Chapter 49: Not even us

The Forest Park lay in the western suburbs of the inner city.

Apart from a small portion of naturally grown forest vegetation, most of the plants there were artificially cultivated.

Because the wilderness was contaminated with many unknown pollutants, ordinary citizens rarely ventured outside the city limits. Their movements were restricted to this small patch of land called Tong City.

Therefore, the municipal government invested considerable resources in building this Forest Park—to give the citizens a place to relax and cleanse their spirits.

The inner-city Forest Park covered a vast area, nearly half of the western suburbs.

With complete entertainment facilities and free admission, it was crowded almost every day except during special weather like the Red Rain Season.

Even during the rainy season, when the rain paused, people still came to walk around.

A bad feeling suddenly surfaced in Song Nanxing’s mind.

“Head straight to the Forest Park, hurry up.” He said to Zhou Xuan.

Listening to their conversation, Zhou Xuan realized something as well. He stepped on the accelerator, swiftly weaving past the swaying banyan stumps ahead, racing towards the Forest Park.

When they arrived, the Forest Park’s main gate was brightly lit, with occasional gunshots ringing out.

About ten police officers stood blocking the park’s entrance, raising their guns over the iron gate’s bars, shooting at those strangely shaped tree stumps in an attempt to stop them from entering.

The tree stumps took the shots—small holes appeared on their wooden roots, red liquid oozing out—but it didn’t stop them from moving forward.

Behind them were dozens of men, women, and children dressed in various clothing, their eyes vacant and movements sluggish, following blindly.

They all pressed against the park’s gate, shaking the iron doors incessantly, emitting sharp creaking sounds.

Someone shouted in the rain, “There are too many people! At this rate, we won’t be able to hold them back.”

“We have to stop them no matter what! Absolutely no one can get in.”

“Call for backup! Why hasn’t backup arrived yet?”

“The riot at the stadium pulled all available personnel over there. Hold on a little longer—reinforcements are already on their way.”

Fragments of conversation drifted over, enough to piece together what was happening here.

The car hadn’t even stopped when Song Nanxing jumped out.

Zhou Xuan handed the car keys to Xu Lai, instructing, “Wait in the car and don’t wander off.” Then he quickly followed Song Nanxing.

The exhausted police officers brightened when they saw reinforcements arriving, but their smiles quickly faded when they saw only two young men.

Assuming they were family members who had come to find their loved ones, they shouted sternly, “This place is dangerous! Where did you come from? Go back now and don’t cause trouble!”

Zhou Xuan pulled out his identification. “We’re from the Containment Center’s Enforcement Team, here to assist.”

Hearing this, the officers who had been worried about family members hindering the operation immediately brightened again.

The lead officer scrutinized the two young men. “We followed those tree stumps here. On the way, we found not only those stumps but many ordinary people infected with tree skin disease—like they were summoned—they flooded the streets and gathered with those stumps… Do you have any way to stop the people? We can’t let them get inside.”

“I’ll handle it.”

Zhou Xuan disappeared into the darkness. Soon, a gigantic spider-like creature crawled up the tall ginkgo tree in front of the park gate, spinning shining silk threads.

The spider silk quickly wove into a net in midair. Zhou Xuan’s slender spider legs stepped nimbly on the threads, calmly and swiftly sealing off the entire park gate with the web.

The ordinary people, who had lost their minds and were desperately smashing the iron gate, were trapped in the spider silk, emitting painful moans.

By comparison, the tree stumps seemed smarter.

They abandoned part of their root systems and escaped from the spider web. The humanoid tree roots swayed for a moment, then without hesitation, turned and walked back into the darkness.

Zhou Xuan climbed swiftly along the web above the crowd and looked down, asking, “How many gates does the Forest Park have? Are they trying to enter from other places?”

A park security guard, trembling, emerged from the security room, stammering, “There are four gates… but… the Forest Park isn’t completely enclosed…”

This meant that blocking the four main gates wouldn’t be enough to stop the banyan stumps or these contaminated people from entering.

The inner-city Forest Park covered over 300 hectares; there was no way to seal off the entire area by manpower alone.

A group of police officers looked pale. The lead officer wiped his face and murmured, “If we can’t stop them, it’s over.”

Only then did Song Nanxing have a chance to ask, “Why is it so important not to let them inside? What’s in the park?”

The lead officer shook the water off his hands, took out his radio, and explained: “We followed the banyan stumps to the Forest Park in the second wave. Before us, a batch of police had entered the park with the stumps. But just before we arrived, the radio channel suddenly got a warning—no matter what, nothing can be allowed inside the park. Not even us.”

The radio had a recording function. The officer pressed play, and a man’s hoarse voice screamed: “Stop them! Don’t let them in! They can’t get in! Absolutely not!”

Gunfire crackled fiercely in the background.

“They’re all dead… all dead… I’m dying too. Don’t come in…”

The man’s voice weakened from hoarse screams to a faint, terrifying electric crackle.

“We received the warning and didn’t dare enter. We can only guard the gate and keep them out, waiting for reinforcements.”

Hearing a life slip away once again, the police present all felt a heaviness in their spirits.

Song Nanxing looked up at the Forest Park’s interior but only saw overlapping shadows of trees.

The Forest Park had a vegetation coverage rate of 95.8%—a natural oxygen bar.

But the vibrant, refreshing forest that brought peace during the day turned into a place haunted by ghostly shadows at night.

The thick canopy branches swayed violently in the wind and rain, a portent of ill fortune.

Song Nanxing asked, “How long until reinforcements arrive?”

“Reported twenty minutes ago. But I heard something happened at the stadium. All personnel were initially diverted there, and even the standby staff were sent out, so the backup has been delayed.”

Song Nanxing looked at Zhou Xuan. “What’s your take?”

Zhou Xuan said, “There must be a reason the tree stumps and tree skin disease patients are gathering in the Forest Park in the middle of the night. Since we can’t stop them, we have to find the source first.”

Song Nanxing agreed, “Then let’s go check it out.”

Zhou Xuan nodded, “I’ll go. You wait here for reinforcements.”

Song Nanxing shook his head. Remembering the banyan trees’ mind-confusing abilities, he said, “It’s too dangerous for you to go in alone. I’ll go with you.”

Before Zhou Xuan could refuse, Song Nanxing added quickly, “I can resist pollution better than normal people. You should know that, right?”

Hearing that, Zhou Xuan said nothing further.

Song Nanxing ordered the police and security guards to guard the gate and wait for reinforcements. Borrowing radios and lighting equipment from them, he and Zhou Xuan—one in the light, one in the dark—headed towards the center of the Forest Park.

The park was so huge, full of winding paths. Even with navigation, it was difficult to orient themselves in the pitch-black woods.

The relentless rain added an eerie, sinister air to the already dim forest.

Song Nanxing wiped rainwater off his mask and stopped. “This won’t do. The Forest Park is too large. We can’t find our way on our own. We need a guide.”

As if summoned, Zhou Xuan, hidden in the shadows of the branches, swiftly climbed a tree and coldly stared at the swaying banyan stumps moving ahead.

The banyan stumps moved through the dark forest like fish in water. With the rain muffling sound, if Zhou Xuan hadn’t transformed into his spider form, he might never have noticed them in the dark.

“There are a few over there. I’ll catch one and bring it back.”

After a brief wait, Zhou Xuan used spider silk to drag a banyan stump over.

The stump struggled fiercely, tangled in the silk.

After Zhou Xuan retracted the web, the stump got up from the muddy soil and continued swaying forward.

The two of them followed at a distance.

The banyan stump didn’t follow the usual path—it seemed to instinctively choose the quickest straight route, swaying as it pushed through dense woods.

Song Nanxing followed behind for half an hour. Emerging from the forest, the scene suddenly opened up before his eyes—

A shimmering lake.

The banyan stump waded into the water without hesitation, making a splash. One splash was followed by several more.

Song Nanxing shone his strong flashlight around and saw more banyan stumps jumping into the water. The once-calm lake rippled with waves.

Among them were also many ordinary people who had lost their minds. They were clustered around the banyan stumps, moving toward the dark center of the lake.

But Song Nanxing and Zhou Xuan had no time to pay attention to them. Their eyes were fixed on the giant, indescribable tree towering on the island in the middle of the lake—

If it could still be called a tree at all.

The banyan stumps herded the ordinary people on the lakeshore onto the bank like livestock.

Once ashore, those people blankly walked toward the banyan tree as if meeting long-lost relatives.

One after another, they opened their arms and tightly embraced the massive tree trunk—so thick its diameter was beyond measurement with the naked eye.

Their bodies gradually fused into the trunk, turning into blurred, twisted branches.

In a short time, this colossal tree, already canopy-shrouded and world-tree-like in legend, visibly thickened.

Its overpowering trunk seemed to dominate the entire island in the lake. The canopy, like a dark cloud, hung heavily over the island.

Its sprawling branches trembled, emitting a roaring rustling sound audible even across the lake.

As if receiving some command, the banyan stumps gathered on the island burrowed into the soil.

Then, thick aerial roots extended downward from the giant tree’s branches, twisting and writhing as they plunged into the shallows at the lake’s edge.

These aerial roots became the supports holding up the enormous canopy.

From across the lake, Song Nanxing and Zhou Xuan watched those aerial roots hanging down into the shallow water.

Each looked like a twisted, struggling person.