quiet people.
Ye Huizhou was even less talkative.
Most of the time, only Ye Xihe responded to him.
More often than not, Xu Wen simply talked to himself.
Even when nobody answered, he could chatter endlessly.
“Sigh, the higher we climb, the harder the terrain gets. But that definitely won’t stop me. I think my ability is getting stronger and stronger. Maybe one day I’ll be able to summon a Barrett and go rat-tat-tat…”
“Wait.”
Su Nian suddenly stopped.
“Something’s wrong.”
They had already reached the very center of Qingmang Mountain.
Along the way, they had constantly heard insects chirping and occasionally seen small animals running around.
Though admittedly, most edible creatures they encountered had ended up becoming dinner…
But now the surroundings were completely silent.
Not even a single insect could be heard.
The gray mist seemed denser than ever, and visibility had become extremely poor.
Ye Huizhou suddenly spoke.
“Gu Zhuoye.”
Gu Zhuoye immediately understood.
A brilliant fireball appeared at his fingertips and drifted forward.
To provide illumination, he intentionally kept it moving slowly.
His control over his ability had improved yet again.
The fireball thinned the surrounding mist slightly, revealing the scene hidden within.
It was a gigantic vine.
It had long since broken free from the restraints of nature, coiling across the landscape like an ancient colossal python.
Its massive main stalk was covered in deep cracked grooves.
Countless extending vines intertwined to form a vast web.
Suspended between the gaps of that web hung enormous spindle-shaped flower buds.
Some leaves had even lost their original form entirely, clinging to the stalk like scales.