“Monsters! Your harsh words won't work on me!” Tianma Xingkong was no longer as afraid now that he had clearly seen the faces of those strange trees. He shouted loudly, “Take this! Tianma Meteor Fist!”

Before the words even faded, hundreds of silver-white fist shadows shot forward like a flurry of meteors, striking the trees.

But… there was no effect.

“Hahahaha…” The mocking tree group, having been struck by the Meteor Fist, burst into laughter. Not only were they unharmed, but they also mocked the attack. “Your punches are like my sister’s! Hahahaha…”

“Damn it…” Xiao Ma Ge’s anger gradually ignited, and he raised his fist to strike again.

“Save your strength.” Feng Bujue walked to his side and dissuaded him in a calm tone, reaching out to press down on his shoulder. “They aren’t afraid of your attacks at all. In fact, they’re trying to bait you into attacking.”

“So… these trees are masochists?” Ji Bu interjected from the side.

“If that sentence was a joke, it wasn’t funny,” Honghu said. “If it was a deduction… then it's too unreliable.”

Feng Bujue continued, “Clearly, these trees are delaying our progress.” He glanced around. “They keep saying trash talk to provoke us and lure us into attacking.” His gaze returned to Tianma Xingkong. “And your attacks will only waste your stamina and time, without any reward.”

“Oh…” Xiao Ma Ge nodded. “That makes sense.” He lowered his stance. “I understand. I must ignore these monsters, I must remain calm.”

“That’s right.” Feng Bujue turned his head to Ji Bu again. “Keep clearing the way.”

Hearing this, Ji Bu turned around and continued forward.

During the players' conversation, the insults from the mocking trees never ceased. Now that the five of them had resumed moving forward, the trees were even more aggressive in their provocations. However, everyone had decided to adopt an attitude of ignoring them, trying their best not to pay attention to the content of their words. They quickened their pace and moved forward with their heads down, and before long, they entered the core of the mocking forest.

The trees here were even thicker and denser, and the intertwined vines blocked the players' path like tentacles. At this point, Ji Bu’s [The Tree Spirit Who Says Trash Talk Must Die] axe could finally be of use.

“Ah! Ah! Do you know what you’re doing, you bastard!” As the axe chopped at the vines, the strange trees continued to groan and curse.

“I know.” Ji Bu, however, showed no pity, and swung the axe with a delighted expression. “Otherwise, how could I be doing this so happily?” He revealed the expression of someone from the chaotic evil alignment, slashing at the vines blocking his path with a grin.

At this moment, Feng Bujue, who was following behind Ji Bu, seemed to have thought of something again. He turned his head and asked, “By the way, Uncle Scum, can I borrow a light?”

Without a word, Uncle Scum casually took out a lighter from his pocket and threw it to Jue Ge.

“Thanks.” Feng Bujue caught the lighter, picked up a small twig from the ground, and then tried to light the branch.

“What are you doing?” Tianma Xingkong asked upon seeing this.

“Testing fuel,” Feng Bujue replied.

“Oh…” Honghu instantly understood the meaning of those words. “Good idea.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Tianma Xingkong asked, puzzled.

“He wants to test how long the branches of these trees can burn,” Honghu explained. “Trees that can withstand the Tianma Meteor Fist must be extraordinary.”

“I see…” Uncle Scum understood at this point. “If the branches of these mocking trees are indeed flammable and can burn for a long time, then we can collect some now for future needs.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Honghu said. “Judging from the basic settings of this scenario, making a fire to keep warm or heat food will be something we have to do sooner or later, so it’s necessary to be prepared.”

While they were talking, Feng Bujue had already made progress. “Aha! I knew they could be lit.” He spent some time and finally got the branch in his hand to burn.

Jue Ge took the opportunity to throw the lighter back to Uncle Scum, and quickly took out a slingshot from his knapsack, levitating the small burning section of the branch in front of the slingshot. “Now… let’s see how long this thing can burn.”

“Hey! Bastard!” a mocking tree next to them loudly interjected. “Do you think doing these things will change your inevitable death? You self-righteous idiot! Your brain is as small as a mole’s wedding equipment! You are just a maggot wriggling in the gap between stupidity and arrogance! What you do is meaningless! It's as useless as translating the book *How to Learn German* into German!”

“Hehe…” Feng Bujue smiled at the tree. “What’s wrong? Why are you so excited? Could it be that what I’m burning is your [Bleep]?”

“You perverted scumbag, come over here if you have the guts, let’s fight one-on-one!” the mocking tree shouted.

“I won’t go over there.” Feng Bujue responded with an incredibly cheap smile. “Come over here and hit me, you idiot~”

“Hey, hey… you’re telling us to ignore these trees, but you’re happily arguing with them?” Honghu said. “Did you successfully collect a lot of trash talk and are preparing to use it?”

“Stop talking nonsense… Yulong, you will die in front of me sooner or later, and your last line will be, ‘Why did you create Yu when you already created Liang?’”

“You’re suddenly coming at me again? Are you crazy?”

“I’m just bored anyway,” Feng Bujue shrugged and replied.

After a while, Jue Ge leaned closer to look at the branch enveloped in flames. “Hmm… as expected, after burning for so long, the size of this branch hasn’t decreased at all, and no ashes have fallen.” As he spoke, he released the slingshot button, letting the branch fall to the ground, and then stomped on it a few times. “Hmm… very good, extinguishing it is much easier than lighting it.”

He put away the slingshot and continued, “It’s a safe, durable, and good material, surprisingly good. If the little match girl had a box of matches made of this wood, this story wouldn’t have ended in tragedy.” He paused for a second as if he had thought of something. “Oh, of course… if her father was a pervert, then this story would still…”

“Hey! Enough already!” Honghu shouted, interrupting him. “Are you going to talk about things that make you horny again? Is your mind always restless?”

“Ah… I don’t understand what you guys are talking about at all,” Tianma Xingkong interjected with a blank expression. “But I feel like you two have a good relationship.”

“Bullshit!” Honghu replied. “This guy isn’t even on my friend list.”

“Hey! Everyone.” Suddenly, Ji Bu, who was clearing the way in front, spoke up. He had stopped and turned his head to give his teammates a signal. “Looks like we’re in trouble…”