His shoes had been ruined by the violent exertion earlier, and walking in them was quite uncomfortable. Chen Shouyi simply kicked them off and went barefoot.
It was nearly noon. Winter sunlight fell on him, yet he felt hardly any warmth. A thin layer of ice, patterned with frost, covered the ground. A cold gust blew past, raising goosebumps on his skin.
Before entering the residential compound, Chen Shouyi noticed that a camphor tree by the roadside had sprouted tender leaves despite the bitter winter. They were lush green and delicate, brimming with life. If not for the bone-chilling cold beneath his feet, he might have thought spring had arrived.
He looked at the other camphor trees along the road and realized this one wasn't an exception.
After the mutation, mysterious power began to spread across Earth. Though this force slowed the electrochemical reactions of matter, it evidently had little effect on living things. It was unlike the universe's other four fundamental forces. This was a spiritual power, something like sunlight to plants. Living things could absorb and transform it more easily, gaining a stronger vitality.
By evening, the war was gradually drawing to a close. Only the occasional burst of fierce artillery fire showed that a few giant spiders still wandered the city.
Chen Shouyi, who had put his shoes back on, stood on the balcony and looked into the distance. Dense, choking smoke hung over the city, shrouding it in a thick haze.
Just then, Chen Shouyi saw a fat man in a down jacket cautiously approach the black giant spider he had killed in the residential compound the day before.
He had killed the giant spider with his sword, chopping off several of its legs.
The fat man worked up the nerve to approach a severed leg,