Chapter 13 – A Bird in a Cage

Volume 2: Battlefield Between Two Worlds

Wen Yu watched as One-Eye slowed more and more, until he couldn't move any further. Countless Vines kept coiling around One-Eye, slowly wrapping him into a green, zongzi-like bundle.

Wen Yu sighed, then activated the Second Soul Realm.

A streak of purple light flashed from the green zongzi. After that, the green mass of plants collapsed, and One-Eye had already returned to the Second Soul Realm.

He summoned One-Eye again, and Wen Yu carefully examined his injuries.

One-Eye was full of spirit. Seeing that he was out of danger, he snarled and roared viciously toward the front, as if he wanted to take on the Vines again.

The Mutant Plant opposite, seeing its prey vanish, moved like a snake and slid straight toward One-Eye.

One-Eye was startled, but the Mutant Plant's mobility was very poor. After it sprang out less than ten meters, it no longer had the strength to advance.

Ignoring the childish taunting between One-Eye and the Vines, Wen Yu scrutinized the wounds on One-Eye's body.

There were many wounds-far too many-densely covering One-Eye.

But these wounds were extremely slight. Some hadn't even scraped One-Eye's skin. The cuts on his body looked like they'd been made by needle pricks, and in some places sharp wooden thorns were still hanging there.

Wen Yu yanked out the longest thorn with force. Drops of blood welled up from the wound, then, under the effects of Strong Healing, it stopped almost immediately and gradually faded away.

The thorn wasn't even three centimeters long. Wen Yu lightly jabbed it into his own hand.

As a Level 2 Class Holder, Wen Yu's skin was quite tough, so he had to use a fair amount of strength before the thorn pierced into flesh.

There was no numbness or itching-only negligible pain-proving there was no poison on these plant spikes.

This, at least, was the best possible news. If the Vines had been poisonous, there would've been no way for Wen Yu to break through under such numbers of Mutated Vine.

No longer paying attention to the Vines baring their fangs and claws not far away, Wen Yu took One-Eye and headed toward the farmland.

After walking no less than a hundred meters and seeing that there were far fewer Mutated Vine here, Wen Yu called to One-Eye again, "Go up and try one more time."

"Woof woof woof."

Seeing One-Eye's aggrieved look, Wen Yu could only be helpless as well. "Think it through. Are we going to deal with these plants, or turn back to find Simba?"

One-Eye immediately stopped making a sound. With his head lowered, he charged forward with unstoppable momentum.

As One-Eye sprinted, that dense rattling sound rang out across the farmland once again.

Wen Yu could even see the Mutated Vine that had just attacked One-Eye continuously burrowing underground. Then the ground seemed to bulge as it surged unceasingly toward One-Eye's direction.

Wen Yu's eyes lit up. He entered Combat State at once, then kicked off and sprinted madly toward the road.

One-Eye took most of the pressure. By the time Wen Yu rushed onto the road, there weren't many Mutated Vine left underground; the occasional ones that appeared were chopped to pieces by Wen Yu.

In the blink of an eye, Wen Yu had already dashed past the spot One-Eye had reached earlier.

Then Wen Yu let out a shout.

"Damn it."

Wen Yu came charging back at an even faster speed than before, while behind him, more Mutant Plant drilled out from underground-packed densely together, with no end in sight.

Fortunately, the moment Wen Yu saw things going bad, he retreated immediately and wasn't entangled.

After running far away, Wen Yu watched as One-Eye's direction once again became a gigantic mass of plants. He directly canceled Combat State and summoned One-Eye back.

"This is going to be trouble."

Wen Yu kept his head down, thinking about how to deal with the situation in front of him, while One-Eye, off to the side, kept tearing at the grass roots on the ground.

"Come on. Let's try another direction."

Watching One-Eye follow along unwillingly, Wen Yu could only feel helpless.

If most places were about the same as what he was seeing here, then with just him alone, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to break through.

…

Things often develop in the worst possible direction.

Wen Yu opened the Second Soul Realm once again and summoned One-Eye back. Seeing One-Eye's blood-red eye glare at him viciously, Wen Yu couldn't help feeling a little guilty.

Anyone would look like that after being used as a pathfinding stone and sent charging into a pile of Vines dozens of times.

"We won't try anymore. We won't."

Wen Yu already understood the situation.

He-no, even all living creatures in Hualin Town that could still move-had been trapped to death inside this enormous cage. Just now, Wen Yu had tested it dozens of times, almost circling and probing the entire perimeter around Hualin Town.

The result was that the Mutant Plant defenses had no obvious weak points.

"It's like these plants can move freely underground. Wherever a creature tries to rush out, the plants can get there, which is why it gives you the illusion that Mutant Plants are everywhere around you."

This analysis was the most likely, because it was simply impossible for any creature to seal off an entire town at this stage.

"For now, we can't break out. And inside Hualin Town, there probably won't be many Zombies or Mutant Plants that can make me stronger. These plants will keep shrinking the encirclement until they completely swallow all of Hualin Town."

"If there were more people to draw the attention of these Vines…"

The ruthless look in Wen Yu's eyes grew thicker and thicker. There were still plenty of living people left in Hualin Town.

…

In the center of Hualin Town.

Inside Li Quan'an's Camp.

A "grand" banquet was underway.

The main course was some Mutant Beast meat, plus a few dishes of stewed greens-rare delicacies in the Apocalypse.

Li Quan'an sat in the seat of honor, with Sun Ruixing beside him.

Judging by the way Li Quan'an chatted and laughed, he was clearly very satisfied with life as it was.

At his side, Sun Ruixing hesitated to speak several times. Finally unable to hold it in any longer, he said to Li Quan'an, "Mayor Li, the way I saw you arrange things for those elderly people just now-wasn't it a bit inappropriate?"

"Oh? And what exactly does Brother Sun mean?" Li Quan'an asked with a smile.

Sun Ruixing lifted his head and downed a mouthful of baijiu1, then said gloomily, "From what I can see, Mayor Li, you're not looking after those old people and children at all. You have them doing manual labor, washing vegetables and cooking, and even their living quarters are on the outer edge of the entire Camp. I'm afraid these people will end up with a lot of resentment toward the Camp, and this completely goes against ethics and morality."

"Brother Sun." Li Quan'an set down his cup and spoke to Sun Ruixing solemnly.

"I won't talk to you about empty platitudes. You know what the outside world is really like. All I can say is danger is everywhere. Right now, everyone in the Camp who can fight has to go out and fight. As for those without combat ability-should they be allowed to do nothing at all?

"Having them do what they can-that's what's fair. That's also how you protect them.

"As for those elderly people and children, I'll have people take extra care of them. Brother Sun, don't worry."