Chapter 124: Arrival, Like a Bamboo Spear Piercing Through

Everyone stared blankly overhead, entranced by the fresh, sweet air, until Chen Guanqing shouted, “What are you all standing around for? Move!”

That snapped everyone out of their daze—but who would go first? No one knew what was waiting outside.

Chai Zhong gritted his teeth. “I’ll go first!”

As agreed earlier, Chu Hao and Chen Guanqing would stay behind to help Bian Changxi, so the ones to go first had to be him, George, and Bald Qiang. Whether you stick your head out or not, it’s the same risk—he wasn’t a coward.

He dragged over a sofa and was about to crawl toward the opening when a burly figure appeared in front of him. “I can take a hit. I’ll go first.”

With that, Bald Qiang knelt and grabbed the jagged, rocky edge of the hole, climbing up with both hands and feet.

The hole they’d made slanted upward, just wide enough for one person at a time. It looked cramped. Bald Qiang blocked out the faint starlight from outside, quickly disappearing into the glow of the camp lantern inside. In just a moment, his slightly excited voice came from above: “All clear! Come on up!”

Chai Zhong led the way, bringing An Ran with him, followed by George, Wu Xia, and the others. Then, over a hundred people scrambled up in a rush, pulling and shoving each other in a chaotic mess.

Chen Guanqing watched coldly. Just looking at Jiang Chunlin and the others’ behavior, he could tell—there was no tradition of unity or yielding among these people in the tunnel. This kind of scene was only to be expected.

Let them fight for it. Whoever’s faster gets out first; the slow and useless ones end up at the bottom. That’s as fair as it gets.

Once his own people had gone, he walked over to Bian Changxi. “Let’s go.”

Bian Changxi nodded, about to withdraw her power, when suddenly something lunged at her—a thick, white-green vine covered in tendrils burst through the small opening she’d made, coiling around her own vine and instantly shredding it. The end snapped against her chest; she barely managed to brace herself with two wooden spikes before being flung aside.

Chen Guanqing reacted quickly, grabbing the white-green tendril. Black flames instantly engulfed it, but the tendril only twitched and, surprisingly, wasn’t corroded. It slipped out of his grasp, writhing menacingly in midair.

At the same time, a slurping sound came from the ground, like someone sucking the last drops from a drink with a straw. Everyone instinctively looked down. Thin white-green shoots poked out from the damp ground, then quickly shrank back as if startled. In the blink of an eye, the murky water vanished, and the ground dried rapidly.

Bian Changxi coughed up blood, which was instantly absorbed by the ground. Her eyes widened as she looked up. Cracks began to spread across the concrete ceiling, and clusters of white-green tendrils forced their way through, quickly covering every wall.

People climbing through the hole screamed in terror. Blood dripped from the opening, only to be greedily absorbed by the tender shoots, which even seemed to sigh in satisfaction.

Chu Hao helped Bian Changxi up. “Are you okay? These things on you…”

In just moments, several shoots had latched onto her arms and legs, their tips burrowing into her flesh without causing pain, but she could clearly feel her powers and life force being rapidly drained. She tore them off, flesh and all, leaving her limbs bloody. “It’s awakened. We have to go!”

The same things were sprouting both in the escape tunnel and the main tunnel, rapidly destroying the passage and devouring human life and space. Chu Hao hurriedly grabbed her, pulled Chen Guanqing with his other hand, and the three of them vanished from sight.

A moment later, Chen Guanqing’s muffled complaint echoed in the tunnel: “Couldn’t you have teleported us a little farther?”

They’d tested it before—if the space was clear, Chu Hao’s teleportation could cover seventy or eighty meters. Now, it was doubtful they’d even moved ten.

“I—I was just too nervous!”

Another instant, and as the tendrils twisted through the tunnel like a meat grinder, the three vanished again, leaving only blood and bits of flesh, which were instantly consumed. They reappeared in a cramped room dug out as an escape route.

They stared at the people inside, who stared back, clearly surprised—this wasn’t the ground level they’d hoped for.

Chen Guanqing’s face was ashen. “Chu—Hao!”

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll try again.” Why did his teleportation always fail at the critical moment?

He grabbed the other two, ready to muster all his strength, when a weak voice called out, “Bian… Changxi, is that you, Bian?”

Bian Changxi called, “Wait!”

She looked toward the voice. It was a man who was little more than a skeleton, his eyes sunken and terrifying. The people around him looked just as bad. He lay slumped against the wall, struggling to move forward. Bian Changxi’s expression changed as she hurried over. “You’re… Cheng Haijun? What happened to you?”

“It really is you!” Tears streamed down Cheng Haijun’s face. “I thought I’d never see daylight again. Please, Yang Hui and the others… those bastards… it’s my fault, please save them…” Hearing this, both Chu Hao and Cheng Haijun frowned. Chu Hao couldn’t help but say, “Miss Bian, we have to go now. Listen to that hissing—the tendrils are almost here.”

Bian Changxi glanced around the obvious prison cell, then at Cheng Haijun’s rotting, twisted limbs. “Where are Yang Hui and the others?”

“They…”

“There’s no time. I can only take you.” She turned to Chu Hao, who nodded. “One more person is still possible.”

The other prisoners looked at them with pleading eyes. Those who could speak cried out, those who couldn’t knelt and kowtowed, their hands reaching out like withered vines, making Chu Hao avert his gaze in distress. “We can’t take any more. Three is the limit.”

Cheng Haijun said, “No, no, I’ve got that… that disease. I won’t survive outside. You don’t have to—”

Before he could finish, Bian Changxi hoisted him onto her back. Chen Guanqing took over. “I’ll carry him.” Chu Hao grabbed all three of their hands, squeezed his eyes shut, and the next moment, the four of them fell through the air, crashing through a dense bamboo grove.

Bian Changxi scrambled up, her wounds scraped even worse. She grabbed a crystal core to absorb energy and heal, then pulled out a camping lantern. The others got up too; Chen Guanqing half-carried Cheng Haijun, and Chu Hao also held a lantern. All they could see was a thick bamboo forest; even the night sky was blocked by the dense leaves.

“Where are we?”

“At least we’re above ground. We’re finally out—no more worrying about suffocating.” Chu Hao exhaled heavily.

Bian Changxi tried to sense their surroundings, but the strange bamboo and the underground root system interfered, making it difficult. Suddenly, Milk (the dog) barked urgently, tugged her clothes, and dashed off in a direction. She said, “Let’s follow it.”

After a dozen steps, Bian Changxi’s face changed. “No, that thing underground is coming after us! Run!”

“Oh god, it just won’t give up. It really doesn’t want to let a single one of us go.”

“We’re all espers. We must smell delicious to it.” Chen Guanqing hoisted Cheng Haijun onto his back, and the three of them started running through the bamboo.

This bamboo was truly unusual. Though not directly attacking, its leaves and shoots would whip out, its tough, sharp branches causing them plenty of cuts and trouble. Bian Changxi hacked her way through with a Tang sword, Chu Hao took over carrying Cheng Haijun, and Chen Guanqing’s flames burned a path. The three worked together, moving fast.

The further they went in Milk’s direction, the sparser the bamboo became, and the ground sloped downward—it was a path down the mountain.

But Bian Changxi could feel the thing underground getting closer. Its long root tunneled through the earth like a pangolin, closing the distance. If it caught up, they’d be turned into zombies for sure.

“Beep beep—”

Suddenly, a car horn sounded ahead, and faint lights appeared. Several vehicles seemed to be approaching. Everyone brightened. “Someone’s coming!”

Bian Changxi hesitated, but survival instincts won out. She pulled out a huge searchlight, switched it on, and handed it to Chu Hao. “Hold it up, shine it at the sky.”

“Wow, you even packed this?”

She then pulled out a megaphone and called out, her voice ringing through the forest. “Friends outside, we’re in trouble here. If possible, please help us!”

After a moment, a strong male voice answered through a megaphone. “This is Zhu Yiming, commander of the Su City Field Army, in charge of rescue operations. We’re here to save you! Please describe your situation in detail.”

As the three of them pushed through the bamboo, Bian Changxi replied, “There’s bamboo everywhere here, but no aggressive plants or animals. The only threat is a huge root-like creature underground—it feeds on human powers and nutrients. One of its tendrils is chasing us!” She paused, then added, “There are also some people who escaped from the tunnel on the mountain, but I don’t know where they are. There are nearly three thousand people still inside, but the monster has already sent its tendrils in. I’m afraid…”

“Ah!” Chu Hao suddenly cried out, dropping the searchlight. His left foot had been grabbed and pulled into the earth. Bian Changxi quickly tossed aside the megaphone, grabbed his waist, and sent two sharp vines into the soil, finding the tendril. She froze it with ice, then burned it with a red-hot flame, charring a section. Seizing the chance, she yanked Chu Hao out. His left leg was still wrapped in a bit of tendril—she chopped it off, but it was too late. His entire left leg was now just skin and bone.

He collapsed, exhausted. The thick tendril burst from the earth, Bian Changxi’s vines unable to hold it back. It whipped through the air, snapping bamboo branches, then swung toward her.

Bian Changxi took a deep breath, ready to fight back, when a sudden gust of wind came from behind. Someone burst through the bamboo, moving so fast their footsteps were barely audible. The next thing she knew, her wrist was grabbed, and she was spun around. The tendril was caught in a powerful hand.

**Author’s Note:**

Thanks to Qiqiao Yezi for a pink ticket!

After some deep thought, I’ve decided to schedule regular updates: one chapter at 6 PM, another at 9 PM, so you won’t be left waiting at random times.

But, just a heads-up—if I ever miss an update, it might be due to a power or internet outage, or maybe I’m stuck on Kaspersky again. If it’s the latter, I’ll let you know in advance.

Finally, let’s celebrate—the male lead finally makes his grand entrance! By the way, I’ve never explicitly said Xiao Gu is the male lead, so how did you all guess? Well, I do prefer a fixed male lead. Once I decide who it is, no matter how much I like any supporting male character later, I never change it. I guess I have a bit of a loyalty complex—the male lead will always be my favorite. ╭╮"