Chapter 156 - 155: "Heart

Xu Xin immediately replied, "What did you find? Have you been outside all this time?"

Ji Chaoyang directly initiated a video call, and he immediately answered.

"Speak softly, are you in the treehouse?"

The voice on the other end was very low, as if someone didn’t want to be overheard.

The video was very dark, and he could hardly see anything, but he could hear Ji Chaoyang’s heartbeat, thumping loudly.

"I am. Where are you? Is there danger around?" Xu Xin also lowered his voice.

What’s happening? The heartbeat sound is so loud.

"Currently, there’s no danger, but..." Ji Chaoyang’s voice was full of gravity, "if the giant thing not far in front of me is startled, it’ll be another story."

"A giant thing?" Xu Xin’s heart skipped a beat.

"That’s right." Ji Chaoyang’s voice lowered even further.

Ji Chaoyang took a few steps forward, then turned the camera to face ahead of him.

Upon seeing the scene in the video, Xu Xin’s pupils shrank, and he took a deep breath.

A massive cave filled the entire screen, at least over ten meters high.

Inside this cave, countless mutant vines were growing wildly, hanging on the cave walls, growing obliquely, and even crawling on the ground, seemingly chaotic yet forming an overall spherical shape.

Enveloped by this ball of vines was a colossal five- to six-meter-tall mass of blood-red flesh! The flesh mass resembled a heart, pulsating incessantly!

It turns out the pounding heartbeat sound he just heard wasn’t coming from Ji Chaoyang, but from this "giant heart" beating!

Is this some Lovecraftian monster? Just looking at it makes one’s sanity value plummet!

As for why the video was no longer dark, it was because the giant heart, along with the blood patterns and spikes on the surrounding vines, were all emitting a blood-red glow. Moreover, with each heartbeat, the red glow flickered.

The mutant vines swaying with the mist in the Red Mist, the blood patterns and spikes on those vines were also glowing blood-red, eerily similar to what he saw.

And at this moment, the flickering red glow on the vines and "heart" made the entire cave seem incredibly sinister and terrifying.

The blood patterns lighting up represented enhanced strength, and it was this central "giant heart" that caused the blood patterns and spikes on the vines to glow!

He recalled Keke’s warning to him.

Near the treehouse, there was a creature different from the vines, one incredibly dangerous.

Is it... this kind of creature?

"Where are you? In an underground cave?" Xu Xin asked.

If there were such a large creature on the ground, his map would definitely mark its location. His map was quite effective for ground creatures.

In reality, the map didn’t mark it; thus, it must be underground.

"That’s right, it’s in a cave, and the entrance is just a few hundred meters from the treehouse." Ji Chaoyang retracted the camera, and the screen plunged back into darkness.

Suddenly, Ji Chaoyang hung up the video, leaving Xu Xin stunned.

"It’s inconvenient to talk; I just wanted you to see the monster through the video. Let’s communicate via typing."

"Are you still near that heart?"

"No, I left. It was too oppressive there; I feared something might happen."

"So you’ve gone a few hundred meters away from the treehouse?" Xu Xin asked, "When did you go out?"

"It’s a long story. Do you remember me telling you this morning that my random ability today is enhanced hearing?"

"...You heard the heartbeat, so you went looking for the sound’s source," Xu Xin realized.

"That’s right. After gaining this ability, this heartbeat-like sound kept echoing from the direction not far from the treehouse. The slow and powerful thumping intrigued me, making me wonder what could be producing it.

So I geared up and prepared to check out the sound’s source."

Hearing a heartbeat through several hundred meters underground suggests this hearing enhancement is quite potent.

"I’ve read everything you guys were discussing in the group. My method was similar to yours.

I cleared all the mutant vines under the treehouse to ensure its temporary safety, then cleared a path towards the heartbeat-like sound direction. After about thirty meters from the treehouse, no more vines protruded from the ground."

"Only within thirty meters of the treehouse are there vines?" Xu Xin couldn’t help but ask. He just cleared the vines under the treehouse and didn’t proceed outward.

"Yes, beyond thirty meters, there’s not much difference from the usual treehouse protected area," Ji Chaoyang explained, "It was pretty much safe. So, I headed towards the sound, eventually arriving at the cave several hundred meters away."

"A cave?" Xu Xin asked again, "Is it the type of cave that appeared in the protected area?"

Is it the kind of deep cavern found in the salt mine cave or the lake bottom of the Hilly Resource Zone?

"The exterior is nearly identical, about a two-meter diameter hole, with a faint fragrance wafting out. The difference is, this hole doesn’t seem bottomless; it inclines downwards, towards the treehouse, and the sound came from the cave.

I hesitated for a long time and finally decided to go down.

Following the cave to the end, that’s the scene you just saw. It really frightened me."

Ji Chaoyang simply recounted his experience, yet Xu Xin still felt the immense danger lurking within.

A heart wrapped in countless mutant vines, emitting a dim red glow, and with its continuous beating, influencing and strengthening the surrounding vines’ capabilities.

Could it be that this heart is the mastermind controlling these vines? If that’s true, destroying this heart might be the key to winning this treehouse defense battle!

"You probably can’t come back now; the treehouse is surrounded by blood-spiked vines. Have you tried attacking that heart?" Xu Xin asked.

There wasn’t any reply for a long time.

Hmm? What’s going on?

"Are you still there?" Xu Xin asked tentatively again, but there was still no response.

...Something must have happened over there.

Xu Xin took a breath, walked to the window, and looked outside. The range where the Bloodthorn vines spread was just below and around the treehouse, the furthest Bloodthorn vine was only about thirty meters away from the treehouse.

It seems that although the treehouse’s protective ability has weakened, those underground mutant plants don’t spread throughout the protected area. The mutant vines only appear in this surrounding region around the treehouse.

However, being far from the treehouse doesn’t mean it’s a good choice to leave. This activity is called the Treehouse Defense Battle, protecting the treehouse is the most important thing, what’s the use of just surviving on your own.

That mysterious voice also said more than once, absolutely must not abandon the treehouse, so even if the area outside the treehouse is safe, these survivors must fight to defend the treehouse.

Looking at the densely packed Bloodthorn vines around him, Xu Xin also felt a bit scalp numb. A range of thirty meters sounds small, but it covers an area of two thousand eight hundred square meters, enough for twenty-eight treehouses, so the area around the treehouse is completely surrounded by layers of Bloodthorn vines.

Trying to break through these Bloodthorn vine encirclements and rush out is an extremely difficult task.

Xu Xin shared the information he got from Ji Chaoyang with all the explorers.

Of course, he didn’t mention the random amplification skill, that kind of skill is more appropriate as an unexpected trump card and isn’t suitable to expose to others. So he just said Ji Chaoyang wanted to go out to explore and ended up discovering monsters.

Zhao Xiaochuan: "My god! Boss Ji is too bold! Even with the treehouse protection weakening, he dares to run outside the treehouse to explore!"

Qi Xuefei: "He was a bit reckless this time, what if after leaving, the treehouse gets attacked by something? Luckily these vines didn’t initiate an attack this time."

Wen Guixin: "...Heart? These vines keep growing repeatedly, is it related to that heart?"

Xu Xin thought the same.

He asked Wen Guixin: "So are the vines under your tree more now?"

If that’s true, then attacking the vines is not an option for him.

"Oh, they’re all dead."

Xu Xin: "?"

Qin Yunlong: "?"

Wang Lei: "???"

Li Wenxi: "Ah?"

"Ah, I just used your method to test them and then used my method to solve them."

Xu Xin: "So... how did you solve it?"

Wen Guixin: "A worm splits into two when broken, how do you kill a worm? My method isn’t applicable to you, nor can it help you much, so initially, I chose just to help test it out for you."

Zhao Xiaochuan: "Do you have some kind of superpower or something?"

Wen Guixin: "So it’s okay for Sister Xuefei to have special abilities, but not me?"

Li Wenxi: "Wow, Sister Guixin is strong!"

In the group, everyone tacitly chose not to mention this matter anymore. Everyone has their own little secrets.

Xu Xin began to consider how he would kill the vines.

Killing a worm is actually easy, place it under the sun to dry out or simply stomp it flat.

The first method can be achieved with burning arrows, burn the Bloodthorn vines.

But this group of vines is under the treehouse, using burning arrows is equivalent to burning the treehouse, and the vine’s reach is thirty meters, already deep into the forest. Igniting the vines is the same as setting the whole forest on fire, it’s pure suicide.

Did Wen Guixin go into the vine group and go on a killing spree?

Xu Xin was somewhat envious of such combat power, compared to her battle power, his creator’s authority feels a bit lacking, he doesn’t know when he can unlock the next level.

He looked out the window again, those vines showed no signs of attacking the treehouse, just swaying continuously in the wind.

"Huh?" Xu Xin’s eyes focused.

The Bloodthorn vines showed something unusual.

He noticed that the roots of these vines suddenly began emitting a red glow, and with his enhanced vision, he could see the red glow slowly climbing upwards.

This red light is just like in Ji Chaoyang’s video, flickering in and out, like the beat of a heart, pulsing continuously.

Indeed, these vines are related to that big heart! There’s also a "heart" near his treehouse underground responsible for providing energy to the vines!

Looking at the speed of the red glow ascent, it won’t be long before the Bloodthorn vines’ bloodthorns are fully lit! By then, the actions these fully reinforced Bloodthorn vines might take are unpredictable.

No, he can’t continue to sit back and wait, he must go out and destroy the culprit that caused all this!

Perhaps if he destroys that heart, the Treehouse Defense Battle can be won!

Suddenly, red light gleamed behind him, and Xu Xin, already sensitive to red glow, was startled, immediately turning to look in its direction.

Fortunately, the source of the red light was Silver King and Mimi.

At this moment, they were still lying on the ground, but the blood patterns on their bodies began to emit a strong glow.

Xu Xin’s face showed joy, the suspended feeling in his heart eased a bit.

Is it... they are going to evolve successfully!