After the last two ghosts drifted away, Qin Shilei and the others had only been resting with their eyes closed for a few minutes when the sound of knocking echoed from downstairs.
"Who is it?" Qin Shilei asked, leaning over the balcony and looking down.
"Help me." A young girl, about eighteen years old, called up from below.
The girl wore a white dress, had a pretty face, and tears were still streaking down her cheeks.
Her sorrowful, tearful appearance evoked a sense of pity in anyone who saw her.
"Please, save my mother. She's trapped in her room by two zombies. The zombies are about to break down the door."
The girl quickly recounted the situation.
"Zombies? Saving someone?"
A hint of doubt flickered in Qin Shilei's eyes.
A thought crossed his mind, and his pupils instantly turned silver-white.
Looking down at the girl again, she transformed into a hideous, old woman.
"So it's a ghost after all."
Qin Shilei flicked his right hand downwards, and a bolt of lightning struck the girl.
"Ah."
The girl let out a scream and returned to her old woman form.
Before Qin Shilei could unleash another bolt of lightning, the old woman from downstairs had already passed through the gate and entered the villa.
After waiting for a while and seeing no sign of the ghost, Qin Shilei suggested, "Let's go down and take a look."
Qin Shilei and the others searched the first floor but couldn't find the ghost. They then returned to the living room on the second floor.
Another half an hour later.
Zhang Xiaoli suddenly leaned close to An Qian's ear and whispered something.
Then, the two of them got up and walked towards the bathroom.
"Just stay at the door. I'll be out soon," Zhang Xiaoli said, her face slightly flushed.
Seeing that they were only going to the bathroom, Qin Shilei turned his gaze elsewhere.
As he turned his head, he heard An Qian's footsteps descending the stairs.
"An Qian, where are you going?"
Qin Shilei asked, chasing after her.
An Qian, however, turned a deaf ear and ran rapidly downstairs.
"An Qian, wake up." Qin Shilei caught up with her at the first-floor landing and grabbed her arm, shaking her.
Under Qin Shilei's shaking, An Qian quickly came to her senses. "What's wrong? Why are we on the first floor?"
Just then, rapid footsteps echoed from upstairs.
"Oh no."
Qin Shilei grabbed An Qian and sprinted upstairs.
As they reached the second floor, they saw Zhang Xiaoli leaping from the balcony.
"Let's follow."
Qin Shilei pulled An Qian and jumped off the balcony as well.
Due to the thick fog, they could no longer see Zhang Xiaoli's figure after they landed.
"This way."
Qin Shilei heard footsteps coming from the front left and quickly pursued.
Fearing that An Qian would also get lost, he held her right hand tightly this time.
Under the thick fog, their vision was obscured, and Qin Shilei and the others couldn't move at full speed.
The footsteps ahead shifted left and right, preventing them from closing the distance.
Winding and turning, Qin Shilei and the others unknowingly arrived at the old locust tree at the east end of the village.
The human face reappeared on the trunk of the old locust tree.
As Qin Shilei and the two others approached, Wang Yinghao's eyes suddenly lit up.
The face licked its lips and muttered to itself, "How fortunate. Just as I am about to regain a body, I am presented with such exquisite maidens."
"Xiaoli, wake up..."
About ten meters from the old locust tree, Qin Shilei finally caught up with Zhang Xiaoli.
"Brother Qin, why did we run here?" Zhang Xiaoli asked the same question after she came to her senses.
Suddenly, a rushing sound came from above their heads.
Looking up, a branch was swinging down towards Qin Shilei.
Clang.
Qin Shilei swung his sword at the branch.
The branch, as thick as an arm, was cut off and fell to the ground.
More and more branches rained down.
"Let's run!" Qin Shilei turned to flee from the range of the branches.
However, the two women were once again mesmerized and turned to walk towards the old locust tree.
"An Qian, Xiaoli."
Qin Shilei shouted and had no choice but to turn back and chase them.
His Seven Stars Sword moved like a swimming dragon, swiftly cutting down the attacking branches.
Qin Shilei casually threw out several high-intensity flashlights, illuminating the surroundings brightly.
In front of him stood an old locust tree, at least four to five meters in diameter.
An Qian and Zhang Xiaoli had already reached the base of the old locust tree.
Several branches emerged from the trunk of the old locust tree and bound the two women.
"Haha, only such beauty is worthy of being my, Wang Yinghao's, maidens."
Seeing that the two women were finally under his complete control, the face couldn't help but let out a maniacal laugh.
"Are you a tree or a person? Let us go." An Qian, released from her daze by the old locust tree, shouted at the face beside her.
Wang Yinghao sighed, "I am both tree and person. After being devoured by the locust tree, I merged with it and became a tree god."
"My dear beauties, do not be anxious. I will soon regain a physical body, and I will certainly cherish you then."
Wang Yinghao was originally an ordinary villager in Yangliu Village. After the apocalypse, he was chased by zombies and fled to the vicinity of the old locust tree.
Just as he was about to be killed by the zombies, the old locust tree extended several branches and swallowed him and the zombies.
After a strange encounter, his soul merged with the nascent soul of the old locust tree, and he became the tree.
Through the days of devouring the villagers and zombies, he was on the verge of creating a body for himself, allowing him to move independently of the old locust tree for a short time.
Seeing that his branches were unable to capture Qin Shilei, Wang Yinghao unleashed his ultimate move.
More than ten solidified soul bodies flew out from the old locust tree.
As soon as they appeared, the soul bodies rapidly drifted towards Qin Shilei.
Just as Qin Shilei cut down a branch swinging towards him, a hand silently touched his shoulder.
An icy chill emanated from the hand and instantly spread to half of his body.
Qin Shilei's movements, which were as fast as lightning, suddenly slowed down.
A branch, the size of a thumb, seized the opportunity and wrapped around him twice.
One-Punch Man.
Qin Shilei performed a spinning slash, quickly severing the branch and also slicing through several soul bodies.
However, the soul bodies were unaffected and continued to reach out towards him.
With a thought, lightning enveloped the blade of the Seven Stars Sword, and he swung it at the surrounding soul bodies again.
As the electric light flashed, the soul bodies hissed like red-hot iron rods being plunged into water, becoming ethereal.
Qin Shilei made seven or eight swift cuts within one second, slicing each of the more than ten soul bodies into phantoms before they vanished into nothingness in this world.
After dealing with the soul bodies, two seconds had passed.
Qin Shilei stamped his foot and instantly appeared before the old locust tree.
With a few swift slashes, he cut through the branches that bound An Qian and Zhang Xiaoli.
With his left hand, he scooped them up and tossed them twenty to thirty meters away.
He then turned and began to hack at the massive trunk of the old locust tree.
Clang!
The Seven Stars Sword struck the trunk of the old locust tree with a metallic sound.
Although the old locust tree was incredibly tough, Qin Shilei's sword sank four to fifty centimeters deep into the trunk.
"Don't go," Wang Yinghao commanded the branches to lash at Qin Shilei, while also directing more branches to block the two women.