Pushing open the large door, a somewhat familiar figure was seated cross-legged on the floor of the hall.
"Uncle, I'm sorry to disturb you," Qin Shilei said.
"He seems to be dead," An Qian said with some doubt.
Qin Shilei walked forward and checked the person's breathing; there was indeed no sign of life.
"There's a pearl here," Zhang Xiaoli said, picking up a jade-green pearl the size of a longan from the middle-aged man's right side.
Wood Spirit Pearl (Green): Rich in pure wood elemental energy. Wearing it can enhance the power of wood-based combat skills or abilities.
"Since you saw it first, you can have it," Qin Shilei said to Zhang Xiaoli.
Zhang Qiang and Xie Haimei behind her had no objections.
"I wonder how this person died here?" An Qian looked at the deceased, finding no wounds.
"The world has changed, and there are too many strange things. He might have been killed by a ghost," Qin Shilei guessed.
Without further ceremony, he grabbed the middle-aged man's corpse and threw it out of the house.
"Ghosts too?" Zhang Qiang asked, looking astonished. He paused, then bent down and said, "I will always remember the life-saving kindness of the three of you."
Xie Haimei also said sincerely, "Thank you!"
"It's just a small effort," Qin Shilei said, sitting down on the sofa. "There are indeed ghosts, and they can cast illusions. Be careful. You must be tired too, so feel free to pick any room to rest."
Zhang Qiang and his companion were indeed exhausted. After exchanging introductions, they turned and entered the room on the right side of the hall.
Although Qin Shilei had just saved their lives, there was still a lack of trust between them, so the two chose the same room.
"You two go rest too. It's best to stay in the same room," Qin Shilei said to An Qian and the others.
An Qian glanced into the room and hesitated, "Why don't we stay here with you?"
What if those ghosts came back and confused her and Zhang Xiaoli, making them jump out the window and walk to that locust tree again?
Zhang Xiaoli thought for a moment and said somewhat shyly, "How about you sleep on the floor in our room?"
Qin Shilei considered it and agreed that it was indeed safer this way.
With their own thoughts, the three of them tossed and turned until they finally fell into a dazed sleep in the middle of the night.
As the first light of dawn broke.
Everyone woke up to find that the thick fog had receded.
"We're preparing to hunt down the locust tree spirit. What are your plans?" Qin Shilei asked Zhang Qiang.
Zhang Qiang thought for a moment and said, "If you don't mind, we'd like to witness it."
He was thinking that during the hunt for the locust tree spirit, he would try to help as much as possible to repay their life-saving kindness.
Following the direction indicated by the tall treetops, Qin Shilei and the others soon arrived not far from the old locust tree.
"Is this tree bigger and taller than it was yesterday?" An Qian asked, looking at the towering canopy.
She had only glanced at it from afar yesterday afternoon and knew it was a large tree.
Only now, upon reaching it, did she realize how outrageously large it was.
The old locust tree stood fifty to sixty meters tall, and its canopy spread over a hundred meters.
Upon noticing Qin Shilei and the others approaching, the leaves rustled, and the branches swayed, desperately reaching out towards them.
"Get lost!" Wang Yinghao's angry roar also came from the direction of the tree trunk.
Qin Shilei and the others remained unmoved. The branches stopped powerless a few meters in front of them.
"Gasoline is a good thing," Qin Shilei said with emotion. He then took out a generator, a water pump, and a large barrel of gasoline.
As the generator roared to life, high-pressure gasoline was sprayed towards the old locust tree.
"What are you doing? Stop!" Wang Yinghao's panicked voice immediately sounded from ahead.
Qin Shilei ignored his pleas and moved to another spot to continue dousing the old locust tree with gasoline.
"What a bold idea," Zhang Qiang said, dumbfounded.
"I envy him for having such a large capacity ring and various suitable supplies," Xie Haimei's eyes also sparkled slightly.
In fact, Qin Shilei could have easily dealt with the locust tree spirit using One-Punch Man without using gasoline.
However, One-Punch Man was a trump card that he preferred not to use unless absolutely necessary.
Soon, Qin Shilei had doused most of the tree canopy with gasoline.
"For the sake of us all being human, please spare me," Wang Yinghao's pleading voice continued to come.
"Hmph," Qin Shilei sneered. "When you killed humans, did you ever think of yourself as human?"
The village, with two to three thousand people, had only the middle-aged man left when Qin Shilei arrived. It was clear that Wang Yinghao had committed many wicked deeds.
After a long silence, Wang Yinghao seemed to have made a significant decision and said in a deep voice, "I have a spirit pearl within me. As long as you don't set me on fire, I'll give it to you. But if you burn me to death, this spirit pearl will turn to ashes. I only wish to live on as an ordinary tree."
Qin Shilei thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright. As long as you hand over the spirit pearl, I promise not to set you on fire."
Upon hearing the promise, the old locust tree swayed, and then a pearl the size of a pigeon's egg, glistening with emerald green, was delivered to Qin Shilei by a branch.
After giving up its life-bound spirit pearl, the emerald green leaves of the entire old locust tree turned withered and yellow.
Qin Shilei picked up the spirit pearl from the ground.
Bloodline Awakening Pearl (Red): Rich in wood elemental energy, it can more easily awaken the wood elemental constitution within the body.
How strange. This spirit pearl could awaken various constitutions in humans, just like an Awakening Pill.
"You've taken the spirit pearl, you can't go back on your word," Wang Yinghao said, still feeling a bit uneasy.
"Of course," Qin Shilei gave An Qian a look and turned to walk outside.
An Qian, understanding his signal, threw a small flame behind her. "Qin Shilei, wait for me."
Flames instantly spread throughout the entire tree.
"Despicable, shameless!"
"I curse you all to die a horrible death!"
"Fire! Hurry and put it out!"
"Heavens, please rain!"
Wang Yinghao's curses and the frantic rustling of branches continued to echo from behind them.
An Qian pointed to another giant tree on the west side of the village and said, "Qin Shilei, there's another big tree over there. It might also be a spirit. Why don't we burn it too?"
Qin Shilei nodded, then shook his head. "Let Xiaoli eat this spirit pearl first, and then we'll go."
Zhang Qiang interjected, "Then we'll go scout ahead."
Watching the two walk away, Zhang Xiaoli guessed, "Are they planning to strike first?"
Qin Shilei shook his head. "Probably not. Zhang Qiang doesn't seem like that kind of person, and besides, they don't have the means."
The three of them then found a random civilian house nearby, closed the doors and windows.
Qin Shilei thought about it and decided to use the one-time fixed opportunity of the All-Things Refresh System on the spirit pearl.
Q-Texture and Delicious (Blue): Makes the spirit pearl more chewy and springy, fully releasing its fresh and sweet flavor, making it irresistible.
Evolve (Green): The spirit pearl will automatically absorb wood elemental spiritual energy from heaven and earth. After forty-nine times forty-nine months, it will become a purple Awakening Pearl, and after another forty-nine times forty-nine years, it will become an orange Awakening Pearl.
Alas, the time is too long. If it were forty-nine days, Qin Shilei might consider it.
Jianmu Physique (Orange): Will generate the Jianmu Physique within the body. Jianmu is the divine tree that governs all trees.
His first orange attribute appeared here.