Chapter 704: Chapter 546: Still Not Taking Action and Waiting to Drink at the Wedding, Huh?_2
"Captain Qu, don’t wait any longer. Let’s take the initiative and break in to check it out!" Yang Xiao clenched the Human Bone Staff, resolute in his decision.
But after waiting for three seconds, there was no reply from behind him. Yang Xiao quickly looked back and in the next second, he was shocked to discover that there was no one behind him anymore. Qu Muzhi... was gone!
The two of them were now in the same boat, facing a Ghost-level Apostle, only by joining forces did they have a chance of survival. Qu Muzhi would never abandon him to act alone; the only explanation was that Qu Muzhi had fallen into a trap.
The Sect Leader was unsure of his ability to kill them both at the same time, so he used a Blinding Technique to separate them and defeat them one by one.
"Captain Qu?" Yang Xiao raised his voice.
After not receiving a response, Yang Xiao didn’t wait any longer. Instead of letting the incoming trees engulf him, he took the lead and broke into the forest.
He carried the Ghost Lantern in his left hand to lead the way, while his right hand tightly grasped the Human Bone Staff at his side. The light spreading from the Ghost Lantern slightly dispersed the white mist in front of him. He was indeed in a forest, but the trees here were not as lush and verdant as they appeared from outside, rather they were sickly, with odd and bizarre shapes. The deeper he walked, the more evident it became; and after less than 5 minutes, there were almost only withered trees left.
Pausing for a moment, he noticed that the trunks were mottled, without leaves adorning the branches, presenting a scene of stark bareness. Beneath his feet was a layer upon layer of fallen leaves, upon which every step taken couldn’t find solid footing.
This place was not the world near the hospital, but a very special space, resembling his Mirror World, undeniably the territory of that Sect Leader.
Rustle, rustle...
Suddenly, Yang Xiao spun around. He heard a strange noise behind him, like the sound of someone stepping on fallen leaves, but as he turned, the sound vanished again.
Upon reflection, he thought it didn’t sound like the footsteps of a person, and when he looked back, there was no one behind him—only dead trees.
That feeling... was as if the trees were following him. But how could that be possible?
Rustle, rustle...
The noise came again, this time closer to Yang Xiao. Almost instinctively, he swung the Human Bone Staff at it, towards the direction from where the sound was coming, but his strike, predictably, hit nothing. There was nothing there.
It was not safe to stay here any longer. Yang Xiao chose to leave, and his pace quickened significantly. Unintentionally, he kicked something hard on the ground and nearly tumbled over.
His toe was sore as if he had kicked a large stone. Out of curiosity, Yang Xiao turned to look, and a bit of gray was exposed from under the leaves he had kicked away. Having come this far, it was the first time he saw something other than trees and fallen leaves. Yang Xiao surveyed his surroundings and used the pole of the Ghost Lantern to clear away the leaves around the stone. Once part of the stone was revealed, he couldn’t help but inhale sharply—it was actually a stone head.
No, this was a stone statue, the greater portion of which was still buried under the fallen leaves, with the same material as the Dao Character No. 22 in front of the concrete house!
This was a corpse!
Undoubtedly, this person had been trapped in the Lost Forest as well and had never managed to leave, turning into a stone statue and remaining here forever.
Rustle, rustle...
Yang Xiao spun around abruptly as the familiar sound of footsteps arose from behind him once more, closer this time. Yang Xiao immediately started digging out the statue, determined to figure out how this person had died, so he could be on guard for himself.
Fortunately, the leaves were soft and the digging was quite easy. After unearthing half of it, he tried to drag the statue out from underground, but failed to do so several times.
Yang Xiao sensed something was wrong and continued digging downwards. Soon he saw that the lower half of the statue was almost completely wrapped by dense and numerous tree roots, one layer enveloping another. What shocked him further was the roots resembled human limbs, with the surface revealing dried blood vessels and blue veins—the roots had sucked dry this person’s flesh and blood!
Also at this exact moment, Yang Xiao finally understood what that sound was—it was the roots of the Ghost Trees creeping under the leaves!
The next second, before Yang Xiao could react, his left foot was entangled by a root that had suddenly shot out from beneath the leaves, pulling him down and then dragging him off into the distance.
In a panic, Yang Xiao swung the Human Bone Staff, repeatedly striking the root. The once-tough root gradually withered and after dragging Yang Xiao about a dozen meters, it finally couldn’t hold on and snapped, leaving only a small dry branch tangled around his ankle. He pulled at it and it broke off in pieces, feeling like dried flesh in his hands.
Getting up from the ground, Yang Xiao gasped for air, silently praising the Human Bone Staff as a rare treasure, truly well-selected by his good sister.
At this moment, the fog around him was much more intense than before; he was probably in the depths of the Lost Forest. Pouring large amounts of spiritual power into the Ghost Lantern, the green light brightened, dispersing the mist within a certain range. The next moment, the scene that appeared before him was chilling: dozens of stone sculptures in various shapes scattered around, some so ancient they had merged with the tree trunks, with only half a distorted stone face visible.
Rustle, rustle...
Without giving Yang Xiao the chance to observe carefully, he suddenly heard a strange scraping noise—not the sound of roots crawling under the leaves, but more like... something struggling.
The only living beings in this forest aside from Yang Xiao were Qu Mu and the Yuyuan Sect Master. Yang Xiao hastened with the Ghost Lantern in hand.
Following the sound of struggling, Yang Xiao came upon a crooked tree with a thick trunk. Underneath the tree, dense roots entwined like pythons around a person. This person looked dreadful, half of their body already petrified, wearing a mask with Sky Character No. 97 on the visible side of their face.
