Chapter 1 After Splitting the Thorns

After hacking through a patch of thorns, a narrow path appeared before the five players. The mountain walls on both sides suddenly converged, leaving only a gorge a few meters wide. And at this only entrance stood a Taunting Treant.

The tree’s trunk was extremely thick, enough to block the gorge. Only a few gaps remained on either side of the trunk, barely wide enough to fit an arm. The tree’s height was also astonishing; its canopy clung to the high mountain walls like scattered sea anemones. If the players tried to bypass it from above, they would inevitably enter the range of the poisonous fog.

“Hmm… Chopping down this tree is going to take a while…” Tianma Xingkong murmured, gazing at the massive tree.

“I’m saying… if we hadn’t gotten this axe…” Jibe continued, “Are we stuck here?”

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

Uncle Waste added, “Yeah, we can force our way over from above and then detoxify.” He paused, his eyes behind his sunglasses shifting slightly. “Or… we could destroy the mountains on either side with a certain angle and force, creating a new path.”

Feng Bujue picked up the thread. “However, both methods carry risks and require a certain amount of expenditure.”

“And now… all I have to do is be a coolie, right?” Jibe said with a helpless tone.

“Hehe… thanks for your hard work,” Uncle Waste said, comforting him with a smile.

“Alas… who told me to be an admirer of Idianter?” Jibe said, already walking forward with the axe on his shoulder.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, an unforeseen event occurred.

“Ugh…” A low groan heralded an eerie scene. The bark of the Taunting Treant began to writhe, and a cross-shaped outline gradually emerged from the trunk. The players had assumed that a giant face of the Taunting Treant would appear, but as the outline became clearer, they realized… it was clearly the shape of an entire person.

About twenty seconds later, the changes to the giant tree stopped. A raised, human-shaped lump appeared on its bark. The “person” seemed to be wrapped inside the bark like a living thing, its body still moving slightly.

“Humans…” A voice came from the head of the humanoid form. “…managed to get here…” As he said this, his head turned slightly. Since the Tree-Man’s appearance only had a basic outline with no details, his expression and eyes were unclear. The players could only guess… that he was moving his line of sight.

“You…” the Tree-Man said to Jibe, “Are you planning to use what’s in your hand to chop down this tree?”

“Uh…” Jibe hesitated for a few seconds, then cleverly replied, “Depends on the situation…”

“If you can let us pass,” Feng Bujue stepped forward, interjecting, “We can naturally abandon violence…”

“No, please…” the Tree-Man interrupted, “Chop down this tree.”

“Oh?” Something flashed through Feng Bujue’s mind. “You and this tree… are not one?”

“Long ago, no,” the Tree-Man said. “But now… I just want to die.”

“Hmm…” Feng Bujue rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

“So that’s how it is…” Jibe said, turning his head. “Anyway, that’s what we were planning to do. How about… we grant his wish?”

“Hold on,” Feng Bujue waved his hand, walked in front of Jibe, and looked up at the Tree-Man. “Can I ask first, how did you become like this?”

“Is that important?” the Tree-Man asked.

“Just curious.” Feng Bujue’s expression was very leisurely, as if the three-hour mission time limit didn’t exist. Without waiting for the other party to respond, he immediately continued, “Was it done by a god? Or a perverted murderer? Or… a bunch of sadducees?”

“What’s he saying?” Tianma Xingkong asked Honghu and Uncle Waste beside him in a whisper.

Honghu replied, “He’s deliberately making a few unreliable assumptions to lure him into telling the truth.”

“Uh… I wanted to ask… what exactly is he talking about when he says 'sadducees'?” Little Ma asked.

“Huh?” Honghu was taken aback. “This… I don’t know either.”

“The Sadducees were a sect of ancient Judaism,” Uncle Waste explained at this time. “The sect denied the resurrection of the dead, 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 point of ridicule…” Honghu wiped a cold sweat from his forehead and looked at Uncle Waste. “Speaking of… Brother Chai, you even know this kind of religious reference?”

“Fuu—” Uncle Waste exhaled a puff of smoke. “When I was in college, to pick up girls… I joined a club that specialized in ancient religions.” He looked up at the sky and exhaled 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 enthusiastic about power, money, and fame, and had a weak sense of religion… Fuu—” He took another puff. “…Basically, they were the ancient atheists.”

At this point, Uncle Waste stopped his dashing forty-five-degree gaze toward the sky and turned to glance at Tianma Xingkong and Honghu. He had thought that these two would cast adoring glances at him. But the reality was… they had already stood a few meters away, shifting their attention to Feng Bujue.

“Hey! You weren’t listening at all!” Uncle Waste complained in his heart, throwing the cigarette butt on the ground.

On the other side, Feng Bujue was still asking endlessly, “Hannibal? Charles Manson? John Hinckley? Chuck Norris? Jason?”

(The names listed above refer to: a cannibalistic madman from a novel, a notorious hippie killer, a “psychopath” who assassinated Reagan, a pure man, and a fictional humanoid monster.)

“Enough!” The Tree-Man, who had been peaceful until now, finally couldn’t help but shout, interrupting Jue-ge’s nonsensical offensive. “It was the 'Executioner'… he turned me into this…” The Tree-Man’s voice trembled slightly. “That’s the answer, are you satisfied?”

“Ah~ Actually, I was just asking casually,” Feng Bujue replied with a shrug.

“Who would believe that!” Jibe instinctively roared.

“Okay…” Jue-ge ignored Jibe and continued to say to the Tree-Man, “Then… let’s talk about the 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…” Jibe didn’t dare to say it out loud this time, but just thought in his heart, “What kind of transaction is this!”

“Don’t worry…” the Tree-Man replied, “Cut along my waist, and when the tree is completely broken, you will get the ‘reward’…”

Jibe was shocked: “There really is one!”