Chapter 582 Open the Door

Chapter 582: Opening the Door

Amid the violent shaking, the Blood Vine began to spread downward, eventually lowering Xu Rui’s group and Su Bai’s crew to the ground.

Standing on the ground and looking up at the entire Eerie Tree felt even weirder.

That twisted, diseased giant tree stood like a mountain, its visual impact way more direct and oppressive than when they’d been suspended midair.

Earlier, "it" said one of its abilities was to cut them off from the outside world, but Su Bai didn’t expect to see it so clearly. Under their feet was soft, barren dirt; before them loomed the terrifying tree, and nothing else. A soft white barrier of light separated them from the outside.

Su Bai had thought that after the collapse of the New Life Department building, they’d end up in Hospital 666 or be surrounded by a thick, impenetrable fog. He never imagined the Tree of Life, worn down to its limit by the eerie, could still make such a gentle, "holy," and unreal white light barrier.

"What... are those?" Even though she was out of that freezing space, Tian Yue looked up, stunned.

In her eyes, she saw flames and weird phenomena locked in a fierce fight with the giant tree’s branches. Those twisted branches were being cut and smashed one by one by invisible forces, with some spots even on fire and exploding, kicking up strange blue flames and sparks.

"Am I dying, so this damn hallucination decides to give me one last good show, letting me see that rotten tree get its ass kicked?" Tian Yue muttered without thinking.

"Ah!" The next second, Feng Xuelan, next to her, gave her face a hard pinch.

Startled, Tian Yue was snapped back to "reality," gasping in pain as she whipped her head around.

It was Feng Xuelan.

"It can’t be a hallucination, because I’m seeing the same thing you are," Feng Xuelan said beside her.

Her gaze didn’t waver, locked on the chaotic battle between the eerie entities and the tree, like she was watching a once-in-a-lifetime sight.

Xu Rui also stared up blankly at the battlefield above. Even though the tree’s branches kept writhing and shifting, making it seem endless, the eerie entities fighting it still had an overwhelming, reaping momentum.

That destructive rhythm, no matter how fast the tree moved its branches, couldn’t hide the fact that it was being steadily worn down and pushed back.

Especially the "fruits" wrapped around babies—most had already been knocked down, and those so-called "new lives" scattered into energy before they even hit the ground.

His legs gave out, and he sat down, but he still struggled to hold up Xiang Feiyu’s body and hands. The game wasn’t over; even if the New Life Department was gone, they didn’t dare break the rules here.

Xu Rui had suffered enough in this game, body and soul. But because of that, after today, it might be hard for anything to bring him down again.

"They’re what Su Bai summoned," Chi Yan briefly explained.

"They’re companions and family," Su Bai corrected him.

"How is that even possible..." Tian Yue’s eyes widened. "You, just what..."

Su Bai ignored the astonished looks around him. Though he seemed in decent shape, Wu Heng, standing beside him, could see his face was somewhat pale.

"As long as I’m here, life still exists on this land," "it" said, its voice beginning to sound weary.

"All I see is a pure eerie entity, a lifeless dead thing," Su Bai gritted his teeth, continuing to provide energy to the puzzles, making the flames above burn brighter.

"Crack—"

A sudden sound came from above them.

They looked up to see that the once-smooth light barrier now had a clear crack, spreading outward.

"Boom—!"

As if from "it’s" desperate last stand, the entire ground shook violently. Countless branches suddenly burst from the earth, lunging wildly at Su Bai and the others.

The next second, the Blood Vine extended from behind Su Bai, desperately blocking the branches’ assault.

Jie Ying raised her cleaver, and other players still standing also took out suitable weapons and items. They knew they couldn’t yet face "it’s" power head-on, but they still rushed forward, trying to cut off a few branches.

But "it’s" power was stronger than the Blood Epiphyllum’s, and Su Bai’s internal energy was severely drained at this point...

"It’s time to open the door," Wu Heng, standing beside Su Bai, said.

"There’s no doorknob here," Su Bai replied, though his tone wasn’t urgent. Back when he first became the Mist Shop owner, Wu Heng, appearing as Xiao Wu, had said that even if he couldn’t find a door, he could just call out his name.

"That’s why I’m here," Wu Heng’s gaze fixed on Su Bai.

"What should I do?"

"Take my hand," Wu Heng extended his arm to Su Bai.

Without hesitation, Su Bai grasped the boy’s hand—cold, with a texture similar to Wu Heng’s puppet bodies.

The next second, a massive light door appeared beside Su Bai and Wu Heng.

No frame, no need to open—it was more like a rift directly appearing in the air, composed solely of pure light, two stories high.

Without any warning, the branches that had been charging at them suddenly stopped, then began to twist and struggle, but were still forcibly pulled, as if by a terrifying force, into that light door.