Chapter 136.2: “The era of humanity is coming to an end”
At midnight, Zhou Shan was organizing a late-night meal. The oversized stainless-steel pot was so heavy that it took two people to lift it onto the stove.
Wu Heng appeared beside the pot as if out of nowhere.
The pork tripe was fragrant and springy; rolled into the hot soup, it slid into his stomach, instantly warming him through, sweat breaking out all over.
Wu Heng sat in the corner, cradling his bowl, using chopsticks to pick up strips of tripe and feed them into his mouth.
He looked around at the room full of people—and in truth, the entire room was quietly observing him as well.
The boy was tall, but far too thin, giving the impression of a stalk of long, sharp grass growing by the roadside. He didn’t actively exert pressure on anyone, yet somehow, pressure radiated outward from every lift of his hand and step of his foot, pressing in on those around him.
Before departure, Xie Chongyi had already warned them: this person wasn’t easy to deal with. He didn’t speak much, and wasn’t prone to expressing gratitude.
So they shouldn’t try to probe him in any way. The plant network would instantly detect suspicious thoughts nearby, and turning someone into nourishment could happen in the blink of an eye.
“Ah… sounds tricky. Could he just… finish us off?” Before setting out, Xie Chongyi’s warning only made them more uneasy.
“He doesn’t take pleasure in harming others,” Xie Chongyi added. He realized he didn’t know how to describe his boyfriend precisely. The man was full of merits, but these merits attracted attention, and there was no need for too many people to know about them.
“Your mission is to work with Wu Heng’s team to reach Siwangzhidi safely, help him build the base, collect local biological samples, record climate changes, and so on—not to figure out what kind of person your partner is.”
…
“If the rain eases tomorrow, we can set out,” Xue Shen said, sitting beside Wu Heng. “Let X take a run—fifty kilometers out, the weather might be clear.”
“Mm, okay.” Wu Heng nodded, then looked at Xue Shen. “After a few more days’ rest, I’ll help fix Xue Qi’s leg.”
Xue Shen wasn’t in a rush. He wasn’t purely profit-driven, but since Wu Heng offered, he didn’t refuse. “Thanks. If you need anything later, just let me know.”
“Which one is the earth-type?” Wu Heng asked. He had remembered the names, but not the faces.
“Yang Xiaoyun—the one with the ‘shamate’ haircut.”
Wu Heng looked over. Yang Xiaoyun was tilting his head, flipping his hair. “Can the military really have hairstyles like that?”
“Not before, but now they don’t control such minor details. Seems like his hair grows faster in spring, but still not as fast as yours. Yours is incredible—longer than any girl’s hair.”
Xue Shen spoke at length, and at the very end, he suddenly added casually, “You’re dating Old Xie?”
Wu Heng paused mid-bite. “Class Rep, do you really think saying all that stuff earlier would successfully distract me?”
Xue Shen laughed out loud. “I honestly thought it was Old Xie being sentimental on his own, because you don’t seem like the kind of person who would date anyone.”
Wu Heng lowered his long eyelashes. “I just wouldn’t date you.”
“…” At this moment, Xue Shen was certain Wu Heng had kissed Xie Chongyi; otherwise, his sharp tongue disease wouldn’t have spread so quickly.
Wu Heng kept his head down, eating. After he had eaten his fill, drank, and washed up, he returned to the study.
Wang Meixia and Ruan Silian naturally took it upon themselves to arrange how the remaining people would rest.
A group of men staying overnight in someone’s house—Zhou Shan was naturally delighted, only wishing he could turn the entire house upside down to make enough space with mats and bedding.
The rain outside was gentle, like piano strings being lightly plucked.
A shadow darted quickly through the forest, a canyon hundreds of feet deep looming just to the right.
The dark-brown roots underfoot moved swiftly; with a twist, they clutched the girl’s scarred ankle. Wu Zhi was dragged several hundred meters before she turned and slashed the roots with a knife.
Before she could even get up, a rough hand pressed down on the top of her head.
“I’ve seen you. Back in Kuhuang, you were that kid’s sister.”
Wu Zhi remained expressionless and suddenly stabbed at him.
Like armor, the tree bark instantly wrapped around Liu Shen himself, tightening on Wu Zhi’s wrist. The bark wound up along her arm, all the way to her armpit.
Liu Shen continued to tighten, increasing the force. Her bones twisted, emitting creaking sounds.
“Just an A-rank.” Liu Shen grabbed Wu Zhi by the hair. Seeing her bite down until blood seeped from between her teeth without making a sound, he said angrily, “If it hadn’t been for your brother causing an accident during the testing in Kuhuang back then, that bastard Mo Xie wouldn’t have discovered he could boost his strength by siphoning other ability users’ abilities. That son of a bitch drained me from S+ all the way down to D!!!”
“But plant symbiotes like us thrive in this season. It’s like a fish in water—my ability rank has come back!”
Liu Shen slammed Wu Zhi’s head hard against the ground in front of him, banging it three times in a row. Then he hauled her back up again. Half his face was covered in tattoos that looked like a ghost mask in the night. He sneered. “As for me, I’m planning to head to Siwangzhidi. I hear it’s unclaimed territory. I’ll go over there and play at being a lord. And you—on the way, you’ll stick with me and atone for your brother’s sins.”
“Wu Heng is going to Siwangzhidi too. Fighting him for territory is just asking to die.” Wu Zhi’s scalp felt like it was about to be torn off by Liu Shen. She hadn’t expected to run into Liu Shen’s southbound group on the road back to Hanzhou—she had no memory of him at all.
When the conflict in Kuhuang happened, she had been staying at an inn with Ruan Silian and Xue Qi. From beginning to end, she had never seen Liu Shen.
But Liu Shen had seen her.
He tossed Wu Zhi to the ground. Roots surged up from beneath the earth like demonic claws, forcing her limbs apart and binding her in place.
“Little girl, your brother already abandoned you. There’s no need to protect him so desperately anymore, is there?”
As Wu Zhi’s eyes widened, Liu Shen pulled a small boy wearing black-rimmed glasses out from the group behind him.
“Let me introduce him—this is my seer.”
“Brother Shen.” A bald man quietly stepped forward from behind Liu Shen, staring fixedly at the young girl entangled in roots. “This kind of goods is rare these days. Could you let me—”
Smack!
Before he could finish, Liu Shen slapped him hard across the face. The bald man’s words vanished along with two stark-white teeth that flew out of his mouth. He hurriedly covered his mouth, swallowing back a mouthful of bloody foam.
“Don’t f*cking think with your d*ck every time you see a woman. Bring this kind of pointless crap to me again, and I won’t mind f*cking you twice myself—see if that quenches your thirst.”
Liu Shen squatted down and grabbed Wu Zhi by the ankle. The cold, hard touch made her scream instantly.
“Don’t touch me!”
A sharp pain pierced through her ankle. Blue-green tree trunks and branches crawled up her calf like veins.
“From now on, you work for me.” Liu Shen stood up, smiling cruelly. “You can try to run—but whether you’ll end up running yourself into a pile of shit, I can’t guarantee.”
Wu Zhi was released. She sat up, staring in terror at her calf. She looked at the grotesque, hideous man, and at the pairs of glowing eyes behind him. This place was like hell. She screamed uncontrollably, “My brother will kill you! He definitely will!”
“Oh? Then what should I do? I’m so scared~” Liu Shen spread his hands and spun in place.
Wu Zhi lunged at him.
Liu Shen’s gaze sharpened. Wu Zhi crashed to the ground, clutching her leg and trembling.
Very soon, fingers clamped around the back of her neck, forcing her face down into the wet, cold mud. Dead leaves inside it sliced at her face like knives.
“I suggest you behave. That’s advice from someone who’s been there,” Liu Shen’s voice sounded above her. “Otherwise, I can’t guarantee I won’t throw you to my subordinates. Normally, I don’t take responsibility for your personal safety. In my world, it’s survival of the fittest. If you lose to them—tsk tsk—I can’t even imagine how ugly your death would be.”
Liu Shen hauled her up. “If your brother sees you in Siwangzhidi, what kind of expression do you think he’ll have? If I use you to threaten him, will it work? Probably not—but let’s try. Oh right, what’s your name? White hair… I’ll call you Little White Dove, how about that? Little White Dove, Little White Dove—your name is Little White Dove from now on.”
The tone sounded almost friendly, but paired with a sinister face—like if she didn’t nod, he would crush her energy core in an instant.
After being released, Wu Zhi got up from the ground, her body covered in mud and water, dripping all over.
She bent down to tie the monkey doll tightly onto her bag, then stepped forward, one foot deep in the mud, one shallow, toward the group of villains who had long since gone ahead.
—
Wu Heng was awakened just before dawn. He vaguely heard cries of pain, though the sounds were indistinct, no different from the howling of the wind.
He didn’t go back to sleep. He got out of bed, neatly folded his blanket, and took from his space a hiking backpack with a capacity of several dozen liters—a brand-new one that Xie Chongyi had picked out for him at a store in Hanzhou. He had never used it; the tags were still attached.
He unzipped the bag, stuffed a water bottle into one side, tossed a few raincoats onto the table, put on one himself, and packed half a bag of jerky to pass the time. Items like a flashlight, hat, and knee pads were just for dealing with Wen Yuan and the others.
X woke up, wrapped its wings around its head, and muttered, “So annoying.”
Wu Heng picked up the bag and left the study. Outside, Zhou Shan had surprisingly already risen. He sat on the steps under the eaves, his back broad and imposing, yet lonely.
“Not going to play a few more days? The scenery at Shenjian is amazing, and the food is especially good.”
Before anyone could reply, he added, “I packed a lot of food for you guys to take along.”
Zhou Shan had indeed prepared a considerable amount, packing it carefully in burlap sacks, stacked neatly in the corner of the wall—clearly done with care.
Wu Heng handed him a bag of chili seeds and a bag of corn seeds, refusing to take so much without giving something in return.
After breakfast, the sky fully brightened, the rain and mist hanging in the air like smoke and clouds.
Everyone set off.
X randomly perched on the head of a tall young man, shouting, “Go go go!”
“It can talk?”
“Parrots, of course, can talk.”
“This parrot? I didn’t recognize it, I thought it was an eagle.”
Along the way, chattering incessantly, Shukui walked steadily beside Wu Heng.
The grass in the forest had already grown as tall as some of the old trees, and the thickets were even more extreme, blocking the sky.
Occasionally, raindrops fell from the branches, striking like stones.
“No wonder this is Shenjian. The vegetation here is more lush than any of the other places we’ve been. Only a tropical rainforest could rival this growth.” someone remarked.
“Don’t compare. There’s no need to rank them,” said Jiang Yi, a native of Shenjian.
Wu Heng chewed on jerky, walking briskly at the very front. Except for the dog, everyone else lagged behind.
A booming sound roared constantly in his ears.
He had noticed it from the start, but at first he thought it was the hum of clouds overhead. As they climbed higher, the sound grew louder, as if it were right beside him.
Suddenly, Shukui stopped. In a few agile leaps, it jumped onto the frontmost stone mortar, parted a thicket, and craned its head downhill, letting out a wild bark.
The howl of the mutated dogs echoed through the entire mountain, mingling with the roar of the ravine and the unknown booming sounds from below. Those further down first experienced ringing in their ears, then complete confusion.
Wu Heng stepped up to Shukui’s position, looking in the direction it was staring.
A murky, raging torrent covered the entire nearby mountainside, cascading down like a tidal wave. At the foot of the mountain, the little cabin where Zhou Shan was staying now had smoke curling from the chimney.
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Author’s Note:
Xie: Wu Heng…
Everyone: What about him?
Xie: Wu Heng… you really don’t need to understand him.