When Jin Zijue uttered the words "Banyan Flying Across," the attention of the many psychics present was drawn. They were, of course, aware of the incident, thanks to a primary school lesson that had once described it. Thus, this legendary story had become widely known due to the textbook.
The so-called Banyan Flying Across was actually an event that occurred when a herd of antelopes was cornered by hunters at the edge of a cliff. The span between the cliff edges was too great for the antelopes to jump across. Ultimately, what happened was as depicted in the textbook: the older antelopes jumped first, followed by the younger ones. The younger antelopes then used the older ones as stepping stones to leap across the chasm, with the older antelopes falling to their deaths. The younger antelopes ultimately reached the other side of the cliff successfully. This story was quite inspiring, but it was rumored to be fabricated.
A great philosopher, Zibeilin, once said, "The greatness of humanity is the greatness of courage, and the praise of humanity is the praise of courage."
For older individuals to risk their lives for the sake of younger ones is undoubtedly an act of immense courage. Leaving the hope of survival to the younger generation is a choice many species make, and it is an act that humans empathize with the most.
To get a clearer view, Jin Zijue took out another light bulb from his hand and, using his psychic abilities, directly lit it up.
The crowd then stared intently at the distant cliff, eager to see if the reality matched the description in the legendary textbook, and whether the older individuals would indeed sacrifice their lives.
These people were merely bored enough to pay attention to such trivial matters. The most important task at hand was to kill the treants. Instead, the entire group was fixated on a herd of wild deer. Although they were not antelopes, it was assumed that the intelligence of these two species was similar. Any method an antelope could devise, wild deer would surely be able to conceive of as well.
As the treants approached, the wild deer finally made their decision: they would build up momentum and leap to the other side. Fortunately, thanks to the extension of the ice, jumping from the ice to the opposite side was now much easier, with the span reduced by more than half.
Ultimately, the wild deer divided themselves as the onlookers had predicted, into older and younger individuals. They then began their run-up one after another.
First, the older individuals charged forward, with the younger ones following closely behind. As the older individuals plunged downwards, the younger wild deer stepped on their backs and leaped high again, while the older wild deer plummeted into the abyss.
However, even with the same tactic as the Banyan Flying Across, the younger mutated wild deer sank after leaping only twenty meters. If the gap between the cliffs had been only twenty meters, this might have worked. But the chasm proved that it was not something that could be bridged with lives.
"Alas, it seems that even the texts in textbooks can be deceptive. It's a pity that in my youth, I was deceived by such things, and that this was all fabricated," Jin Zijue could only admit that his younger, ignorant self had been fooled upon witnessing this scene.
Meanwhile, the treants were also closing in. Thirty treants walked onto the ice. The oblivious treants had no idea that below them lay a bottomless abyss, and falling into it would inevitably result in them being shattered to pieces. However, at this moment, all the treants were mesmerized by the heat signatures of their prey.
The ice surface formed by Zhang Zi's control was very solid, and even the treants and numerous mutated beasts had no problem walking on it. But just as the last treant stepped onto the ice, Xiao Sheng shouted loudly, "Now is the time, attack!"
The icy landscape was precisely the domain where Zhang Zi could unleash her abilities. Under Xiao Sheng's fervent anticipation, Zhang Zi immediately acted: "In that case, let it break."
The ice at the connection point on the cliff edge instantly shattered, and the treants and countless prey on the ice immediately plunged into the abyss. With a "crackling" sound, the ice surface was covered in cracks almost instantaneously and then broke apart. The treants realized something was wrong and tried to grab the cliff with their vines, but it was in vain. Even if the vines managed to grip the cliff, they would break instantly. In the end, all thirty treants fell into the abyss.
"Success! Now, three-fifths of the treants' strength has been weakened. We will continue to wait. If the mutated plants send more treants to hunt, we will do the same. If the treants do not appear, we will slowly deplete their strength underground. Once we have recuperated, we will charge in and eliminate the mutated plants, and then return home in glory." Seeing this scene, Xiao Sheng felt his heart surge with emotion and couldn't help but say with great passion.
The others, upon hearing Xiao Sheng's words, also showed eager expressions. Previously, when facing the treants, nearly five thousand people had been routed by them. This was because they were underground at the time, making it difficult to maneuver, and the number of treants had not been reduced. But now, more than half of the treants had been eliminated. It was uncertain who would emerge victorious if they charged into the cave to fight now.
"It seems we will soon avenge our fallen comrades. This time, we will not believe that we cannot defeat the mutated plants," the crowd said, rubbing their hands in anticipation.
Once they fell into the abyss, there was no hope of survival. This was not a world in a Wuxia novel where one would encounter fortuitous encounters after falling off a cliff and find a manual for the Nine Yang Divine Skill. In a bottomless abyss, if you fell, there was no hope of survival.
Even treants, falling from such a height, would surely be smashed to pieces.
And while the Psychic Administration personnel were celebrating, beneath them, Shen Feng, Lu Xian, and Qi Lingshan were also preparing in full swing. The three of them used small buckets to continuously transport crude oil into the marmot's burrow, piling it all into a newly dug stone chamber next to the cave where the mutated plants were located.
Although Shen Feng's plan was almost flawless, transporting crude oil underground involved navigating the twists and turns of the underground tunnels, which was quite arduous. Along the way, the ground was sprinkled with black oil.
Fortunately, it was during a heavy snowfall. Otherwise, even a single spark would have severed the oil transportation route.
Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan felt no guilt for their actions. Although this was a betrayal of their friend, storing oil while the Psychic Administration was busy eliminating the treants and then setting fire to it at a critical moment would undoubtedly ruin the Psychic Administration's efforts. However, this was ultimately for the long-term benefit of Yuzhou. So, apologies were in order, but as long as the Psychic Administration personnel saw nothing, they would have no evidence to prove that their faction had done this.
Shen Feng, on the other hand, felt a bit uneasy. Xiao Sheng harbored no ill intentions towards him; Xiao Sheng merely wanted to enhance the status of the Psychic Administration. Yet, Shen Feng now had to betray Xiao Sheng for the sake of Yuzhou's interests, which made Shen Feng feel terrible.
Meanwhile, in a dome-shaped ice house within the camp, a faint light flickered from the window. This type of ice house was a dwelling used by the North American Eskimos in the Arctic regions, with transparent ice blocks used for the windows. Qi Yunfang was sitting by the window at this moment.
Qi Yunfang remained in the camp ostensibly to take good care of her friend Xu Xing. The two had met underground and were instrumental in facilitating the plan for an inside-and-outside cooperation. When a group of strong men had lost hope of escaping the control of the mutated plants, it was Qi Yunfang and Xu Xing's efforts that ultimately led to the subsequent situation.
However, while taking care of Xu Xing, Qi Yunfang's eyes kept drifting towards the distant cellar. She thought that Xu Xing's vision was poor and she wouldn't be able to see her actions. Little did she know that after consuming bear gall powder, Xu Xing's vision had improved considerably. Although her vision was still blurry, she could still see Qi Yunfang turning her head without issue.
Xu Xing knew very well that Qi Yunfang was definitely observing whether Shen Feng and the other two were in the cellar, and her task was to stall Qi Yunfang, preventing her from discovering anything unusual.
Qi Yunfang kept looking towards the distant cellar. In the midst of the swirling snow, anything further away was completely obscured. She was contemplating whether she should find an excuse to go and check the cellar.
However, Xu Xing never gave Qi Yunfang such an opportunity. She had many requests, either feeling hungry and wanting food, or thirsty and wanting water. She also didn't want plain water but insisted on having white sugar and tea added to it. The tea should not be too strong, otherwise, it would become very bitter, and the white sugar should not be too much, otherwise, it would cause internal heat. The water temperature also couldn't be too high; Qi Yunfang would have to blow on it when it was hot enough to burn her mouth.
Qi Yunfang was immediately speechless, thinking, "You're not exactly a lady of refinement, so why do you have so many demands when drinking tea? You're truly difficult to serve."
However, Qi Yunfang also considered that Xu Xing was currently a patient, so she couldn't ignore Xu Xing's requests at this time and could only grit her teeth and do these things.
At this moment, Xu Xing said, "Sister Qi, I want to change my clothes now, but my backpack is with the City Lord. Can you go and get my backpack for me?"
As soon as she heard this, it was exactly what Qi Yunfang had been hoping for. She was worried about not having a reason to check if Shen Feng and the others were still in the cellar. Now it was truly a case of "when you wish for a pillow, it arrives." Qi Yunfang immediately took action and said, "Then you wait, I'll go and get your luggage right away."
Previously, when they were attacked by the treants, Xu Xing had thrown all her clothes out to create noise, hoping to mislead the treants with this tactic. However, the plan failed, and her clothes and luggage were all lost. But that scoundrel Skailaniv had seen this from the shadows and secretly collected them. Later, Shen Feng misunderstood, thinking that this scumbag had ambushed Xu Xing, and directly rushed forward to deal with this scumbag, and the backpack was taken by Shen Feng.
Now, Qi Yunfang had a legitimate reason to go to the cellar to check on the status of Shen Feng and his group, and she immediately went out. When Qi Yunfang arrived at the entrance of the cellar, she looked around and found no footprints nearby, feeling relieved, she said, "It seems there's no problem."
The entrance to the cellar was a large stone slab, with many bamboo pipes extending out as ventilation holes. There was a fireplace underground. If there were no air holes, it went without saying that there would be carbon monoxide poisoning. At this time, smoke was also rising from the chimney.
Qi Yunfang quickly knocked on the stone slab, and then the slab was opened. Shen Feng and the other two were playing poker. Lu Xian seemed to have anticipated that the journey might become boring, so he had brought poker cards in advance to pass the time.
"Is something wrong?" Shen Feng asked.
When Shen Feng and the others appeared in Qi Yunfang's sight, she was immediately relieved and said, "I've come to get Xu Xing's backpack. She plans to change her clothes. She's been staying with me all day. Is that okay?"
"How could there be any problem with that? We are grateful to you. You know, we are all men, and it's inconvenient to take care of Xu Xing. I should be the one thanking you for taking care of Xu Xing now." Upon hearing this, Shen Feng quickly became polite.
Qi Yunfang glanced around the cellar, and there was nothing unusual. The clothes of these three were also clean. If they had been walking outside, their clothes would surely have been wet by now.
"Then you should rest well." Qi Yunfang put her worries aside, took Xu Xing's backpack, and left. Shen Feng then covered the stone slab above the cellar again.