Evil Tree

"Okay, okay!"

Only after Ye Qianfan urged him did Shen Lang hurriedly raise the flute to his lips...

And once again play that mournful melody!

Meanwhile, Ye Qianfan seized the opportunity to raise the Bagua Mirror high and charge toward the Evil Tree!

Nini's voice turned hostile. "Big brother, what are you doing?"

However...

Ye Qianfan ignored her and kept charging forward with the Bagua Mirror in hand!

His target was, of course, what lay within the Evil Tree's trunk...

The Evil God statue it was nurturing!

At first.

Ye Qianfan had been unable to determine what the clue "a withered tree nurtures a god" meant.

Only after the sword cultivator pointed out that the Evil God's avatar was hidden inside the withered tree, and the old monk's golden bowl forced the Evil God back into a certain spot in its trunk, did Ye Qianfan begin to suspect...

That the clue about a withered tree nurturing a god meant finding the Evil God's avatar!

But that was still only Ye Qianfan's conjecture!

Yet...

Just moments ago.

When Ye Qianfan shone the Bagua Mirror on the Evil Tree, he finally saw its true form, and saw that in the middle of the withered tree's trunk...

There was a tiny red statue!

The statue looked as though it had grown together with the tree, though someone might also have forcibly stuffed it into the trunk.

But once Ye Qianfan saw the statue inside the trunk, he was certain that separating it from the Evil Tree would deprive the tree of its core—and naturally, its ability to attack!

As for whether the Evil God statue itself posed any danger, that would have to wait!

The Evil God seemed to have realized what Ye Qianfan was after!

"Big brother, you've made Nini so sad!" she suddenly roared at Ye Qianfan. "Nini wanted to play with you, but big brother wanted Nini's heart instead?"

"In that case, Nini has no choice but to make big brother die along with all these people who bullied me!"

"Once you're dead, I'll turn all of you into wandering ghosts so you can play with Nini!"

"Bang!"

"Bang, bang!!"

As Nini flew into a rage, all the monstrous tree's vines began thrashing wildly again.

They swept toward Ye Qianfan, but fortunately, he was prepared. Holding the Bagua Mirror above his head, he ignored the assault of raining vines and charged madly toward the trunk!

But the vines' attacks were far too dense. At first, the Bagua Mirror could withstand them completely.

But soon...

Ye Qianfan felt that even the Bagua Mirror was beginning to buckle!

Every lash of a vine bore down on Ye Qianfan, and as the attacks multiplied, that crushing pressure grew stronger and stronger!

Ye Qianfan could even hear the bamboo framework of his body cracking, one layer after another!

"Crack..."

"Crack! Crack!"

"Ye Fu, hurry and help me hold it up!!!"

At Ye Qianfan's shout, Ye Fu hurriedly extended two more tentacles from beneath Ye Qianfan's armpits, then slipped them through his wide sleeves and under the Bagua Mirror to help him withstand the Evil Tree's attacks!

Fortunately, Ye Fu was there to help, and Shen Lang's flute also seemed to restrain the Tree Demon. After they endured the first wave, the Tree Demon's attacks seemed to slow!

"Brother Ye, I'll help too!"

With a shout, the Rich Merchant immediately sent the Ten Thousand Taels of Gold in his hands flying out, spinning it several times in midair.

The vines and branches struck the golden abacus and were knocked away. Although it failed to sever the vines, it at least interrupted the Evil Tree's attacks, easing much of the pressure on Ye Qianfan!

When Ye Qianfan reached the foot of the monstrous tree...

Only then did he notice that its trunk was much thicker than it had appeared from the doorway.

It would take at least four or five people to encircle this enormous tree with their arms.

A great pagoda tree of this size could probably only be damaged with a chainsaw or a specialized axe!

Ye Qianfan was nothing more than a paper frame. How could he possibly stand against this monstrous tree?!

"Snap!"

A vine stabbed fiercely toward Ye Qianfan!

"Watch your left! Dodge!"

Fortunately, the Daoist warned him, allowing Ye Qianfan to narrowly evade the vine's attack.

But the instant Ye Qianfan dodged, he noticed that the vine had punched a hole the size of a ping-pong ball into its own trunk!

Wasn't this the game of spear against shield?

Ye Qianfan's eyes instantly lit up. He had found a way to deal with this monstrous tree!

"Tat-tat!"

"Tat-tat-tat!!"

With Ye Qianfan so close, the monstrous tree grew even more agitated!

It even discarded many of the corpses hanging from its branches, freeing up more vines to attack Ye Qianfan!

Even the protective barrier conjured by the Bagua Mirror rattled under the vines' blows!

Fortunately, Ye Fu's tentacles helped Ye Qianfan hold up the Bagua Mirror. Otherwise, the ferocious assault might have smashed his body apart!

"Now!"

Ye Qianfan had already worked out his plan.

When he saw two vines stabbing diagonally toward him from the left and right!

Ye Qianfan immediately shifted the Bagua Mirror to block the vine on the left, deliberately leaving an opening on the right!

All to give the vine attacking from the right an opportunity to strike!!

Although...

The Tree Demon was already clever enough to employ tactics against Ye Qianfan, and could even control its vines to attack people from every direction!

Still...

It was only a tree, after all.

Naturally, it could not fathom every human thought, especially Ye Qianfan's tactic of dealing eight hundred wounds to the enemy while taking a thousand himself!

"Squelch!!!"

The vine pierced his chest!

And pinned Ye Qianfan straight to the trunk!

Seeing Ye Qianfan struck, Shen Lang and the Rich Merchant both cried out in alarm, "Brother Ye!"

"Whooo~ tweee—"

The sudden turn of events frightened Shen Lang so badly that even his flute's melody changed...

Into a long, shrill sound like a whistle!

"Heeheehee!"

The little girl, who had returned to the trunk, gave another eerie laugh. "What a shame! Nini thought big brother was really strong and could withstand Nini's attacks!"

"I didn't think big brother would give out so quickly. How disappointing!"

"But never mind!"

"Once Nini makes big brother one of the ghost village's residents, big brother can stay here and play with Nini forever!"

"Come on, big brother! Come to Nini!!!"

With that!

Nini waved her little hand and pulled the vine out of Ye Qianfan's body!

Then she controlled the vine again, winding it around Ye Qianfan's neck to hang him up!

"Huh?"

Nini sounded puzzled. "Why isn't big brother bleeding? How strange!"

And it was not just the lack of blood!

Even when the vine pierced him, his body had felt hollow, as though it had punctured a lantern.

Rather than a body of flesh and blood, which left Nini utterly bewildered.

But before she could figure it out...

"Nini, look what this is!"

Despite having his chest pierced, Ye Qianfan seemed completely unharmed as he held aloft a golden statue wearing a red headscarf and red wedding robes!

It was none other than Nini's Flesh-and-Gold Body!

"You... how did you get that?" Nini's eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at the Flesh-and-Gold Body in Ye Qianfan's hand. "It was hidden inside the trunk. It grew together with the tree. Unless you cut the tree down, there's no way..."

As Nini spoke, she looked toward the trunk.

She finally saw the fist-sized hole in the trunk, made when she had controlled the vines to attack Ye Qianfan...

A hole the vine itself had pierced!

And that hole was right where her Flesh-and-Gold Body had been!

Only at that moment...

Did Nini finally realize that she had been tricked!!!