Chapter 16 After Being Split, the Reward

After hacking through a patch of thorny bushes, a narrow path appeared before the five players. The mountain walls on either side suddenly converged at this point, leaving only a few meters of width. And at this sole entrance stood a mocking tree.

The tree's trunk was extremely thick, just enough to block the narrow passage. Only a few gaps were left on either side of the trunk, barely wide enough to squeeze an arm through. The tree's height was also astonishing, its crown clinging to the high mountain walls like scattered sea anemones. If players tried to go around it from above, they would inevitably enter the range of poisonous mist.

"Hmm... it looks like it'll take a lot of time to cut down this tree..." Tianma Xingkong murmured, gazing at the massive tree.

"I'm saying... if we hadn't gotten this axe..." Atobe continued, "Would we be stuck here?"

"Not necessarily," Feng Bujue said, "There are at least two other ways to get through."

Feichai Shu added, "Yeah, we can force our way over the top and then cure the poison." He paused, the expression in his eyes behind his sunglasses changing slightly. "Or... we could use a certain angle and force to destroy the mountains on both sides, creating a path."

Feng Bujue picked up the thread. "However, both of these methods have certain risks and require a certain amount of expenditure."

"And now... all I have to do is be a coolie, right?" Atobe asked with a helpless tone.

"Hehe... thanks for your hard work," Feichai Shu said, comforting him with a smile.

"Alas... who told me to be an admirer of Idian's?" Atobe said, already walking forward with the axe on his shoulder.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, a sudden change occurred.

"Ugh..." A low groan led to a bizarre scene. The bark of the "Mocking Giant Tree" began to wriggle, and a cross-shaped outline gradually protruded from the trunk. The players initially thought that a "giant face" of the mocking tree would emerge, but as the outline gradually became clear, they realized... this was clearly the shape of an entire "person."

About twenty seconds later, the giant tree's transformation stopped, and a protruding human-shaped lump appeared on its bark. The "person" was like a living being wrapped in bark, its body still moving slightly.

"Human..." A voice came from the head of the human-shaped figure, "...actually managed to get here..." As he said this, his head turned slightly. Since the appearance of this [Person in the Tree] had only a basic outline and no details, his expression and eyes were unclear, and the players could only guess... that he was moving his line of sight.

"You..." the Person in the Tree said to Atobe, "Are you thinking of using that thing in your hand to cut down this tree?"

"Uh..." Atobe hesitated for a few seconds and cleverly replied, "Depends on the situation..."

"If you can let us pass..." Feng Bujue took a few steps forward and interjected, "We can naturally abandon violence..."

"No, please..." the Person in the Tree interrupted, "Be sure to... cut down this tree."

"Oh?" Something flashed in Feng Bujue's mind. "You and this tree... are you not one?"

"Long ago, no," the Person in the Tree said, "But now... I just want to die."

"Hmm..." Feng Bujue stroked his chin, deep in thought.

"I see..." Atobe said, turning his head. "Anyway, we were planning to do this originally, or else... let's fulfill his wish?"

"Hold on," Feng Bujue waved his hand, walked in front of Atobe, and looked up at the Person in the Tree. "Can I first ask how you became like this?"

"Is that important?" the Person in the Tree asked.

"Just curious." Feng Bujue's expression was very leisurely, as if the three-hour task limit didn't exist at all. Without waiting for the other party to respond, he immediately continued, "Did a god do it? Or some perverted serial killer? Or... a bunch of sadducees?"

"What is he talking about?" Tianma Xingkong asked Honghu and Feichai Shu beside him in a low voice.

Honghu replied, "He's deliberately putting forward a few unreliable hypotheses to lure the other party into telling the truth."

"Uh... I wanted to ask... what exactly is this 'sadducees' he's talking about?" Little Ma asked.

"Huh?" Honghu was stunned. "This... I'm not sure either."

"The Sadducees were a sect of ancient Judaism," Feichai Shu explained at this time. "The sect denied that the dead would be resurrected, the existence of the soul, and concepts such as the 'afterlife' and 'angels.' In addition, they participated in the trial and execution of Jesus."

"So it's a gag..." Honghu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and looked at Feichai Shu. "Speaking of which... Brother Chai, you even know this kind of religious meme?"

"Fū--" Feichai Shu exhaled a mouthful of smoke. "When I was in college, to pick up girls... I joined a club that specialized in studying ancient religions." He looked up at the sky and blew a smoke ring. "Hehe... the funny thing is, this club was full of atheists. In our opinion, the Sadducees were the wisest group of people in the Old Testament. Unlike the Pharisees, they were keen on power, money, and fame, and had a weak sense of religion... Fū--" He took another puff, "...basically equivalent to ancient atheists."

At this point, Feichai Shu stopped his dashing forty-five-degree gazing-at-the-sky pose and turned to glance at Tianma Xingkong and Honghu. He thought that these two would look at him with an admiring gaze. But the reality was... they had already stood a few meters away and turned their attention to Feng Bujue.

"Hey! You're not even listening!" Feichai Shu muttered dejectedly in his heart and threw the cigarette butt on the ground.

On the other side, Feng Bujue was still asking questions incessantly: "Hannibal? Charles Manson? John Hinckley? Chuck Norris? Jason?"

(The names listed above refer to: a cannibalistic maniac in a novel, a notorious hippie killer, a "psychopath" who assassinated Reagan, a pure macho man, and a virtual humanoid monster.)

"Enough!" The Person in the Tree, who had originally been calm, finally couldn't bear it anymore. He shouted loudly, interrupting Jue-ge's nonsensical offensive, "It was the 'Executioner'... he's the one who made me like this now..." The Person in the Tree's voice trembled slightly. "That's the answer, are you satisfied?"

"Ah~ Actually, I was just asking casually," Feng Bujue replied, shrugging.

"Who believes that!" Atobe instinctively roared.

"Okay..." Jue-ge ignored Atobe and continued to say to the Person in the Tree, "Then... let's talk about conditions." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, putting on an arrogant face. "What kind of reward are you prepared to offer for killing you?"

"Hey... what's going on..." Atobe didn't dare to say it out loud this time, but just muttered in his heart, "There's no such transaction in the world!"

"Don't worry..." the Person in the Tree replied, "Cut along my waist, and when the tree is completely broken, you will get your 'reward'..."

Atobe was shocked: "There really is one!"