“Chapter Forty-Three”

"Chapter Forty-Three"

"In the end, Xu Fang didn’t get his hug; after changing clothes, he was sent off to fight zombies again."

"Muling City was filled with trees, flowers, and specially designated areas for animal rearing and farming, clearly showing that life here was very peaceful and serene before the apocalypse."

"But now, a horde of zombies emerged on the streets, their skin blue-black, teeth sharp and white, their crimson eyes cold and brutal, charging straight towards the three people nearby."

"The flat ground gradually bulged and rose, forming a figure as tall as the zombies, featureless and rough, like a child's crude clay model, adorned with small grasses and wildflowers."

"The earthen figure leaped forward, charging at the zombies, its massive fist striking the nearest one, knocking it to the ground with a single blow."

"It then quickly turned to the other zombies, striking them down swiftly, leaving all the zombies toppled without itself taking any damage."

"However, the zombies that were knocked down soon got up and advanced towards the group."

"It's no good; the power is too weak. Even though the speed has increased, continuing like this will only waste the special abilities in vain."

"Xu Fang stood not far away, watching the earthen figure, undisturbed. Although he could now use his powers to create such figures for combat, they looked mighty but couldn’t kill these extremely resilient zombies in one hit."

"Can we enhance the strength in the hands? For instance, using stones as hands when shaping earth people. Although it won't change the shape of the hands, it will increase power, considering a zombie’s head isn’t harder than stone," proposed Wu Duo.

Ouyang Dong stood nearby, stroking his chin in thought: "Didn't we get a batch of weapons in the Mechanical City? You can use the earthlings like robots, try to make more of them. They don’t need to be too intricately made; as long as they can move, that's enough. Then let these earthlings wield the weapons to fight the zombies, which should greatly improve efficiency."

Xu Fang felt that both had valid points: "Then I'll give it a try."

The earth-being stood still, and at the command of the psychic, instantly reverted back to its original form, becoming a puddle of soft earth that fell to the ground.

Xu Fang looked around and saw a few stones next to them on the ground. His gaze fixated on them, the earth around the stones seemed to come to life, gradually forming new earth-beings, with two moderately-sized stones being placed into their hands as they took shape.

As the zombies approached, the earth-beings continued their assault. This time the effect was much better, with each powerful punch, the zombies would be left either dead or with their heads busted open and bleeding.

This batch of zombies was quickly eradicated, and the trio then took out small stools to sit and wait for the next wave.

The ground around them had been stained black-red with zombie blood, and even the earth-beings standing aside were covered with a thick scent of gore.

Ouyang Dong waved away the stench that filled his nostrils and pulled out a small cloth bag containing tiny seeds, the size of sesame seeds.

He took out a few seeds and placed them in his palm; the tiny, almost invisible seeds immediately began to sprout, growing leaves in his hand and entwining roots around his fingers like green rings.

Before long, Ouyang Dong's hand was filled with several plump, red strawberries.

He shared the strawberries with the other two, and the three of them sat on their stools, enjoying the strawberries amidst the dire surroundings, unaffected and savoring every bite.

"Did you give some to the boss and the others?" Xu Fang asked while eating strawberries, still thinking about Shen Xiuzhe and the others.

“I gave them earlier, both Granny Wu and the boss have them, and so does Xiao Fu. It’s just a pity Xiao An can’t eat them,” Ouyang Dong said while eating.

As Xu Fang enjoyed his strawberries, he suddenly remembered something and turned to Wuduo: “Speaking of which, Granny Wu hasn’t been out killing zombies lately; she’s mostly stayed in the treehouse. Is she not feeling well?”

Udo was about to pop a strawberry into her mouth but paused and lowered her eyes upon hearing this, "Yes, back in Mechanical City she seemed to have overused her powers, and recently she's been suffering from constant headaches. Plus, grandma's getting on in years, and walking through the forest with us hasn't been easy on her."

Ouyang Dong sighed, “After all, she is over seventy years old. No matter how strong she was in her youth, she can’t keep up the same strength now.”

Wuduo nodded, suddenly finding herself unable to eat another strawberry.

Wood Spirit City, while not as populous as Dawn City, had a wide expanse of territory due to its primitive wooden houses and flat stone buildings, integrating seamlessly with the forest, which meant zombies scattered throughout were slowly converging here.

"After dealing with a group of zombies, everyone could take a break to eat and discuss strategies, making very good use of the time."

It was Wuduo’s turn to face the next wave of zombies.

She stood up; her hair, which had been short, was now slightly longer. With a cold gaze, she watched the continuous stream of zombies approaching.

Gripping the knife tightly in her hand, she charged into the small horde of zombies.

The zombies turned towards her, their faces twisted in grotesque snarls.

She had been taught to wield her blade by her grandmother—simple, clean movements. What used to be insufficient strength was now a swift slash, the blade's cold gleam signaling the quick dispatch of a dozen zombies.

"Impressive," Xu Fang applauded from his perch on a small stool.

However, Wuduo herself was not satisfied; she still couldn't fight using her psychic abilities. She could handle a small number of zombies on her own, but if they encountered special types or large hordes, her swordsmanship wouldn’t suffice—psychic combat was necessary.

Despite the victory, Wuduo returned disheartened.

The two understood her dilemma, but their abilities were different, and they could not offer much help.

"I think, since your space is large, why not store more objects like stones or trees? If you encounter too many zombies, you can use them to crush," Xu Fang suggested.

Ouyang Dong had no better ideas: "Can you still not retrieve objects from afar?"

Wuduo nodded, still needing to physically retrieve things from her space.

"Being able to retrieve objects from afar would make using spatial abilities much more convenient."

Wuduo was aware of this but still couldn’t do it.

"Why not ask the boss? Look how he coached An Ge, really enhancing his powers. Ask him how you could train to retrieve objects from afar," Xu Fang suggested, finishing off his last strawberry.

Wuduo was tempted but hesitant; she could face zombies head-on, but asking Shen Xiuzhe for personalized coaching was daunting.

Yet, to become stronger, Wuduo eventually decided to ask.

"Retrieve objects from afar?"

Shen Xiuzhe was reading in the treehouse. He glanced at the young girl and pondered before saying, "I think all psychic abilities strengthen the same way: deplete them, let them recover, and then deplete them again."

Wuduo knew this training method but had never tried it: "If I deplete my power, what if everyone needs something from my space, and I can’t retrieve it?"

Her space was filled with various supplies; if her power was depleted and the space inaccessible, they would be without necessities or weapons in case of danger, which is why Wuduo never risked it.

"Take out the daily necessities first. During our stay in Wood Spirit City, we won't need anything extra. You can train freely, or else you won't have the chance once we leave," he advised.

Once they left Wood Spirit City, the outside world was unknown, and anything could happen, making Wuduo’s space vital, always ready for use.

But here, without such worries, should anything be needed, it wouldn’t be urgent. They could wait for her psychic abilities to recharge before retrieving it.

Wuduo was suddenly enlightened.

When she returned, she was holding a small stone in her hand.

"What’s that for?" Xu Fang asked curiously.

Wuduo smiled, “I’ve placed the daily necessities under the treehouse. From today, I’m going to focus on training my psychic abilities.”

She sat on a small stool, transferring the small stone into her space and then taking it out, repeating the process to exhaust her psychic energy.

Lin An also wanted to train his abilities. Initially, he joined the others in fighting zombies, but whenever he acted, he swept away any number of zombies at once, leaving no corpse intact.

Ouyang Dong and the others praised his technique as too formidable to necessitate further training.

Eventually, Lin An could only wander around Wood Spirit City alone with his dog, Xiao Fu.

There were no zombies left near their treehouse. Lin An, with Xiao Fu in tow, stood at the doorway of a household. Inside, the house was disordered, with bloodstains on the walls and dust everywhere.

Lin An stood motionless as streams of clear water gently flowed into the house, sweeping away the blood and dust. Even a blanket that had fallen to the floor was cleansed with his powers, dried, folded, and placed back on the bed.

The entire cleaning process took only a few minutes.

Satisfied with the rejuvenated interior, Lin An nodded approvingly and continued on to the next house with Xiao Fu.

By the time his powers were depleted, he had cleaned an entire street's worth of homes.

Now waiting for his abilities to recharge, Lin An returned to the base of the treehouse with Xiao Fu.

The tree was too high, and he still couldn’t climb up.

He lingered there, hesitating.

Shen Xiuzhe, reading in the treehouse, was acutely aware of Lin An's presence below; as a psychic, his senses were sharp.

He came out from the treehouse and adeptly helped Lin An and the dog up.

Granny Wu sat on the bed, her silver hair immaculate as always, neatly combed, and she chuckled at the sight.

"She has indeed traveled a lot previously and it's taken its toll. After all, time spares no one; she's no longer the young adventurer who once traversed the wilderness."

"The rest these past few days has helped her recover a lot. Continuing the journey shouldn’t be a problem: 'We should also be ready to leave soon. Everyone's special abilities have improved significantly, and the zombies in Muling City are almost completely eradicated.'"

Shen Xiuzhe nodded, "Indeed, and since the creature that broke through the city wall hasn't appeared again, staying here might attract it. Therefore, I plan to depart in three days."

Grandma U knew Shen Xiuzhe hadn’t been rushing them partly because they were training their powers here and partly for her sake.

"Although he appears fierce and unapproachable, Shen Xiuzhe is actually very thoughtful, just not fond of expressing it verbally."

"She certainly hadn't misjudged him."

"Leaving in three days?"

Lin An clenched his fists, determined to make the most of these three days to enhance his powers.

The others did the same, knowing they would leave in three days, spending every day except for eating and sleeping killing zombies and training their special abilities.

"And as the number of zombies in Muling City dwindled, they only encountered a few at a time, hardly posing a challenge anymore."

"On the last day, everyone packed their bags and cremated the last of the zombie corpses, then they left Muling City."

Xu Fang kept looking back, having grown accustomed to the life there over the week, despite there being no other people.

"There's still a bit of reluctance to leave."

"But he quickly readjusts his mood and strides forward, catching up with the others ahead."

"The group continued through the forest, still encountering zombies occasionally and taking them out each time."

"The food every day mainly depended on Ouyang Dong’s efforts. As long as he went out for a stroll, there would definitely be prey bumping into him."

"And Lin An earnestly fulfilled his task, providing hot water for everyone to drink, wash their faces, and eat."

"He even managed to supply hot water for baths."

"Incredibly thoughtful."

"Ouyang Dong has even remarked that one must bring Wudo and Lin An when traveling afar; their abilities are simply essential for home and travel."

"Along the way, occasionally killing zombies and enjoying campfires, chatting casually in the sleeping bags at night, the journey felt stable yet everyone sensed something missing. Even the usually carefree Xu Fang noticed something amiss."

"'Why haven't we seen any zombie beasts on our journey?' Xu Fang touched his bald head, 'At the beginning, when we entered the forest, we occasionally encountered zombie beasts or zombie plants, but why haven’t we seen any these past few days?'"

Ouyang Dong lay back, hands behind his head: "It's more than that. In Muling City, I noticed that all the zombies were ordinary. Not one was of the special type."

Shen Xiuzhe had long been aware of this anomaly but had remained silent, unsure of the reason. Now, he lay in his sleeping bag with eyes closed, offering no comment.

Wuduo said, "Logically, Little An Ge should attract special type zombies. Even if those had fled the city, a week's time should have been enough for them to detect his presence. But indeed, we've seen none."

Grandma Wu also lay with eyes closed, "Early Dawn City has about ninety percent ordinary zombies to ten percent special ones. The ratio in Muling City is indeed off."

Xu Fang suddenly proposed: "Could it be that the forest's environment is good, the air clean, so the zombies don't mutate as severely!"

"Hmm... That's possible. After all, we can't compare every place to Early Dawn City. Each location is different. The air, the environment, it all could have an effect."

With the origins of the zombies still unclear, discussing it led to no conclusions, and the topic was dropped.

Shen Xiuzhe, with eyes closed, remembered the entity that had breached Muling City's walls. They hadn't seen any traces of giant creatures on their journey, and that unknown entity might appear out of nowhere any day.

Although it seemed unlikely, they still needed to remain vigilant and not let their guard down.

Now, their direction had shifted from Baize City to the ancient ruins of Mous City. Lin An was excited; they were nearing the place he had longed for.

After leaving Muling City and walking for another five days, the sight of a tree in the distance from atop a rolling mountain range caught everyone's attention.

Xu Fang was the first to reach the mountain summit, but this time he didn't boast about being first. Instead, he stood motionless.

It was only when the others arrived at the summit that they understood the cause of his stillness.

Beyond the undulating mountain range, at the farthest reach of their sight where heaven and earth converged, stood an immense tree.

That tree was taller than the mountain they were on, its dense branches obscuring the sky, nearly covering half of the horizon.

The thick layers of trees on the ground seemed like mere grass next to it.

The contrast was stark.

Xu Fang's jaw dropped, and the others were equally stunned. Shen Xiuzhe and Wu Shuangxue had never been to Mous City and thus had no idea such a colossal tree existed in the wilderness.

It was simply more massive than a mountain.

"Oh dear, why do I feel dizzy all of a sudden?" Ouyang Dong pressed his forehead, his brows knitted tightly.

"Lack of oxygen?"

"No, it started when I was looking at that tree. I was fine before that." Ouyang Dong seemed quite uncomfortable.

Lin An turned to look at him, suspecting that Ouyang Dong might suffer from megalophobia, as the tree was intimidatingly large. Even from a distance, the visual impact was staggering, and it would likely appear even more colossal up close.

Shen Xiuzhe advised, "Then don't look up. That tree is right on our path, and taking a detour now could mean days of extra travel."

They were at least a hundred kilometers away from the tree, yet they could still see some of its roots clearly from here. It seemed possible to pass underneath, as going around the tree would be too far.

He disliked unexpected developments, and this tree, existing beyond common sense, was no exception.

After descending the mountain, the tree seemed to grow larger as they approached.

It took almost two days of walking to reach the shade of the giant tree, and they were still a long distance from its trunk.

By then, even the sky was hard to discern; looking up, all one could see was the dense foliage of the tree.

The gray-brown trunk exuded an air of ancientness, its years of silent growth a mystery.

The closer they walked, the more they felt a mix of shock and awe.

They had complained about the increasing heat in the previous days, but under the canopy of the giant tree, they hadn't felt the sun at all, and it was even starting to feel cold.

Surrounding trees grew sparse, for they all required sunlight, which the giant tree blocked entirely, making survival impossible for those dependent on the light.

Sunlight, moisture, soil—all were commandeered by this tree, and as they drew nearer, the surroundings became more desolate.

Observing this scene, one could hardly imagine it was deep within a forest.

Finally, they were only a few kilometers away from the trunk of the tree.

The massive root system sprawled everywhere, twisting and turning, and they could even pass beneath the raised roots.

The shock of the close-up view was overwhelming; the tree seemed like the center of the world, or perhaps a divine tree from myth, meant to uphold the heavens and the earth.

"If only my phone had power. I'd have taken a picture of this tree on the mountain as a keepsake. I could brag about it later—it's truly incredible," Xu Fang lamented for two days straight, regretting the missed photo opportunity with every step.

"Indeed, it's astonishing. If we hadn't left Early Dawn City, I might never have witnessed such a marvel in my lifetime," Ouyang Dong concurred with Xu Fang for once. He still couldn’t look directly at the tree; it was too vast, dizzying to behold.

"Lin An looked up at the big tree, then surveyed the surroundings carefully, feeling something was odd."

"Because he had never come across this tree in any book."

"The ancient ruins of Mou Si City were discovered more than a decade ago. Several groups had explored its outskirts, but none mentioned such a huge tree in their documents."

"Is it because the paths they took were different?"

"Or perhaps he didn’t have access to the relevant books; after all, the books about the wilderness in Chuxi City are not comprehensive, and many are scattered across other cities."

"When Lin An seriously contemplates, his brain seems to struggle."

"Although he has regained consciousness, he hasn't fully recovered yet. His speech is not fluent, and he can't ponder over issues for too long, or his brain would short-circuit."

"Unable to recall any information about the tree, he stops trying to remember, planning to record this tree later."

"Xu Fang, leading the way, squints as the large tree looms closer, sensing something."

"Is there something moving up ahead? An animal, or a zombie?"

"He pulls out a telescope from his backpack and peers through it towards the front."

"The movements are not from animals, but a few humans."

"People! There are people ahead!" Xu Fang shouts excitedly."

"Not caring if they can be seen, he waves his arms vigorously."

"Hey~~hello there!"

"Ouyang Dong squints, only able to see tiny figures that indeed look like humans: 'It couldn’t be zombies, could it?'"

"'Impossible, zombies can’t wave; it must be people,' Xu Fang asserts confidently."

"Lin An blinks silently, thinking to himself that he, a zombie, can also wave."

"The group opposite also notices them and begins running towards them while waving. Through the telescope, it's clear they are human, and Shen Xiuzhe can even make out their clothing resembling that of Muling City's style."

"It appears that people from Muling City really did escape and have settled near this giant tree."

Before their arrival, they let Lin An's bangs down, and also put a mask and gloves on him.

To avoid trouble, they couldn't let the other party discover Lin An's true identity.

When both groups met up after a few people ran over, there was joy on everyone's faces.

"Are you from the Wood Spirit City?" Xu Fang couldn't help but ask first.

"Yes, where did you come from? We haven't seen people from other places for a long time."

Knowing they were truly people from Wood Spirit City, everyone was relieved; they hadn't all turned into zombies, and it seemed they were doing well in other places, looking spirited.

That's great.

And these survivors from Wood Spirit City were very hospitable, inviting them to visit their current residence.

They gladly proceeded to go.

It was only when they reached their destination that they discovered the survivors from Wood Spirit City actually lived within the trunk of a gigantic tree.