Chapter 25: People Turned Into Trees
All along the road, Jiang Shan only saw trees filling the entire village, and even at the hotel entrance, he hadn’t seen a single humanoid figure.
The weird scene made his heart grow increasingly uneasy.
The four people from that manager’s private team were equally uneasy in their hearts. Originally, when entering the village, Old Zhao, who was driving, had cursed:
“What a godforsaken place, not a single person in sight.”
But the closer they drove toward the village center, the uglier Old Zhao’s face became. He had long heard that the mountain woods delicacies in Chen Family Village were very famous.
As a relatively well-known tourist village in Dachang City, even if it was a godforsaken place, it shouldn’t be that not a single humanoid figure could be seen on the street, right?
The four who had already noticed something was wrong now had only one thought in their minds:
“Go to the hotel, pick up the still alive manager, get in the car, kill Jiang Shan and take the gold box, then quickly leave this ghost place.”
As for that manager lost in the woods, whoever wants to find him can go ahead; these four weren’t serving anymore.
In no time after entering the village, Jiang Shan and the four had driven to the hotel entrance.
The entire hotel looked deathly still, the originally luxurious hotel hall visible through the glass door showed no sign of life inside—not to mention the front desk, even the hall lights weren’t on.
After getting out of the car, Jiang Shan noticed that the hotel had six layers total, and saplings had grown all over the outer walls of its first and second floors, with brownish-black trunks growing upward in a weird form.
“md, what the hell are these trees, they can even grow like this?” Old Zhao, who had gotten out early, cursed while looking at the weirdly growing saplings in front of him.
Because the group had set out in the afternoon, it was nearly dusk by the time they reached Chen Family Village. It seemed the car’s roaring engine had drawn some attention in the hotel; Jiang Shan saw lights turn on in the originally dim rooms of the hotel.
Old Zhao also noticed this phenomenon, so he shouted loudly toward the hotel:
“Manager Guo, Manager Li, it’s Zhao Leihu, our team has come to pick you up and go back!”
Zhao Leihu’s voice stimulated a man in a certain room on the third floor, and a collapsing wail came from the third floor:
“Can’t go back! I’m going to die, I don’t want to turn into a tree! I don’t want to die! Aah!”
That noteworthy message hadn’t even been said a few words before the man burst into loud sobbing.
The shrill voice was exceptionally terrifying in the dim, deathly still dusk, as if some weirdness was about to emerge in Chen Family Village, making everyone’s scalps tingle.
“Manager Li! Manager Li! We brought weapons and drove here. Hurry and get Manager Guo, we’ll drive out tonight.” Zhao Leihu recognized who was wailing and shouted loudly.
“I don’t want to turn into a tree! I’m not going down, I’m not leaving the room, you just want me dead, you dog thing, dog bastard! Get lost, get lost now!” The man’s voice from the third floor was already somewhat deranged, roaring hoarsely.
Having been publicly cursed, Zhao Leihu’s face darkened like his parents had died, his hand gripping the gun handle tightly.
If it were usual, if someone dared curse him like that, he’d make sure that person ate a purple bullet to teach him how to behave, but now
At this moment, a voice suddenly rang out:
“Why would you turn into a tree?”
Jiang Shan, who had been observing for a long time, asked toward the room still transmitting wails.
“Going out turns you into a tree, I don’t want to turn into a tree, I have money! Right! I have money! I still have four lovers, let them come save me, let them come save me!”
From the voice alone, it was clear that Manager Li on the third floor was already mentally unstable.
Probably because he had seen the terror of the ghost, leading to his current state.
But that was no longer important; now Jiang Shan needed someone who could provide specific information, not a madman.
Just as Jiang Shan was silent, a familiar voice came from another room on the third floor:
“Jiang Shan, why are you here? This place has already been invaded by the ghost, how did you get in?”
“It’s Chen Yue’s voice, but what did her last sentence mean? Could this village not be enterable?” Jiang Shan felt doubt in his heart; he knew Chen Yue must have her reasons for asking that.
So Jiang Shan turned his head to look toward the road they had come from.
“?”
As his gaze swept over, his brows couldn’t help but furrow, because he discovered:
The road,
was gone.
The road they had driven on earlier had completely disappeared, replaced entirely by a woods.
Jiang Shan looked around and found that weird trees had surrounded the hotel, growing toward it as if they had self-consciousness.
At this moment, Chen Yue’s voice came from the third floor again:
“Jiang Shan, absolutely do not touch those trees! Anyone who touches them all turns into trees; those trees are ghosts, just like ghost characters.”
“Bang!”
Before Chen Yue could finish, a gunshot interrupted her words.
It was Zhao Leihu who fired!
Looking at the pierced tree, Zhao Leihu smirked smugly; in his eyes, even a ghost hit by this gold bullet would have to kneel and sing conquest to him.
But he didn’t know that gold could only block a fierce ghost’s perception and couldn’t harm the ghost, not even stop ghost killing.
Ghosts cannot be killed.
Having fired once, Zhao Leihu seemed unsatisfied, so he fired several more shots at the saplings in front of him; the already slender trunks were nearly shot to pieces by him.
“What nonsense about turning into a tree if touched; I’ve shot them all down, why haven’t I turned into a tree? You little bastard, if you scare your grandpa again, I’ll go up and blast you.”
After firing, Zhao Leihu yanked the sapling in front of him out, fiddled with it casually a couple times, then tossed it on the ground disdainfully:
“Even if a ghost comes, one shot from grandpa and it dies.”
With that, Zhao Leihu turned his head, looking provocatively at Jiang Shan.
Jiang Shan looked coldly at Zhao Leihu without speaking; he now wished Zhao Leihu would jump around more to help him probe the ghost’s killing pattern.
Seeing Jiang Shan say nothing, Zhao Leihu snorted coldly, his gaze glancing intentionally or not toward Jiang Shan, whispering to the three behind him:
“Let’s go get Manager Li and Manager Guo in the car. Once back, we’ll cut a few pounds of meat off them, and what to do next goes without saying, right.”
“Understood.” The three said in unison.
Immediately after, the three entered the hotel, stepping into the hall covered in tree roots, then disappeared up the stairs from Jiang Shan’s sight.
In no time, Jiang Shan heard the sound of violent door-breaking on the third floor, followed by wailing and hurried footsteps.
Old Zhao was seen carrying an already comatose man down the stairs, while the remaining three supported a disheveled, fat-headed, big-eared middle-aged man, slowly descending the stairs step by step.
“I don’t want to die! I don’t want to turn into a tree! Aah, I don’t want to die!” The fat-headed, big-eared middle-aged man cried as he spoke.
“Manager Li, you won’t die. Look at us four; hasn’t everyone survived?”
Even though Manager Li wanted to leave, he was firmly held by the three and could only be dragged along.
But just as the four were about to exit the hotel, a mutation suddenly occurred.
The fat-headed, big-eared Manager Li suddenly stood rooted in place; no matter how hard the three tried, they could no longer move him an inch.
Old Cao was just about to get angry when he heard his companion’s trembling voice:
“Manager Li’s legs have turned into trees!”
First round of testing, brothers; hope for lots of support from brothers!
I will write this book with care!
Gratitude for brothers’ help!
