anwhile, led by the Mutated Rat King, Wei Heng and the others arrived outside the valley.
The rain was coming down harder and harder. The valley ahead was shrouded in a misty rain, making it impossible to see clearly.
The air was thick with the reek of blood, and Wei Heng’s group couldn’t help but feel anxious, quickening their pace.
They knew Gu Xi was powerful and could certainly protect herself, but as the saying goes, worry clouds one’s judgnt.
Besides, Gu Xi... she was still only one person.
Just as Wei Heng was about to be the first to charge into the valley, the Mutated Rat King running at the very front suddenly turned around, planted its hind paws on the ground, and stood up straight.
It spread its front paws in a blocking gesture and let out a "CHIRP!" at them.
The ssage was clear: She didn’t want them to go in.
Wei Heng faltered. None of them had ever studied beast language, so they stared at the Mutated Rat King in confusion.
’Damn it. Illiterates are such a hassle.’
The Mutated Rat King chirped at them a few more tis, its beady red eyes narrowing. Its back tensed, and its sleek, glossy golden fur suddenly bristled.
’This posture... Is it warning us?’
They all knew this little creature had likely gained sentience, so seeing it act this way, they didn’t dare rush in rashly. After a mont’s thought, they decided to climb a tree to scout out the situation first.
Zhang Wen and Zhao Li were the first to climb. Qi Xiang struggled a bit, so Wei Heng, who was behind her, gave her a boost up.
Zhao Li was agile and quickly reached the top of the tree, which was dozens of ters high. He took out a pair of binoculars.
A few ters below, Zhang Wen noticed his expression was off. He scrambled up beside him in a few quick movents and tilted his head. "What is it?"
Qi Xiang climbed onto a branch on the other side. Just as she found a spot, Wei Heng and the Qin sisters also made it up.
"Mr. Wei." Zhao Li handed the binoculars to Zhang Wen beside him, then turned his head. "There are dead people."
Wei Heng frowned slightly, took out his own binoculars, and looked toward the valley ahead.
Qi Xiang felt sothing was wrong. ’What’s so scary about dead people? With the sll of blood this thick in the air, isn’t that normal?’
’Besides, since the apocalypse began, haven’t tons of people died every day? It’s not like Zhao Li and the others haven’t seen it before, so why the look on his face...’ Just then, she heard Zhao Li repeat himself, emphasizing, "A lot of people are dead."
After joining the Special Service Team, Zhao Li had been on many missions. What kind of major scene hadn’t he witnessed?
But thinking about the scene he had just witnessed... Zhao Li felt his scalp tingle.
Beside them, Wei Heng’s expression had also turned ugly.
"Did you see Gu Xi? Is she okay?" Qi Xiang’s heart sank. She frowned slightly. "Let see."
Wei Heng silently handed her the binoculars without a word.
Seeing both of them act this way, Qi Xiang knew sothing was off, but she didn’t ask again. Instead, she took the binoculars and looked for herself.
At the sa ti, the Qin sisters beside her also took out their binoculars.
The stench of blood in the air was so thick it was almost tangible. The view through the lenses was filled with corpses lying everywhere, but almost none of them were intact. Countless vines, originally hidden among the mutant plants, slithered out from every corner, slowly wrapping around the bodies.
Countless gnarled roots burrowed into the corpses and began to fight for territory... The final victor, with a strange, triumphant posture, began to take root, sprout, and blossom.
The losers, anwhile, dragged away parts of the remains and silently retreated to the fringes, even burrowing underground to begin a new round of struggle, consumption, and strangulation in places unseen by human eyes...
The cruel laws of nature were on full display at this mont.
For now, no one could know what was happening deep underground. But on the surface, the vines snaking through the corpses looked like a dense, writhing mass of snakes through the binoculars... It was enough to make one’s skin crawl.
Qi Xiang couldn’t take it anymore. She ripped off her gas mask, grabbed a nearby branch, and leaned out. "...BLECH!"
Just then, Qin Yi, holding her binoculars, suddenly spoke up. "Look, that mutant rat just ran in." ’Well, I’ll be,’ she thought. ’It wouldn’t let us in, but it snuck in itself.’
’That thing really has gained sentience, hasn’t it?’
Wei Heng saw it too and made an imdiate decision. "We’re going in too."
But before they could charge into the valley, they saw Gu Xi walking out unhurriedly, dangling the Mutated Rat King in her hand.
"Gu Xi, are you okay?" Qi Xiang stumbled over, her face pale as she asked.
"I’m fine. I just went to see an old friend," Gu Xi said, shaking her head. ’The matter with the Gu Family... it’s just my personal grudge. There’s no need to drag everyone else into it.’
Gu Xi’s gaze slowly swept over the group, finally landing on Wei Heng’s face. "But I’m afraid sothing has happened to Ye Junhan and the others."
Li Xiao didn’t actually know much, but the information he had revealed was enough for Gu Xi to analyze the current situation.
Hearing this, the expressions on Zhang Wen’s and Zhao Li’s faces changed instantly.
...
The closer they got to where Ye Junhan and the others were, the more nurous and deeper the fissures in the ground beca, and the stranger, distinct sll in the air grew stronger.
At first, Wei Heng was able to use his Earth Ability to build bridges and pave the way, allowing them to cross the chasms quickly. But gradually, he discovered that his ability seed to be slowly consud by sothing intangible.
Wei Heng stared at the earthen bridge ahead, which had collapsed halfway through its construction. He frowned. ’My energy is draining too quickly. I don’t have enough to get everyone across.’
"I’ll do it." Gu Xi stepped forward.
Soon, a suspension bridge woven from several thick vines materialized out of thin air over the bottomless chasm, which was more than ten ters wide.
"I’ll go first this ti," Qi Xiang said, her small face pale but her expression excited.
Zhang Wen was still in a state of shock when he saw Miss Qi, who had been listless just monts ago, suddenly dash across as if she’d had a shot of adrenaline, moving as if the wind were at her feet.
Zhang Wen: "..."
He couldn’t figure it out.
’Qin Yi had grown a vine bridge before too, so why was Qi Xiang so terrified back then? She was trembling as she walked, looking so fragile she couldn’t manage on her own, insisting on clinging to Gu Xi just to cross. But now... what’s going on?’
Zhao Li couldn’t figure it out either. He could only conclude that won were indeed fickle creatures.
’And the prettier the woman, the more fickle she is?’
’Otherwise, why would I faintly see excitent on Qi Xiang’s face?’
Qi Xiang couldn’t care less what the n were thinking. She didn’t know what was happening to her either; she just felt exceptionally good right now, as if the blood in her veins was boiling.
Gu Xi gave her a thoughtful glance.
She had already pinpointed the location of Ye Junhan and the others, but that place...
"Doesn’t this road feel a bit familiar?" Qi Xiang, who had run to the front, suddenly pulled out the map Gu Xi had left with her. After carefully comparing it, she pointed at the turtle drawn on it and said, "Look, it seems like we’re almost at our original destination!"
Wei Heng tilted his head to look. It was true.
’But that’s not right.’
’In the plan they’d originally made, there was nothing about Ye Junhan going to the reservoir alone.’
’So, how on earth did Ye Junhan, who was supposed to return and regroup with them, end up here?’
Wei Heng and Gu Xi exchanged a look.
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