Grassland

The face was riddled with holes, long since decayed, its blank expression devoid even of fear.

This head lay scattered on the gathered pile of grass, not even worth the attention of insects.

Mary stumbled back two steps, only to bump into something hard.

She quickly turned her head, realizing it was Lu Ban.

"Has this person been dead for a while?"

Lu Ban nudged the head with his crowbar, and the unbalanced skull rolled onto the ground.

"An accident wouldn't leave just a head. Were there dangerous creatures around?"

Lu Ban's crowbar pushed aside the faintly glowing grass. He picked up his flashlight and illuminated the path ahead.

"There's a sound."

"Hound" seemed to have heard some faint noise. He pulled out his pistol with his usable right hand and aimed forward.

Lu Ban listened carefully but heard nothing.

It was quiet, too quiet.

Normally, in such lush grasslands, there would be plenty of insects and small animals, perhaps even large rats like the one they'd just encountered.

But now, the entire grassland was silent, not a single sound to be heard.

No.

Gaaah—

Lu Ban followed the direction "Hound" was moving and heard a disturbance.

It sounded like the final whimper from a patient bedridden for a long time, a sound with a chilling, alien quality.

Crisp, continuous, like glass beads rolling on the ground.

Gua-gua-gua-gua—

"Hound" stepped through the waist-high grass, cautiously moving forward. The glowing grass bent and flattened, forming a narrow path.

Lu Ban glanced back. Mary and Stone were still by the bus door, gazing in his and "Hound's" direction. Their figures were gradually obscured by the grass and trees, only the roof of the bus remained faintly visible.

Gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa—

A series of whimpers came from ahead again. Lu Ban's flashlight beam cut through the dense, thick grass, seemingly illuminating something.

"Hound" slowed his pace slightly, gave Lu Ban a meaningful look, and then burst out from the curtain of grass.

Lu Ban followed closely behind. He felt the ground beneath his feet suddenly become soft. Before he could fully register it, he saw that they had reached an open area.

The grass, taller than a person, had all avoided this patch of land. The ground was dark, as if formed from accumulated humus. In the center of this area, less than half the size of a basketball court, lay a man, plump and corpulent.

It was the bus driver.

"Hey."

"Hound" called out to him cautiously upon seeing him.

"Help..."

The driver let out a weak, strained voice. His arm was twisted at an unnatural angle, and one leg appeared to be broken. Clearly, having been thrown from the bus, he had endured considerable torment.

"Don't move, I'm coming."

"Hound" immediately prepared to lower his gun to rescue the man.

However, Lu Ban raised his crowbar, blocking "Hound."

"I think something's not right."

Lu Ban's intuition told him the area ahead was problematic.

Why was there such an open space in such lush, wild grasslands?

Why was the soil here softer and darker?

How had this driver been thrown so far from the bus?

"Help..."

The driver continued to whimper in pain.

Lu Ban pondered for a moment, then took out a pack of compressed rations from his backpack and tossed it towards the driver.

Thump—

The bagged compressed rations landed beside the driver's body.

"...!!!"

"Hound," who hadn't acted rashly, saw the soil next to the driver begin to writhe.

The black soil seemed to come alive, squirming slightly. Then, beneath the pack of compressed rations, a hint of green emerged.

It was a fresh, new sprout.

Beyond the area illuminated by the flashlight, the world was silent and dark. But within that circle of light, some form of life was being nurtured.

A small clump of grass emerged from the black soil, covering the compressed rations. In just a moment, the compressed rations vanished without a trace, leaving only a small patch of green grass.

"Help. Croak. Croooak, ribbit, ribbit."

The driver's cries for help gradually changed pitch, becoming distorted, and finally transformed into the eerie sounds Lu Ban and the Hound had heard earlier.

Lu Ban and the Hound moved a short distance around the driver and immediately saw that the area between his eyes was a bloody mess. Green grass was growing from the wound, sprouting from the driver's eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.

"Croak. Help. Help."

The grass swayed as if by an unseen force, causing the driver's vocal cords to vibrate with these sounds.

This was a hunter.

Lu Ban knew this clearly.

It had mimicked the appearance of prey, crying for help to attract its own kind, and then began to prey on them. If Lu Ban and the Hound had rashly gone closer, they would likely have been captured, devoured, and assimilated.

This entire patch of grass...

Lu Ban saw that in the most severely wounded, bloodiest areas on the driver's face, between the green grass, a flawless white flower had bloomed.

One, two, three. His corpse had suddenly become a small flower field. The pure flowers bloomed, creating a scene that was both exquisitely beautiful and tragically brutal.

"Let's go quickly, back to the road."

Lu Ban instinctively felt threatened. He signaled the Hound to turn back. But as they turned, they found that the grass seemed to have grown even taller, completely obscuring the roof of the bus.

There were no stars, no moon, and the surrounding grass offered no distinguishing features. In the dim night, Lu Ban could only guess the general direction of the bus.

"No matter what, let's go."

The danger of staying here was clearly greater. Lu Ban swept his crowbar, knocking down the glowing grass and plants, and he walked into the increasingly towering vegetation.

The scent of soil and grass became intense, like a predator's preparations for a hunt. A strange atmosphere began to brew.

Lu Ban and the Hound moved forward with difficulty. Their flashlights were almost useless in such dense grass.

He felt as if the grass was actively growing, trying to burrow into his clothes, beneath his skin.

In this grass, devoid of direction, end, light, and sound, death was growing.

"Where are you guys?"

The Hound called out loudly. A few seconds later, a response came from one direction.

"Here, there's, there's something wrong here!"

It was Stone's trembling voice.

Lu Ban pinpointed the direction of the sound and turned, moving with difficulty through the constantly growing and densifying wild grass.

A moment later, Lu Ban and the Hound finally broke through the obstruction and saw the roof of the bus.

"We're here."

Lu Ban called out and looked back at the Hound.

At this moment, he saw that the Hound's previously injured left hand was already covered in green grass.

That green, symbolizing life, was now also a symbol of terror.

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