Wilderness: I Tame Beasts to Survive-Chapter 41 - 40: Encounter Battle

The group gripped their rifles tightly, stepping onto relatively dry ground and gradually entering a path through the woods that could hardly be called a trail.

"Yin Yi, be extra careful," Han Ning urged, a sense of unease in his voice.

"Bloop~"

Yin Yi responded, sinking its thick roots into the ground. It moved like a nimble fish, keeping about two meters ahead of Han Ning.

The other Silver Lotus Woods used their Vine Whips to clear away the thorns and weeds blocking the way, forging a small path for the humans.

Nothing happened for the first twenty meters into the woods. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

At first, they could still hear the roars of Soul Beasts, but as they went deeper, the surrounding white fog seemed to thicken, and everything grew quieter.

"It’s so quiet. Can you guys hear anything else?" someone in the group suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Can’t hear a thing. These trees don’t look like the ones back in Xia Country. It seems like they absorb sound waves." As soon as Han Ning said this, he felt his own voice quickly diminish, the sound absorbed by the leaves of a nearby tree.

He moved his flashlight to shine on the leaves and discovered that the leaves of this strange tree were wide and thick, and a dark purple-black color, like clotted blood.

"Hello? Hello?" Han Ning called out tentatively in the direction of the leaves.

His voice was noticeably muffled after passing through the purple-black leaves.

Aside from absorbing sound, the leaves posed no danger. The group studied them for a moment before moving on, not paying them much more mind.

"Let’s keep moving. The area with the backpacks should be just ahead," Lü Xiuning said after looking around to confirm the direction of the perimeter wall.

They continued through the forest for another thirty meters or so. Suddenly, they spotted a round object hanging from a branch not far ahead. As they got closer, they saw it was a shriveled human head, suspended from the branch by a thin vine.

A few more steps forward revealed more human heads hanging sporadically throughout the woods ahead—men and women, old and young.

The deeper they went, the more horrifying it became.

The purple-black branches ahead were densely packed with the corpses of humans and some Soul Beasts, hung like the air-dried cured meats a rural family might hang in their smokehouse during the holidays.

"Son of a bitch. So many people... I was wondering why there were fewer bodies near the East Gate than everywhere else. Turns out they all ended up here," Lü Xiuning cursed under his breath, staring at the corpses under the branches.

Judging by the clothes on the bodies, they were the students and teachers who had been killed at the very beginning of the transmigration.

Their emaciated figures and twisted, distorted features made it clear they had been dead for some time.

"Shh... Quiet down. There’s a sound up ahead," Han Ning said, his expression grim as he tilted his head to listen.

Everyone’s expression tensed. They all lightened their steps, slowed their breathing, and crept quietly toward the sound.

Passing through a sparse thicket and skirting around the disturbing corpses, the view suddenly opened up.

A flat patch of withered yellow grass appeared before them.

Han Ning made a "stop" gesture, signaling for everyone to get down.

The group lay prone in the bushes, peering through the gaps between the leaves.

By the faint light filtering through the woods, they could vaguely make out a dozen or so strange "Tree-men" standing beneath the trees ahead, ranging in height from dozens of centimeters to two meters tall.

The surfaces of these "Tree-men" were brownish-black, their crisscrossing, wrinkled bark forming the rough shape of human facial features. In the place of eyes, two points of eerie green light flickered.

The light in the woods was the eerie glow emanating from the Tree-men’s pupils.

A massive Iron-toothed Snake, over five meters long with pitch-black scales, was coiled not far from the Tree-men.

Numerous smaller Iron-toothed Snakes were coiled around the large one.

Above their heads, the bodies of other creatures still hung.

At that moment, the Tree-men stood silently on the ground, completely still, as if they were asleep.

Crisscrossing black vines extended from their sides like thick needles, piercing the bodies of the humans and Soul Beasts hanging from the branches.

The vines seemed to breathe, expanding and contracting slightly. With each contraction, Han Ning saw a relatively plump Gray Snake rapidly shrivel.

As the Gray Snake’s body withered, it fell to the ground with a THUD. It was quickly devoured by the swarming snakes on the ground, leaving behind nothing but a clean-white skeleton.

Just then, Han Ning felt a heavy pat on his shoulder. With a grave expression, Lü Xiuning pointed toward the area to the right of the woods.

Under the branches on the other side, three people were hanging, suspended by thin vines. One of them was completely missing their right thigh.

Their personal belongings were scattered on the ground below.

"It’s Zhao Wei, Zheng Zhibin, and Chen Ningchuan..."

Seeing his comrades’ tragic state, Han Ning couldn’t help but feel a surge of rage.

’These bastards... they’re storing them as spare food.’

Lü Xiuning made a hand signal to retreat, motioning for everyone to fall back.

But just then, two intertwined Iron-toothed Snakes suddenly fell from a nearby branch, landing just a dozen centimeters away from one of the students.

For a split second, six eyes met.

"Shit!"

The student cursed under his breath, raising his rifle to shoot.

At the same time, the two Iron-toothed Snakes also spotted the human lying prone before them.

"HISSSS!"

A low hiss echoed.

The previously silent, motionless Tree-men and the giant Iron-toothed Snake snapped their eyes open in unison, looking toward Han Ning and his group.

Among the Tree Spirit colony, the two-meter-tall one that had been standing motionless had the green light in its eye sockets flicker. It spotted the group hidden in the grass at a glance.

RUSTLE~

The Tree Spirit made a sound like rustling leaves as two black Vine Whips shot out from its body, lashing toward Han Ning and the others.

"We’ve been spotted."

Seeing this, Han Ning spoke quickly, "Teacher Xiuning, leave those ugly Tree-men to Yin Yi. Send a few people to help us, and have the rest hold back the giant snake."

The words had barely left his mouth when Yin Yi leaped out. Its body flashed with light as it fired an arm’s-length Silver Thorn, blasting the incoming Vine Whip out of the air.

"Zhiran, Yang Xing... you nine, go help Han Ning. The rest of you, with me! We’ll block that giant Iron-toothed Snake."

SWOOSH!!

Its Vine Whip destroyed, the Tree Spirit Boss flew into an instant rage. It staggered to its feet, green leaves rustling down from its head as it charged toward Yin Yi with heavy steps.

Its so-called feet were actually two thick, forked branches.

’This Tree Spirit... it’s probably not much weaker than Yin Yi...’

Han Ning’s heart sank as he watched the Vine Whip that Yin Yi had destroyed quickly grow back. He saw the Tree Spirit Boss, which looked as if nothing had happened, and the dozen or so smaller Tree Spirits behind it, all watching them menacingly.

He quickly glanced around. Nearby, Teacher Xiuning and his group had already opened fire on the swarm of snakes.