Shao Qi also kept a watchful eye, but neither of them noticed the gray vines emerging from the ground behind the truck.

The armored vehicle safely traveled about fifty meters, a distance so short that Zhou You could easily see the big truck when he looked back. He then said to Shao Qi, "Alright, come over, but drive slowly. It's a bit bumpy."

Just as Shao Qi was pressing the accelerator, before the truck even moved, Zhou You shouted in alarm, "Quick! The vines behind your truck are moving!"

Zhou You opened the vehicle's door, climbed to the top, and aimed his sniper rifle at the vines coiling around the truck wheels. Only someone with his marksmanship would dare to do so, lest they accidentally shoot the tires.

But the bullets barely harmed the vines. When pierced, they oozed a brownish liquid, releasing an unpleasant smell.

Shao Qi floored the accelerator, but the truck remained immobile. Looking in the rearview mirror, he saw the vines climbing the truck body. Making a snap decision, he jumped out of the window and sprinted fifty meters toward the armored vehicle.

Zhou You switched to a laser gun which could easily burn through the vines. But against the dense web of tendrils, its efficacy was limited.

Just as Shao Qi was about to reach the armored vehicle, vines from the ground ensnared his feet, pulling him back.

Zhou You shot the vines near Shao Qi's feet. Without hesitation, Shao Qi leapt, taking a massive stride in mid-air, and landed securely on top of the armored vehicle.

"Thanks." Without time to check his ankle for injuries, Shao Qi drew his weapon to combat the encroaching vines.

"What about our truck? It's heavily entwined, and we can't use incendiary grenades," Zhou You pondered.

Shao Qi, with his experience, suggested, "We need to find the root system of this vine. Destroying it will deactivate these tendrils. We can't leave empty-handed." Without the truck, their armored vehicle wouldn't carry many hunted animals, which went against Shao Qi's original intention.

Moreover, they had to deal with this seemingly sentient vine to prevent future dangers. "Move the vehicle another hundred meters ahead. I'm going to blow this area up. Can you use your inner strength to create a protective shield?"

"Do you think I'm Superman? It's already a stretch to protect myself with my internal energy, let alone shield such a vast area."

Shao Qi furrowed his brow, then took out a coin-sized device from his pocket, pressed a switch on the edge, and tossed it towards the side of the forest.

On the surface, nothing seemed to change. However, Zhou You felt a peculiar energy fluctuation. Moments later, Shao Qi threw an incendiary grenade into the center of the path. With a "whoosh", flames quickly spread, fueled by the dried twigs and leaves on the ground.

The vines caught fire as well, frenziedly twisting and turning in an attempt to extinguish the flames. But fire is wood's nemesis, and once ignited, it's not easily put out. The space between the two vehicles was soon engulfed in roaring flames.

Within the glow of the fire, Zhou You couldn't see the ground clearly. However, he could see the vines on the truck behind him starting to retreat, drawing back further and further.

"The direction it's retreating to must be where its root system lies. It's up to you now," Shao Qi pointed out towards the retreating vines.

"Got it." Zhou You swapped his gun for a rocket launcher and dashed around the edge of the fire. Strangely, despite being so close to the inferno, he felt no heat, wondering about the high-tech device Shao Qi had thrown earlier.

Climbing onto the truck, Zhou You noticed that all the vines were retracting to a specific spot, an area overgrown with tall weeds, taller than a person. He hadn’t realized something was hidden there before.

Zhou You fired a rocket. The explosive power of the launcher was unmatched by regular firearms. An immediate explosion followed, shaking the ground, creating a massive crater and uprooting the surrounding trees.

As the tall trees fell, Zhou You, pressing his earpiece, asked, "How can we be sure it's dead?"

Shao Qi replied, "Shoot it. If it doesn't move, it's dead. But if even a bit of its root is still alive, its resurgence is just a matter of time."

"Considering its size, it must've taken years to grow this big. Maybe in a few more years, nobody would dare to venture into these woods," Zhou You commented, hopping into the truck's driver seat. He then inquired, "How do we put out this fire?"

"Just wait. Once everything inside burns out, the fire will extinguish by itself. This isolation device is rare; I only have this one, and it's the first time I've used it." The two stood watching the fire. About twenty minutes later, everything inside had burned out, the fire weakened and eventually went out, leaving a thick layer of black ash on the ground.

"Let's go. It's been a while, and it seems quiet over there." The two exchanged vehicles and resumed their journey, soon reaching their destination.

A significant portion of the dense forest was destroyed. Bloodstains were visible everywhere, but they found no human or mutant beast corpses.

"Could it have escaped with severe injuries?" Zhou You disembarked from the vehicle and used his psychic abilities to scan the surroundings but found no trace of the mutant beast.

Walking up to him, Shao Qi pointed in a direction, "Let's go. Follow the blood trail. With this amount of blood loss, at least one mutant beast is seriously injured."

"Judging by the scale, it doesn't look like humans were involved. It's probably two mutant beasts fighting each other. Hopefully, we find both wounded," they followed the trail left by the beast until they reached a riverbank. The blood trail ended at the river's edge, but no new traces were found on the opposite bank.

"What happened? Did it swim away?" Zhou You crouched by the river, examining the stones by the water, preparing to dip his hand in when Shao Qi warned, "Careful! There's something in the water!"

The river wasn't deep and was crystal clear. Zhou You hadn't noticed anything initially, but now the water rippled as a fish with a long, sharp snout leaped out, lunging at him.

Zhou You stepped back as the fish landed on the grass, struggling to hop back into the water. He quickly drew his dagger and threw it, pinning the fish to the ground.