The collapse of the dilapidated temple began with the roof. The hollow, decayed beams could no longer support the weight of the stones, emitting a sound that made one’s teeth ache, before suddenly snapping and crashing down.
Zhong Yin’s path ahead was obstructed by a rain of variously sized rubble, and a broken beam blocked her retreat from behind. She raised her hand to shield herself from the dust and the still-wet rain, straining to look up. She could see that the roof had broken open in several large spots, allowing the bright moonlight to shine through, revealing clusters of yellow flowers that sent shivers down one’s spine, nestled among the green climbing ivy.
Like rows of teeth, the flower petals swayed in the wind, as if they were chewing on flesh and bone, savoring the sweet taste of humanity.
The repeated and dense scene made Zhong Yin involuntarily gasp in cold air.
“Captain, Zhong Yin is still inside!” Xiaowen shouted in panic. She instinctively moved closer to Jiang Huan’s direction but heard the anxious shout of the lieutenant in the distance: “Zhang Xiaowen! Fall back!”
Xiaowen quickly halted her advance. In the next moment, a mass of yellow-green acidic liquid brushed against the tip of her hood and splashed onto the ground. The tip of the hood was instantly corroded, sizzling as it lost a large chunk, while the brown soil rapidly darkened and sank as it lost moisture.
“…” Xiaowen’s pupils constricted sharply, her pale lips trembling beneath her mask.
On the other side, the lieutenant ‘s hoarse shout clearly made Yao Wuque even more agitated. His eyes were fixed on the temple, where Zhong Yin lay at the innermost part—she was the most likely to be trapped inside. What had happened with Xiaowen? Had she encountered danger while trying to save Zhong Yin?
If only… if only the captain hadn’t taken Jiang Tong in; then he wouldn’t have to stay here protecting a useless brat.
As for the brat himself, he calmly watched everything unfold. Whispering sounds reached his ears—rustling leaves, nothing particularly unusual, but they were frequent enough to seem strange.
“…Yao Wuque.” Shen Shanwu cautiously turned around, behind him was a chaotic darkness. “Something feels off.”
“Shut up,” Yao Wuque snapped, his tone extremely harsh, clearly taking his frustration out on Shen Shanwu.
Shen Shanwu pressed his lips together slightly. He looked up to see that Yao Wuque was completely focused on the dilapidated temple. Cautiously and quickly, he switched to the pupils of a mutant. The moment his black-red eyes appeared, everything around him became clear. He glanced around, then lowered his head in confusion.
Suddenly, he pushed Yao Wuque hard, sending him tumbling to the ground a meter away.
Yao Wuque was entirely focused on his teammates; he simply believed that their only enemy was the climbing ivy occupying the entire ancient temple, and that the area where he and Jiang Tong stood was absolutely safe. It wasn’t until Jiang Tong suddenly pushed him away that he realized just how wrong he was.
He had no idea where Jiang Tong had gotten such strength, but when Yao Wuque finally came to his senses, he discovered that right beneath where he had been standing, a thick vine had suddenly emerged from the ground. He had escaped disaster because Jiang Tong had pushed him away, but Jiang Tong was now tightly bound by the vine around his waist, lifted high into the air.
“Jiang Tong!” Yao Wuque immediately scrambled to his feet, fastening his gun while drawing out the umbrella knife. From more than two meters above, Shen Shanwu shouted urgently, “Be careful! The sap from these vines is corrosive!”
The vine wrapped around Shen Shanwu’s waist tightened further, and three more vines shot up from the ground, entangling Shen Shanwu’s legs and left arm. The protective suit and gloves emitted a burnt smell as they began to corrode from the mildly corrosive sap.
Yao Wuque couldn’t care less about anything else; he raised his hand and swung down hard at the base of the vine. Fortunately, the mutated ivy hadn’t yet cultivated a diamond-like toughness, and the sharp blade quickly severed the vine that was entangling Shen Shanwu’s left arm. Shen Shanwu felt his left arm lighten and immediately tore the ivy off of it.
“Don’t be afraid, Jiang Tong! Your brother will get you down soon,” Yao Wuque shouted loudly, looking up. He gathered his strength to cut through the remaining vines, but unexpectedly, he felt a sudden tightness around his waist. A vine as thick as an arm silently emerged from the soil behind him, growing dozens of meters in the blink of an eye. It tightly wrapped around his waist and abdomen before suddenly tightening.
Shen Shanwu only heard Yao Wuque emit a painful grunt before he suddenly fell face-first toward the ground. He clutched tightly to anything he could grab—weeds, soil, stones—with one hand, while the other plunged the blade into the ground to steady himself.
But none of this helped at all. After struggling for a few seconds, it felt as if a ferocious great white shark had suddenly seized his thigh at the bottom of the sea. He let out a scream as he was swiftly dragged several meters, disappearing into the thick darkness in an instant.
Such was the horror of a nightmare.
“Damn it,” Shen Shanwu cursed, his right fingernails instantly changing from a pale pink to jet black, sharp and hard. He swung his hand, cleanly severing the vines that bound his legs, then gracefully landed on the ground. He retracted his nails, removed the cumbersome helmet, and drew the umbrella knife from his waist.
Having grown accustomed to the claws of mutants, he almost forgot about his silent, razor-sharp blade.
The situation over at the temple was still unresolved, and the more acidic yellow flowers could likely give the main force of the Shanhai Unit a run for their money. Without hesitation, Shen Shanwu pursued the direction in which Yao Wuque had been swallowed.
The mutated ivy was very cunning and intelligent. After dragging its prey for dozens of meters, it seemed to realize that its actions would leave traces on the ground. Halfway through the pursuit, Shen Shanwu noticed that the marks of the blade, claw scratches, and traces of struggle suddenly vanished, as if the ivy had made Yao Wuque disappear into thin air.
Perhaps these little tricks could cause some trouble for humans, but for mutants, their keen sense of smell and hearing allowed them to ignore any visual obfuscation.
The lingering scent of plant sap and the earthy odor guided Shen Shanwu in the right direction, as obvious as if a signpost had been carved into the air. He quickly maneuvered through the dense jungle, the gleaming blade reflecting the bright moonlight, radiating a chilling aura as it mercilessly cut down all the branches and leaves that obstructed his path.
The distinctive scent of the ivy grew stronger, and Shen Shanwu gradually slowed his pace. He cautiously surveyed his surroundings, his military boots crunching on the damp, dead leaves and soil, splattering some mud.
As he brushed aside the branches that blocked his view, a gently sloping open area suddenly appeared before him. Shen Shanwu took a step forward but then carefully retreated. He noticed that the sensation underfoot felt slightly unusual. Using the tip of his shoe, he kicked aside the concealed dead leaves, revealing several roots and leaves of the ivy beneath.
Between the plant stems and roots lay some strange objects. Shen Shanwu squinted to take a closer look and discovered a piece of fabric—a fragment of clothing made of cotton and linen. Judging by the material, it did not belong to Yao Wuque.
His gaze shifted to the side, and he noticed the ivy continuing to writhe and undulate slightly. A severed finger bone still connected to a bit of muscle emerged from the soil right under Shen Shanwu’s eyes.
“…” At that moment, it was impossible to tell whether it belonged to Yao Wuque.
Following the direction of the extending ivy, he looked ahead. No more than fifteen meters away, there was a strange mound on the ground, resembling a small hill or a grave for the dead.
“…” Shen Shanwu’s expression suddenly tightened. He hurried over and pushed aside the dead branches and leaves covering the “mound.” What lay beneath wasn’t soil at all; instead, the area was tangled and intertwined with ivy. The root stems, as thick as his wrist, twisted together to form a massive chrysalis-like structure, resembling a green heart that rhythmically contracted and expanded.
Shen Shanwu cleared away the remaining debris covering the surface of the vine chrysalis. He circled around the massive structure, looking for a spot to strike directly with his knife, severing the top three vines.
Corrosive acidic liquid immediately gushed out from the break. Shen Shanwu didn’t mind as he ripped apart the severed vines, continuing to chop down with the long knife. At this point, he somewhat regretted not having asked Zhang Xiaowen for a dagger as well; the umbrella knife was really not very convenient.
After cutting through more than ten vines, a small clump of black hair belonging to a human finally emerged from beneath. Shen Shanwu sheathed the knife at his waist and began to tear the vines apart with his bare hands from this opening.
The first thing that emerged was a new metal mask, followed by a protective suit that had been corroded beyond recognition. Yao Wuqie’s upper body was mostly exposed, and his skin above the waist was covered with burn marks from corrosion, torn and bloodied.
“Yao Wuque! Yao Wuque!” Shen Shanwu couldn’t determine Yao Wuque’s mental state behind the mask. He shouted his name loudly and quickly removed his own protective suit, wrapping it around Yao Wuque.
The ivy clearly did not want to relinquish the prey it had already swallowed. It constricted its vines, attempting to rewrap Yao Wuque and even hoping to snag another small morsel to go along with him.
Shen Shanwu supported Yao Wuque’s neck with one hand while wielding the knife with the other, swiftly severing a vine that tried to ambush from behind.
The person in his arm emitted low groans of pain, seemingly regaining a bit of consciousness. The intense pain coursing through his body made Yao Wuque unable to suppress a scream. He breathed heavily, slowly turning his head, and unexpectedly saw someone he didn’t expect, “Jiang… Jiang Tong?”
“Hold on! The others will be here soon,” Shen Shanwu said succinctly. Although the vines were easy to cut, the troubles were endless, and they showed no signs of fear or fatigue. Just as Shen Shanwu had cut the ivy entangling Yao Wuque’s left arm, his own legs were suddenly ensnared, and the vines began to drag him down.
Seeing Jiang Tong gradually struggling, with only his undershirt left and the acidic liquid corroding it, Yao Wuque, who was supposed to be the protector, found himself bound and unable to move, forced to watch helplessly. “You need to go…”
Shen Shanwu seemed to ignore him, continuing with what he was doing.
“What’s the point in you staying if you can’t get away?” Yao Wuque shouted with all his strength. His furious cry finally drew Jiang Tong’s attention, though it was only for a brief second—yet Jiang Tong actually smiled.
After laughing, he buried his head back into tearing away the ivy that had rewrapped around Yao Wuqie’s waist. “You should save some strength for when it’s time to heal,” she said.
Seeing that the tentacles above Yao Wuqie’s waist had been cut off, the vines suffered significant losses and were finally provoked by Shen Shanwu. It viciously increased its speed in devouring its prey, deciding to teach these two oblivious hunters a lesson.
Yao Wuque suddenly felt a sharp pain in his feet. He let out a miserable scream, his whole body trembling with pain, as veins bulged on his forehead.
Shen Shanwu quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
“My foot… my foot,” Yao Wuque managed to say.
At that moment, as Shen Shanwu looked down, a vine swiftly withdrew and tightly constricted around Yao Wuque’s neck, causing him to fall back to the ground. The remaining branches surged forward like a tidal wave, and Yao Wuque’s cheeks turned purple and red from lack of oxygen.
“Ugh…” The constriction around his neck caused his veins to bulge. Shen Shanwu couldn’t directly slash at this vital spot with the knife; he could only pull at it with his hands, needing to at least expose Yao Wuque’s face for him to breathe.
The vines immediately seized the opportunity to bind Shen Shanwu’s wrist as well.
“Jiang Tong… I’m done for. You need to go…” Yao Wuque said with great difficulty. “Take my… nameplate, hurry and go…”
“You’re not going to die,” Shen Shanwu managed to break free from the vines and forcefully ripped apart the one that was tightly constricting Yao Wuque’s neck. He thought to himself that Jiang Huan’s movements were too slow—what kind of lousy efficiency did the Shanhai Team have? Hadn’t they found the roots of the ivy yet?
“Put my… nameplate next to… my sister…” Yao Wuque’s neck had also been injured earlier, and his voice sounded like an old, rusty saw—rough and hoarse.
“You actually have a sister?”
“I promised her… we would die together…”
“But I didn’t agree to that with you. You’d better not die.”
“You… Jiang Tong!!”
Yao Wuque’s muted voice suddenly trembled and grew louder. Shen Shanwu realized something and quickly turned his head, only to see a fully bloomed yellow flower hovering about a meter above Yao Wuque’s head. This enormous flower, half a meter in diameter, had silently appeared right above the back of his head. The petals were densely layered, and at the center pooled a yellow-green liquid that exuded an acrid stench, swaying precariously, ready to drop at any moment.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Shen Shanwu turned around and lay flat on his back, shielding Yao Wuque beneath him.
The author has something to say:
Don’t worry, the love will definitely be sweet, and it will definitely in the content, and soon, the big Shen Shanwu will appear, and it will definitely make Brother Huan wet as soon as he appears.
—Eyes wet 😉
