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    Some of the vines were broken off, clearly revealing that they were hollow inside!


    "It seems so," Old Man Lin adjusted the glasses on his nose and took another careful look.


    Xue Yangyang grew anxious: "Now is not the time to worry about what kind of skin this monster has. The key is how do we get out of here?"


    Qi Zeming exerted some force and pried off a piece of the door panel, but the vines from outside immediately surged in, still blocking it tightly.


    He asked dejectedly, "Is this monster trying to trap us here and kill us slowly?"


    Shen Yue suddenly remembered something: "Are you all idiots? That vine was just in the room. How did it get out?"


    No sooner said than done, Shen Yue immediately turned back to the room they were just in.


    She ran quickly, but returned in just a few seconds. Her face looked grim: "I checked. The windows in there are blocked too."


    "But these outside are all dead skins from the vines. We should be able to get out if we clear a small path," Old Man Lin said.


    "But what if the vine suddenly appears while we''re clearing... And we just slept for a while, but when we woke up, there were so many vines outside..."


    Shen Yue rubbed her chin: "Whatever the case, we have to try, right? Besides, the vine just left, so it probably won''t come back for a short while. It didn''t chase after us earlier."


    Kun Yao nodded: "I agree. Unless you have a better idea."


    Shen Yue glanced at her with a bit of surprise.


    The others had no better options, so they could only agree.


    Everyone found some tools and started from where Qi Zeming had broken the door panel. Although the outside was covered in dead skins shed by the vines, there were so many that it took several hours of clearing before they could finally get out.


    "Did we really make it out?" Qi Zeming even looked back to check.


    "Hurry up and go. Are you waiting for that vine to come drag you away?" Shen Yue reminded him bluntly.


    "Let''s go!"


    Kun Yao chose a direction and took the lead. Shen Yue walked in the middle. Old Man Lin, who was older, walked at the back.


    "Where are we going?" Shen Yue took a few steps forward to follow behind Kun Yao.


    But the answer she got was unexpected.


    "I don''t know. I''m going by intuition."


    "What?" Shen Yue was stunned, and so were the people behind her.


    Xue Yangyang stopped in her tracks: "Kun Yao, you don''t know the way? Then why did you start off so decisively towards the west?"Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Instinct." Kun Yao glanced at her without stopping.


    Qi Zeming looked back at the eerie buildings receding behind them. He hesitated for a moment before deciding to go with the flow: "Let''s keep going. At least we''re leaving this creepy, gloomy town. I don''t want to stay here for another second."


    Old Man Lin also said, "Let''s go. At least we''re all together."


    At this moment, another discordant voice appeared. It was Zhu Rui. He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said loudly:


    "But what if this direction is wrong? If the vine is right ahead, aren''t we doomed?"


    "You''re shouting so loudly, aren''t you afraid of attracting the vine? I see you''re not afraid of death," Shen Yue stopped and narrowed her eyes at Zhu Rui. "Since you have objections to the direction we''re going, where do you suggest we go?"


    "I..." Zhu Rui was at a loss for words.


    "Those who don''t want to die, follow along." Shen Yue tossed out this sentence and continued forward without looking back.


    She didn''t know about the others, but she trusted Kun Yao. The reason was simple. Someone with as much energy as Kun Yao couldn''t possibly be cannon fodder. That would be ridiculous.


    Also, if Kun Yao did end up as cannon fodder, then her chance would come. If she could absorb a bit of energy, she herself shouldn''t die here.


    After this small incident, the journey became very smooth - smoother than Shen Yue had imagined.


    Glancing at Kun Yao walking at the front, Shen Yue sighed inwardly: The path led by a big shot is indeed different.


    They had already left the small town far behind, but the direction they were heading was towards a mountainous area. Looking ahead, all they could see was lush green forest.


    "Kun Yao, why did you stop?" Xue Yangyang''s voice broke the silence.


    Shen Yue looked up to see that Kun Yao had indeed stopped in her tracks, expressionless and motionless, not saying a word.


    "Did you discover something?" Qi Zeming asked.


    "Look." Kun Yao gestured for them to look at the sky.


    Shen Yue immediately noticed that something seemed to be floating down from the sky. It was white, like snow. Just as Shen Yue was about to reach out to catch it, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.


    "Don''t touch that thing!"


    Shen Yue was startled by Kun Yao''s voice. She turned her head, and in a blur, her body was yanked away.


    "What''s wrong? What is this thing? Why can''t we touch it?" Xue Yangyang asked.


    Shen Yue turned to look and saw that a piece had already landed on Xue Yangyang''s arm.


    "This is..." Kun Yao''s words were interrupted by Old Man Lin''s voice.


    "This isn''t snow. It''s alive! It''s moving!" His voice was a bit panicked and very shocked.


    "What! Oh my God!"


    Xue Yangyang immediately started slapping her arm, trying to get rid of the thing. But as soon as she moved, the thing really seemed to come alive, wriggling at an incredibly fast speed on her arm.


    Shen Yue saw a piece about to fall on Qi Zeming and quickly warned him.


    "Move away! There''s one here too!"


    Qi Zeming dodged it with a quick bend, letting the piece fall to the ground. After falling to the ground, the piece quickly disappeared into the soil, as if it had burrowed in.


    Zhu Rui, standing next to him, dodged in time and wasn''t touched.


    "Help me! Help me get this thing off!" Xue Yangyang''s voice was already tinged with tears. She frantically slapped at her arm, but the piece had already crawled to her back where she couldn''t reach. She was terrified.


    "Calm down! That''s a spore from the vine. Wrap yourself up in your clothes, don''t let that thing burrow into your skin..." Kun Yao was about to go help, but she saw the piece crawl up from the back of Xue Yangyang''s head, evading Xue Yangyang''s slapping hands. It quickly merged into her skin - no, it should be said that it burrowed into Xue Yangyang''s temple.


    A small bump formed there, then quickly subsided.


    Then Xue Yangyang''s voice disappeared. She became quiet, very quiet. Her whole person stood still, not moving.


    "Xue Yangyang?"


    Qi Zeming was scared and called out to her. But as soon as he spoke, Xue Yangyang suddenly raised her head, her movements stiff, her gaze fixed straight ahead. She began walking step by step towards a certain direction, as if she had been put under a spell.


    "Hey, where are you going? Xue Yangyang!" Qi Zeming called out to her but didn''t dare to approach.


    "What do we do now?" Zhu Rui stood at the back. "Has she gone mad? Are we still going?"


    "Should we follow her?" Qi Zeming asked.


    Shen Yue pursed her lips. How was she supposed to answer that? She didn''t want to go, but she was also a bit curious about what had happened to Xue Yangyang.


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