PSW - Chapter 106

Chapter 106

Even though they were scheduled to officially explore the mutated plant forest the next day—a place considered highly dangerous by most ability users—Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan felt not the slightest bit of tension. They were as relaxed as if on vacation, enjoying a lavish apocalyptic hot pot feast in the evening before washing up and falling asleep in each other's arms.

Had the forest expanded again? As Yu Yinan entered through an "entrance" with Zheng Yi, she surveyed their surroundings. The plants were thriving; even the weeds were nearly thigh-high. But it hasn't been that long, has it?

The vines, trunks, and branches of countless plants intertwined, weaving a colossal web that blotted out the sky. Gazing up from below, only slivers of sunlight could penetrate the gaps.

Aside from the plants, the forest was devoid of any other living creatures. There were no insects, no birds, and no sounds beyond the whisper of the wind through the leaves.

Here, the forest was silent, and the danger was silent.

Yu Yinan followed by Zheng Yi's side, full of vigilance. Her mental energy was highly focused, ready to use her ability at any moment.

Therefore, the instant the vines—engorged with rainwater and encountering living creatures in the forest for the first time—grew restless and shot toward Zheng Yi in a probing attack, a tongue of fire flashed out. Before the vines could even react, several sections, burned to a crisp, fell to the ground and shattered into ash.

Yu Yinan was about to conjure more flames, but Zheng Yi caught her wrist and chuckled lightly. "Jiejie, let them probe for now." There was no hurry.

But having just been scorched by the flames, the vines didn't dare to approach rashly again.

Zheng Yi paid them no mind. She simply took Yu Yinan's hand and continued leading her up the mountain.

Yu Yinan immediately lost any intention of using her ability again and obediently followed Zheng Yi up the mountain. She looked at her hand, held gently by Zheng Yi, and couldn't help but smile as she recalled her hysteria the last time they were here.

Ah, Zheng Yi's fingers… Though Zheng Yi herself was petite, her hands were perfectly proportioned. Her skin was as fair as snow, making her fingers look like white jade or freshly peeled water chestnuts. Her five slender fingers were intertwined with Yu Yinan's. Lifting their joined hands slightly, Yu Yinan observed Zheng Yi's nails—they were rounded and clearly trimmed often, clean and neat, with pale crescent moons visible beneath the pink nail beds. Perhaps because her skin was so fair, the blue veins on the back of her hand were especially prominent. Before the apocalypse, they would have been perfect for injections.

In the study materials Chu Yi had given her, there were two films that featured long, close-up shots of hands at the beginning and throughout. But as Yu Yinan focused on Zheng Yi's hand now, she felt that the close-ups in those films were nothing special; they weren't half as captivating as Zheng Yi's hand.

[…You really don't think there's something wrong with Yu Yinan's state? The way she's looking at you is a little too… intense, isn't it? You're just going to let her touch your hand like that? Stare at it like that?] Zero One hesitated, taking a long moment to swallow words like "pervert" and "creep." [The cause of this change is obviously those so-called study materials! It's not just a suspicion; Yu Yinan is being too obvious. Those materials must be… of that kind, right? Why would the shelter even have materials like that for rent?]

'You're only just realizing that?' Zheng Yi's expression remained calm, showing no sign of anything unusual. She continued to lead Yu Yinan up the mountain, taking a moment to placate Zero One perfunctorily. 'Chu Yi gave them to her.'

[? How do you know?] Zero One was stunned. [Wait, do you know what kind of stuff she's watching?]

'Judging by her reactions every time, isn't it easy to guess?'

Yu Yinan's reactions had long since exposed the fact that the "study materials" were nothing wholesome, though Zheng Yi couldn't know the exact extent of their impropriety. As for Chu Yi… Zheng Yi had initially believed Yu Yinan had rented the discs herself. But during that period, she had run into Chu Yi several times, and the girl had acted so guilty and frightened—as if her soul would flee her body if they accidentally made eye contact—that Zheng Yi naturally sensed something was amiss. Of course, she had only pieced together these possibilities shortly before they left.

However, with Yu Yinan's personality, even if she learned some… methods that crossed the line… what could she possibly do? Zheng Yi's fingertips curled slightly. She pulled her hand back. "Jiejie, pay attention to the mutated plants."

In fact, Zheng Yi was rather looking forward to seeing what new reactions Yu Yinan might have.

"Ah, right!" Her lapse in attention had been far too obvious, and Yu Yinan's face instantly turned beet red. She knew exactly what sort of messy, colorful thoughts had just been running through her mind. In that instant, her first reaction was relief that Zheng Yi couldn't read minds. Forgetting her craving for the warmth of Zheng Yi's palm, she quickly pinched her own thigh to force herself to calm down.

It was in that moment that she noticed a slightly raised tree root on the ground seemed to be squirming slowly and carefully.

Mutated plants? Yu Yinan thought, belatedly sensing that all the plants in the forest were moving slowly and cautiously. They were shifting their positions, constantly drawing nearer, converging on the mountain along their path, as if trying to surround them.

Perhaps, in the eyes of most of the mutated plants, they were the "prey."

After realizing this, Yu Yinan completely relaxed. She and Zheng Yi walked on the forest's dirt path, trampling a trail through the dense weeds as they laboriously climbed all the way to the summit.

The higher they climbed, the greener and more lush the plants became. The "fruit trees" bearing bright red fruit also grew more numerous, and they could smell the sweet fragrance from a great distance. If Yu Yinan and Zheng Yi could connect to the mutated plants' "local area network," they would surely hear the plants frantically waving their branches, wondering why these two prey hadn't walked into their trap yet.

'Wait, these two prey seem…' a little familiar? One of the disguised fruit trees inexplicably felt that something was slightly off, but there were too many of its brethren around, with even more plants converging from the base of the mountain. They had the advantage in numbers, so even if something felt off… it couldn't quite remember what it was.

Before the mutated fruit tree could recall its past terror, a tall, ancient tree suddenly shot out its roots, unable to hold back any longer: 'Is everyone about ready? It's time! From here on, it's every plant for itself, first come, first served!'

Roots erupted from the earth, sending countless stones and soil flying. Vines attacked from all directions. In that instant, all the mutated plants grew agitated, afraid they would get nothing if they were too slow to act!

Countless branches and leaves blotted out the sky as stones and clumps of dirt rained down. The moment they rushed toward Yu Yinan and Zheng Yi to kill them, Zheng Yi squeezed Yu Yinan's fingertips and asked with a faint smile, "Your turn?"

A searing flash of fire tore through the air, instantly burning a massive hole in the "inescapable net" that had just been woven. The raging flames traveled up the vines, and under Yu Yinan's control, they rapidly spread toward the surrounding mutated plants that were closing in.

The coarse tree roots that had shot up from the soil didn't even land on Yu Yinan or get within half a meter of them before they were sliced into small segments by water blades moving too fast to be seen, falling limply back to the earth.

From start to finish, not even three seconds had passed.

How could these mutated plants have ever witnessed such an overwhelming display of power? Before they could even react, a torrential downpour abruptly began. The rain fell evenly and abundantly on every single one of their branches. Then, to their despair, they discovered their roots were frozen solid with the damp soil, and their upper branches were coated in a layer of silvery-white frost.

"Can you communicate? Mutated plants, do not act rashly." A brilliant longsword of fire appeared in Yu Yinan's hand. It wasn't an ultra-high-temperature flame, nor was it plasma in the slightest; it was simply fire that Yu Yinan had forced into this shape through her control. As for the reason… it wasn't because it was more efficient or destructive, but simply because Yu Yinan thought it looked more compatible with Zheng Yi's water blades.

She brandished the "fire sword" in her hand. The mutated plants around them wanted to flee, but unfortunately, their roots were frozen fast in the damp soil. Zheng Yi gave them no chance to escape.

It was at this moment that the "fruit tree" Zheng Yi had captured before finally recalled its past terror. It tremblingly scattered the fruits on its branches that were used to lure prey, then piously and skillfully produced several real fruits. It extended a trembling branch to offer these fruits to Zheng Yi. The tip of the branch bent slightly, bowing and begging before Zheng Yi like a little puppy.

It was the mutated plant that had changed its attitude the fastest. Zheng Yi merely glanced at the fruit offered to her and said thoughtfully, "The fruit tree from last time?"

As soon as she said this, the branch began to shake frantically, begging for mercy even more desperately.

Evidently, these mutated plants could understand them.

Seeing this effect, Yu Yinan felt they could proceed with the plan. She nimbly climbed to the top of a tree branch, used her ability to draw a massive circle of fire that encompassed as many of the mutated plants as possible, and then began her "Saint proselytizing."

When it came to proselytizing, Yu Yinan never found it shameful or awkward. She trusted and believed in Zheng Yi from the bottom of her heart. Even though she had made up the long speech about the Saint's descent, Yu Yinan firmly believed it.

As for Zheng Yi herself? It was even more impossible for her to feel embarrassed or ashamed about such things. Or rather, such emotions were almost nonexistent in her.

"Believe in the Saint! Zheng Yi is the Saint!"

While Yu Yinan was passionately preaching, Zheng Yi stood quietly to the side, refining her mental energy. She tentatively tried to split her mental energy, striving to make it manifest in another form, and then merge it with the mutated plants…

Suddenly, a cacophony of panicked voices flooded into Zheng Yi's mind.

'What's going on?! What in the world happened? Why are these two prey so powerful? Who was it that shouted to attack first!'

'What are they doing? They froze all my roots, I can't escape at all! Can you guys understand what the other prey… ah no, what the woman using fire is saying? Something about a Saint Zheng Yi, is this really something we plants can comprehend?'

'I'm reporting it! That fruit tree just now surrendered immediately and even gave that woman fruit to eat! It must be a traitor!'

'Help, help, someone save me'

'I'm so hungry, my roots are going to freeze off! Why did those vines get to run away? They attacked just now too, so why weren't they caught?'

Zheng Yi fell silent. It seems… I've connected to the mutated plants' local area network?

Get instant access to all the chapters now.

Previous Table of Contents Next