To get a better look, Wu Hen deliberately walked into the stone valley.
Quite a few people had gathered there. Judging by their behavior, they all seemed to be from the same place.
Every one of them looked lost and helpless. Some in the crowd kept letting out strange cries. They had just arrived in this other dimension for the first time, and their nerves were frayed.
"We want to go back! We want to go back!"
"Climb the Soul-Resting Tree and get inside a Soul Flower. That'll take you home!"
"Does anyone else smell something strange?"
"Who cares? I don't want to stay in this cursed place another minute."
"I'm a student. Can I go first?"
A crowd poured into the stone valley, and people began climbing the Soul-Resting Tree.
Yang Qin was getting anxious, too. If they didn't claim a spot soon, there wouldn't be any left for them!
Wu Hen, however, wore a cold expression as he stared fixedly at this unusual Soul-Resting Tree.
A closer look revealed the differences. This Soul-Resting Tree's roots went extremely deep, so deep that no one could see what lay beneath the soil.
And when someone entered a Soul Flower pod, the beautiful aurora from before no longer appeared. Instead, white worms seeped from the branches and burrowed into the petals...
The problem was that the people inside the Soul Flowers were fast asleep. Those white fungal worms could do anything they wanted to them—including burrowing into their heads!
"Can't you see those white things?" Wu Hen asked.
"No. What are you talking about?" Yang Qin looked bewildered.
As one Soul Flower after another was occupied, Yang Qin grew more anxious. Soon there really wouldn't be any spots left.
"I saw some strange things. There's something wrong with this Soul-Resting Tree," Wu Hen explained briefly.
Yang Qin was even more confused. To her, this Soul-Resting Tree looked no different from the ones they'd seen in Flower Valley.
And the people who entered the Soul Flowers had clearly returned home.
"If you really want to lie down in one, I won't stop you," Wu Hen advised gently.
"I... I..." Yang Qin hesitated, unsure whether to trust what she could see or what this big brother was telling her.
To be honest, Wu Hen felt deeply uneasy.
In other people's eyes, the Soul-Resting Tree was beautiful and pure, like a sacred tree in a temple. But to Wu Hen, it was riddled with worms, rotten and terrifying. Lying on a tree like that was no different from throwing himself into a nest of poisonous insects.
Aunt Su Li had warned him: Don't trust your eyes alone. Everything in the Desolate Dust can deceive your senses!
Yang Qin and the others in the stone valley couldn't see those white fungal worms at all. The main reason Wu Hen could see them was that he had recently killed an Insect-Eyed Half-Human and absorbed some of its energy.
"Ya, ya, yi~~~~~~~"
Hearing the Green Cicada's cry, Wu Hen turned and headed off to meet up with Ming Yi.
Yang Qin stayed where she was, still unable to decide what to do.
If I choose a Soul-Resting Tree now, I'll only be home for a little while. But after I wake up, I'll never find another big brother this capable... At last, Yang Qin used her wits to overcome temptation. She turned away and decided to leave the stone valley, too.
At the very moment Yang Qin turned, the bark on the Soul-Resting Tree slowly peeled open. Look closely, and its markings looked just like an eye!
The pattern split open, revealing a milky-white vertical pupil.
Yang Qin sensed something watching her from behind. She whipped around and saw something so horrifying that she collapsed to the ground!
Countless white fungal worms twisted together, forming a milky-white sphere like a gigantic eye, glaring at her with vicious malice!
Only then did Yang Qin suddenly remember that the team's field notes had warned them: if they ever encountered a Soul-Resting Tree, they had to examine it very, very carefully...
Because some plants in the ecosystem of this other dimension were just as capable of deception and predation!
"Wait for me... Big brother, wait for me..."
Terrified out of her wits, Yang Qin bolted in the direction Wu Hen had gone.
To be honest, Yang Qin felt that if she'd hesitated even one second longer, that Eyed-Insect Tree might have dragged her into the stone valley!
So terrifying...
Truly terrifying!
Humans traveling through this other dimension had only just discovered that Soul-Resting Trees could send them home and cleanse their souls. How could they have known that something almost indistinguishable from a Soul-Resting Tree also existed here?
Like a pitcher plant, it released sweet-smelling blossoms and preyed on humans who stopped to rest, just as it would on mosquitoes and ants!
At last, she caught up with big brother.
The first thing Yang Qin did was find some bushes and change her pants.
Wu Hen was speechless. She was a grown woman—why did she keep wetting herself?
Following the Green Cicada's flight, Wu Hen arrived at a massive boulder.
The Green Cicada had landed on the flower-covered rock, apparently waiting for Wu Hen to catch up.
The moment Wu Hen arrived, the flower-covered rock suddenly split open down the middle. A long tongue whipped out, snatched up the Green Cicada, and swallowed it into the rock's belly!
Yang Qin had just changed her pants, but she nearly wet herself again.
She stood there shaking violently, her face drained of color.
Wu Hen hadn't expected a massive boulder to eat the mechanical Green Cicada!
Looking closer, he realized it wasn't a boulder at all. It was a giant toad whose skin resembled flower-covered rock. It slowly opened its lantern-sized eyes, its pupils shifting as it tried to see whether Wu Hen and Yang Qin were standing perfectly still!
"This thing's probably no weaker than Fengyun Youcun!" Wu Hen took a deep breath, estimating the creature's strength.
If they could avoid a fight, they should. If humans weren't on its menu, that would be best of all!
"Spit her out, you old hag!!!"
Suddenly, an angry cry rang over the forest, followed by a beautiful, crimson figure diving down at tremendous speed!
Wu Hen looked up and saw a gorgeous leg gleaming in the sunlight, chopping down through a fierce gust of wind and slamming into the Stone-Moss Toad's head!!
The giant toad flattened, its body deflating like a punctured ball.
A great rush of air burst out. After taking that kick, the Stone-Moss Toad turned into a round little wild boar and rolled at high speed into the forest!
But the Stone-Moss Toad had barely begun to roll away when the owner of that beautiful leg became a whirlwind and appeared in front of it...
"Smack, smack, smack, smack!!!!"
Her beautiful leg rained down kicks onto the toad's belly, launching it into the air. The enormous toad didn't get a chance to land for a long time!
"I said spit her out!" the woman snapped.
Finally realizing it had picked a fight with the wrong person, the Stone-Moss Toad hurriedly vomited the mechanical Green Cicada out of its stomach.
Seeing the Green Cicada covered in slime, the woman launched one more flying kick, sending the disgusting toad somewhere out of sight!
Wu Hen still stood there, stunned, his legs covered in brains.
Such beauty, such striking looks, such a graceful figure... So fierce. So my type!
"Miss Ming Yi?" Wu Hen ventured.
The beauty, as radiant as a red sparrow, spun around with effortless grace and saw Wu Hen.
But a stern glint instantly appeared in her eyes, and her attention fixed on the half-white frost mask covering Wu Hen's face.
"Wu Hen, you really were infected," Ming Yi said. Her figure was tall and slender as she walked toward him. Her presence was completely different from what Wu Hen had seen before—she seemed like a noble, icy princess of war.
"You've got it wrong. It's just an accessory." Wu Hen immediately realized what she meant and took the fake mask off his head.
When Ming Yi saw that Wu Hen could remove the half-face covering, a trace of confusion flashed in her eyes. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether he was fine or had been infected by a Pupil Worm.
"Come here and let big sister look at your eyes." She beckoned Wu Hen closer.
Wu Hen stepped forward. He noticed Ming Yi's outfit was quite unusual: her entire body was covered in a crimson battle suit. It had the snug, sensual fit and freedom of leather, yet looked as tough as titanium alloy. Wu Hen couldn't tell whether it was lightweight power armor or the Ming Martial Battle Suit.
"Why not keep looking for a while? If you really are infected, you've only got this much time left to enjoy the view." Ming Yi's eyes curved like silver moons, her beautiful smile blooming like a sacred orchid.
Wu Hen gave an awkward smile. "So, are you here to get rid of me? I did tell you I woke up inside a Soul-Resting Tree."
"There's an order from above. Anyone infected by Pupil Worms—including the Awakened—has to be eliminated!" Ming Yi said.
"Oh..." Wu Hen nodded. "So this is what you meant when you said you hoped we'd meet again in the Desolate Dust."
"Come here!" Ming Yi said, sounding annoyed.
Wu Hen hesitated, then sighed and walked over to Ming Yi.
Ming Yi pressed one hand to Wu Hen's shoulder. Just as he thought she was about to restrain him, she took a small bottle of multicolored liquid from her clothes and poured it over his eyes.
"Don't move. As the Nuwa Divine Mother grows weaker, there are fewer and fewer real Soul-Resting Trees. Nine out of ten that people encounter are impostors. Pupil Worms have already taken root in your body; they just haven't activated yet!" Ming Yi rinsed Wu Hen's eyes.
The Five-Colored Liquid flowed into Wu Hen's eyes. He felt no discomfort. In fact, his eyes felt cleaner, and he was no longer as tired as before.
"Hm? You seem completely fine." Ming Yi looked surprised. The Five-Colored Liquid hadn't caused any reaction.
"Looks like I got lucky and found a real Soul-Resting Tree," Wu Hen said with a grin.
"Oh, I came all this way in violation of team rules, and even stole this precious bottle of Five-Colored Liquid from the captain!" Ming Yi puffed out her cheeks and muttered like a little goldfish. "All that worrying for nothing!"
The author recommends the new book by the great urban-fiction writer Lao Shi:
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