Wu Hen carried out several checks and confirmed there were no unstable factors around the Tropical Pavilion.
Staying with his family, Wu Hen felt firsthand how precious this peace was.
Honestly, he hoped everything that had happened to him was just a nightmare, and that things could go back to the way they were: the family eating together, teasing his little sister whenever he got the chance, and having the housekeeper make his bed in the middle of the night.
"Brother, aren't you tired?" Yu Yu lay on the narrow bed, tilting her little head. Her hair was tied into two adorable pigtails.
"Go to sleep. I'll keep watch over you," Wu Hen said.
Sleepiness had already swept over him, but Wu Hen had a premonition.
If he fell asleep, he might wake up in that Otherworld Desolate Dust. He really couldn't bear to leave.
"Tap, tap, tap~"
Yu Yu padded over barefoot and, in the end, squeezed onto Wu Hen's narrow bed. Her petite body curled up in his arms.
"I'll keep watch over you too, until you wake up," Yu Yu told him.
Wu Hen smiled and patted her head, comforting her. "Actually, I was most worried about you. But after seeing you make that shot, I felt a lot more at ease... It made me believe that even without me by your side, you can protect yourself."
"I'll work hard too, so I won't be a burden to everyone," Yu Yu said obediently.
Wu Hen held her close, listening to her breathing gradually grow calm.
Before long, a kitten-like snore sounded. His little sister had fallen asleep.
Wu Hen decisively got up and climbed onto Yu Yu's narrow bed to lie down.
He was already very sleepy, but he forced himself to stay awake.
Just then, Wu Hen suddenly felt a slight discomfort in his eyes. The next moment, a line of text appeared before him.
What was going on?
Had he eaten too many mushrooms?
How had a message suddenly appeared out of nowhere?
"Wu Hen, I've received word that you've woken up from the Desolate Dust again."
Wu Hen quickly realized that he was still wearing the Virtual Iris.
After it had fused with his eyeball, it hadn't caused any discomfort at all. In the rush of everything, he had nearly forgotten about it.
He hadn't expected the Virtual Iris could also be used as a communications device.
Wu Hen blinked twice, then spoke softly.
Sure enough, his words turned into text and were transmitted in a way he couldn't understand.
"Is this the beauty?"
"Just call me Ming Yi. Is your current location safe?"
"Safe enough."
"You're in Fanshan District, Licheng, right?" Ming Yi asked.
"Yes," Wu Hen replied.
"And where are you in the Desolate Dust?" she continued.
"Inside a Soul Flower on a Soul-Resting Tree," Wu Hen said.
"So you came back through a Soul-Resting Tree too?" Ming Yi said.
"Is there a problem?" Wu Hen asked, puzzled.
This thing called Yuan You clearly wasn't something that could be found all over the Desolate Dust.
"Your Auditory Sense is very powerful. As I travel through the Desolate Dust, I'll release a Green Cicada. If you hear its call while you're out there, follow it and you'll find our team. Well... we need your Auditory Sense," Ming Yi said.
"I should still be some distance from the Nuwa Divine Terminal..." Wu Hen said.
"If you're in a Soul-Resting Tree, then you're not too far from us. Looks like we might meet in the Desolate Dust sooner than expected." Ming Yi sent a playful smile.
"Actually, I'd rather meet you here," Wu Hen said.
"There'll be a chance."
Wu Hen closed his eyes, originally intending to just sit quietly.
But sleepiness surged over him. If he didn't sleep soon, he felt like his eyeballs would burst.
Sigh, forget it. There's no point fighting it. I'll face reality.
Wu Hen stopped resisting and let sleepiness sweep his consciousness away, carrying it into another vast dimension...
"Brother?"
"Big brother?"
Yu Yu had somehow woken up. She ran to Wu Hen's bed and tried to wake him.
But Wu Hen had already sunk completely into sleep. No matter how she shook him, he wouldn't wake.
Yu Yu's eyes immediately welled with tears. Unwilling to give up, she squeezed onto the little bed, still determined to curl up in his arms.
For a moment, Yu Yu wished she could follow her brother into that damned otherworld, no matter how dangerous it was, as long as she could stay with him.
In the flower meadow, a gust of wind sent the colorful blossoms swirling into the air.
But they didn't drift away with the wind. Instead, like dragonflies, they beat their petals, overcame the wind, and flew back into the meadow.
On the Soul-Resting Tree, a huge Soul Flower was slowly withering. Its petals fell to the ground and quickly turned into dust and mud.
Inside the Soul Flower, a man opened his eyes. He gazed calmly, with a trace of disappointment, at the beautiful Flower Valley around him, then couldn't help cursing. "I knew that damn bull demon was behind this!"
It had gone exactly as Wu Hen had guessed.
If he returned to his home through a Soul-Resting Tree, then as soon as he fell asleep back home, he would be forcibly logged out.
Surfing around at home was so nice. He really didn't want to face the reality of the Desolate Dust!
"Yah yah ee~~~~~~ yah yah ee~~~~~~~~"
The sound of cicadas came from outside Flower Valley. With his exceptionally keen Auditory Sense, Wu Hen caught the call at once!
That really was a Green Cicada's call?
Was he really so close to the beautiful Ming Yi?
At last, he was going to meet her in the Desolate Dust!
Wu Hen couldn't help feeling a little excited. After all, being accepted by Ming Yi's team meant he'd found a way in. Even in the Desolate Dust, he still wanted to land a steady job!
"Beauty, your emperor is here!"
Wu Hen didn't waste time. He got up and headed into Flower Valley.
But after taking a few steps, he remembered that he'd have to carry all his baggage himself, and glanced at another Soul Flower that was about to wither.
He still needed to bring his maid along.
At least she knew how to gather pure food.
He really was more suited to being the team's fighter. Leaving the tedious chores to Cha Cha would save him a lot of trouble.
He could spare a little time.
Wu Hen simply waited nearby.
When he looked at his reflection in the stream, he was surprised to find that his face now looked seven or eight parts like his own!
Good grief, surfing in a Soul Flower private room came with a face-lift too?
No!
When Yang Qin woke up, she'd recognize him as her classmate of two and a half years. How could he make her do all the grunt work then?
Keeping an air of mystery and unfamiliarity would earn him more respect.
"Xiao Yi, can your new ability give me some handsome decoration on my face?" Wu Hen asked.
Xiao Yi understood him well. White Obsidian Crystal Whiskers soon emerged from Wu Hen's cheeks, forming a flexible, close-fitting silver mask that covered the upper half of his face!
Wu Hen looked at his reflection in the stream again.
Perfect!
Sinister and dashing—that was him!
"Don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep, whatever you do, don't fall asleep..." Just then, someone's muttering came from the Soul-Resting Tree.
Wu Hen looked up and saw that the Soul Flower had withered completely. Yang Qin was still muttering frantically, without even getting up, as if keeping her eyes shut would let her stay at home.
There was no helping it. Wu Hen had to climb up and give her a few good slaps to wake her.
"Ah... You're... Big Brother!" Yang Qin jumped in fright. In the end, she recognized something familiar in that handsome, sinister face.
"It's me. Grab your things. We're leaving," Wu Hen said coolly.
"Big Brother, what happened to you? Are you still human?" Yang Qin couldn't understand why this mysterious big brother had such a mysterious ornament on his face.
"It's just a decoration. Stop dawdling. I have something important to do," Wu Hen said.
"But..."
"Don't waste time. I've tested it. Each Soul-Resting Tree can only be used once. Don't expect to return home again by going to another blooming Soul Flower."
"Oh, right. Wait for me!" Yang Qin accepted reality and hurriedly shouldered her bags, following the increasingly mysterious man.
Following the cicada's call, Wu Hen entered a mountain forest.
The vegetation's colors were strange, like a kaleidoscope. It wasn't even static.
Wu Hen believed the forest was moving like a flowing river. What it was like when you entered an hour ago could be completely different from what you found an hour later!
Fortunately, the cicada's call was very clear and carried a long way. As long as Wu Hen followed it, he couldn't go wrong.
Along the way, Wu Hen saw many bizarre creatures. They had their own rules for survival. It wasn't that they weren't strong or dangerous; it was just that humans weren't their prey...
"Is that rocky valley up ahead?" Yang Qin asked.
They had been walking for a very, very long time.
Yang Qin was already exhausted.
Wu Hen hadn't expected the cicada's call, despite sounding so clear, to come from so far away. It felt like he and Yang Qin had been walking through the forest for two days and two nights...
Fortunately, his soul had already been cleansed inside the Soul-Resting Tree, and the contamination decreased near the Nuwa Divine Terminal. Otherwise, Wu Hen would have started thinking Yang Qin was still attractive for her age!
"Here."
Wu Hen finally found the Green Cicada on the trunk of a strange tree.
To other people, the Green Cicada's call sounded ordinary, but to Wu Hen, it was no different from a locator.
Wu Hen deliberately reached out to catch it and found that it wasn't a living creature at all, but a precision mechanical insect.
Wow, beautiful Ming Yi was using high tech!
"Big Brother, look! There's a Soul-Resting Tree in the rocky valley too!" Yang Qin suddenly cried out excitedly.
Wu Hen walked to a place with a clear view and looked down into the rocky valley. Sure enough, he saw a Soul-Resting Tree.
But this Soul-Resting Tree looked close to withering, and its vitality was nowhere near as strong as the previous one's.
"Quiet. There are other people down there," Wu Hen said, glaring at Yang Qin.
"They're probably people from our hometown too. After I woke up at home, I told the people above that Soul-Resting Trees could let everyone return. They took the information very seriously and even said they'd make sure to take good care of me..." Yang Qin said.
"So these people heard the news and deliberately came looking for a Soul-Resting Tree to return," Wu Hen said, rubbing his chin.
"Exactly, exactly! We can go home again!" Yang Qin was still excited. She hadn't expected things to go so smoothly and for them to find another Soul-Resting Tree.
"I still have a mission," Wu Hen said.
He had to meet up with Ming Yi.
A brief return home might provide some emotional comfort, but Wu Hen was thinking further ahead.
"I can't go on. I have to get over there quickly, or there won't be room for us in the Soul Flowers..." Yang Qin said.
"Wait!"
Suddenly, Wu Hen saw something unbelievable.
Thick white mycelia had appeared beneath the Soul Flowers on the Soul-Resting Tree. They writhed like sea worms. As someone entered a Soul Flower to sleep, the white mycelia stabbed into the flower bud like tubes...
The Soul Flowers here didn't look like life pods protecting humans. They looked more like containers infested with white worms!
Wu Hen couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath!
Something was wrong with this Soul-Resting Tree!!
In that instant, Wu Hen thought of the Insect-Eyed Half-Human who had infiltrated his home!
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