When Xu Xing saw countless vines flying towards her, she was immediately filled with fear. With a clang, she drew her long saber and hacked wildly, severing the vines that flew at her as she retreated.
Xu Xing dared not linger there, fearing she would be attacked again. The mutated plants were incredibly huge, reaching fifty meters in height with thick trunks and vast canopies. Xu Xing had once seen an apple tree thirty meters tall in the Fengshen Palace, but even that apple tree paled in comparison to this mutated plant. Moreover, there were many treants below.
At this moment, Xu Xing could only retreat rapidly. After retreating a certain distance, Xu Xing saw that the vines were no longer pursuing her, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, a sense of loss immediately followed, and she blamed herself, saying, "It's all my fault for being overconfident, which led to someone's death."
Xu Xing recalled her previous conversation with Chacaiev. Chacaiev clearly did not want to come to fetch water again, but she had insisted on finding the enemy's lair, which led to the current situation. The person who came with her had been killed, while she herself was unharmed.
This situation immediately gave Xu Xing a sense of guilt. She felt it was all her fault; if she hadn't insisted on this matter, the other person wouldn't have died like this. It could be said that Chacaiev was killed by her stubbornness.
Thinking of this, Xu Xing couldn't help but slap herself and say, "You were overconfident and killed a miner. This is all your fault!"
As things stood, Xu Xing could not reverse the situation. She did not have the ability to reverse time, and the ability to reverse time was merely a fantasy. Let alone time, even space could not be changed. Now, Xu Xing could only return to the stone chamber alone.
Xu Xing could only atone for her mistake by leading the surviving miners out. This was the only thing Xu Xing could do now.
When Xu Xing returned to the stone chamber where the miners were, she recounted everything that had happened. Fearing they wouldn't understand, she even used a notebook to draw pictures and explain the entire incident clearly. When they learned that a companion had been captured, they immediately showed sad expressions, clearly finding it difficult to accept this fact.
However, there was no other way. None of them could rescue someone from the treants. To ordinary people, treants were complete monsters, and they were no match for them. They could only wait for dawn to leave the underground.
Xu Xing took out her watch and checked the time. She decided to lead everyone out of the underground in eight hours, which would be early morning. At that time, there would be no treants on the surface. These treants appeared at night and were rarely seen in the forest during the day.
Next, everyone needed to rest and wait for the arrival of the next morning. Only by maintaining sufficient physical strength could they hope to escape the underground.
However, in the middle of the night, Xu Xing suddenly felt a vibration outside the stone chamber. Although it was a subtle vibration, it immediately caught Xu Xing's attention. She drew her long saber, ready to rush out and fight at any moment. If it were a marmot passing by, it would be an extra meal. If an enemy appeared, she would kill them with one blow.
Just then, Chacaiev's voice came, "I'm back, everyone relax."
Then, the vines at the cave entrance were parted, and a person walked in. Xu Xing quickly turned on her flashlight to illuminate him, and immediately saw a drenched Chacaiev, who looked like a drowned rat and appeared quite disheveled.
Seeing that Chacaiev was fine, Xu Xing quickly asked, "You're still alive? Weren't you captured?"
When she saw Chacaiev being captured, Xu Xing was certain that he was dead. Although he fell into a pool, there were giant treants all around. Each treant was at least five or six meters tall, and some were even over ten meters tall. Under such circumstances, how could he possibly return alive?
Chacaiev looked at Xu Xing deeply, then explained, "After I fell into the water, no treants came to capture me. I vaguely saw a firelight in the distance, so I immediately found a nearby cave entrance and ran for three hours before returning."
With this explanation, Xu Xing finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he was fine, it was good. She had previously thought she had implicated someone, but now it seemed that was not the case.
As long as Chacaiev was alive, Xu Xing's guilt would be greatly reduced.
The others also woke up at this time. When they saw their companions were safe and sound, they immediately smiled. As long as their good brothers were fine, they would have a chance to escape together.
After a few more hours, Xu Xing estimated that it was almost daytime and she could lead these poor fellows to the surface. However, Xu Xing was worried about one thing: when they returned to Qiūmíng and saw the ruined city, what expressions would they have? She thought that they would surely be heartbroken then.
"Sigh, I can't worry about that anymore. Anyway, I can only take them back now. I just hope they can accept such a tragic blow!" Xu Xing thought to herself.
Xu Xing also informed these miners about what had happened in Qiūmíng, because these people's mental state was already very fragile, and they couldn't withstand any blow. If she told them the news of the city's destruction, some might have a mental breakdown on the spot. So, after much consideration, Xu Xing did not reveal this, which was her final act of kindness.
Next, Xu Xing led more than twenty people back the way they came, finally finding a cave entrance that led directly upwards. She took off her backpack, held it above her head to avoid getting stuck, and then said to the people around her, "Follow me and climb. From here, you can reach the surface."
Xu Xing led the way into the cave. Fortunately, it was a special time, and this group of grown men only wanted to get out of the underground. Otherwise, they would never have allowed a woman to stand above them, as it would have been an insult to them.
The humiliation of passing between a woman's legs existed in both the East and the West, and passing under a woman's crotch was even more of a humiliation.
Xu Xing led the miners up for two hundred meters and finally reached the top. Here, there was still a lot of mist in the forest, and not a single person was in sight. It was already daytime, and Xu Xing emerged with great confidence.
However, at this moment, Xu Xing suddenly discovered a note on the ground. Upon picking it up, she saw it was a message from Shen Feng, telling her not to wander around after coming out and to stay in the nearby trees. Xu Xing looked at the more than twenty people behind her and fell into hesitation.
Xu Xing thought to herself, "Save a person to the end, send Buddha to the West. Since I've brought these people up, it would be too much to abandon them. It's better to send them back first and then find a way to rendezvous with the City Lord."
Xu Xing could not be as heartless as Shen Feng. She felt that since she had chosen to be a good person, she should see it through to the end. It would not be good to give up halfway.
Therefore, Xu Xing said to the people behind her, "Follow me, I will lead you back to Qiūmíng. If we encounter mutated beasts, I can protect you."
Xu Xing was very confident at this moment because she believed in her own abilities. No matter what kind of mutated beast she encountered, she could deal with it.
This was the first time these people had been to the outside world in over a month. They saw the strong sunlight outside and couldn't help but close their eyes. Fortunately, there was a lot of mist in the forest, otherwise, if the sunlight appeared, these people who had not been exposed to sunlight for a long time might even go blind.
Xu Xing then led a few people in the direction they had come from. Xu Xing could still vaguely remember the way. As long as they continued to walk, they would be able to leave the misty area.
However, at this moment, the ground began to tremble. "Dong dong..." Accompanied by the ground trembling was a huge sound.
When Xu Xing felt the surrounding vibrations, her heart was filled with great dread. She had never expected to encounter such strange things. She had clearly come out during the day, so why were there still things around?
Through the tremors transmitted from the ground, Xu Xing could feel that the enemy must be a behemoth, otherwise, just walking would not cause such a powerful tremor.
A strong wind also blew at this time. Although it did not disperse all the mist, the visibility in the forest immediately increased.
More than thirty giant treants appeared beside Xu Xing. These treants were very tall, reaching over ten meters. For this group of people, whose average height was about 1.8 meters, treants over ten meters tall were undoubtedly giants.
There were also many vines on the treants. These vines were like snakes, crawling on the ground. For a time, they began to surround Xu Xing.
Upon seeing this, Xu Xing immediately shouted, "Quickly go back, I'll hold off these monsters for you!"
After speaking, Xu Xing charged forward, and her long saber also let out a humming sound. Chacaiev said to the people beside him, "I'll lead you away from here, just follow me."
Xu Xing had learned from Shen Feng that treants were very powerful, but Xu Xing had always dismissed it, thinking that Shen Feng was exaggerating the enemy to showcase his own strength. After all, if the enemy was too weak, how could it demonstrate the power of the victor?
However, now, as Xu Xing charged towards the giant treants over ten meters tall, she felt that they towered over her, truly like giants.
Xu Xing gritted her teeth and charged forward, leaping up and slashing down at the large tree knot on the treant's head.
With a "plop," the long saber made of titanium alloy instantly pierced the outer shell of the tree knot. Due to high-speed vibration, the long saber was very sharp. Even the treant's hard tree knot could not withstand the saber's slash.
A smile appeared on Xu Xing's face, and she thought, "That's all there is to it."
For Xu Xing, anything that could break through defenses was nothing, and could not be considered her opponent. Now that the treant's defense had been broken by her, killing it would be a simple matter.
"Clang," however, at this moment, the long saber let out a mournful cry and became stuck in the tree knot. The scene of breaking through all obstacles that Xu Xing had imagined in her mind did not appear.
Seeing this situation, Xu Xing was stunned for a moment, as she could not imagine that the treant's defense was so hard that the long saber could not cut through.
Just then, the treant attacked by Xu Xing clasped its hands together, intending to crush Xu Xing to death.
Xu Xing tried hard to pull out the saber, but it was already stuck in the tree knot. Even with Xu Xing's power as an ability user, she could not pull it out.
"What the hell is going on?" Xu Xing was greatly alarmed, as she had never expected the treants to be so bizarre. To avoid the treant's attack, she had no choice but to retreat quickly, letting her long saber remain stuck in the tree knot.