Chapter 191: Loss of Abilities
The sun blazed high in the sky, and the air shimmered as if waves of heat were rolling through it. The shrill chirping of cicadas pierced the ears—looking up, the tree trunks were covered with them, like rows of speakers hanging everywhere.
Dou Lu knocked down dozens of cicadas, sending dust flying across the ground. Wu Heng lifted a cloth to cover his nose and mouth.
“Cicadas. Edible,” Xue Qi said.
More than half the group immediately took several steps back.
“We’d better keep moving.”
Ao She swept his gaze over the surroundings. The jungle that had once been thick with moisture now looked wilted under the blazing sun. The faint sound of mountain springs could be heard trickling from several places. The sea had long been left far behind, and clusters of purplish-red leaves dotted the forest like patches of flame.
He noticed that on the surface of those purplish-red leaves grew small plants, and on top of those plants were even stranger-looking organisms.
“We’re already near Deathlands.” The change in vegetation was the most obvious sign. “All the way from Changzhou, it was clearly rainforest vegetation—huge, crowded, layer upon layer.”
“Isn’t this the same?” Dou Lu pointed at a shrub piled up like a pyramid.
“There’s less moisture now, and fewer epiphytes.”
Ying Liuquan grabbed a handful of soil and rubbed it between his fingers. “The soil’s different too. We should have arrived.”
If they tried to drive any farther, it would be extremely difficult. They had no choice but to let the ability users clear the way at the front. The rumored miasma was nowhere to be seen, but they did encounter plenty of strange dragonflies and butterflies.
Xue Qi transformed into a small spider, clinging to X’s leg as X carried him through the forest. X flew above the entire jungle, and several towering mountain peaks came into view—snow-capped mountains.
Meanwhile, those on the ground gradually began to notice something was off. Moss and lichen became more abundant, and the straight, towering fir trees grew denser and denser.
Occasionally, they could still see faint tire tracks left behind, as well as bits of trash that were clearly man-made.
“Such poor manners.” Dou Lu grumbled as she walked, picking things up along the way. With a casual swing, she cut down a large swath of plants blocking the path ahead. Then she leapt up onto a thick branch overhead and called down to the people below, “I’m not sensing anything particularly strange energy. Why do people say Deathlands is so hard to enter? Aren’t we already inside?”
“We’re not in at all,” Xue Qi replied as he returned together with X. “There are still several mountains ahead. Only after crossing them will we reach it. Between us and those mountains, there’s a very narrow but extremely deep river. I can’t tell how deep it is yet.”
Xue Shen said, “That should be the river marked on the map, the one that blocks the entrance to Deathlands.”
An hour later, the group arrived near the river X and Xue Qi had seen earlier. There was no sound of flowing water; the surface was completely still, disturbed only by faint ripples when the wind brushed across it.
Compared to a typical river, in a world where everything had grown enormous, it looked more like a winding ditch.
After putting on wide-brimmed straw hats, Wu Heng and Xie Chongyi got out of the vehicle and walked to the riverbank.
“Doesn’t seem like much,” Lin Mengzhi said, kicking at the grass along the shore. The water lay several meters below the bank, like a slab of crystal jelly embedded in a trench—only pitch black, which made it somewhat unsettling.
Wu Heng activated his ability, stimulating the native plants along both banks to grow rapidly, forming a simple arched bridge.
“I’ll go first.”
“I’ll bring up the rear,” Xie Chongyi added.
Lin Mengzhi hurried to follow Wu Heng, but Dou Lu grabbed him and yanked him back, pushing Ruan Silian forward instead. “Have some awareness—let the non-ability users go first.” After all, the closer they were to Wu Heng, the safer it would be.
Wu Heng stepped onto the bridge. Nothing stirred beneath the water. He paused for a moment, sensing carefully—there was indeed no abnormality—before quickly crossing to the other side. Ruan Silian and the Yang siblings followed close behind.
“Let the teacher go first. A teacher is still a teacher, after all.”
Ying Liuquan darted past Lin Mengzhi in a flash.
Shukui sat steadily beside Xie Chongyi and called out twice toward the people behind, urging them to hurry up.
The blue spider had already gotten used to clinging to the bird’s back. When X reached the other side, it naturally arrived as well.
Dou Lu then pushed Xue Zhi and Ao She onto the bridge.
“Now I can go, right?” Lin Mengzhi tugged at his clothes, then strode forward, head held high, stepping onto the bridge.
But the moment his feet touched the soft surface, bubbling sounds rose from beneath the river—glug, glug. He had only just stepped on when Xue Shen sensed something wrong and immediately grabbed him back. However, Xue Zhi and Ao She were already at the middle of the bridge.
“Don’t wait any longer.” Watching the dark shadow drawing closer to the water’s surface and the whirlpool forming above it, Xie Chongyi scooped up the dog and moved behind the remaining people. Right in front of Wu Heng on the opposite bank, he activated his ability.
In an instant, everyone was transported to the other side by Xie Chongyi.
Before they could even steady themselves after landing, a mountain-like shadow loomed over them. Water splashed violently, drenching them in seconds. The creature beneath the river, its abyssal maw wide open, only dragged the plant bridge into the depths. Before anyone could clearly see its face, it sank back down again.
“Damn—did anyone see what it looked like?!”
“No.”
Even Ao She frowned. “Like a catfish—but its head was even bigger.”
“A tadpole.”
“The head wasn’t that big. And its back was covered in sharp spines. Catfish and tadpoles both have smooth bodies.”
From what they could tell, they had truly arrived in a strange new world—one where even the creatures beneath the water were unlike anything they had ever known. Though they hadn’t seen the creature clearly, its appearance alone told the intruders everything: this place was different from the world they used to live in.
“Looks like our vehicles didn’t make it across,” Xue Shen said, pressing a hand to his forehead. “Old Xie, don’t use your ability again. Dou Lu and I will just blink over and bring them back.”
Xie Chongyi gave an absent-minded “Mm,” then turned slightly, reaching out to hook Wu Heng’s finger.
Wu Heng directly tucked his hand behind his back. Beneath the brim of his straw hat, his gaze was dark and unreadable.
Just then, Xue Shen and Dou Lu—the ones who were supposed to go fetch the vehicles—were still standing frozen in place, their faces unusually grim. Lin Mengzhi, ever the opportunist, leaned forward with a teasing grin. “Can’t blink over? Why didn’t you say so earlier? I already know how… you…”
“No,” Dou Lu cut him off sharply, her expression darkening by the second. “I can’t use my ability anymore.”
“What do you mean you can’t use your ability?”
Dou Lu strained with all her strength, sweat beads rolling down her forehead. She sagged, letting her arms hang uselessly. “I can’t sense my energy core anymore… so I can’t activate my powers.”
“Me neither,” Xue Shen said softly.
As soon as the two of them admitted their abilities had failed, Xue Zhi, standing in the far corner, quietly moved a finger. Her eyes suddenly narrowed—hers wasn’t working either.
Before long, every ability user—including Wu Heng and Xie Chongyi—realized their powers had vanished from their bodies, as if they had never existed. They reverted back to their original, powerless selves.
Only the poppy was unaffected. Xie Chongyi’s original energy source remained intact, and Xue Qi, X, and Shukui were all fine as well.
“So… what the hell is going on here? This place is cursed!” Lin Mengzhi clung to Wu Heng. “Brother, sorry… can you cover me again?”
Xue Shen scowled. Seriously? Someone who already has a partner and someone who doesn’t can’t just hug the same guy back and forth! He ripped Lin Mengzhi off Wu Heng and threw out a guess. “It’s probably a magnetic field issue. The functioning of all living things depends on it. Maybe this place just doesn’t support abilities… but plants and animals are fine.”
Dou Lu crouched on the grass, a mixture of fear and disappointment on her face. She stared at Ruan Silian’s slightly larger belly than before and muttered, “So that snake kid… didn’t die either?”
“We’ve lost our powers… do we still keep going? Or… go back?” Yang Ao looked at everyone, hesitating as he asked.
“No abilities… going back will probably be even harder,” Xue Zhi said.
“And what if once we go back, our abilities come back too…”
“That’s possible—but only possible. What I can be sure of,” Xue Shen said, reaching into the vehicle for a water cup, taking a long sip before continuing, “is that the plants in Deathlands can’t survive anywhere else. Many scientists have already verified that.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Wu Heng has already become a plant of Deathlands,” Xue Shen said.
Xie Chongyi glanced at Wu Heng, who said nothing, then withdrew his gaze and continued, “Abilities don’t truly vanish. Recovery is just a matter of time. Jingzhou has experience with this kind of thing.”
“Get in the cars. We’d better leave quickly,” Ao She said. Before getting in, he circled the rear of his vehicle to quickly check each of his ducks. Thankfully, they were all in good spirits.
Everyone quickly took their previous seats, though some seating arrangements were slightly adjusted. Most people had lost their abilities, so they couldn’t ride alone in a car. That meant the mutated animals and plants had to be distributed evenly—Shukui went with Ao She’s car, X went with Xue Zhi and Lin Mengzhi, Xue Qi stayed with his brother, and the strongest combat team remained in Wu Heng’s vehicle, with Wu Heng, Xie Chongyi, and Shen Ping’an all together.
“I feel so anxious without my abilities!” Lin Mengzhi clutched X tightly. “In a dangerous situation, Brother Fork, you must protect me first.”
“Gua!” X opened its mouth wide and let out a garbled “Go away,” then turned to look at Xue Zhi, the driver. “Beautiful! Beautiful!”
Lin Mengzhi hurriedly grabbed its mouth shut.
Even without their abilities, the team wasn’t in complete despair. They pressed onward, carving a path through the mountains where there was literally no road.
But everyone knew clearly why they hadn’t fallen into complete despair: it was because Wu Heng and Xie Chongyi weren’t affected in exactly the same way as the rest of them. Even Ao She and Xue Zhi, who weren’t particularly close to either of them, couldn’t help thinking it—this group was like a tree. The others were just branches and leaves: if they were lost or broken, new ones could grow. But those two—Wu Heng and Xie Chongyi—were the roots and trunk.
Only now, the roots and trunk were in conflict. No—“conflict” wasn’t quite right. It was more like a disagreement brewing into tension.
Wu Heng sat down next to Zhou Yi, pulling his hat low over his face, leaving Xie Chongyi to sit alone in the back row.
