Although Zhou Haimei didn't know what Ong Quan intended to do with the monsters' heads, ever since she saw a strange heart, she told herself that there were too many things in this world that couldn't be explained by science, or even by words.
Xu An shared Zhou Haimei's concerns. Killing the monster was one thing, but cutting off its head in front of these two people and then, unnoticed by everyone, extracting the small mushroom from its head was another matter entirely.
Xu An instantly felt the pressure. She scanned the monster that was still roaring over there, gritting her teeth. "Let's not worry about anything else for now, let's kill this monster first."
It wasn't that Xu An wasn't cautious. This monster had clearly gained sentience. Who knew if there were other giant zombies like this one around? Dealing with one was already so strenuous. If another one appeared, they might as well forget about their ulterior motives here.
"We can't let it call for its companions!" Xu An and Zhou Haimei spoke at the same time. The two of them, one with a saber and the other with a gun, cooperated to shoot all their bullets into the monster's neck while it was still howling and roaring.
A zombie's weakness lay in its brain. If the head had to be preserved, only by severing the neck could this zombie be thoroughly killed. The zombie whose pupils had been pierced was like a warrior who had lost their arms. It spun around aimlessly, its hands flailing in the air. Zhou Haimei seized the opportunity to fire a few more shots, but still missed the vital points.
Xu An discovered that this zombie could still discern their location through other means and thus evade them. Upon realizing this, Xu An made a decisive move, wielding her saber and swiftly cutting off the monster's ears. To be safe, Xu An also cut off its nose. The already rotten and foul-smelling monster became even more disfigured.
At this point, Zhou Haimei found that when she shot, the monster stood completely still, showing no signs of evasion. It was as if it had transformed from a furious lion into a docile sheep, ready to be slaughtered.
Xu An took the opportunity to chop off the monster's head and, while everyone's attention was diverted, transferred the monster's head into her space. Of course, it was her own space. Xu An even scornfully sent a wisp of her divine sense into the space, extracted the mushroom from the monster's head, wrapped it layer by layer in thick black plastic bags, and threw it into a corner of the space.
The glowing mushroom that existed within the monster's brain, upon emerging, behaved like a tadpole searching for its mother, whooshing away and disappearing into the space tree in a flash, transforming into specks of starlight that merged into the tree's body.
Xu An: "......"
Before she even had a chance to get a good look, the item she had risked her life for was "eaten" by the tree in her space. Seeing the branches and leaves of the tree stretch out their contented foliage as if it had eaten its fill, Xu An had nowhere to vent her anger. So, I risked life and death out there, almost losing my life, just to be a tool for feeding you mushrooms?!!!
Just as Xu An was ruthlessly condemning the space tree's "ungrateful" and exploitative behavior, two voices suddenly reached her ears. One was from Zhou Haimei, who looked at Xu An with concern, shaking her shoulders. "An'an, what's wrong? Why are you spacing out? That monster is dead! We can leave now!"
The other voice came from deep within Xu An's soul, making her tremble. "Stop babbling. Once I recover my strength, I can help you." A clear voice, like a babbling brook, sounded in Xu An's mind.
Xu An couldn't speak. She looked at the three people in front of her, trying her best to maintain a semblance of calm. "It's nothing, maybe I'm just tired. Let's go see if there are any more supplies we can collect, and then we'll leave this place quickly."
Xu An suppressed her inner curiosity and chatted with the others, walking towards the mall together, but her heart was already pounding with excitement. She never imagined, no matter how hard she racked her brain, that this broken tree could actually talk!
The tree seemed to be able to hear Xu An's thoughts, its voice laced with a hint of pride and disdain. "You're the broken tree, and your whole family are broken trees!"
Xu An: "......" She could communicate with this broken tree without speaking?
Broken Tree: "......" "I already told you I'm not a broken tree. What's your problem, woman? It's your consciousness that can travel back and forth in the space, so what's so strange about us being able to communicate with consciousness?"
As Zhou Haimei was leaving, she glanced at the pile of rotten flesh. The monster's head was not there. She guessed Xu An had put it into her storage space. She couldn't help but admire Xu An's swift and clean actions. She leaned close to Xu An's ear and asked in a seemingly casual whisper, "All handled?"
Upon receiving Xu An's expression of "no problem," she finally relaxed. "Then I won't call you a broken tree. What should I call you? By the way, why can you talk? How about I give you a name?"
Before the space tree could interrupt Xu An's incessant chatter and stop her, it heard the two words that came from Xu An's mouth. Instantly, the entire space fell silent. "Er Ya, how about I name you Er Ya? See how well it suits you." Xu An looked pleased with herself, recalling the space tree's previous appearance, and felt that she was simply a naming genius.
Er Ya, or the space tree, remained silent. Silence was the C.K. bridge tonight. It really shouldn't have held any expectations. Someone who could name their pet "Gou Dan" (Egg) should never be expected to utter anything good.
"I don't want to!"
"Objection overruled!" Xu An, with "iron-fisted" methods, rejected Er Ya's request to change its name. From then on, the space tree gained a fashionable new name. Er Ya.
"So, what exactly are you?" Xu An asked curiously.
"I am originally the origin of consciousness. My true form was originally nothingness. Whatever form you humans project onto us, that is what we become."
Xu An: "Speak human language."
"It's because a monster appeared among humans. He broke through the life restrictions, stole my heart, and scattered the power of my consciousness origin. That's why the world turned upside down, with rivers flowing backward and day and night becoming indistinguishable."
"You mean, this apocalypse is caused by a human?"
"Your statement is not precise. Strictly speaking, he can no longer be considered human. He broke the restrictions on Planet Blue, and he attempted to go to another planet..." Er Ya stopped speaking as if realizing it had said too much.
Xu An listened for a long time without hearing the continuation, and became anxious, blurting out, "You should keep talking!"
Er Ya: ... Zhou Haimei: ... Lin Zhuoran: ... Yu Qin: ... The three of them looked innocent, they hadn't said anything! Xu An looked embarrassed. "It's fine, it's fine, I was just lost in thought."
"Did you find anything?" Lin Zhuoran flipped through the items in his hand. "We found some spare medicine, and we plan to look further inside."
"Okay," Xu An replied, while communicating with Er Ya through her consciousness. "No, what kind of person are you, stopping halfway through your story?"
However, no matter how Xu An tried to inquire, Er Ya stubbornly refused to speak again, which made Xu An feel incredibly frustrated. Yu Qin, who had remained silent since the monster appeared, lowered her eyes and looked at Xu An, an unexplainable emotion hidden in her gaze.