Because when Xu Song saw this tree twice before, one time he faced the scar, and the other time he faced its hole. Only this time, he was able to completely confirm that he saw the same tree twice.
“So, it has been following us all this time? But why?” Just as Yue Zheng finished speaking, the tree seemed embarrassed by Xu Song’s words, and its largest branches on both sides covered its “face” in a very human-like manner!
This scene felt strangely familiar to Yue Zheng.
“Li… Little Yellow Flower… Brother Yue, this tree is the one that I burned on the Mountain…”
Yue Zheng nodded in a daze. Although he couldn’t recognize the details on the tree, he remembered its peculiar behavior, acting shy, running away, avoiding danger… And now, it had followed them all the way from Helu Mountain to here… Did it just save their lives?!
The small tree shyly twisted its body and uncovered its “face,” earning bewildered stares from both Xu Song and Yue Zheng.
“You… Have you been following us?” Xu Song felt as if the tree could understand human words, and if it had any ill intentions towards them, it would have had countless opportunities to act. Especially when he had his pants down… cough, it didn’t do anything at that time. It wouldn’t suddenly attack them now, right?
The small tree twisted left and right before nodding shyly.
The two of them exchanged helpless looks. This time, Yue Zheng spoke up, “Why have you been following us?”
The small tree tilted its head and leaned its crown, appearing confused.
How could it answer when it was a plant incapable of human language? Yue Zheng regretted asking the question as soon as it left his mouth. It seemed like he was being foolish…
Clearing his throat, Yue Zheng rephrased his question, “Do you want to follow us?”
The small tree eagerly nodded without any hesitation.
But… why?
Both of them looked at the small tree simultaneously. “Did you deliberately save us just now?”
They realized that both times, when the car was entangled by the tree roots and when it was pulled by the tree, they were saved from falling into the water.
The small tree shyly twisted its body and nodded gently.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Gb kf tjnf rbwfatlcu sbe cffv?” Yatfgklrf, kts kbeiv la obiibk atfw jcv fnfc rjnf atflg ilnfr?
Ktf rwjii agff aliafv lar tfjv, tfrlajafv obg j wbwfca, jcv atfc rtbbx lar tfjv lc mbcoerlbc.
Glv la cba xcbk? Ufgtjqr, fnfc la vlvc’a xcbk kts la kjr obiibklcu atfw?
“P yegcfv sbe yfobgf. Qts kbeiv sbe ralii kjca ab obiibk er?” Qjrc’a la jogjlv bo yflcu agfjafv jr olgfkbbv?
Xu Song questioned, “Or do you need us to help you with something?”
This time, the small tree seemed even more confused. Its upper body leaned slightly, and the bark all over its body emitted an atmosphere of confusion. It was hard to describe what a confused atmosphere was, but both of them felt it.
Yue Zheng helplessly looked at Xu Song, “If it doesn’t have any ill intentions, it doesn’t matter. But we can’t just walk around with a tree, can we?”
The tree’s appearance was too peculiar, and although mutated animals and plants seemed to be everywhere now, walking around with a tree… Yue Zheng felt that it was more dangerous than being seen carrying a fish that could leap on land.
“Yeah.” Xu Song nodded and suggested to the tree, “You’re too big now. If you really want to follow us, how about I burn you again?” Last time, he burned a towering tree into a small sapling. Now, if he set it on fire again, maybe it would turn into a small seedling?
“Swish, swish, swish!” The small tree trembled in fear, and an air of misery spread throughout its body. In an instant, a small tree with the thickness of a bowl shrank to become a tiny sapling only ten centimeters tall.
“I… I was just talking casually. It… it actually became smaller?!”
Even though the small tree had expressed its goodwill and seemed eager to follow them, neither of them had seriously considered taking it along.
Firstly, it would attract too much attention. Especially now, when mutated animals and plants seemed to harbor strong hostility towards humans, even considering humans as food.
Secondly, they couldn’t communicate. They had no way to determine whether the tree had any ulterior motives.
Who knew if it wanted to secretly follow them and then find an opportunity to eat them? Although the possibility was small, it wasn’t zero.
But now… looking at the small tree that voluntarily shrank and radiated an eager light all over its body, the two of them seemed unable to say any words of refusal. After all, it had just saved their lives and followed them all the way to this unfamiliar place. Could they bear to abandon it?
The two of them, a car, and a tree continued southward along the uneven road by the river.
The bridge they had just crossed was broken, and they looked at the length of the Qing River, realizing that there was no way for just the two of them to build a bridge and climb across, especially with so many unknown mutated fish in the water. It would be better to find another bridge to cross the river.
The Qing River was very long, originating from the southwest neighboring province, passing through Province F and flowing eastward into the sea. There were numerous bridges along the way, so as long as one bridge was impassable, there would always be another one nearby. They just had to avoid a situation like before, where they walked halfway and the bridge collapsed.
The two of them sat side by side in the front seats. Xu Song occasionally glanced back at the twisted and excited small tree on the rear seat through the rearview mirror, thinking that he must have been crazy to agree to bring this thing along!
People have heard of keeping cats and dogs as pets, and they have seen people cultivating flowers and plants for aesthetic purposes, but who has ever heard of keeping a small tree as a pet? Especially when this tree seedling was so human-like.
“You should rest for a while. You haven’t slept well these past few days,” Yue Zheng’s voice came, and Xu Song snapped out of his thoughts. He first glanced at the weird tree still twisting and emitting an excited aura on the rear seat with some concern before saying, “Can you handle it alone? I’m afraid something might suddenly jump out of the river.”
The scene by the river earlier had caused them great worry. Who knew how many mutated fish were in the river? And who knew how many things were hiding, waiting to prey on the creatures passing by the bank?
The road was bumpy now, and they would often climb up a slope only to see some strange creature lurking ahead, waiting to devour them for nutrition.
“Yeah, but we can’t stay up together. It’s just the two of us now, so it’s best to take turns resting,” Yue Zheng’s suggestion was the most reasonable arrangement at the moment, so Xu Song had to agree. He looked at the rearview mirror with some worry and noticed that the small tree was tilting its head, looking at the solar-powered battery pack on the side that was flashing with light…
“Um… be careful,” after the encounters they had with plants in the past few days, suffering attacks and losses, Xu Song couldn’t help but remind Yue Zheng to be cautious.
“Yeah, you rest. I’ll call you if anything happens,” Yue Zheng also glanced at the tree in the rearview mirror, which was now sporting sparse tender leaves and pale yellow flowers. It extended a branch and secretly poked at the instant noodles on the back seat…
“Swish, swish, swish…”
They continued driving south along the river for half an hour until Yue Zheng saw another bridge not far away. Actually, the distance between these two bridges was not that far, but due to the road conditions, the car had taken five or six times longer than usual to get here.
The car temporarily stopped on the uneven road surface, and Yue Zheng opened the door and leaned out, scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes. The enhanced vision greatly increased the visible distance, and standing here, they could even see the tiny hairs on the vegetation near the bridge.
Apart from some enlarged plants near the bridge, there were no signs of humans or animals nearby. The water surface was equally calm, as was the other side. It was quiet and still, appearing particularly serene under the scorching sunlight.
It seemed peaceful, but… who knew what could be lurking.
Taking a deep breath, Yue Zheng sat back in the car, ready to start the engine and drive towards the bridge.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Song hadn’t slept soundly, only dozing off, and he woke up when he heard the sound of Yue Zheng closing the car door.
“Nothing, did I wake you up?”
“I couldn’t sleep. How about I drive for a while, and you rest?”
Seeing that Xu Song was indeed quite awake, Yue Zheng thought for a moment and said, “Let’s switch after we cross this bridge.”
“Okay.” Xu Song rubbed his eyes, stretched lazily, and as he lifted his head, he saw the tree in the rearview mirror seemingly tilting its head at him. Seeing him stretch, it even extended two branches upward, just like human arms, stretching lazily…
“You’re not human!” Xu Song couldn’t help but blurt out, causing the small tree in the back to tilt its head again, looking at him with a perplexed expression.
Yue Zheng also glanced at the rearview mirror and then looked at Xu Song with a speechless expression. The two of them felt inexplicable. Why did this tree seem a bit strange?
The bridge seemed close, but there was still a distance to cover. Xu Song took the military binoculars that Yue Zheng had obtained earlier and observed the situation. Now that Yue Zheng had no use for this item, as their abilities and physical enhancements developed in different directions, it was better to let Xu Song use it.
While keeping watch, they continued driving forward. Before long, they stopped at the bridge and got out of the car.
“… Can we cross?” Xu Song asked uncertainty.
“Not sure.”
Despite finding a bridge, the current road conditions presented a challenge for them.
The bridge seemed to have been chewed on by a dog, with a large chunk missing from the middle. They estimated the remaining part and looked at their car…
“It’s not enough distance,” Yue Zheng estimated and concluded.
“… How about looking further south?” Xu Song scratched his head.
“Yeah, let’s get back in the car.”
I AM GROOT
Nah, Groot is more like a menace, this one way cuter 🤣
The tree is probably the funniest thing I have ever seen in an apocalypse story…
And it behaved like a human since the first time they met, running towards Yue Zheng and Xu Song while entangled with the vines as if asking for help…
I AM GROOT …and cute…
Go pokeball!
You’ve caught an adorable sapling ~ !
I want a pet tree
Me too!
Hahahaha a vi muitas coisas em livros de apocalypse mas essa árvore é a mais fofa de todas kk, acho que existe um ditado que diz que quando salvamos uma vida passamos a ser responsável por ela, parece que o pequeno Groot aí levou o ditado a sério demais 🥺🥺
Omg must protecc sapling tree!!!
G!R!O!O!T! hahahhahaha