045. The Green of Near-Death

"Hey, are you okay?"

Lu Ban's heart skipped a beat when he saw the new green on Hound's hand.

Hound looked at Lu Ban blankly, seemingly unaware of what had happened.

The two had just emerged from the maze of wild grass and arrived beside the bus.

The wild grass that had been flattened by the wheels had now all straightened up, attempting to engulf the bus.

Stone and Mary had returned to the bus, leaving the doors open as they waited for Lu Ban and Hound.

The two got into the bus one after another, then shut the doors tightly.

"Damn it."

Hound looked at his left hand.

That hand was no longer human.

Bones, blood vessels, muscles – all gone.

Only hard wood and verdant grass, twisted vines, remained.

His arm was gradually transforming into a plant.

In the blink of an eye, Hound's entire left hand had turned to wood, and it was rapidly spreading towards his shoulder.

"Chop it off, quickly!"

Hound shouted in a panic.

Compared to turning into a tree, losing an arm was far more acceptable.

Without hesitation, Lu Ban grabbed the knife he had used to process the rat meat and brought it down on Hound's upper arm.

"!!!"

The knife sank into flesh and blood, striking the bone joint connecting his shoulder and upper arm, but it couldn't penetrate further.

Hound's face turned ashen. He bit down hard on the cloth he'd torn from his clothes, emitting only faint whimpers from his throat.

Lu Ban pulled the knife out, picked up the crowbar, and smashed it down forcefully before the bark-like plant structure could spread further.

Without needing to aim, the crowbar's hook precisely embedded itself into Hound's wound. The sharp, pointed end shattered the joint, causing Hound's left hand to go completely limp.

Lu Ban continued to wield the knife, swiftly severing Hound's arm.

Clang—

The arm, now hardened into wood, fell to the ground. The little remaining flesh and blood also rapidly faded, and even the flowing blood quickly dried up, turning into green grass.

Lu Ban now understood how this grassland had formed.

It was likely that any creature that stayed here for a while would be eroded and infected by the green plants, eventually becoming part of the grassland.

Some of these creatures would be preserved as bait, attracting other prey. This grassland was like a skilled hunter, quietly waiting for prey to walk right into its trap.

These wild grasses, the soil, even the air – it was all part of the hunt.

This was why the grassland was completely silent.

"We need to leave as soon as possible."

Lu Ban said. He moved to the driver's seat and checked the vehicle's condition.

Before he could even check if the engine could still start, Lu Ban noticed that green shoots were beginning to sprout from the broken glass gap next to the driver's seat.

"Even inanimate machinery can be infected by this grassland?"

Lu Ban truly grasped the severity of the situation.

He stepped on the accelerator, and the engine roared to life.

Lu Ban placed both hands on the steering wheel, preparing to break free from the grassland's confinement.

An itch spread across his arm. Lu Ban scratched it, but it offered no relief.

He looked over and suddenly noticed something growing within his inner arm, where his veins should have been.

It was like a slender worm, wriggling between his blood vessels and muscles.

Through his skin, he could clearly see the green substance trying to break through, and Lu Ban felt an unbearable itch, a primal urge to claw at his own flesh and dig out whatever was inside.

He looked back while pressing the accelerator. Hound, who had lost an arm, had stopped bleeding from his shoulder.

But no one had helped him staunch the flow.

"Damn it!"

Hound looked at his shoulder.

The wound surface was covered in verdant plants. The vibrant grass and trees clung to Hound's shoulder, creating a bizarre scene.

He could see his chest and stomach bulging and indenting. Hound lifted his shirt. His abdomen, where muscle should have been, was now like a nest of writhing worms. Greenish, unknown substances were protruding, and even his neck and face were covered.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it."

Hound's right hand clawed at his neck and face, desperately trying to relieve the unbearable itch. Yet, his fingernails left bright red bloody marks, offering no solace whatsoever.

He kept scratching, and scratching, his fingernails smeared with blood, his skin festering, but the bulging, worm-like things remained hidden deeper within.

The bus's wheels were covered in green grass, almost flat, but they finally began to spin.

The kicked-up dirt propelled the bus forward. Lu Ban gripped the steering wheel, turning the bus towards the direction it had been rolling.

"."

Lu Ban glanced back again.

Stone and Mary looked bewildered. The "worms" seemed to be appearing on their bodies too, while the worst affected, Hound, was already convulsing uncontrollably.

The protrusions on his face seemed to have finally found an exit. Hound's eyes turned cloudy, and a green hue spread across his irises.

Thwip—

With a soft sound, a new sprout grew from Hound's eye.

Immediately after, a trickle of blood seeped from his nostrils, and another tender sprout emerged.

From his eyes, his nose, his mouth, his ears, more sprouts finally found a way out. The bulges beneath his distorted skin wriggled towards these openings, eventually bursting through his body.

Thwip—

Hearing the sound, Lu Ban turned back and saw that Hound had lost all animation. The abdomen of his shirt was lifted, revealing several wild grasses growing as if from the most perfect soil.

"Throw him out,"

Lu Ban called out to Stone and Mary.

Their conditions weren't too severe. Upon hearing Lu Ban, they exchanged a look before finally steeling themselves and opening the bus door.

The wild grasses outside suddenly seemed to come alive, swaying and growing wildly. The vegetation in front of the bus had even grown taller than the roof.

The two men tossed Hound's corpse, which had become like a living bonsai, out of the vehicle. In an instant, the body was swallowed by the swaying grass, disappearing from view.

Lu Ban felt the restless plants within his body calm for a moment.

"These plants, they're not just what we can see. The air here is also part of them."

Lu Ban had a rough idea why they had ended up like this, why Hound, merely injured, had deteriorated to such an extent.

The seeds were already pervasive in the air of this grassland. Once inhaled, these seeds would enter the body and grow with an unnatural tenacity. For injured individuals, these seeds would fuse with their blood more rapidly, thus growing faster into monsters capable of taking a life.

Lu Ban even suspected that the very land was a mimicry of the plants; the entire area existed solely for hunting.

On this grassland, the plants were the true rulers.

"We're almost there."

Lu Ban saw the road beyond the headlights and spoke, his heart finally easing.

Just then, a white hand with sharp claws reached out from the shattered windshield.

*

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