Bai Qingqing didn’t expect the people from Zhou Village to arrive at the Old Ancestral Hall so quickly. She wondered how they discovered them; it was truly strange.
These were ordinary humans, so Fu Chen didn’t make a move for now. Since the villagers knew Fu Chen was a superhuman, they didn’t dare approach easily and instead threatened them with their weapons.
“Come with us to the Divine Tree, or you will undoubtedly die.”
Bai Qingqing found it strange that the villagers had such confidence. Hu Zi, as the leader, appeared and said gruffly, “You’ve all been poisoned. Only the village chief has the antidote. If you don’t want to die, come with us to the Divine Tree.”
“Alright, lead the way,” Fu Chen agreed.
Bai Qingqing glanced at his expression and thought that a few days ago, the members of the Thunder Squad had looked ill with an eerie countenance. Could it be that they were drugged as soon as they entered the village?
Except for Fu Chen, the other men in the squad had indeed been drugged.
Superhumans weren’t invincible; they simply had much stronger constitutions than ordinary people. However, drugging superhumans could still incapacitate them.
Fu Chen had wanted to find the source of the mutation that occurred in the past, and now the people from Zhou Village had come to them, which conveniently allowed them to go and kill that mutated plant.
The few young men who had just been released from the cell were also held captive and led towards the so-called Divine Tree as the villagers had mentioned.
Everyone gathered under a large tree. Bai Qingqing squeezed into the crowd and, through the heads of people, caught a glimpse of the legendary Divine Tree, a mutated plant.
The lush tree stood four to five meters tall and was a beautiful purple wisteria tree. Its buds were covered in notes, and despite the absence of wind, its branches swayed excitedly.
The village chief stood below the tree, accompanied by the female leader, Hong Jie, who had applied bright red lipstick, giving her a terrifying and mournful appearance.
“You few,” the village chief glared with displeasure and scolded, “We kindly allowed you to stay in our Zhou Village, yet you don’t know how to be grateful! Don’t blame us for being heartless!”
The man who reported them pushed the weakened young men towards the purple wisteria tree. Its branches suddenly entangled them, drilling into their throats.
The people of Zhou Village actually worshipped a mutated plant as their Divine Tree and openly used humans to nourish it. This behavior was simply insane and terrifying.
Fu Chen calmly hid Bai Qingqing behind him and whispered, “Do you have gas masks?”
“Yes,” Bai Qingqing recalled that there were gas masks among the supplies they searched for in Jiangcheng a few days ago.
Fu Chen pulled her to the side of their teammates, locked eyes with Cheng Rui, and then turned to look at the village chief, who represented the authority of Zhou Village.
“Village chief, how do you plan to handle the children hidden in the cellar?” Fu Chen asked.
Upon hearing Fu Chen’s words, the faces of the villagers turned somewhat unpleasant. Who wouldn’t cherish their own children? They would only resort to inhumane actions as a last resort.
They hid the children for the sake of their safety. They justified it as protecting their conscience.
The village chief’s face turned cold. Perhaps he believed he had control over the Divine Tree. With a sneer, he said, “You, an outsider, have no right to meddle in the affairs of our village.”
He held the children of every household in his grasp. Men willingly sold their lives in the village to survive and become stronger, while women were brainwashed to go out and hunt for prey.
Whether the women returned alive or not depended on fate. If they managed to bring back more people to the village, he would reward them with the Divine Tree’s nectar.
“Bring Amei and Awang up here!” the village chief ordered.
Bai Qingqing’s expression tightened as she watched Amei and Awang being forced to the central area, forced to kneel on the ground.
The village chief struck Awang’s back with a stick and angrily scolded, “You ungrateful scum! The village has raised and nurtured you for so many years, and you don’t know how to be grateful. What use are you?”
The strike was not like an ordinary old man’s swing; it landed heavily on Awang’s back, instantly drawing blood and creating a gruesome and terrifying wound.
Amei cried out and struggled, “Grandfather Chief, please stop, don’t hit him.”
The village chief publicly abused Awang to intimidate the villagers and establish his authority. Anyone who dared to resist would meet a similar fate.
The people of Zhou Village looked on indifferently, as if they were already accustomed to such scenes, their expressions numb and heartless.
Ignoring Shen Mingxuan’s attempts to stop her, Bai Tian Tian rushed out and said, “Village chief, please stop, you will kill him.”
The village chief saw Bai Tian Tian and halted the abuse, restraining his impatience as he said, “Awang betrayed the village and violated our rules. This is the punishment he deserves.”
Bai Tian Tian showed a sympathetic expression and said, “No matter how big the mistake, you shouldn’t beat someone to death.”
The village chief became annoyed and exchanged a glance with Hong Jie.
Hong Jie pulled Bai Tian Tian and said, “Holy Maiden, come over here.”
Bai Qingqing thought that the scene before her must have coincided with the one in the book. The village chief demanded that Bai Tian Tian marry the Mountain God, and could this so-called Mountain God be this tree?
If it really was this mutated plant, then it was truly perverse. No wonder Bai Tian Tian was unwilling.
Could it be that the village chief, an old man in his seventies or eighties, had obtained something from the mutated plant? Otherwise, why would he go crazy for a plant?
“Holy Maiden, as long as you are willing to marry the Divine Tree and stay in Zhou Village to protect it, your friends can safely leave,” the village chief said.
Bai Tian Tian incredulously looked over, “Marry the Divine Tree?”
The village chief nodded with a serious expression, “You and the Divine Tree are destined to be together. Both of you are the protectors of Zhou Village, and it is a perfect union.”
Bai Tian Tian’s values were shattered, and she looked at the Thunder Squad with a helpless gaze, silently conveying the message, “Please save me.”
Seeing her refusal, the village chief’s face immediately darkened as he said, “The Holy Maiden refuses?”
“I…” Bai Tian Tian bit her lip in distress. Of course, she didn’t want to marry a tree and stay in this godforsaken place.
At that moment, a fire suddenly broke out in the new ancestral hall of the village. The ancestral hall was the most important place in the village, and the villagers panicked, clamoring to put out the fire.
Before the village chief could give any orders to stop them, another fireball flew towards the purple wisteria tree.
“Roar!” The purple wisteria tree suddenly emitted a sharp roar, shocking everyone. Its branches twisted wildly in the air, knocking many ordinary villagers away.
“Qingqing!” Fu Chen called out.
Bai Qingqing immediately took out gas masks and distributed them to everyone. Shen Mingxuan grabbed a mask and rushed towards Bai Tiantian.
However, Bai Tiantian, who was closest to the purple wisteria tree, was entangled by its branches and was suddenly lifted into the air. She cried for help, “Save me!”
The tribal chief didn’t expect them to attack the purple wisteria tree and angrily roared, “Kill them for me!”
The mutation happened in an instant. Flakes-like substances filled the air, causing the villagers to clutch their throats, their faces turning red as they coughed violently. Veins bulged from their necks to their faces.
The horrifying scene scared people into running in all directions, only to collapse one after another on the ground.
Fortunately, Shen Mingxuan acted swiftly and cut off the purple wisteria, catching Bai Tiantian and putting a safety mask on her to block the floating flakes.
Suddenly, the tribal chief transformed into a monster, with vine-like tentacles bursting out of his body. His grotesque appearance resembled a twisted spider. He raised his scythe-like forelimb and impaled a person, causing blood to splatter.
“Ah! Ah! Ah!” screams echoed.
One of the mutants suddenly pounced on Red Sister, who was trying to avoid it. It bit her neck and fiercely tore at her, while Red Sister desperately pushed and kicked. However, she was held down and her neck was bitten, convulsing for a moment before going still.
“Awang!” Ah Mei shouted in fear, “Be careful!”
Bai Qingqing looked over and swiftly drew her gun from her dimensional space, aiming directly at the monster’s head. With a loud bang, she killed it with a single shot.
This accurate shot attracted the attention of several people.
Another monster pounced towards Bai Qingqing. Seeing that she couldn’t react in time, Fu Chen’s strong arm wrapped around her waist, spinning her away while simultaneously using his lightning-based ability to kill the monster.
Bai Qingqing called out to Awang and Ah Mei, who hadn’t had a chance to escape, “Quick, find a place to hide. Don’t get caught or bitten. It’s infectious!”
Awang and Ah Mei, who had experienced fleeing in the outside world, quickly regained their composure and fled.
Mutated plants like the purple wisteria could only be dealt with by Cheng Rui’s fire-based ability and Fu Chen’s lightning-based ability. Even when they attacked together, they couldn’t kill it.
Bai Qingqing naturally didn’t want to be a burden. It was crucial to eliminate the mutated purple wisteria. She pushed Fu Chen away and said, “Brother, go help Cheng Rui. I can handle this on my own.”
The monster that the tribal chief had transformed into had already killed several people. Shen Mingxuan, with Bai Tiantian in tow, constantly evaded the monster’s pursuit. The sacrificial site was chaotic.
Bai Qingqing felt that her accurate shot earlier was purely luck. Close combat was more suitable for her with cold weapons. She took out the forged Tang sword from her dimensional space and, like slicing through a watermelon, dealt with several monsters.
The mutated purple wisteria was probably a Tier 3 plant. It was only with the combination of Cheng Rui’s and Fu Chen’s abilities that they managed to kill its source and extract the mutant plant’s crystal nucleus.
Dealing with the remaining infected individuals was relatively easy. After all, they were a team of survivors, and apart from a few scattered mutants, they had dealt with everything in the vicinity. The grass was dyed red with blood, and corpses were everywhere.
After Shen Mingxuan killed the spider-like monster that the tribal chief had transformed into, he disdainfully threw it aside and removed his gas mask. Bai Tiantian’s legs had gone weak, and she leaned on Shen Mingxuan to avoid collapsing.
Fu Chen held the pale purple plant crystal nucleus. He suddenly remembered the vine plants he had killed in the forest before, wondering if they had crystal nuclei.
Bai Qingqing cleaned her Tang sword and put it back into her dimensional space. She walked up to Fu Chen, greedily staring at the purple wisteria crystal nucleus. If she had it, she could advance to a Tier 2 ability.
Seeing her gaze fixed on the plant crystal nucleus, Fu Chen asked, “Do you want it?”
“No,” Bai Qingqing said, though her words contradicted her true desire.
This crystal nucleus was obtained by Fu Chen, Cheng Rui, and Liang Zhiyu. It wasn’t something she could just take if she wanted.
Fu Chen looked at Cheng Rui and Liang Zhiyu and asked, “Can we give her this plant crystal nucleus? I can exchange it with other crystal nuclei.”
Cheng Rui replied, “I don’t need it. Give it to her.”
Liang Zhiyu had no objections and joked, “Captain, I didn’t know you dote on your sister so much.”
Fu Chen curled his lips and said, “Of course, a sister is meant to be spoiled.”
Bai Tiantian watched the lighthearted scene with tightly bitten lips, feeling a sense of loss welling up in her heart. Those looks used to be meant for her.
“Thank you,” Bai Qingqing happily accepted the crystal nucleus.
After the incident with the sacred tree, the number of people in the village decreased by half. The tribal chief died, and the children who were locked in the cellar were all reunited with their families.
Just as one wave subsided, another arose. The reason was that Awang fainted and developed a high fever, and no one knew if he would turn into a zombie. People in the village were suggesting killing him or driving him out of Zhou Village.
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