A farm that breeds gods and demons
Chapter 405 - 318: Forest House (Second Update)

Chapter 405: Chapter 318: Forest House (Second Update)

The big tree fell to the ground, and before Zhang Zhongmou could catch his breath, he saw a white, bizarre worm rush out from beneath the tree roots, immediately leaping onto his face.

"Ahhh–" Zhang Zhongmou screamed out in horror. Su Yu’s Golden Claw shone and he grabbed and crushed it into pieces.

"I never thought that this parasite could control even trees." Su Yu frowned, surveying the surroundings. At this moment, trees, green vines, wild grasses, soil, and rocks all around them began to seem unsafe, as if they could mutate and harm people at any moment.

"Lin Shi, are you alright?" Su Yu asked. After crushing the parasite, he immediately rushed over to find Lin Shi, who had fallen on the ground, but was now back on his feet, wiping the rain off his face and shaking his head. "I’m fine, let’s keep moving."

"Let’s move quickly. The further we are from this ’Life Nest’, the safer I think we’ll be, as the parasites haven’t spread everywhere yet," Ada warned. Without wasting another second to think, Su Yu, Lin Shi and the other five continued on their journey.

Before long, Su Yu and his group were attacked by a group of goblins numbering in the tens.

All of these goblins had been taken over by the control of the parasites, making them incredibly fearsome.

Su Yu deployed his Golden Claw and crushed the head of a goblin, squishing the parasite clinging on its back into pieces. With a stern voice he warned, "Don’t stop, keep running." Killing two more goblins in quick succession, slowing the group of goblins for just a moment, he then followed the others and ran at full speed.

As expected, although these goblins became terrifying, they couldn’t keep up with everyone’s speed. Soon, they left the mutated goblins behind.

"Huff... huff..."

Everyone in the group ran as if their lives depended on it, panting heavily. The heavy rain made matters worse. The situation was too intense to put into words.

All of a sudden, the green vines attacked like a giant snake, binding Gu Lingshuang, who was lagging behind, in the blink of an eye.

Gu Lingshuang screamed as she was tightly wrapped up by the vines and dragged backward.

Ren Honglin forcefully shouted, shield in his left hand and the Dragon Spear in his right, he rushed out to rescue her. Meng Bo threw two Light Spheres that blasted towards the roots of the vines.

Suddenly, the vines binding Gu Lingshuang transformed her into a weapon, swinging her vigorously at the others.

Gu Lingshuang screamed, struggling desperately, but the more she struggled, the tighter the vines became. She couldn’t break free at all.

Without uttering a word, Su Yu jumped forward, pushing down with all his might, causing a spiral of steam to form on the ground as a frightening "Apocalyptic Storm" was unleashed. This immediately swept up a large number of green vines, tearing them apart. Su Yu jumped forward to take the brunt of Gu Lingshuang’s swing. Grunting in pain, he swept his Golden Claw in a horizontal slash. Instantly, the vines binding her broke apart. Carrying Gu Lingshuang, he landed amid the massive amount of green vines, before unleashing the "Apocalyptic Storm" once again. Using himself as the center, an astonishing force of slaughter was stirred up, shredding the surrounding green vines. The snapping and popping sounds echoed as the vine was torn and drawn into the storm center. The others retreated rapidly, with the scene before their eyes making them terrified.

While Su Yu was controlling the storm, all he could hear was the continuous snapping and crackling sounds. Within the terrifying storm, Gu Lingshuang grew paler. Being held in Su Yu’s arms, she wrapped her arms tightly around him instinctively. Only by doing so could she somewhat calm down her rapidly beating heart.

Engrossed in controlling the storm and disregarding the pleasant feel of Gu Lingshuang in his arms, Su Yu forcefully pushed once more. Instantly, the "Apocalyptic Storm" exploded outward. The partially shredded vines scattered and went flying about. Su Yu made another leap, landing a distance away and placing Gu Lingshuang on the ground. He commanded, "Let’s move."

He wasn’t sure where the parasite that controlled these vines was hiding. The parasite wasn’t killed, so these green vines could attack again at any minute. As soon as Su Yu took to his feet, he commanded everyone to move quickly.

Still shocked, Gu Lingshuang didn’t dare to think. She simply followed behind Su Yu as they all sprinted away. They kept going until they could no longer sense any disturbance from the vines. Only then did they pause for a rest. Everyone’s hearts throbbed wildly and their breathing was ragged. Su Yu was the only one who managed to calm down, analyzing their surroundings.

The journey was very tough and their speed slowed down significantly. Just as the sky was about to darken again, they finally saw a building.

The building was simply a short and small ordinary residence, with almost half of it collapsed. It looked dilapidated with no vines crawling over its walls. Apparently, it had not fallen here long ago. Amid the dense forest filled with towering trees, this building was hardly noticeable. Su Yu and his companions would have overlooked it if they had not sprinted closer.

"Could this possibly be the fourth Life Nest location? It doesn’t look like it, does it?" Zhang Zhongmou voiced his doubt, wiping the rainwater from his face as he spoke.

"No..." Lin Shi shook his head and spat the rainwater that had trickled into his mouth. He continued, "The fourth Life Nest is still some distance from here..."

Zhang Zhongmou, observing the increasing darkness around them, said, "It seems this is just a civilian house lost in the forest. Nightfall is approaching; I propose we rest for the night over there." The forest had become perilous, and darkness could render visibility practically nil. Traveling in such darkness would exponentially increase their risk.

Su Yu agreed with Zhang Zhongmou’s proposal. Of course, it would be safest to use Ada’s teleportation power to return to Fire Elemental Space for the night. However, with the escalating dangers in the forest, each teleportation would deplete a significant amount of Ada’s energy. Recently, Ada had been constantly teleporting, resulting in severe energy loss and slow recovery. Seeing Ada’s fatigued figure lying on his shoulder, Su Yu abandoned the idea of teleporting into the "Fire Elemental Space" to rest. They would need Ada’s help in the future, and they absolutely couldn’t afford to deplete more of its energy at this moment.

The seven of them cautiously approached the building. Su Yu extended his right hand, releasing a "Radar Wave" ahead, a golden wave spread, flashing into the house upfront.

"Hmm?" Su Yu furrowed his brows. His radar wave had instantly detected signs of life within the house.

Su Yu raised his right hand, and Zhang Zhongmou, Ma Ziye, and the others immediately halted.

He gestured silently to the others indicating the presence of life inside. Everyone was instantly on alert. Zhang Zhongmou drew the "Red Lotus Sword" with an audible ’shing.’

A protective veil conjured from strips of white gauze floating around Gu Lingshuang. Su Yu leapt forward and swooped in. At almost the same time, a dog’s bark echoed from inside the house, followed by a gray shadow rushing out.

"Huh?" Su Yu twisted his body, narrowly escaping the pouncing gray shadow. Behind him, Gu Lingshuang extended her hands, and her white gauze strips shot out, enveloping the gray shadow like a massive cocoon, firmly binding it.

"Don’t kill it!" Su Yu called out, even as he rushed into the partially collapsed, ordinary bungalow. Inside, he found rudimentary furniture scattered about, a human corpse, and the bodies of two Goblin Beasts strewn on the floor, which was slick with blood. Nothing else was apparent in the room.

Hearing Su Yu’s order, Gu Lingshuang did not increase the strangling force of the white gauze. Instead, she dragged the gray shadow, now wrapped like a dumpling, into the house. The bundled shadow barked continuously, its loud yelps echoing in the room.

Everyone had now made their way into the residence. Their eyes landed on the human corpse – an elderly gentleman in patched clothes, with a full head of white hair, appearing to be at least sixty to seventy years old. His chest featured a large, gaping wound – his heart clutched in the hand of a Goblin Beast’s corpse nearby. It was obvious he was killed by this beast.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the two Goblin Beasts bore marks and scars left by a canine, and their throats were torn open to reveal a clear sight of their bones beneath.

"I see." Su Yu nodded and told Gu Lingshuang, "Let it go."

Taken aback, but unable to resist Su Yu’s command, Gu Lingshuang waved her hands, and the white gauze retracted, revealing the previously bundled gray shadow.

"Woof, woof--" The shadow, finally freed, began barking furiously at the group. Yet it seemed aware of their formidable power and dared not attack recklessly. Instead, it stood guard over the corpse of the elderly man, baring his teeth menacingly, continuously barking, its tail standing erect and body tense. It held a threatening aura, with its entire body bristling with fury.

At that moment, the group noticed the gray shadow was actually a large gray wolfhound with a collar around its neck. A delicate iron chain, which now lay broken on the ground, should have been attached to the collar. As Su Yu perceived the gray shadow as a pet dog due to its collar, he guessed it might have an owner and was not a natural forest beast. Therefore, he instructed Gu Lingshuang to spare its life.

"I understand now. This dog probably belonged to the old man. Due to the ’sinkhole,’ both he and his owner ended up in this forest, where they faced the attack of the Goblin Beasts. The old man died, but this dog managed to kill those beasts. It seems to be quite formidable," Zhang Zhongmou said, looking at the barking wolfhound fiercely protecting its master’s corpse. The realization dawned on him.

Indeed, everyone else was thinking along the same lines. The reasoning made sense.

"This dog is very loyal. Even though it knows it’s no match for us, it stays the guard, not budging an inch from its master’s corpse," Zhang Zhongmou said, smiling. He took a couple of steps closer, brandishing his "Red Lotus Sword," threatening the dog. However, the dog continued barking relentlessly, its body tense. It was clear from its posture – if Zhang Zhongmou got any closer, the dog was ready to attack.