INSIDER Chapter 72

Though they had already leaped onto another tree, the group couldn’t escape the area immediately. The dense swarm of skeletons moving towards the giant tree seemed endless, covering the brown earth like a tide of bugs, leaving them with no place to step down. The skeletons were incredibly strong and crowded together; if they descended rashly, they would be torn apart.

Therefore, the group clung firmly to the tree trunk to prevent any accidents from losing their balance.

Looking at the direction the skeleton army was surging towards, Lu Chu saw that despite the tree’s enormous height, almost reaching the sky, the skeletons were advancing quickly. They occasionally fought but steadily climbed upwards, with the centipede-like skeleton nearing the tree’s top.

The skeletons at their feet continued to surge towards the giant tree endlessly.

Finally, the seemingly endless skeleton army began to thin out, leaving only a few stragglers climbing the tree. In the moonlight, Lu Chu could see the ground gradually becoming visible again. He glanced at 7 beside him and saw him looking back.

Their eyes met, and they understood each other’s intentions.

Lu Chu said, “In a moment, it will be a good time to escape.”

7 nodded and informed the others.

Given the current trend of the skeletons gathering around the giant tree and decreasing in number, soon only one or two stragglers would remain. This was the perfect opportunity because once the tree was full of skeletons, no one could predict what the remaining skeletons would do, whether they would turn back. Therefore, they had to escape while most skeletons were still occupied with the giant tree.

Lu Chu held his breath and watched the skeletons below. When the time seemed right, he said to the others, “It’s about time. When I count to three, everyone jumps down and runs southwest.”

Everyone nodded solemnly, looking southwest to identify their escape route. As the centipede-like skeleton neared the tree top and the number of skeletons below decreased, Lu Chu squatted down and rubbed his leg to ease the pain.

In the night, except for the sound of countless bones colliding, there was no other noise.

In this silence, Lu Chu’s words were clear: “One, two, three—run!”

As soon as “run” left his mouth, Luo Qi grabbed Yuan Kejie and dashed down, followed closely by the others sliding down the trunk.

The moment they touched the ground, they all sprinted southwest. Though there were still some scattered skeletons, they posed no significant threat.

The six of them each carried a backpack with supplies, which they had grabbed before escaping up the tree. They clutched their bag straps tightly and ran like the wind. Soon, Yuan Kejie, struggling to keep up, began to sweat profusely. Qian Zhen took her bag and slung it over his shoulder.

Yuan Kejie, catching her breath, nodded in thanks to Qian Zhen.

Due to an earlier attack, Lu Chu only carried a smaller bag, which lessened the burden on his injured leg.

In the dark, with bright moonlight, they dashed through the forest, maintaining speed while being cautious of the path to avoid falling and delaying their escape.

After running for a while without encountering any danger, including the monsters they had seen before, Lu Chu occasionally looked back towards the giant tree.

As they distanced themselves, only the upper part of the giant tree, much taller than the surrounding trees, remained visible in the moonlight. The moon, glowing a milky white, was directly above the tree’s top, casting an eerie glow on its branches. Against the dark blue sky and bright moon, the tree formed a strange yet beautiful picture. Upon closer inspection, white objects could be seen moving up the trunk—skeletons of various shapes.

Lu Chu turned back, ignoring the scene behind, and listened for any signs of a safe place to rest and regroup.

7, following steadily beside Lu Chu, showed no signs of fatigue.

.

“Lu Chu, Qi Li!”

Suddenly, Lu Chu heard Song Gui calling his name. He turned back in confusion.

Song Gui called again, “Luo Qi, Yuan Kejie, Qian Zhen, wait!”

The group stopped.

Luo Qi and Yuan Kejie were sweating, and Yuan Kejie, panting, asked, “What’s wrong?”

Song Gui looked serious, “I need to confirm something.”

Luo Qi raised an eyebrow, “What?”

“Look,” Song Gui pointed to the top of the giant tree, “at the tree top.”

Despite the bright moonlight, due to the distance and darkness, they could only see an outline and nothing unusual.

While they were looking, Song Gui put his backpack down and searched through it. A moment later, he smiled and pulled out a mini binocular.

Seeing this, Yuan Kejie asked curiously, “Where did that come from? I didn’t see it during the inventory yesterday.”

Song Gui shook his head, “It was mentioned, but you probably didn’t hear.”

Lu Chu glanced at the binoculars and nodded, “Yes, Qian Zhen collected it.”

“That’s right,” Song Gui answered while raising the binoculars towards the giant tree, muttering, “Let me see…”

A minute later, Song Gui stood frozen.

Luo Qi punched his arm, “What’s wrong with you? You said you needed to check something and now you’re standing there like an idiot.”

The punch brought Song Gui back to his senses. He looked at the group seriously, “We might have a problem.”

Lu Chu frowned, “What?”

Song Gui handed him the binoculars.

Lu Chu took the binoculars and looked at the top of the giant tree.

Focusing, he froze.

In the distance, the giant tree’s top met the bright moon, making the branches glow as if coated in silver. Hidden among the layers of leaves, the trunk was covered with white skeletons, and the centipede-like skeleton had reached the top.

In the moonlight, Lu Chu saw clearly that the centipede-like skeleton was no longer just a skeleton.

It was growing red flesh.

It stretched its neck, gripping the branches with its many arms, letting the moonlight shine on its bony body. Red flesh slowly covered its bones, followed by tan skin. The process was slow, and Lu Chu could see the blood vessels in its new flesh, gruesome and terrifying.

Seeing Lu Chu fall silent, Yuan Kejie asked anxiously, “What’s wrong? What did you see?”

Lu Chu handed her the binoculars.

One by one, they all saw what was happening at the tree top and fell silent.

Lu Chu confirmed, “These skeletons are growing flesh.”

Yuan Kejie nodded with difficulty, “Yeah… they were bad enough as skeletons, but with flesh, all those arms on a naked body… it’s disgusting.”

Song Gui put the binoculars back in his bag, “So, what do we do now?”

7 looked at the eerily bright moon and said one word, “Run.”