Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 677 Ghost Locust Tree
"Do you think these people will go to Ruzhou with Omeprazole and his group?"

As they left the town, many people hid in corners, watching Xiao Ran and the others as they walked away. These prying eyes, of course, did not escape Xiao Ran's notice.

Even Huang Le could feel the gazes directed at him by these people.

“I don’t know.” Xiao Ran walked ahead and shook her head. “Maybe someone is willing to take a gamble. I don’t think there will be many. I left a message for Omeprazole to help them as much as possible, but I’m not sure how much I can help.”

Xiao Ran is not some saint who saves people from suffering.

If Huang Chao's actions hadn't already jeopardized Ruzhou, Xiao Ran wouldn't have considered going to Chang'an, a place she knew was a trap.

Dark clouds hung like lead over the official road as Xiao Ran and his group hurried north along the abandoned post road.

Along the roadside, the branches of locust trees twisted into bone claws reaching towards the sky, and dark red sap seeped from the bark, emitting a rusty, fishy smell.

Xiao Ran and his group were already used to this; it seemed that the further north they went, the more eerie the surrounding environment became.

"strangeness!"

Xiao Ran walked ahead, constantly scanning her surroundings with her spiritual power. She had intended to find a few ghosts to ask about the situation ahead, but after walking for so long, she hadn't seen a single ghost.

This was the first time Xiao Ran had encountered such a situation. After all, this was the Lost City. No ghosts in the Lost City? That was as strange as having no fish in an aquarium.

"Xiao Ran, is this mirror really okay? Will I turn into some kind of monster after using it?"

Huang Le, standing to the side, held up the bronze mirror and asked a question.

During a break on the road, Xiao Ran examined the bronze mirror.

It's unclear whether it's due to Huang Le's skill level in restoration, but the bronze mirror's capabilities seem to be severely limited.

This mirror can now see through all illusions and reveal the true nature of the other party.

In terms of this ability alone, this mirror is quite good. Since Huang Le repaired it, let him use it.

"As long as you don't do anything reckless, this mirror won't have much of an impact on you," Xiao Ran said, rolling her eyes at Huang Le, warning him again not to risk fixing the name.

In a sense, these things modified by the Imperial Seal are more like cursed objects than cursed objects themselves; while users enjoy the convenience, they will also suffer enormous consequences.

That county magistrate is a living example.

"Haha, don't worry, I promise I won't do anything impulsive." Huang Le happily agreed.

After walking for about half a day, the group saw a stone tablet by the roadside with the words "Wanzhou" clearly written on it.

"If we keep going, after passing northern Anhui, we'll reach Yuzhou. It's getting late, let's rest here for a while."

Dai Long spoke up.

The group had been traveling all day, and even Jin Chanzi, who was sitting on the tiger demon, felt a little tired.

"Well, if we walk for about fifteen minutes, there's a dilapidated temple. Let's rest there for a while."

Xiao Ran pointed to the hillside not far ahead and said.

There's an old saying: "Better to sleep in a messy grave than to enter a dilapidated temple."

Because these dilapidated temples are often haunted by unclean spirits.

Just like the tiger demon, these minor evil spirits would move into dilapidated temples and live in collapsed clay sculptures. If they encountered passing travelers or merchants, they could even get a full meal.

But Xiao Ran was hoping to encounter something sinister, and she hadn't seen a single ghost along the way, making her wonder if someone was deliberately playing tricks on her.

If there's anything inside the dilapidated temple, I can ask around to find out what's going on.

However, when Xiao Ran led the group to the dilapidated temple, they discovered that there was truly nothing inside.

"This is really strange."

He used his mental energy to scan the surroundings several more times, but found nothing, which made Xiao Ran a little frustrated.

"Don't you guys think the area has been a bit too clean lately?"

Wu Man had already called out the stove, lit the oil in the wok, and was preparing to cook. Upon hearing this, she said, "Isn't it better to be cleaner? It saves us the trouble."

"It's a bit too clean. I haven't even seen a single corpse along the way." The Old Demon Qinghai nodded. This situation would be completely unbelievable in other places.

Along their journey, they often saw white bones or corpses that were not yet completely decomposed by the roadside.

But I didn't encounter a single one here.

“Something unusual is bound to happen, so we should all be on our guard,” Dai Long said.

After thinking it over, Xiao Ran simply went outside the temple and threw a corpse out of her spatial storage and onto the hillside.

He wanted to see what was going on.

The body was left at the foot of the hillside. Xiao Ran observed it for a while, and seeing no movement, he simply went back to eat. In any case, with his mental strength, he wouldn't be able to hide anything from him.

"Zizzizi..."

Before long, the aroma of stir-fried dishes began to waft from the dilapidated temple.

Wu Man's dishes never seem to be the same twice. Even ordinary dishes are often made to taste so good that people linger.

For everyone who hadn't tasted Wu Man's cooking for several days, this was a real treat. The dishes included eggplant with eel, goose breast with cherry sauce, and lotus root soup with shredded lotus root.

Each person has two dishes and a bowl of soup. It seems simple, but each dish is a delicacy that ordinary people cannot enjoy.

Take the dish of eggplant casserole with eel, for example. You can see eggplant casserole but not eel. Although it is a vegetarian dish, it has the flavor of eel.

The process for making just this one dish is extremely complicated.

The best eggplants are deep-fried in chicken oil at a low temperature until golden brown (traditional eggplant fritter technique). After being taken out, they are simmered in vegetarian broth made from eel bones for 30 minutes, and then coated with eel meat paste and deep-fried again.

If Wu Man's culinary skills hadn't reached the pinnacle, it would have been impossible for an average chef to make this dish in such a short time.

A bite of crispy on the outside and tender on the inside eggplant dish, paired with cherry-red braised goose breast, is perfect with rice. Finally, a bowl of refreshing and sweet lotus root soup completes the experience, allowing everyone to enjoy a top-notch meal even in a dilapidated temple.

Just as everyone was engrossed in eating.

"Boom!!"

Suddenly the earth trembled and made a loud rumbling sound, which startled Xiao Ran and the others.

Xiao Ran immediately released her spiritual energy and saw that the corpse she had left outside was moving rapidly.

"Hmm!! There really is something!"

Xiao Ran forgot all about the rice and leaped into the air, chasing after the direction of the corpse.

Seeing this, Wu Man and the others also stood up.

"Let's go and have a look!"

With that, Wu Man took the lead and chased after him, followed closely by Dai Long and the Old Demon Qinghai. Huang Le didn't really want to join in the fun and wanted to focus on eating, but Jin Chanzi grabbed him by the collar and dragged him onto the tiger demon's back, cursing:
"You good-for-nothing, if I leave you here alone, a monster might come and eat you first!"

Xiao Ran followed the direction of the corpse and stopped in front of a grove of trees several kilometers away.

Xiao Ran looked closely and saw an ancient tree in the woods ahead, dozens of meters tall, covered with corpses, its thick roots dragging it forward like giant pythons.

"My goodness, has this huge locust tree come to life? It actually grew legs and can run away?"

When Wu Man and the others arrived, they were astonished by what they saw; it was the first time they had ever seen such a large tree demon.

"This should be good material, right?" Wu Man stared at the big locust tree with burning eyes, eager to rush over and see for herself.

"Don't go over there!" He quickly grabbed him. "The yin energy around this thing is so heavy. It seems... to be in a state of wandering in the underworld. If you rush over, you might be dragged into the underworld by mistake."

Although Xiao Ran was not a spirit medium, she had mastered the methods of spirit travel through the Zhou family's secret techniques and was very knowledgeable about it, so she could see the problem at a glance.

"Take a look in the mirror."

Xiao Ran gestured for Huang Le to use the bronze mirror to look at himself.

"Alright!" Seeing that he could use his skills again, Huang Le happily took out the bronze mirror and looked it at the big tree.

As the mirror light flickered a few times on the ancient tree, a desolate world gradually emerged around it—the Netherworld.

This not only confirmed Xiao Ran's speculation, but what surprised them even more was that the tree was actually half in the mortal world and half in the underworld.

"It seems that although this tree is strange, it is not a scourge."

After everyone watched for a while, Jin Chanzi seemed to have figured out what was going on.

The ancient tree continued to move forward, its roots stretching for several kilometers, extending in all directions. The corpses in the soil were all rolled into the trunk, then decomposed and digested, turning into nutrients. At the same time, the surrounding ghosts were also attracted to it.

But the ancient tree did not harm these spirits; instead, it used its power to send them to the underworld.

If it encounters a living creature, the roots of the large tree will actively avoid it and will never rashly harm its life.

In this light, the ancient tree seems to be playing a role similar to a cleaner, which, in the long run, is actually a good thing.

Just as the group was engrossed in watching, the ancient tree suddenly came to a slow stop.

Immediately afterward, the ground cracked open, and several thick roots emerged from the soil, forming a bridge in front of Xiao Ran and the others, leading directly to the canopy of the ancient tree.

"Is it inviting us in?"

Xiao Ran stared at the gnarled steps formed by intertwined roots in front of her, and heard a rustling whisper coming from deep within the tree canopy, as if thousands of locust leaves were rubbing against each other in the wind, making human voices.

"Come...come...come," the indistinct calls, carrying the scent of decaying earth, rushed towards us.

"This tree is mimicking human language!" Dai Long exclaimed in surprise.

"I'll go in and take a look. You guys wait here for me."

Although he didn't know what the tree was up to, Xiao Ran didn't sense any malice. He even activated the Black Swan brooch and found that it didn't alert him, so he decided to go inside and take a look.

However, just in case, they still asked Jin Chanzi and the others to wait outside.

After stepping onto the bridge woven from roots, Xiao Ran saw the bridge beneath her feet rapidly wriggle, carrying her forward like an elevator.

In less than a moment, they had reached the canopy of the trees.

The dense branches and leaves of the tree spread out to the left and right, making way for Xiao Ran. Only when she reached the center of the tree canopy did Xiao Ran see a face woven from countless vines appear before her...

(End of this chapter)