bigabreads Chapter 397 Crows and flowers bloom
Chapter 397 Crows and flowers bloom
Instead of freezing the broken car, Xu Si chose to sacrifice it.
Xu Si even used the soil within dozens of meters of it as offerings.
Thus, the only truly troublesome problem for the camp was the crows.
Another thing is...
His gaze involuntarily fell upon the convoy members, who were shrouded in layers of barriers.
If it's unavoidable, we'll all likely fall victim to it.
At this point, the crows had stopped burning the flames.
If it keeps burning, not only will its claws be burned off, but it might also burn its life away.
The crow stood on the roof of the ambulance, its three eyes looking pitifully at the crowd. The few dark red flowers between its claws swayed slightly in the wind, like a silent mockery.
DouDou was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes. Her little hands were pressed against the barrier set up by Jiang Li, like a little sparrow trapped in a glass dome.
"Ya Ya... Ya Ya, you'll be alright..."
Ever since Crow changed into a handsome appearance, the bond between the human and the crow has grown very strong.
The crows now resemble a work of art framed with flowers.
And it was like a child who had done something wrong, not even daring to shout loudly.
"DouDou, ask YaYa if she's in any danger? Or if she's feeling anything unusual?" Fu Xiaojian stood inside his barrier, his brows furrowed in a deep knot.
He stared at the eerie flowers between the crow's claws, his mind racing through all possible solutions.
It's been burned; it's useless now.
It's frozen, so it's useless.
Even with the crow's own unique characteristics, those roots still stubbornly clung to the gaps between the scales.
His gaze also fell on the other members of the team.
They couldn't even withstand a level four anomaly, let alone the other members of the team.
"No," DouDou's voice came from inside the barrier, trembling with tears.
"Crow said it doesn't feel anything, just an itch on its feet, and a strange energy seems to be draining away..."
Fu Xiaojian's expression turned even uglier.
It's harder to deal with not feeling something than to feel something.
If those vines spread unnoticed inside the body, it may be too late by the time they are discovered.
If it uses flesh and blood as nourishment to reproduce, then it would probably be even more troublesome.
Everyone stood within their own barrier, Xing Tong staring intently at the eerie dark red flowers between Ya Ya's claws.
They swayed gently under the blood-red sun, their petals gleaming with an almost transparent luster, their beauty utterly unreasonable.
Fortunately, no one approached the wrecked car, otherwise the convoy members would probably have been injured.
While everyone was pondering what to do with the little flowers on Ya Ya's body.
A flash of light appeared between DouDou's eyebrows, and NiuNiu actually came out of the nest space on its own, seemingly wanting to crawl towards YaYa's direction.
It was only blocked by Jiang Li's barrier.
At this moment, Niu Niu's round eyes were fixed on the dark red flower on Ya Ya's feet, and he made a soft "moo" sound in his throat, with a hint of urgency in his voice.
DouDou froze for a moment, then quickly reached out and pressed down on NiuNiu: "NiuNiu, don't go! It's dangerous!"
But Niu Niu seemed not to hear, and kept climbing up the barrier with her little body.
Everyone's attention immediately focused on the vortex cow, whose existence they had almost forgotten.
"What does it want to do?" Fu Xiaojian asked, lying inside the barrier, his voice filled with doubt.
"Is this guy hungry?" Tashan joked, but his words were a wake-up call.
"Jiang Li, release the barrier and let it pass!" Fu Xiaojian had no choice but to try anything, even if it seemed hopeless.
"But!" Ya Ya clung to the vortex cow, extremely reluctant to part with it. If something were to happen to the vortex cow, then she...
But she couldn't just leave Yaya to fend for herself.
Finally, Ya Ya was freed from Dou Dou's embrace.
It crawled towards the cow, but its speed was really not impressive.
Xu Si had no choice but to use the Star Guide to roll it up and throw it directly onto Crow Mountain.
The vortex cow was like a cat smelling fish, or a fish jumping into the water.
He lay on his good brother and started eating a buffet.
"Hey bro, you smell amazing!"
Everyone seemed to hear what Niu Niu was thinking.
The crow was taken aback at first, then lowered its head and gently rubbed the cow's thick shell with the tip of its beak, its three eyes filled with disbelief.
It could clearly feel that the vines wrapped around its claws were withering at a visible speed, the newly sprouted flower buds were quickly shriveling, and even the roots in the gaps between the scales were shrinking little by little.
"Niu Niu... Niu Niu is so amazing!" Dou Dou's crying stopped abruptly, and a joyful voice came through the barrier, trembling with excitement.
She clung to the edge of the barrier, her little hands clenched tightly, as if afraid the scene would disappear in the blink of an eye.
Xu Si's eyes widened in disbelief.
Because, under his star-like gaze, those roots were indeed shrinking.
You should know that those are creatures that are not afraid of flames or ice.
Why did it lose to the vortex bull?
"Niu Niu seems to have assimilation properties," Fu Xiaojian said in a low voice, his brows furrowed as if he had remembered something.
Back then, the cows could grow their own food in the valley.
So it assimilated those vines into a substance that it could eat?
It turns out that there really is a cure within seven steps.
Fu Xiaojian's brow relaxed, and he quickly shouted to everyone, "Everyone else, quickly check if anyone has been touched by the vines. If so, let Niu Niu try it!"
He didn't dare shout that earlier because he didn't have an effective way to deal with it, and shouting would only increase everyone's panic.
But things are different now.
As soon as Fu Xiaojian finished speaking, the convoy erupted in chaos, with everyone looking down to check their clothes and skin, their faces filled with tension.
When Ya Ya threw the wrecked car over, many people were not far away, and it was possible that some small pieces of vines might have splashed on them.
However, after a thorough examination, it turned out that no one else was covered in flowers like Ya Ya, which was good news.
However, Fu Xiaojian did not let his guard down.
Because he didn't know whether this strange plant had an incubation period or was highly contagious.
Their understanding of these vines and flowers is only partial.
If we judge based on mere appearances and disregard them, what if other members of the convoy are tainted by those roots and have already gone into hiding?
That would be an absolute crisis, or even a dead end, for the team.
It should be noted that most members of the team do not possess the vitality of a Level 4 Anomaly.
If it gets parasitized, it may not be able to withstand the elimination by the cow.
Therefore, even if flowers grow inside no one's body again.
Fu Xiaojian still did not allow Jiang Li to release the barrier.
This is the team's biggest predicament at present.
It's impossible to get close to the city.
However, they can only proceed with the next step after confirming that the team members have not been parasitized by the vines.
Or leave, or take a detour, or something else.
But they don't have any good solutions right now.
I wonder if the crows will be able to find the vines and roots that might be lurking there.
Xu Si also stood inside the barrier, his gaze fixed on the flowers on the crow that was being eaten by Niu Niu.
A thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
"all."
"What's wrong?"
A lazy response came from the depths of his heart. The little elf rubbed its eyes, popped out from Xu Si's forehead, landed on Xu Si's shoulder, and yawned widely.
After a few days of recovery, Yi Yi still seemed a little listless, but she had fully recovered.
Xu Si didn't speak, but simply raised his chin, gesturing for her to look in Ya Ya's direction.
Following his gaze, one by one, the enormous bird stood pitifully on the roof of the ambulance, its three eyes blinking in turn, while the dark red flowers on its body were being slowly eaten away by crows.
However, Ya Ya's speed was really worrying. If he had hands, Ya Ya would definitely have helped him.
"Wow!" Yi Yi exclaimed in surprise, her sleepiness vanishing instantly.
"What beautiful flowers."
"...That's not the point." Xu Si's lips twitched.
"The key question is, does your affinity for all things work on this thing? If it does, check if anyone in the convoy has also been infected by it?"
Yi Yi tilted her head, blinking her eyes that shimmered with light, as if trying to understand Xu Si's meaning.
"You mean, you want me to go and talk to them?"
"I guess so."
Since advancing to the Life Spirit level, she has not actively used this trait.
The main reason is that Earth at this time is completely devoid of plants and animals, and as for humans, there is no one who really wants to get to know them, not to mention the supernatural.
She was still somewhat excited when she heard Xu Si's request.
"I can give it a try, but—" she said, somewhat unsure.
Yi Yi flew up from Xu Si's shoulder and hovered in mid-air, her little hands behind her back, looking like a little adult.
She paused, her gaze falling on the flowers hidden on the crow's body, a serious expression appearing on her small face.
"They seem very scared."
"Scared?" Xu Si frowned.
"Yes." Yi nodded, her tone firm.
Xu Si was silent for a moment. The fact that he could sense it was already good news.
As for fear, since they've become the cattle's food, it's understandable that they're afraid.
"Let's see if the other members of the team have been parasitized as well," Xu Si continued.
Figuring this out is even more important than saving Crow.
Suspended in mid-air, her eyes, shimmering with fragmented light, slowly closed.
Her small hands hung at her sides, her fingertips glowing with a faint, shimmering green light, like the tenderest new leaf on a branch in early spring being pierced by sunlight.
The light was very faint, almost imperceptible under the blood-red sun, but Xu Si's starry eyes saw it clearly.
The light did not spread outward, but rather converged inward, like a sprouting seed containing all its vitality at its core.
The camp fell silent.
Everyone looked up at the tiny figure floating in mid-air.
She is too young.
So small that it's almost an insignificant dot against the vast, desolate sky, easily missed if you don't look closely.
But at this moment, everyone felt an indescribable feeling emanating from that tiny point—a deeper, almost instinctive sense of closeness.
It was like parched land finally receiving its first rain.
It's like someone groping in the dark suddenly seeing a glimmer of starlight.
"She..." Fu Ruoxue's voice came from the side, filled with barely suppressed shock.
"What is she doing?"
Jiao Jiao did not answer.
It wasn't that she didn't want to answer; it was that she didn't know either.
Although she knew Yi Yi was an elf, she really didn't know what she was doing.
The fluorescent green light spread out like ripples.
She "sensed" it.
There was actually a hidden pulse of life within the convoy.
It's not the flowers on the crows' bodies that have already been eaten by the cows.
Rather, it is deeper and more hidden, like a seed buried deep in the soil, waiting to sprout.
They hung suspended in mid-air, their small brows slightly furrowed.
The emerald green light extended from her fingertips, like invisible tentacles, probing into everyone's body.
Fang Bo was the first to react.
He stood within his own barrier, his face pale.
Ever since that failed attempt to awaken that night, he had remained like this—silent, dazed, like an empty shell whose soul had been ripped out.
But at this moment, an extremely thin vine, almost invisible to the naked eye, was wriggling under the skin of his neck, seemingly about to "break through the soil" at any moment.
"Is there anything else?" Xu Si asked.
She nodded slightly, her little hands trembling.
"He has one too," Yi Yi said, pointing in Ivan's direction.
Ivan then noticed that the number of hairs on the back of his hand had more than doubled, and there was a clear difference.
He tried desperately to pull it out from under his skin, but instead tore off a large piece of flesh.
And Yi Yi's actions just now seem to have completely activated those 'seeds'.
Seeing that they could no longer hide, the seeds chose to burst forth all at once.
Besides Fang Bo and Ivan, there were also Yang Shu, Fan Wanwan, and nearly half of the ordinary people in Zhou Huo's truck, all of whom had various tiny root systems sprouting from their bodies.
They themselves were completely unaware.
The convoy members looked ashen-faced. What time was it?
It's understandable that Ivan, as a bodyguard, was close to the wrecked car, but the others, including Fang Bo, Ivan, and even Fan Wanwan, were at the back of the convoy.
There was absolutely no chance to come into contact with the abandoned cars, and they were also quite a distance away from the crows.
So what exactly is the source of the infection?
The atmosphere in the camp froze at that moment.
The moment those tiny roots emerged from under the skin, everyone's expression changed.
Fang Bo stared blankly down at the dark red vine on his neck, which looked like a living snake, slowly climbing toward his jaw.
He reached out to pull, and the moment his fingertips touched the surface of the vine, a piercing pain spread from his fingertips to his entire arm—those seemingly delicate roots had actually grown together with his blood vessels.
"Don't move." Fu Xiaojian felt extremely troubled at the moment.
The number of infections was higher than he had imagined.
His gaze then fell on Niu Niu, who was feasting on Ya Ya's back. Was he really going to have to wait for Niu Niu to come and save him?
At that time, those with extraordinary sequences might be able to withstand it, but few of the ordinary people will likely survive.
Xu Si's gaze, however, was drawn to Fan Wanwan.
Everyone else, including Fang Bo and Yang Shu, looked ashen-faced. Ivan even took out the navigation book from his pocket as if to say a final goodbye.
Only Fan Wanwan appeared relaxed, even having the mind to study the roots in her palm, and even glancing at others as if using them as a reference.
This made Xu Si wonder if she had deliberately contracted the virus.
What is the purpose?
Is it a study?
Xu Si shuddered at the thought of its botanical sequence name.
Is this woman really that crazy?