Chapter 50: Mutated Withered Tree
The group trudged onward through the swirling blizzard, leaving deep, uneven footprints in the drifts that were swallowed by fresh snow moments later.
Chu Yang was being led forward by Jiang Jue’s firm grip, yet his mind was still tangled in that melodramatic script he had invented. He stole an occasional glance at Jiang Jue’s tense, sharp profile, then looked over his shoulder at Jiang Lin, who stumbled behind the main pack, her eyes fixed intently on the two of them.
The more Chu Yang observed them, the more his suspicion—that Brother Jiang and Jiang Lin definitely have a complicated history—grew like wild weeds in his chest.
Tsk, look at how frosty Brother Jiang’s face is… Chu Yang mused silently. Seeing Jiang Lin throw herself into my arms earlier must have really struck a nerve.
Lost in his wild thoughts, he failed to notice Jiang Jue coming to an abrupt halt.
Chu Yang couldn’t stop his momentum in time and slammed the tip of his nose right into Jiang Jue’s broad, rigid back.
“Oof!”
Chu Yang let out a muffled grunt, clutching his throbbing nose as he staggered back half a step, reflex tears instantly welling in his eyes.
“Brother Jiang?” he muttered through a stuffy nose, thoroughly confused.
Jiang Jue did not turn around. His sharp gaze cut through the swirling snow, locking onto a cluster of gnarled, leafless trees just ahead. Raising his left hand, he signaled for absolute silence.
Lin Xiao and Su Mubai snapped into combat readiness immediately, their fingers tightening around the hilts of their blades.
The survivors trailing behind sensed the sudden shift in tension. Freezing in panic, they instinctively crowded together, craning their necks to peer into the whiteout. Anxious whispers drifted over the freezing wind:
“What’s happening?”
“What’s up ahead?”
“It can’t be… more zombies, right?”
“There’s something there,” Jiang Jue murmured in a low voice. It was barely audible over the gale, but Chu Yang stood close enough to catch every word.
Following Jiang Jue’s line of sight, Chu Yang peered at the withered grove looming through the snowfall. The bare branches twisted unnaturally against the gray sky. At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary, dead thicket. Upon closer inspection, however, the trunks closest to the asphalt were noticeably darker than the rest, coated in a dull, sickly, rust-colored sheen.
“Stay sharp. Those trees aren’t normal.”
The moment the warning left Jiang Jue’s lips, danger struck!
Whoosh—!
The withered tree nearest the road shuddered violently. Its rough bark writhed and split open like living flesh, and several pitch-black, whip-like branches tipped with razor-sharp barbs erupted from within!
Moving not like stiff timber, but like a nest of giant, striking centipedes, they shot forward at blistering speed. Accompanied by ear-piercing whistles, the tendrils lunged straight toward Jiang Jue and Chu Yang at the vanguard, as well as the huddled refugees in the rear!
“Move!” Jiang Jue barked, surging forward instead of falling back.
Snapping his left hand open, a blinding arc of blue-white lightning coalesced in his palm with a sharp crackle, transforming into a writhing serpent of electricity that slammed directly into the charging bough!
Boom!
The lightning detonated on impact, filling the air with the pungent stench of scorched wood. The front half of the branch was blasted into smoking charcoal, snapping clean in two before recoiling and twitching in the snow.
Yet even more blackened tendrils burst from the trunk, thrashing forward without a shred of fear.
Chu Yang reacted just as swiftly. Seeing a wooden spear lunging straight for his chest, he didn’t try to block it with brute force. Silver light flared across his pupils, causing the air before him to ripple and warp.
Swish!
The branch struck an invisible threshold half a meter from his body. Severed cleanly through the center by the spatial boundary, the heavy limb crashed into the snow with a dull thud, sending up a thick spray of powder.
“It’s a Mutated Plant! Watch out for its reach!” Chu Yang shouted. Flicking his wrist, he launched a near-invisible Spatial Blade with faintly distorting edges, cleanly cleaving a tendril that was sweeping toward Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao held his ground with equal ferocity. A dull metallic sheen coated his skin, his forearm muscles swelling as he channeled his power into his long blade. He swung with full force, chopping down at an incoming bough.
Clang!
The impact sounded like steel striking a reinforced steel cable, sending sparks flying into the blizzard. The branch was left with a deep notch, but it held together. Seizing the opening, the tendril whipped around Lin Xiao’s blade, pulling with immense force and nearly dragging him off balance.
“Break, damn you!” Lin Xiao roared, planting his boots deep into the frozen snow. His face flushed bright red as the veins along his arms bulged in a brutal tug-of-war.
Su Mubai stayed light on his feet, refusing to charge in blindly. Gripping his shorter blade, he circled the perimeter of the squad, keeping a sharp lookout for ambushes from other angles. He knew that an overgrown mutant tree wouldn’t limit its appetite to the fighters at the front.
Sure enough, a cluster of thin black vines bypassed the front line completely, snaking around them like hunting vipers toward the terrified refugees!
“Aaargh—!”
A bloodcurdling shriek shattered the chaos. An older man who had been too slow to react was impaled straight through the chest by a barbed thorn. The vine hoisted his thrashing body into the air, splashing a horrifying arc of hot, crimson blood across the pristine snow.
He spasmed twice, his eyes glazing over as the last embers of life drained from him.
“Old Zhang! Old Zhang—!!” A woman in the crowd let out a ragged, grief-stricken wail. She stumbled forward to reach him, but the people around her dragged her back by the collar, pulling her away in sheer panic.
The refugees descended into utter bedlam, scattering blindly in every direction. Yet regular human legs were no match for tendrils that moved like lightning-fast serpents.
Amidst the stampede, a young boy of twelve or thirteen froze in terror, completely paralyzed where he stood.
A slender, whip-like vine whistled through the air, its tip splitting into several razor-sharp tendrils aimed directly at the boy’s head!
The child was seconds away from sharing the same brutal fate as the man before him.
In that critical instant, Jiang Lin—who was standing only a pace away—spotted the strike.
Perhaps it was the pure, helpless terror in the child’s wide eyes that struck a chord in the humanity she hadn’t entirely lost; perhaps it was pure, unthinking instinct in the face of death—she lunged forward, not to flee, but to shove the frozen child with all the strength in her body!
“Get out of the way, move!” she screamed.
The boy tumbled backward from the forceful shove, landing safely in a deep snowbank and narrowly avoiding the lethal strike.
The vine missed its mark, but reacted with unnatural agility. Whipping through the air, it reversed direction in a heartbeat, wrapping its barbed tip tightly around Jiang Lin’s outstretched arm before she could pull it back!
“Ah—!”
Jiang Lin cried out as an overpowering force yanked her off her feet, slamming her face-first into the freezing slush.
Before she could push herself up, another thick bough burst from the snowdrifts, clamping around her ankle like a band of solid iron!
The two limbs coiled tight and snapped backward in unison!
In an instant, Jiang Lin was dragged ruthlessly across the snow, flipped upside down like a bundle of salvage, sliding at terrifying speed toward the dark, thrashing trunk of the Mutated Withered Tree!
