Chapter 51: The Red Fruit on the Tongtian Tree

  Liu Yi pointed at the entrance of the cave and asked Keke Xi: "Could it be that the little Sha Bi who have undergone rigorous training arrived here to reach the place where the Tong Tian Tree is located?"

  Keke Xi was unhappy because he couldn't find the scriptures, and said irritably: "Don't ask me, I'm busy!"

  Liu Yi shrugged and was about to say something when the long-lasting lamps in the grand hall suddenly went out one by one as their oil ran dry.

  Then they heard a mournful cry coming from underground.

  That sound was mournful and prolonged, sharp and sorrowful.

  Liu Yi turned on his flashlight and said, "It seems that these poachers have encountered danger below. Let's guard here for the time being and wait for them to clear the obstacles before going down!"

  At this time, everyone had clearly identified that the enemy was right in front of them, and instead became not one bit anxious, they all sat down to rest.

  After the first mournful cry, heart-rending and ear-piercing screams kept coming, accompanied by chaotic gunfire.

  "Trash!" A sharp and eerie cry echoed from the underground, like a call from the underworld.

  "It must be that foreign black-robed female witch!"

  He guessed correctly, at this time underground, foreign witches were casting strange spells, and black smoke appeared around them, just like the scene of killing white holy beetles, like a mushroom cloud.

  "Charge into the smoke!"

  The poachers around her, hearing this, swung their knives at the red tentacles while retreating into the smoke.

  That red touch and Liu Yi et al. encountered the underground root system of that big tree when entering the sacrificial land, like a tree coming out.

  Those red tentacles, though they seemed to be alive and wriggling, were not very intelligent. After the poachers entered the smoke, they saw them stretching towards the black fog without any fear. The moment they came into contact with the black fog, it stuck to their tentacles and then spread like a moving black line snake, instantly covering their entire body, and the tentacles also withered and fell to the ground.

  "Heh heh!" The black-robed wizard let out a shrill laugh in the midst of the dark fog, and then the fog began to move towards a tall, strange tree. This strange tree had lush branches and leaves, with bright red fruit growing on it, just like the big tree Liu Yi and the others saw at the sacrificial site.

  Black smoke, traveling to the edge of the trees, drilling into the branches, then rising and slowly crawling on the big tree, withering the leaves wherever it passes. The black fog gradually rises, gradually getting higher, and the ground becomes silent.

  Liu Yi and the others had rested for about enough time. In their hearts, they estimated that those people in front of them should have already passed through the Tongtian Tree. They looked at each other, stood up simultaneously, and with mutual help, descended to the bottom of the cave one after another.

  The cave was still a bit dark and damp, while the ground was covered with broken red tentacles.

  Malacca looked down at the red tentacles and sighed, "Tsk tsk, these tentacles look just like the ones outside the underground blind worm cave. Could it be another checkpoint?"

  Professor Zhou nodded: "Very likely!"

  The dumb gourd didn't know what they were talking about. He was already a man of few words, and he walked in the middle of the team, silent.

  The crowd walked for about twenty minutes, exited the exit, and in front of them was a huge tree with thick branches and broad leaves that blocked out the moonlight. Professor Zhou Tao pointed at the big tree and asked Ke Kexi: "Is this the Tongtian Tree?"

  Korvus nodded, just about to speak, when a branch snapped and the sound of rustling leaves came through...

  Something must have fallen from above. Everyone saw it and dodged in a hurry.

  With a loud "bang", a corpse fell to the ground, kicking up a lot of dust, and then a bloody smell spread throughout this narrow cliff space.

  The flashlight shone on the corpse's face, and everyone was startled.

  What a face it was, with tiny holes and blood-filled pores, densely packed and not quite human-like. Yet, despite this, there were no visible bloodstains. The facial skin was "bulging" and moving, with worm-like creatures burrowing in and out of the nostrils.

  "Damn it, Soul-Devouring Bug! Run for your life!" Malacca shrieked and was about to scurry up the big tree in fright. Just then, Humphrey let out a sinister chuckle beside him: "It's just a Soul-Devouring Bug, what's there to be afraid of?"

  Malacca glanced at the dumb gourd and thought: "This guy can't have a way to exterminate the Ling worm, can he? And why does this guy's smile sound so unpleasant?"

  The gloomy gourd face was expressionless, and from his pocket he pulled out a small porcelain bottle, which was filled with white powder. He only saw him use his fingernail to pick up a small amount, then sprinkle it towards the corpse.

  The powder came into contact with the corpse's wound, and white smoke instantly burst out, enveloping the corpse in an instant. After a long while, the white mist dispersed, and when everyone looked again, only a skeleton and an empty camouflage uniform were left on the ground, and those devouring spirit insects had also been dissolved.

  "Could this be the Corpse Dissolving Powder?" Lu Zonghan exclaimed in surprise.

  Moody calabaza looked at him for a moment, didn't respond to him, put the porcelain bottle in his arms and said coldly: "You can leave!"

  As for his cold appearance, Liu Yi and others who had dealt with him before didn't think much of it, but Lu Zonghan felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart, his mouth curled up, with a look of disdain, but his eyes were still fixed on the porcelain bottle in his arms, obviously extremely curious about what was inside.

  Professor Zhou chuckled: "The corpse powder isn't as sinister as the rumors say. Some hospitals even use it to treat some rectal diseases. I reckon it contains some alkaloids that react with proteins, which have a strong corrosive effect on flesh. This worm's appearance is like a maggot, probably also made of protein, so it's not surprising that it got dissolved away. Looks like next time we go out, we should get some of this stuff too, just in case."

  The gourd was silently looking at one side without saying a word.

  At this time, Lu Zonghan pointed at the thick tree and said: "You say that there will be some kind of monster or ghost on this tree?"

  Malacca's eyebrows were horizontal, and he said with a big smile: "What are you afraid of? If there are demons killing demons, and ghosts destroying ghosts!"

  Liu Yi smiled faintly and said, "Since the foreign witches have already passed through this tree to reach the ground, it means that there is no great danger on this tree. Even if there are unclean things, I estimate they have been cleaned up by the witches, so let's climb down with peace of mind!"

  Everyone expressed agreement with Liu Yi's words.

  Malacca led the way, followed by Humphrey Bogart, with Professor Chow Tao, Lu Zonghan and Ke Kexi in between, while Liu Yi fell behind this time.

  That big tree has many branches, and it's easy to borrow strength from all sides. Moreover, the foreign witch team had already opened a "tree road" in front of us, making it even easier to climb.

  Liu Yi and others feared that there were still soul-eating insects around, so at the beginning they moved at an astonishing speed. Even Professor Zhou Tao was inspired to tap into his potential, using all four limbs to closely follow the team climbing upwards, not falling behind in the slightest.

  Everyone quickly crawled for a while, but didn't find any other soul-eating worms. Liu Yi and the others all let out a sigh of relief, and their speed naturally slowed down. Although it was like this, they were still exhausted. Perhaps there weren't many soul-eating worms in this place, or perhaps these strange bugs had been taken care of by the black-robed wizards ahead of them.

  Climbing trees requires adjusting the movement performance of all four limbs, and attention must be focused, consuming more physical energy than walking on the ground. After continuing to climb for about ten minutes, Ma Liuji, who was in the lead, shouted for a rest and sat down on a large tree fork, refusing to move. The people behind him also felt extremely tired and stopped to rest.

  Everyone was silent, leaning their backs against the tree trunk, looking at the steep cliffs around them, calming down their rapidly beating hearts due to intense exercise, when a loud "crack" suddenly rang out.

  Liu Yi looked towards the source of the sound, and saw that Keke Xi had picked a red fruit from the tree at some point. The fruit looked just like a pear. After taking a crunchy bite, she sat on the branch, swinging her two small feet, holding onto the branch with one hand and the red fruit with the other, savoring it with relish.

  Earlier, when Professors Liu Yi and Zhou Tao had just entered the sacrificial site, they saw this fruit on the periphery and, because of its bright red color, were certain it was poisonous and did not dare to taste it. Who would have thought that Keke Xi would be so bold?

  At this point, Liu Yi shouted from below: "That fruit may be poisonous, don't eat it, throw it away!"

  Kexi lowered his head and glanced at him, saying: "You know what, this fruit is the legendary fairy fruit, it's delicious! The little monks relied on it to fill their hunger and quench their thirst during their training!"

  He paused for a moment, chuckled and said: "It's said that this fruit is one of the must-haves when the Sun Goddess hosts a grand banquet in the Jade Pool, I reckon it can't be much worse than the Peaches of Immortality!"

  "Oh!" Everyone was quite curious after hearing this, and they all picked some fruit to taste. It was sweet and fragrant, melting in their mouths as soon as it entered, and indeed it was a wonderful fruit that could quench thirst, perfect for traveling monks.

  "Hmm, hmm, delicious..." Ma Liuji ate and picked a lot, stuffing them into his bosom. The others also started picking and gathering as much as they could carry, because they didn't know when they would be able to leave this valley of death, and now the drinking water on their bodies was almost gone, but with these fruits, they solved a big problem.

  After resting for about twenty minutes, everyone continued climbing.

  The big tree is not very high, it looks like about 400-500 meters. The trunk of the tree becomes thinner as you go up, and what was originally a trunk that could accommodate several people walking side by side can only allow one person to pass through at the end. From a distance, they look like a string of " cicada monkeys" climbing down from top to bottom on the tree.

  Under the lamplight, Ma Liuji, who was in front, saw that the top of this big tree was slanting towards the cliff wall, somewhat like a crooked neck tree.

  Everyone carefully climbed to the top of the tree trunk, along the slanting tree trunk, and finally reached the ground after climbing up the cliff.

  Look up at the sky, the stars are twinkling, emitting a very weak light. There is wind, but it's not strong.

  To the left of the big tree they climbed up was a steep mountain peak, with no road at all. In the distance were also endless black mountains. It seemed that where they were was some kind of valley.

  They stood in a low thicket, with a vast depression in the distance covered with wild grass as tall as a man. In the middle of the wild grass, many tall black and white stones formed a forest, and occasionally lights flickered and people's shadows danced in the depths of the stone forest. It seemed to be a group of foreign witches leading the Ma family thieves hunting team through the stone forest. The area of this stone forest was vast, estimated to be about five miles around.

  Liu Yi saw this and pointed at the stone forest, shouting: "Look, this stone forest is so strange!"