"Eggshell Village? The Chopping King? A cultivator?"

The woman named Watermelon was clearly taken aback.

This group of ground survivors was truly strange.

’Are they joking with me?’

’Are they fearlessly confident, or just completely clueless?’

Just as Watermelon was trying to figure out how to phrase her words to this group, Wang Yi approached with a smile.

He had already used the Talent Assessment Machine on her. This Watermelon possessed Water and Fire Dual Spirit Roots, could practice Cultivation, and had an extreme Talent for cooking and Alchemy. Her composite score reached 80 points, making her a high-quality talent with heroic potential.

Wang Yi was determined to recruit such a talent, especially since she was a green-coded plot character.

"Miss," Wang Yi said, "to be honest, we’re new here and don’t understand a lot of things. If we’ve offended you in any way, please forgive us. And if we’ve done anything wrong, please point it out. We are willing to correct our mistakes."

Hearing this, Watermelon’s expression softened considerably, but then she frowned again. "New here? You mean you aren’t ground survivors? Did you come from the sky? Are you Sky Refugees?"

Wang Yi thought the woman before him was quite naive. He continued, "No, we’re from another world!"

"Another world?"

"That’s right!" Wang Yi took out a pack of Crispy Fried Small Fish and offered it to Watermelon. He went on, "From what you just said, this world has ground survivors and Sky Refugees? Could you tell me more about that?"

Watermelon stared curiously at the Crispy Fried Small Fish in her hand, turning it over and over as if she didn’t know how to open the package. She suddenly stuffed it into a pocket at her waist and said, "I don’t know if I should believe you. My gut tells me you’re probably lying, but in this godforsaken world, all humans are struggling to get by. Survivors have to support each other to live longer. Come with me. I’ll take you to our village first..."

She suddenly whirled around and glared at Zhang Lengzi and Yang Qingniu. "Aren’t you going to throw away those evil fruits?"

Wang Yi glanced at the fruits Yang Qingniu and Zhang Lengzi had collected. They looked like apples but showed no Attribute Information.

’What on earth are these things?’

Wang Yi gestured for Zhang Lengzi and Yang Qingniu to throw the fruits away. The two didn’t dare say anything and immediately complied.

Seeing this, Watermelon let out a sigh of relief. "Those are evil fruits. If you eat one, you’ll be assimilated by the grasslands and turn into a half-human, half-tree monster, completely at its mercy. There’s no cure!"

"Oh? A mutation?"

"Stop asking questions for now. Tell me, how many people are in your group? And what is that strange wall?"

"There are over 400 of us. And that thing isn’t a wall, it’s my little train!"

"Four hundred people!"

A look of shock appeared on Watermelon’s face. She automatically ignored the second half of Wang Yi’s sentence and muttered to herself, "A group of 400... Now I believe you aren’t ground survivors. I’ve never heard of a group of ground survivors exceeding two hundred people. But whether you’re Sky Refugees or visitors from another world, you have to migrate with us before nightfall. Otherwise, the grasslands become active at night and will reap everyone’s lives."

"You seem so terrified. What exactly are these grasslands? Are they really that horrifying?"

"You really don’t know anything, do you?" Watermelon let out a cold laugh. "It was enough to make the entire world collapse and drive humanity to near extinction. You tell me if that’s horrifying. Quick, gather your people and follow me..."

As she spoke, Watermelon abruptly stopped. She looked toward the crimson grassland, where something like a giant vine had just pierced through the ground.

The thing twisted and squirmed. A purple flower rapidly bloomed at its tip, vibrant and as large as an ox-cart. It withered in an instant, and then a green, writhing object—part-fruit, part-fleshy-orb—appeared, visibly swelling in size.

"A Wood Knot! Dammit, the grasslands actually sent a Wood Knot! Just how many Grass Blades did you kill?"

Watermelon’s face turned pale, her eyes betraying an unconcealable fear.

"Grass Blades? Are you talking about those long-necked Mummies? If so... let me think... we’ve probably killed at least ten thousand of them!"

"What? Ten thousand! My god, did you fight your way out of the grasslands?" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"We did!"

"You must be lying to me! There’s no time to waste talking. Let’s go! The Wood Knot will mature soon, and then we’ll all die!"

"Alright!"

Wang Yi agreed. He planned to go with Watermelon to her village to gather more intelligence and was just wondering if he should take his little train.

BOOM! The Wood Knot on the grassland exploded, and a monster appeared. It looked like a fusion of a Treant and a human, with a body that was half-rotten-flesh and half-tree-root.

Its head was lowered, and a low whimpering sound came from its mouth. Its limbs were formed from roots and vines. It crouched on the ground like a ferocious Exotic Beast, spikes sprouting from its skin. Six vine-like tendrils swayed on either side of its body. It also had a tail, also made of vines and covered in thorns.

"It was born so quickly... This is an incomplete, rapidly-grown form. It can only use a fraction of a complete one’s power, but that’s more than enough to kill all of us! We’re done for, done for... I can’t die by its hand!"

A look of despair crossed Watermelon’s face, and her eyes grew moist. She picked up a small knife and, having apparently made a difficult decision, plunged it violently toward her own neck.

Wang Yi didn’t have the kind of lightning-fast reflexes to knock a weapon out of someone’s hand. Seeing that Watermelon was about to kill herself, he sent a hard slap across her face, spinning her halfway around and sending her tumbling to the ground. The small knife flew from her grasp.

"Suicide? Are things really that bad?"

Wang Yi said with a cold expression, kicking away the knife that had fallen to the ground.

Watermelon was completely stunned by the slap. She stared blankly, her face devoid of expression, as she touched the side of her face he had struck. The clear imprint of his fingers was visible on her cheek, which was already beginning to swell.

"From now on, you stick with me. I’ll keep you safe. It’s just one little monster. What’s there to be afraid of?"

Wang Yi now turned his gaze back to the so-called "Wood Knot." It had lifted its head and was now running like a madman, its speed like that of a cheetah.

This monster was clearly different from the previous Mummies. It ran out of the grassland and charged straight for Wang Yi.

At first, Wang Yi wasn’t concerned. He had Zhang Lengzi and Yang Qingniu in front of him, and Qin Mo secretly protecting him from behind. He didn’t believe for a second that the monster could hurt him.

But as the monster got closer and Wang Yi saw its face clearly, his brow furrowed instantly. It felt as if a bolt of lightning had suddenly crashed inside his mind.

The Wood Knot had a human face with distinct features. And it was a face Wang Yi remembered.

Who else could it be but Ma Changgui?

"Ma Changgui! How is that possible? Isn’t he already dead? Unless..."

A sudden theory surfaced in Wang Yi’s mind, a chilling thought that made the hairs on his arms stand on end.