Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Eight

As Lin An lets go of all his vigilance and burdens, falling deeply asleep on Shen Xiuzhe's shoulder, the glistening stream of water in the sky, illuminated by the sun, suddenly cascades downward.

Shen Xiuzhe and the others are prepared; a metallic structure emerging from the ground transforms into a giant umbrella, shielding them.

The charred tree, under the force of the torrential water, crumbles and collapses gradually.

The black dust that was about to rise is washed away by the water, leaving behind black streaks meandering along the ground.

The survivors of Muling City, soaked by the downpour, stand in black, muddy water, looking disheveled yet lowering their heads in guilt as they gaze at the few under the giant umbrella.

Moments ago, they were proclaiming this to be divine punishment, but now, seeing the few emerge from the tree, they quickly realize what has actually happened.

These outsiders have defeated the divine tree!

They know better than anyone the strength of this tree—its massive size, its unstoppable attack methods, its mocking hunting process—each aspect constantly reminding them of humanity's insignificance and helplessness.

No human could have possibly defeated this tree.

This is something beyond human comprehension, a force of the divine.

This is what they have always believed, and what they were compelled to believe.

But now, before their eyes, this great tree has been reduced to a pile of blackened charcoal within minutes, destroyed by the mysterious might of a group of outsiders.

And these were the people they had tricked into coming here.

The torrential rain soon ceased.

Mist hung in the air, refracting a rainbow of light under the sun, enveloping the remnants of the tree.

The blackened branches, symbols of evil and destruction, contrast starkly with the dreamlike rainbow above.

It seemed so surreal to them, a scene one might only encounter in dreams.

Udo retracts the metallic umbrella back into space, revealing the rainbow in the sky to the group.

Looking up at the sky, the beauty of the moment felt all the more precious after their harrowing battle.

Only Shen Xiuzhe, glancing at Lin An resting on his shoulder, noticed the zombie's discomfort. Lin An, with his bangs brushed aside revealing delicate features, looked utterly exhausted, like a flower wilted under harsh sunlight.

Shen Xiuzhe's gaze was gentle as he adjusted Lin An on his back to make him more comfortable.

This unique little zombie always surprised them, doing the extraordinary.

This time, he had unleashed immense power, saving everyone.

Shen Xiuzhe had always been curious about who Lin An was before becoming a zombie.

After learning from Jiang Laixu, he felt pity for Lin An's past and wanted to help him overcome his shadows.

But now, he suddenly wished he had met Lin An earlier.

Before he turned into a zombie.

Before he was bullied by others.

If he had met Lin An then, he wouldn’t have been bullied, and perhaps they would have become good friends.

Shen Xiuzhe's long lashes hid a mysterious look in his eyes. As he turned to look at the group not far away, his gaze instantly turned cold, his expression menacing.

The others felt the same. Faced with those who had sent them to the zombie tree, none could muster a smile.

It was a close call.

If Lin An hadn't suddenly unleashed his power, they would likely be reduced to mere flesh scraps by now.

The survivors from Muling City seemed to want to approach and say something, yet they hesitated, standing there uneasily.

It was Mu Ze who finally broke the deadlock.

This man in his forties, like a madman, leapt out from the crowd, claiming they had killed the tree god and would surely be punished. His deranged demeanor suggested a troubled mind.

Xu Fang sneered, flexing his wrist, ready to deal with this lunatic who dared to speak such nonsense.

Before Xu Fang could act, a familiar young man from the crowd stepped forward and knocked Mu Ze unconscious with a stone.

Looking at the fallen Mu Ze, Ouyang Dong, clutching his arm, coldly sneered, "What now, internal strife? Don't think sacrificing Mu Ze will spare all of you."

Wudo also wore a cold expression. Her only relative had nearly died today, and she wished she could pack these people into her space, turning them into a pile of corpses.

"I'm sorry," said the eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy named Mu Han, dropping the stone and bowing in apology to the group.

His fellow clansmen exchanged glances and also lowered their heads, murmuring apologies.

Shen Xiuzhe mocked, "How timely of you. You apologize only after seeing us defeat the zombie tree, knowing you can't beat us. Had we been killed, would you have apologized at our graves? I guess not. You'd just mock us as fools deceived by you."

Xu Fang glared, "The boss is right. I've seen plenty like you, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, regretting only when caught. What now, going to say you had no choice? Forced to drug us, forced to try and kill us?"

Ouyang Dong, still in severe pain, said irritably, "Stop wasting words on them. Just bury them all; none are worth saving."

Mu Han, head bowed, face flushed, found no words to defend himself.

The clansmen behind him began to cry softly, their weeping filling the air.

But Shen Xiuzhe and his group felt no sympathy for them. After all, sympathizing with those who tried to kill you is foolishness; in a post-apocalyptic world, fools and saints die first.

"We never wanted this. We can't escape the tree's grasp. It raised us like cattle, devouring us periodically. We were helpless."

"Thousands initially escaped from Muling City. Now, only we are left."

"The tree began feeding secretly. By the time we realized, many had already perished."

"We thought of resisting, but we were no match for the tree."

"You have no idea how many people we sacrificed in our fight against this tree, all in vain."

These people were explaining fervently; aside from Muze, who worshipped this mutant zombie tree as a sacred entity and saw its human consumption as a sacrifice to the gods, everyone else was acutely aware of the grim reality.

They had no choice but to numb themselves, treating this eerie zombie tree as a deity.

Otherwise, being farmed by the zombie tree, not knowing when they might be consumed, they would eventually go insane like Muze.

Granny Wu's face was pale as she slowly scanned the group and suddenly asked, "I've always had a question for you all – where are your elderly and children? It's impossible that all of them turned into zombies."

A moment of silence enveloped the room, then a woman with long black hair suddenly burst into tears, collapsing to the ground while clutching her hair.

It was only when they attempted to flee in the night upon discovering the tree's carnivorous nature that they realized they couldn’t escape beyond the reach of its roots.

Although the zombie tree also absorbed nutrients from other trees and various animals, it had a particular fondness for human flesh and blood, and would immediately consume any humans attempting to escape using its roots that burst forth from the ground.

Moreover, the tree's feeding pattern was unpredictable; sometimes it devoured just one person, other times a whole group, so they had no choice but to periodically sacrifice their people in the hollow beneath the tree.

No one wanted to die, so initially, they could only send the elderly, most of whom volunteered, sacrificing themselves for the greater good.

Once the elderly were gone, with no other options left and not everyone brave enough to volunteer for sacrifice, they faced a grim reality.

Desperate to survive, they devised a method of combat to decide who would be sacrificed.

Ordinary people, young children, and those in poor health perished.

Some couldn't bear to see their loved ones sent into the hollow and took their place, but such replacements were ineffective as the losers would still end up failing in subsequent selections.

Muze, the strongest among them, naturally became the leader of the group.

He genuinely worshipped the tree, treating it as a deity, and those who disagreed with his views were all dead.

The rest could only pretend to worship the tree, awaiting an uncertain death.

The arrival of Shen Xiuzhe and his companions not only delayed their inevitable death but also secretly kindled a hope that these newcomers might be able to destroy the tree.

The likelihood was minuscule, and they themselves hadn't imagined that this group might actually succeed.

Shen Xiuzhe and his companions remained unmoved by the tragic tale, deeply affecting in its portrayal of the group's suffering.

"Living in the shadow of the zombie tree, awaiting death – it's a truly pitiable existence."

Yet beneath their helpless and painful lives, the stark reality of them brutally killing each other and desperately clinging to life on the corpses of their tribespeople cannot be masked.

Xu Fang really wanted to bury these people; with the earth everywhere outside, his special abilities could be used to instantly dig hundreds of graves.

He looked towards Shen Xiuzhe, waiting for his order.

Although there were many people here, he would still try his best to bury them all if his leader commanded.

Shen Xiuzhe looked at Mu Han and asked, "You said earlier that your brother lured away the zombie snakes attacking Mu Ling City to protect your people?"

Mu Han raised his head, his eyes red and swollen, and nodded blankly.

Shen Xiuzhe sneered, "Do you think he would regret his sacrifice if he knew the people he desperately protected resorted to killing each other just to survive?"

Mu Han's pupils constricted instantly; he had always avoided thinking about this because he knew the answer and often dreamt of his brother's cold, disappointed gaze.

His whole body trembled, and even clutching his arms tightly couldn't stop the shaking.

Shen Xiuzhe's gaze swept coldly over the crowd, and with a slight movement of his fingers, orange-red flames suddenly engulfed hundreds of people.

Some immediately used their abilities to extinguish the fire, but many more remained indifferent.

The flames licked their skin, as if to purify their inner ugliness completely.

Let them burn; after all, they deserved to die long ago.

The fire was fierce but quickly died down without a trace.

Apart from those who resisted initially and suffered serious injuries, the others only had burns on their arms and scorched hair. Those who thought they would be burned alive stared blankly at Shen Xiuzhe.

"Go, continue living with the sins you bear. After all, you survived by stepping over the bodies of your tribespeople; a simple death is too lenient for you."

Shen Xiuzhe wasn't sympathizing with them; death is easy, but living with a clear conscience is now far more difficult for them.

The burn scars on their arms will forever remind them of what they've done.

The survivors of Mu Ling City cried out, disheveled and wanting to leave, but were stopped by Wu Duo.

"Are you just going to leave like this?" Wu Duo lifted her face, pointing behind her to a young, calm expression, "The bones of your companions are still below, near the roots of the big tree. There's a pit full of bones; they must be your tribespeople. I heard the people of Mu Ling City are very united, always ready to help each other in times of trouble. Your tribespeople are still there; are you just going to walk away? Won't you recover their bodies?"

Wu Duo's expression was one of genuine curiosity, yet her words struck deep, delivering a heavy blow to the already fragile nerves of the Mu Ling City tribespeople.

Xu Fang, unable to swallow his anger, thought although he might not be able to kill hundreds of people, he could certainly be sarcastically critical!

"Probably no need," he sneered. "Maybe their tribespeople don't even want to see them, given such 'exemplary' tribespeople, bringing shame to all. I've heard that Mu Ling City's dead are buried. You're leaving so quickly; have you already forgotten your tribespeople still in the tree pit?"

Ouyang Dong joined in the sarcasm: "It might not be forgetfulness. After all, if this big tree isn't completely dead, they could die too. Compared to the already dead, their own lives are obviously more important. Why don’t you just leave first and forget about your tribespeople?"

Under their mockery, Mu Han clenched his lips and walked towards the big tree.

They were right; they had to bury the bones of those tribesmen in the ground to let them rest in peace.

Hearing Xu Fang and the others' biting remarks, the others cried even louder, but still followed Mu Han towards the base of the tree.

Xu Fang exhaled deeply, feeling they were letting these people off too easily. They almost got killed, and now all they did was verbally attack them. Their wails made it seem like they were being bullied.

"Boss, that Muze is the worst of them all," said one of them. "Forget the others, he was the mastermind, suggesting the sacrifice. We all heard his words when pretending to be unconscious. Unlike others who showed some guilt and shame, he saw us purely as offerings."

"Hmm," Shen Xiuzhe responded indifferently.

"Boss, you can't let him off, that Muze..." Xu Fang spoke through gritted teeth, searching around, but after several attempts, he still couldn't find Muze.

"Where is he?" Xu Fang wondered aloud. "Did he run away?"

Ouyang Dong pointed to a pile of ashes nearby: "Isn't he right there?"

Xu Fang looked at the human-shaped pile of ashes on the ground and uncertainly asked, "Is this Muze?"

Wu Duo nodded: "Didn’t you see? When Shen Ge was burning those people, Muze was lying on the ground and got turned directly into ash."

Xu Fang looked at Shen Xiuzhe and gave a thumbs up: "Boss is truly formidable."

"Should we leave this place now?" Granny Wu asked. They had already punished these people and wouldn't care about their fate anymore. It might be better to hit the road sooner.

Looking at the barren surroundings, Shen Xiuzhe calmly said, "Not yet. Let's deal with this tree first before leaving."

Although the tree had been rapidly drained of moisture by Lin An, reducing its chances of survival significantly, the extent of its root system was vast. From what they heard, the roots of this zombie tree extended throughout the underground of the surrounding forest.

If they were to eliminate the zombie tree, they had to ensure not a trace of it could survive.

"The tenacity of the zombie tree's life is too formidable; the moment we leave, its roots might just sprout new zombie trees."

"We need to spend time thoroughly eradicating the zombie tree, leaving no remnants."

"Besides, Granny Wu and Ouyang Dong need a few days to recover from their injuries, and Lin An also requires rest. It won’t be too late to leave once everyone has recuperated."

"With no trees around for cover, Wu Duo directly brought out the RV from her space, providing a perfect resting place for everyone inside."

"Shen Xiuzhe carried Lin An into the RV and gently laid him on the bed, carefully covering him with a blanket."

"The RV remained as it was when first set up, so there was no worry about dust on the beds or elsewhere."

"Observing the little zombie lying quietly on the bed, Shen Xiuzhe scrutinized his features inch by inch with his gaze, his brow suddenly furrowing as if encountering a perplexing problem."

"How does one restore a dried-out zombie back to normal?"

"Could it be that hydration is needed?"