Tomb raiding: following the plot while tearing up the script

"Thud... thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud..."

A pebble fell from above, bouncing and tumbling between tree trunks and the mountainside as it fell, making a soft clattering sound in the open space.

This big tree is about the height of a dozen or so stories, and even several people couldn't encircle it completely.

The incredibly thick tree trunk was entwined with countless vines as thick as telephone poles. These vines meandered and crisscrossed, covering almost everything that could be entwined.

Its branches are as slender as weeping willows, some hanging in mid-air swaying gracefully, and others hanging down to the ground and intertwining with each other.

These vines, which look no different from ordinary plants, are actually moving quietly with very subtle movements if you look closely.

This scene is so familiar; it feels like I've been transported back to the day when the vines were whipping me...

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting a sliver of light. One could vaguely see many long, thin objects hanging from the branches closer to the tree, resembling fruits growing on the tree.

These long, slender objects, hidden behind lush vines, tremble slightly when occasionally blown by the valley wind, giving off an extremely mysterious and eerie feeling.

Su Li squatted by the edge of the deep pit, watching as Hei Xiazi carelessly threw small stones at the giant nine-headed cypress tree at the bottom of the pit, while casually tossing down the last array flag.

"Blind man, I'm healed." Su Li clapped her hands.

"Hey, Little Ali, you're a bit slow this time." Usually, you just throw things out and set things up in no time.

"The array flags used this time are all disposable. If we use spiritual power, they will automatically activate and seal off the area the moment they are thrown out. Are we not going in, or are they not coming out?"

Su Li said that although it wasn't a big deal, she couldn't waste the array flags that her senior brother had specially made for her. She couldn't very well call someone to come and take them back later.

Next, we just... wait...

……

"Hi!"

Covered in a mixture of Tianxin stone powder and blood, Ah Ning, covered in dust and dirt, crawled onto the ground and immediately met two pairs of eyes wearing the same style of sunglasses.

The two men even waved and greeted her in unison.

Ah Ning, who had just escaped death, felt a chill run down her spine.

His body instinctively rolled to the side, finding a bush that could barely shield him from view. Only when he reached for his gun did he realize that all his weapons had been left there.

"What does Mr. Black mean by this?" Ah Ning asked, trying to appear calm.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Black Bear pretended to be confused. "I was just being friendly and greeting Miss Aning."

Ah Ning looked at Hei Xiazi, then at Su Li beside him, clearly disbelieving.

"Given Miss Aning's current condition, if I really wanted to do something to you, you would have been gone the moment you showed your face."

Hei Xiazi has always had absolute confidence in this regard.

With all her teammates perished in the tomb and herself seriously injured, Aning had to admit that regardless of the combat strength of the unfamiliar boy, Hei Xiazi alone could kill her countless times.

Having figured this out, Aning stopped being on guard and relaxed her tense body a little.

"Mr. Hei didn't take any orders from our company, so why is he here?"

Before setting off, Jude Kao's company extended an invitation to Hei Xiazi, wanting to hire him to join the team, but he declined.

Ah Ning couldn't understand why he was still here. Was he hired by someone else?

"Traveling, huh?" Black Bear laughed.

"Tourism?" What a flimsy excuse.

Black Bear nodded. "Yes, yes, traveling through the beautiful landscapes of our motherland, and also witnessing the diversity of species." As he spoke, he gestured to the deep pit that Aning had just climbed out of.

Indeed, there are many amazing creatures inside.

Aning's mouth twitched.

"Miss Aning looks quite badly injured. How about it, do you need the blind man's help?"

Hei Xiazi felt his DNA stirring, and with a grin, he pulled out a portable POS machine from behind him and gestured to A Ning.

Ah Ning breathed a sigh of relief. It was said that as long as Hei Xiazi was willing to talk about money, there wouldn't be any major problems.

"Mr. Black, I need some medicine, food, and water to replenish my strength."

"A sincere offer of fifty thousand yuan." Black Bear smiled...

Ah Ning thought she had misheard. She had heard that Hei Xiazi was greedy for money, but she didn't know he could be this greedy. Fifty thousand! If it were several times that amount, she could hire him to do some tomb raiding.

But now that I'm under their roof, I have no choice but to bow my head. "I'll make the payment as soon as I get back to the company."

Hei Xiazi casually tossed over what she needed, not at all worried that she would renege on her debt.

There will be plenty of opportunities to encounter similar situations later. This woman can tell whether she will honestly pay the money or face several times the amount later, or even risk her life.

A pack of compressed biscuits, a bottle of water, and a dose of wound medicine sold for 50,000. Doing business is really ruthless, Su Li thought.

After Aning left with the supplies, the two smiled at each other and gave each other a high five.

They've accomplished another task; they're awesome.

Black Bear confirmed that there were no other eyes around, then nodded to Su Li.

Su Li moved her hand, and the light green aura in her palm appeared even more vibrant under the morning sun.

Tender branches peeked out from the light in my palm, swaying from side to side in a human-like manner, giving off a sneaky, peeking feeling.

Seemingly having determined that the surrounding environment was safe, the branch extended outwards, visibly thickening as it headed towards the deep pit.

"It, it, it, it..." The more Hei Xiazi looked at the thing, the more familiar it seemed.

Su Li was baffled. "What's wrong with my companion plant?"

As the branches spread, revealing the shape of vines, Black Bear confirmed it. "It was this that whipped the blind man!"

That's right, and I only drew Hei Xiazi. I had to sacrifice myself to get Zhang Qiling and Xie Yuchen, but I got Hei Xiazi right at the start of the game.

"It's sucking... Ah ha, ha, ha..." Awkward, it seems it really is.

"That's not important, let's go down first."

Changing the subject is a great technique. Su Li waved her hand dismissively, and the vines in her hand intertwined, gradually forming the shape of a slide.

He saw this when he went for a walk with Hei Xiazi. It looked like a lot of fun, but there were many children around the little slide at the time, so he was too embarrassed to go over.

This is great, it's high and steep, it looks exciting.

The two of them plummeted down the vine-covered slide at great speed, so fast that the tentacles of the Hydra Cypress couldn't even react before they reached the bottom.

The moment she landed, Su Li used her symbiotic vines to fling the black bear behind her far away.

The black bear that almost tripped and fell on its backside: ? ? ?

A bright light shone from Su Li's hand, which she casually covered the tree root closest to her.

Starting from the roots of the Hydra Cypress, the entire tree instantly shone with red and green light.

"It's almost developing sentience?" Su Li asked, frowning in surprise.

This small world has little spiritual energy, but it is full of strange demons and monsters, legends of immortality, as well as vengeful ghosts and corpse puppets, which already made him feel very strange. Now he has even encountered a demon tree that is about to develop sentience.

However, this demonic tree carries too much karma; the day it gains sentience will likely be the day it vanishes into nothingness.

"I'm glad you ran into me."