Chapter 14

What does it feel like to be challenged by a little grasshopper?

Fang Yizhi smirked, not entirely pleased. He bent his knees, exerted his full strength, and shot forward like an arrow. The rushing flood couldn’t impede his stride as he utilized floating stones and logs, swiftly breaking through the waves.

In a flash, he left the little grasshopper that had been leading him in the dust.

“Pardon me.” In the moment of surpassing the other, he chuckled provocatively.

The pink grasshopper indeed felt provoked.

“Chirp!” A furious long chirp marked the beginning of the race.

The pink grasshopper vigorously kicked its legs, leaping far with each bound, gradually surpassing the peculiar insect, regaining its lead.

As they passed each other, it smugly chirped, “Take that, you jerk.”

Fang Yizhi found himself momentarily speechless. His disgruntled mood inexplicably mixed with a touch of amusement, causing a faint smile to grace his handsome face. This smile was not sinister or wild, simply a natural urge to laugh.

“Little creature, today I’m taking you on.” Murmuring softly, Fang Yizhi quickened his pace, catching up to the plump pink grasshopper.

“Such childishness!” A self-deprecating remark, yet his jaw clenched tighter.

Glancing sideways, the pink grasshopper couldn’t let that slide, so it too accelerated, its hind legs nearly sparking with the intensity of its movement.

Fang Yizhi furrowed his brows and accelerated once more. Racing against the current with the grasshopper, they chased each other, taking the opportunity to taunt one another when overtaking.

“So slow, grow a couple more legs!”

“Take that, you jerk!”

“You’re just a little trash!”

“Chirp chirp chirp, chirp chirp chirp!”

The wind tousled Fang Yizhi’s bangs, revealing a face with a faint smile. He now appeared to be a perfectly normal man, somewhat carefree and slightly irreverent, no longer exhibiting the previous madness and darkness.

After running for an unknown distance, the man and the grasshopper finally arrived at higher ground.

At this elevated spot, there was no mudslide, only pouring rain and trees bent under the pressure.

Fang Yizhi stood atop the tallest tree, taking a breather.

Seeing him stop, the exhausted pink grasshopper also halted, landing on a tree opposite. It sucked in its belly, exhaling in small puffs. If its belly heaved too noticeably, the insect across could discern its weakness.

However, Fang Yizhi didn’t notice the grasshopper’s fatigue; instead, he furrowed his brow and peered down, his expression unusually serious.

The pink grasshopper also lowered its head to look.

Something was stirring in the moist soil, causing mounds of earth to bulge up.

Influenced by these mounds, the tree where Fang Yizhi stood began to sway. The tree where the pink grasshopper perched rustled and swayed as well.

There was something alive in the soil!

Fang Yizhi gripped the tree trunk tightly, preparing himself. The pink grasshopper conjured two large pincers, gripping a slender branch tightly.

Just as they steadied themselves, pairs of arms emerged from the damp soil. Some arms had decayed into white bones with sharp fingertips. Others had rotting flesh hanging from them, emitting a strong foul odor, while some were covered in fungal threads, dark green and black in color.

These arms frantically scratched and clawed, struggling to free themselves from the soil. Soon enough, corpses emerged, some with stark skeletons and hollow eye sockets, others decomposed like mud with intestines spilling out, some swollen and putrid, oozing thick black corpse fluids.

The flood of corpses, with malevolent spirits rampant, had turned this dark forest into a hellish nightmare.

Several rats scurried out of the earth in panic, only to be caught by numerous arms and torn into pieces.

Following the scent of fresh blood, more bodies converged, fighting over the scant remains of the rats. Deprived of the rodents, they turned on each other, breaking necks and tearing entrails in a gruesome display.

Fang Yizhi immediately held his breath.

The pink grasshopper, inexperienced in dealing with such monsters, felt its abdomen swell rapidly from the forceful inhalation, exhaling a few heavy breaths.

The faint gusts of air sounded deafening to the undead. Rotting heads lifted, murky eyes turning towards the treetops, their malicious gazes sharp as blades.

The pink grasshopper struggled to suck in its abdomen, its pincers tightly covering its mouth.

But it was too late. The group of undead had already locked onto their target.

“You useless thing, more trouble than you’re worth!” Fang Yizhi bellowed, “What are you waiting for? Keep running!”

With a light tap of his toe, his tall and robust figure leaped to a nearby tree.

The pink grasshopper hurriedly followed, no longer daring to taunt in a childish manner.

More bodies emerged from the soil, tracking the scent of the living under the trees. They opened their foul mouths, dangling half-decomposed tongues, emitting deep growls. Grinding their sharp teeth, oozing pus-yellow saliva, their sharp finger bones scratched the tree bark, leaving intersecting claw marks.

Beneath them was a dense mass of undead, all ready to tear anyone who fell down into pieces within seconds. Fang Yizhi felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

“Why have all the bodies buried in this forest been awakened?” He furrowed his brow, deeply puzzled.

The undead, tireless and devoid of pain, would relentlessly pursue their prey, even to the ends of the earth. Despite Fang Yizhi’s strength, he couldn’t possibly kill tens of thousands of undead single-handedly.

If they surged into the city where the task force was stationed, everyone would perish! That would be a true apocalypse!

“Damn! This is really troublesome!”

Fang Yizhi ruffled his damp hair, cursing in frustration. He knew that the sudden resurrection of these bodies was likely connected to his own adventurous actions. He had to find a way to clean up this mess.

Chirping frantically, the pink grasshopper looked visibly anxious as it fled for its life.

Fang Yizhi, irritated by the incessant chirping, snapped, “Stop nagging, I have a solution!”

With a reluctant click of his tongue, he reluctantly opened his hand. In an instant, a dark vortex appeared in his palm, embedded in his flesh, from which a cellphone slowly emerged, firmly gripped by his five fingers.

Reluctant to contact those few individuals unless absolutely necessary, Fang Yizhi understood that the looming crisis was beyond his capabilities to resolve alone.

Scanning through a chaotic list of names in his contacts, none appeared familiar. Fang Yizhi rapidly scrolled through the pages, struggling to maintain his balance, appearing somewhat disheveled. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead.

Corpse after corpse emerged from the soil, a relentless stream. Roughly estimating, there were probably around eighty to ninety thousand undead.

“Time to make some calls, handle this on the spot, should be manageable.” Gathering his focus, Fang Yizhi meticulously searched through his contacts, now more carefully than ever.

Damn it, this time he must prioritize the names of those few monsters on the list when he gets back!

Suddenly feeling a weight on his head, Fang Yizhi looked up to see the pink grasshopper tightly gripping his hair with its claws, poking its head out. Its big round eyes met his, emanating a pleading light, its soft belly heaving heavily, panting hard.

“Do you think I’m a bus? If you don’t behave, I’ll throw you down!” Despite his grumbling, Fang Yizhi’s actions contradicted his words as he hopped between treetops with the little creature perched on his head.

A familiar name, “Mei Yuxuan,” with the note “Meat Grinder,” suddenly appeared in his contacts.

Fang Yizhi’s eyes lit up, immediately pressing the call button. Simultaneously, the pink grasshopper used its pincers to grip a strand of his hair, gently tugging and then pointing down below.

Fang Yizhi lowered his head to look.

Thick, jet-black vines shot up from the ground, lunging towards the undead in astonishing numbers. Looking around, all trees trembled, the earth shifted, and leaves fell like rain. It was a flood of vines. They strangled the bodies, drained them of blood and flesh, crushed bones, then rolled up the scattered skulls, embedding them in their stems.

The dense array of skulls adorning the vines like trophies created a chilling sight. Even the hulls of boats covered in vines were no different.

The entire forest was blanketed by these terrifying vines, exuding a sinister aura as dark mist billowed from the hollow eye sockets of the skulls, shrouding everything in pitch-black fog.

Fang Yizhi was stunned.

Plants covered in skulls… Why did this scene look increasingly familiar?

A sudden flash of insight struck Fang Yizhi, who abruptly turned towards the direction of the skull tree and dashed towards it without hesitation.

The pink grasshopper pointed in the direction of the skull tree with its large pincers, nodding vigorously.

Moths, it wanted to eat moths!

In no time, the man and the grasshopper arrived at this restricted area, standing on a tall tree, gazing ahead. Before them stood that colossal black tree.

The vines, adorned with skulls, coiled like a swarm of snakes, swiftly converging towards the giant tree, disappearing into the soil at the edge of the sandy area.

They were not vines but the roots of this tree.

Fang Yizhi gazed at the towering giant tree, his pupils contracting. So, this was how the tree was adorned with skulls throughout its branches! Those skulls were not natural growths but the genuine remains of human skeletons!

He had initially assumed that after the abyss devoured the moth swarm, this tree would wither and die. However, he was mistaken.

To regain its vitality, this tree awakened tens of thousands of buried bodies underground, then within a few short minutes, it strangled, slaughtered, and devoured those bodies. Human flesh, bone marrow, even lingering souls, were all its sustenance.

Adorned with skulls on its branches, it appeared terrifying. However, deep beneath the ground, the skeletons entwined on its roots likely outnumbered even the maggots in a septic tank.

Its greed and slaughter were more terrifying than the abyss!

The abyss mainly fed on the trash dumped in here; the black slime did not actively kill. But this tree, when it started killing, it wasn’t just one or two deaths, but thousands upon thousands!

Now, with a sufficient supply, the skulls embedded in the tree trunk were continuously spewing out dark moths in their scar-like forms. Furry moth larvae squirmed out of the dark eye sockets, nostrils, and mouths. They jostled against each other, emitting a rustling sound.

After some time, the barren tree transformed back into a lush, flourishing sight from afar, brimming with vitality.

Those dark moths were manifestations of gloom and remnants of souls. This tree seemed to be not just a tree but a gateway to hell.

Fang Yizhi shuddered, his eyes trembling slightly.

He had believed he could purify this world. Yet, every attempt by the task force members was proving to worsen the world instead.

The black torrent caused the abyss to swell. This giant tree, devouring the undead, thrived even more than before. Once the balance was disrupted, everything would hasten towards destruction.

Fang Yizhi blinked, then suddenly broke into a faintly sinister smile, “Quite intriguing, I’ll try a different approach next time.”

A voice on the phone sounded impatient and hoarse, “Ghost of a Thousand Faces, are you dead? If not, speak up!”

“Don’t worry, even if you die, your old man won’t die.”

“Your mother—”

Before the other party could finish cursing, Fang Yizhi abruptly ended the call.

The pink grasshopper, which had been perched on Fang Yizhi’s head, somehow slid down to the base of the tree and stealthily hopped to the edge of the sandy area. It gripped a pebble with its pincers and hurled it forcefully towards the skull tree. Remembering how Fang Yizhi had thrown the elder hitting the trunk, startling the moth swarm, had left a lasting impression on it. Mimicking the action, it aimed to attract the newly born moths.

It intended to devour that tree!

Fang Yizhi, still catching his breath, was nearly driven to exasperation by this mischievous little creature.

Damn it! This was precisely why he detested teaming up! The number of clueless teammates was just too darn high!