Vampire Vine?
Looking at the colossus before me, no smaller than a small mountain, its side alone spanning nearly two li, I quickly recalled the books I had read, but found no mention of this so-called Vampire Vine. I could only turn to Zhang Dabiao again.
"Brother Zhang, did you misidentify it? Although I didn't go to college, if I didn't read extensively, I've still read quite a bit. How come I've never heard of this Vampire Vine?"
Zhang Dabiao sighed, saying it was normal that I didn't know, because this thing was a semi-living creature.
"Semi-living? What does that mean?"
Looking at the massive canopy before me, how could it not be alive? Was he taking me for a fool? But what was about to be said turned into, could it be a ghost or evil spirit?
Zhang Dabiao nodded, "Not entirely correct. These things usually absorb nutrients from the earth, but their favorite is flesh. Have you seen a Venus flytrap?"
I shook my head, saying I hadn't seen a Venus flytrap, but I had seen a pitcher plant. However, pitcher plants only eat small flies and mosquitoes. Was he going to tell me that this giant before us would eat people?
"That's right. The pitcher plant is just a small plant, and you can imagine this one as a pitcher plant magnified a thousand or ten thousand times. Look around it if you don't believe me."
Shining the flashlight beam, I indeed saw many white bones beneath its aerial roots. On an aerial root closest to us was the skeleton of a goat, and further away were the bones of a bird and some rodents. The flesh had been completely devoured, leaving only white bones hidden within the aerial roots hanging from the vines. If you didn't look closely, it would be hard to find.
I subconsciously swallowed, and asked Zhang Dabiao with a slightly trembling voice, "Are we going in?"
If I encountered a祟客 or a demon, I would still have the strength to fight and wouldn't be too afraid, but facing this kind of unknown plant that could consume flesh and blood made it somewhat difficult for me to accept.
Because it reminded me of spiders, how they would bind their prey in their webs and inject venom that corroded flesh, and the prey could only feel their flesh and blood slowly dissolving, leaving only a skin wrapped around the dissolved flesh and blood waiting to be eaten by the spider.
Although I didn't know the principle by which the Vampire Vine hunted its prey, thinking of spiders and pitcher plants made my whole body goosebump, and my bladder felt uncomfortable with a sudden urge to urinate.
Zhang Dabiao's eyes didn't miss the expression on my face, and he smirked, "Scared?"
I didn't hide it and nodded, saying, "It would be a lie to say I'm not afraid, but some things must be done even if they are impossible. A person dies, but the birds face the sky; if they don't die, they live forever." My slightly trembling voice couldn't hide my brave words, making me ashamed enough to want to find a hole to crawl into.
In the dim light, revealing a row of white teeth, he chuckled, "It's normal to be scared. Facing the unknown would scare anyone. Even I would be scared, but just as you said, some people know it's impossible, but we still have to go... This thing sounds scary, but once you understand it, it's nothing. It's just that no one knows this secret."
"Secret? What secret?" I was confused by Zhang Dabiao's sudden change of topic. He was talking about the Vampire Vine just now, and now it's a secret?
"This thing looks fierce, but it belongs to the Yin element. It only shows its ferocious side at night. If we accidentally stumbled in at night, even the Great Immortal Luo would only be able to collect our corpses. But when it's bright and the sun rises, this thing is as fragile as a finger. Except for looking like a giant banyan tree that's a bit scary, it's useless."
Hearing Zhang Dabiao's explanation, I breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't a real evil spirit, if it were such a large evil spirit, let alone the two of us, even if all the Feng Shui and Yin practitioners in the world were invited, it might not be enough to fill its teeth. Perhaps another method would be to set a large fire.
However, this idea could only swirl in my mind. Setting a fire might burn it all, but a fire would also burn Zhang's father's remains completely. Moreover, the surroundings were all dense canopies and forests. With a fire, I would have a place to eat for the rest of my life and would be given a pair of large gold bracelets.
I was about to ask Zhang Dabiao how he knew so much and why I didn't, but an inappropriate sound came.
Grumble—
A sound of hunger came from my stomach. Looking at Zhang Dabiao, whose stomach was also rumbling, I chuckled and took out a roasted chicken from my bag. This was originally meant as an offering for Zhang's father, but because of the appearance of the old fox, the relocation was not successful, so these things were no longer useful.
On the way back, I saw that it wasn't dirty, so I stuffed it into my bag along with the plastic bag. This was thanks to the lesson learned from going up the mountain in Molu Village. Going up the mountain without food and drink could really lead to death.
Moreover, it wasn't yet fully light, and the sky was a hazy gray, the moment of Yin and Yang transition. After moving a bit further away from the ghost vine, I sat on the ground and ate the roasted chicken with water.
After finishing the chicken, although I wasn't full, at least I had something in my stomach, so I wouldn't become a weakling if I encountered danger. The sky had already brightened, and a faint red glow rose from the east. As soon as the sun came out, the Yin and evil energy retreated rapidly to the west at a speed visible to the naked eye. Only when the sunlight completely enveloped the Vampire Vine before me did I see its true appearance.
It lived up to its name as a Vampire Vine. It wasn't obvious in the dark, but under the sunlight, its roots were dark red. Around the roots were thread-like tendrils with the white bones of rodents hanging from them. The leaves were grayish-white with black patterns, looking like withered bones, which was extremely strange.
"Let's go!"
Zhang Dabiao stood up, tidied his belongings, and led the way towards the ghost vine.
As soon as I stepped into the area of the ghost vine, the feeling of Yin and coldness on my body increased sharply. My feet made a crisp crunching sound. Lifting my foot and using the sunlight filtering through the canopy, I could see that the ground below was covered with withered bones, dead for who knows how many years, crushed to pieces with one step.
The further I walked, the less sunlight there was. The sparse aerial roots gradually became denser, and coupled with the dense vines and branches above, it made me ask Zhang Dabiao with some concern, "Will these vines suddenly lash out and entangle us?"
When I entered, I had used a wooden ruler to cut off the villi growing on the roots. Although those things were only as thick as a needle, cutting them felt like cutting cotton, offering no resistance. The Yin iron wooden ruler sank into them and was even difficult to pull out.
"No, they don't attack prey during the day."
After walking a few more meters, Zhang Dabiao stopped and asked me to come forward and look.
I saw a fox entangled in the villi of the aerial roots. Its fur had withered and lost its luster, and its skin was hanging on its bones. In a few more days, nothing would probably be left.
"It seems that these foxes rushed in here last night. I just don't know if that old fox rushed in?"
Seeing this, I had a bad feeling. Many foxes must have died when they rushed in yesterday. I didn't see any foxes when I came at night. Does this mean they also knew it was dangerous and were waiting for daylight? This thought startled me.
I secretly thought, "Could these foxes be this smart? If that's the case, wouldn't Zhang Dabiao and I be walking into a trap?" Sudancn.com
Thinking of this, a not-too-loud crisp sound suddenly came from behind me, the sound of stepping on withered bones. I instinctively turned around and saw that countless pairs of eyes had appeared behind me, each pair filled with hatred and emitting faint green light.
I felt a wave of dizziness. After all my efforts, I was outsmarted. These foxes were cunning enough to set traps. Was there any justice in this world?