Chapter 503: Mutant Banyan Tree ( 2 )
"Yixie, keep this in your space," Zhang Yuan said while handing the mushrooms to her.
Seeing the plump, juicy mushrooms, Pei Yixie’s eyes lit up as she asked, "Vice Captain, where did you get these mushrooms from?"
"We found them at the rockery behind the bushes. It’s a mutant mushroom and we want to bring these back and try to plant it," Yin Yusheng said.
Pei Yixie nodded and stored the mushrooms in her space. Since they were ability-users, the amount of zombie virus contained in the water was not enough to trigger mutation. So, the four of them ate with ease.
Thanks to their big appetite, they finished a whole pot of soup and roasted meat without leaving even a drop behind. After eating, they packed up and continued climbing the mountain.
The mutant plant was spotted at the peak of one of the mountains. With the location fixed, they didn’t have to waste time searching for it.
They climbed for another five hours before Zhang Yuan suddenly raised his hand and said, "Wait."
"Vice Captain, what’s wrong?" Pei Yixie asked.
"Something is not right. We have been walking for so long but we didn’t encounter any mutant animals or mutant plants," Zhang Yuan replied.
When they heard this, Yin Yusheng observed the surroundings. A moment later, he suddenly felt a surge of wood energy coming from under their feet.
"Watch out!"
Before they could react, countless vines pierced the ground and wrapped around their ankles. Seeing this, Fu Guai swung his arms.
Crash! Crash!
His sharp, long nails cut off the vines and freed his ankles. Before other vines could attack him, he leaped into the air and cut off the vines that were binding Zhang Yuan and the rest.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Finally freed, they leaped from the ground and jumped to the tree branches. Standing on one of the thick branches, they saw that the ground was covered with countless vines.
Yin Yusheng raised his head and checked the surroundings before he pointed in a direction and said, "Vice Captain, it’s there!"
The members turned and saw a massive tree swaying in the distance.
Judging from the size, the mutant tree should be more than two hundred meters tall, while the canopy was more than fifty meters wide.
The canopy of the tree was dense and wide, making it seem like a giant umbrella. From afar, the green canopy gave them an eerie feeling as the vines crawled on the ground.
"It’s actually a Mutant Banyan Tree," Pei Yixie said in disbelief.
Under normal conditions, a Banyan Tree is already included as one of the big tree species. Now that the tree had mutated, it not only grew in size but also became aggressive and dangerous.
For the tree to grow so fast, not long after the second rain, it must have consumed lots of crystal cores.
Now that they saw this tree, they finally realized why there were no other Mutant Animals or Mutant Plants in this mountain. They might have turned into fertilizer for this Mutant Banyan.
"Vice Captain, what should we do now?" Yin Yusheng asked.
Zhang Yuan observed the situation for a moment and said, "We can’t handle this Mutant Plant alone. Let’s retreat first and discuss it with the Captain."
"Understood," the members nodded and leaped to another tree.
As if noticing their intention to escape, the vines suddenly shot up toward them. Sensing the danger, Zhang Yuan raised his hand, and an Earth Wall appeared behind them.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Crack!
The vines were blocked by the Earth Wall, but due to the number of vines, the wall cracked and collapsed in less than three minutes.
Seeing this, the members realized that they couldn’t fight against the Mutant Tree head-on and increased their speed.
While everyone was focused on running, a small Sunflower suddenly popped out on Yin Yusheng’s collarbone. Noticing it, he said, "Kuikui, it’s dangerous here. Go back."
Using its leaves, Kuikui slapped its master’s cheek and pointed at a patch of Moss under a big rock not far from them.
"You want me to go there?" he asked with doubts.
Kuikui nodded and pointed at the patch of Moss again anxiously. Although he didn’t know what his Sunflower wanted, Yin Yusheng still went in that direction after hesitating for a moment.
"Yin Yusheng, where are you going?" Zhang Yuan asked with surprise when he saw this.
"Vice Captain, I need to check on something."
Soon after Yin Yusheng said this, several vines already reached his location. The sharp vines aimed at his back at a fast speed.
Crash! Crash!
Everyone thought that he would be hit, but before they could pierce his back, Fu Guai appeared suddenly and slashed the vines with his daggers. He turned to look at Yin Yusheng and saw him scraping some Moss from the ground under a rock.
Even though he had only joined them for a while, he knew that Yin Yusheng was not someone who did something recklessly. He glanced at the Moss for a moment before continuing to block the vines.
Zhang Yuan and Pei Yixie also turned back and helped out when they saw that the vines focused on targeting Fu Guai. While they were busy blocking the attacks, Yin Yusheng focused on collecting the Moss.
Using his dagger, he scraped off the Moss from the rock and put it into a tube prepared by Mo Junjie to collect some samples. When he was done, he stood up and said, "I’m done!"
The three of them quickly cut off the nearest vines and retreated when they heard this. Without wasting time, they leaped from the ground and rushed out of the Mutant Banyan’s attack area.
Due to the continuous attack of the vines, it took them four hours to leave the mountain area.
At first, they thought that the maximum area of the Mutant Banyan Tree’s attack would be one kilometer. Unexpectedly, its roots and vines actually covered the entire small mountain.