Xu Xing retreated. The treants clasped their hands together and slammed them forcefully, emitting a deafening roar. Had Xu Xing not dodged in time, she would have been reduced to a pulp. The ten-meter-tall treants, with their full strength in their palms, were capable of crushing not just humans, but elephants as well.
"Rustle... rustle..." Suddenly, numerous vines emerged from the ground, coiling towards Xu Xing. She quickly evaded them, but from all directions, over thirty treants were encircling her. There was almost no solid ground to stand on, and all that met her gaze were smooth, tangled vines.
With a moment's lapse in attention, Xu Xing was instantly ensnared by the vines, and the others continued to wrap around her.
Once her feet were bound, it became significantly harder for Xu Xing to dodge. The towering treants continued to advance towards her.
At this very moment, Chacaev, leading the miners, bypassed the treants and fled into the distance, seemingly unconcerned about Xu Xing, who was trapped. Strangely, the treants did not pursue them either, focusing solely on Xu Xing, whose feet were entangled.
Seeing that everyone had successfully escaped, Xu Xing finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to herself, "It seems my efforts were not in vain; at least I managed to let these people get away."
Subsequently, Xu Xing unleashed her powers with all her might. Her entire body began to vibrate, and then the vines wrapped around her legs were instantly severed. Xu Xing broke free. By now, she was a fourth-tier ability user, possessing considerable strength, as her abilities were specifically designed for combat.
Having escaped, Xu Xing intended to flee the area. As the saying goes, a wise person knows when to retreat from a difficult situation. Xu Xing was not necessarily a hero, but a woman, yet the principle remained the same: if one cannot defeat an opponent, there is no need to prolong the struggle.
Xu Xing fled frantically into the distance, determined to break through. In her view, if ordinary people could escape, she certainly could.
However, the thirty-odd treants formed a perfect circle. No matter which direction she charged, she would encounter a treant. Furthermore, whenever Xu Xing attempted to charge towards Shen Feng's direction, the treants in front would unfurl their vines, transforming them into a net to block her path. Despite several attempts to break free, Xu Xing was unsuccessful.
At this point, Xu Xing suddenly recalled the information about the treants provided by the City Lord. Ordinary treants were blind, relying solely on sound for hunting. The essence of sound was sonic waves, meaning that by running rapidly on the ground, the treants could react quickly.
With this realization, Xu Xing immediately understood. She opened her backpack and threw all its contents out, hoping to distract the treants by discarding the items.
Unexpectedly, even after Xu Xing had thrown out everything from her backpack, it failed to divert the treants' attention. Their vines continued to extend towards Xu Xing. As for the items Xu Xing had thrown onto the ground, the treants did not even glance at them, appearing completely uninterested.
Xu Xing was stunned by this sight and couldn't help but say with frustration, "City Lord, you lied to me. These treants don't hunt by sound."
Xu Xing had no choice but to retreat step by step. If she hadn't been surrounded, she could have relied on her speed. She believed that the slow-moving treants wouldn't be able to catch her. However, now that she was completely encircled, it was almost impossible to move, and Xu Xing's mind was in turmoil.
Suddenly, Xu Xing noticed the tree knots on the treants' heads. Above the knots was a glowing fruit, something Xu Xing didn't recognize, and Shen Feng hadn't mentioned it. This indicated that Shen Feng had never encountered treants with fruit growing on their heads.
With this thought, Xu Xing's mind suddenly lit up. She thought, "Could the weakness of the treants be this glowing fruit on their heads?"
The more Xu Xing considered it, the more likely it seemed. To test this theory, Xu Xing immediately charged towards a treant. Along the way, she dodged the vines on the ground and, with difficulty, reached the treant. She punched its leg.
As she struck the treant's leg, a shockwave instantly propagated. The speed of the shockwave through wood was even faster than sound. In an instant, almost as soon as Xu Xing hit the treant's leg, the glowing fruit on the tree knot exploded into fragments.
After the glowing fruit on its head shattered, the treant's movements became chaotic. Its direction became completely confused, and it began attacking the surrounding treants.
Xu Xing observed this and felt a sense of relief, believing she had finally found the treants' weakness. However, after the glowing fruit shattered, the treants merely lost their perception of their surroundings; their movements were unaffected.
"Could these fruits be the treants' eyes? If I shatter this glowing fruit, does it mean the treant loses its sight?" Xu Xing mused silently.
Xu Xing felt that this must be the case. Her next course of action was to attack continuously. Shockwaves could propagate through objects. While her long-range attack capabilities were not strong, at this moment, as long as she could make contact with the treants' bodies, Xu Xing could unleash her power. Shattering a few fruits, what problem could that be?
Subsequently, Xu Xing found her targets and continued to attack the treants, successfully shattering the glowing fruits on their heads one by one.
The movements of the thirty-odd treants instantly became chaotic. They were not only wildly swinging their arms, but the surrounding vines were also randomly entangling.
Xu Xing seized this rare opportunity to escape. The thirty-odd treants were still too powerful. After truly engaging them, Xu Xing realized that her abilities were incapable of causing substantial damage to these treants.
"Swish." At this moment, Xu Xing was suddenly ensnared by vines. She quickly used her abilities to break the vines around her and looked around. She discovered that new glowing fruits had grown on the treants' heads, more than before, with one on each. They were now present on all sides of the tree knots.
If these glowing fruits were the treants' eyes, then this scene meant that the treants' heads were now covered with eyes on all sides.
Upon witnessing this, Xu Xing felt like cursing, but treants had no mothers. She hadn't expected that after shattering one fruit, the treants would grow so many glowing fruits in such a short time. In such a situation, how could she fight?
Yet, even at this point, Xu Xing had no intention of surrendering. She was determined to fight until the very end, holding onto a sliver of hope: "Perhaps the City Lord is nearby. Upon hearing the commotion here, the City Lord will surely come to my rescue."
Xu Xing's greatest hope was for the City Lord to descend from the heavens and rescue her from the treants. That was the way a hero should make an entrance.
However, as Xu Xing harbored her fantasy, a treant suddenly swung its entwined vines and struck Xu Xing forcefully on her back. Xu Xing, hit by such an impact, felt a surge of sweetness in her throat, her mouth filling with a metallic taste, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.
Immediately afterward, Xu Xing fainted. In the end, Xu Xing never received the rescue from her dear Brother Shen Feng.
The treants did not immediately finish off the unconscious Xu Xing. Instead, they bound her with vines and slowly led her towards a cave, taking her underground.
Xu Xing had a dream. She dreamt she was eating at her home in Yuzhou. Her mother was still the same, extremely vigilant about everything. Even though the City Lord's mansion had sent fresh food, she still repeatedly questioned, "Is this food for everyone, or just for me? Why would they send food for no reason?"
"Mom, can't you trust others? This is from the City Lord's mansion, why are you still suspicious?" Xu Xing said to her mother with dissatisfaction.
But at this moment, Wu Yelian looked at Xu Xing seriously and said, "My foolish girl, this world has changed. Don't be naive and trust others. No one is worth your trust. Be suspicious of everything that warrants suspicion."
Xu Xing wanted to retort, but she suddenly woke up.
"Mom?" Xu Xing instinctively wanted to find her mother, but when she opened her eyes, where was her mother? She was in a bright cave, suspended in mid-air, held by vines. She tried to use her abilities but couldn't, being unable to gain leverage in the air.
"Look, this young lady is already crying for her mother. How pathetic!" At this moment, human voices came from behind Xu Xing.
Xu Xing quickly looked back and saw many familiar faces. Behind her, twenty people were also hanging by vines. They were all renowned ability users who had emerged during the zombie outbreak. They were all from the Ability Management Bureau. Unfortunately, at this moment, all of them were hanging from trees.
"You've all been captured? How could this happen?" Xu Xing initially couldn't believe that ability users could be so fragile. Ability users were beings that surpassed human limits, capable of fighting their way through mutated beasts. Yet, over twenty people had been captured, which was simply unbelievable.
At this moment, Lu Yizhen quickly explained, "Stop, stop, stop. We haven't been wiped out. There are still three of us who haven't been caught. Speaking of which, young lady, where are you from? We haven't seen you before."
Chai Kefu looked at Xu Xing, who was young and beautiful, and smiled, saying, "Do I need to say? She must be the child of a prominent family, otherwise, how could she use ability potions?"
Xu Xing said coldly, "Don't spout nonsense. I am from Yuzhou, a subordinate of Shen Feng, the Wind God! If you don't recognize me, fine, but I dare to bet that none of you are my match!"
At this moment, Xu Xing felt indignant at being looked down upon. She had come to rescue people, only to be mocked as a child of a prominent family, implying that her ability to become an ability user was entirely due to her background.
Upon hearing this, the people from the Ability Management Bureau burst into laughter. They hadn't expected this young lady to be a subordinate of Shen Feng, and they hadn't seen her before. It seemed like fate.
"Alright, alright, you're powerful, but so what? You've still been captured," Lu Yizhen said with a smile.
Lu Yizhen's ability was visual enhancement, allowing him to see if others were using abilities. At its peak, it could even detect heat dissipation invisible to others, making his situational awareness unparalleled. However, his combat power was lacking, and against Xu Xing, he was not a match.
At this moment, although Xu Xing was captured, she still wanted to be defiant: "I was captured while covering for others to escape. If I wanted to leave, I would have left long ago."
"Then you are truly pathetic. You don't even realize you've been betrayed by those you saved. Yesterday evening, a miner was captured, and after being threatened, he willingly revealed directions. The reason you were captured by the treants is that the very people you saved exposed your location. And you're still proud of it!" Chai Kefu also began to mock her at this time.
"What did you say? I was exposed by my own people? Impossible!" Xu Xing was furious upon hearing this, as she absolutely refused to believe that she was captured because she was betrayed by the people she had protected.