Volume One: The Hell-level Lord World Chapter 17: The Eerie Old Tree

When Chen Gu set out again, his method of travel was distinctly different. Five Bloodshadow Wolves led the way ahead, nine Corpse-eating Vines guarded the flanks, and the Fire Spirit Crows circled watchfully in the sky, while the carriage glided smoothly through the forest.

Seated inside, Chen Gu periodically glanced out the side windows to confirm their route, spending the rest of the time relaxing. After all, he had spent almost the entire day on the move—his legs felt as if they might snap.

This time, Chen Gu traveled due south, heading for a place beyond the watchtower’s surveillance. He knew of another outpost in this direction thanks to the signals left behind. Once he found it, he would obtain the map for this new region, and everything would become far simpler.

The rocking of the carriage lulled the weary Chen Gu, and he closed his eyes. In this world without day or night, he had lost any sense of how long he’d been inside—he only knew he was tired, desperately in need of sleep.

Something was wrong.

Chen Gu bit his tongue sharply to rouse himself.

“Be alert—there’s an enemy nearby.”

At his command, the Corpse-eating Vines surged up from underground. Only then did he realize that aside from his vines and the carriage, neither the Bloodshadow Wolves nor the Fire Spirit Crows had followed. Peering back along the path, he saw the wolves and crows sprawled in unnatural slumber.

At that, Chen Gu understood: he’d encountered an enemy wielding powers of illusion. All his animal companions had been hypnotized. If not for his plant-based pets and the shelter of the carriage, he too might have succumbed.

“So you won’t show yourself? Corpse-eating Vines, uproot every tree around here. I refuse to believe I can’t force you out.”

His order sent the vines into a frenzy. Countless tendrils unfurled around the carriage, encasing it in a living barrier. Chen Gu remained inside, watching as twisted trees fell one by one until the assailant was revealed—a massive tree hidden among the forest, its black bark bearing a grotesque human face.

But this visage was not the serene countenance of other treefolk; it exuded a bloodthirsty, violent impulse.

As the vines wrenched the great tree from the earth, the face split into a wicked grin.

“I didn’t expect to find one of my own kind. But it makes no difference—awake or asleep, you’ll die all the same.”

Chen Gu’s eyes shone with understanding. Though this world was overrun by the undead, not everything here was subject to their transformation—plant life, it seemed, was immune. This was good news. In elven cities, there were always elements of plant or nature magic. If those hadn’t been corrupted, they might become valuable allies.

Noticing Chen Gu’s thoughtful silence, the face twisted in anger. He dared to ignore it, lost in contemplation at such a moment.

“You must have a death wish!”

The tree shook itself, dropping bodies entangled in vines from its branches. These corpses, awkwardly animated by the tendrils, moved with grotesque, unnatural motions—some could barely walk, others simply crawled along the ground.

“Pay them no mind,” Chen Gu commanded. “Take down the tree.”

At his command, the Corpse-eating Vines abandoned the lesser trees, lunging underground to coil around the tree with the human face. The old tree was caught off guard; thrashing its branches, it struck at the attacking vines while roaring in protest.

“How dare you!”

But the tree’s assaults were feeble, and the vines only multiplied. When they failed to bind its trunk, they battered its bark and gnawed at its roots beneath the soil. Some blocked the falling corpses, others pressed the attack. Amidst the chaos, the old tree failed to notice Chen Gu had reversed the carriage, rescuing the slumbering Bloodshadow Wolves and Fire Spirit Crows one by one.

After gathering five Bloodshadow Wolves and forty Fire Spirit Crows, Chen Gu halted—not from lack of will, but because the carriage could hold no more. He did not release the revived beasts, instead crowding them inside before steering the carriage straight toward the embattled tree.

By now, the vines and the ancient tree were locked in furious combat.

When Chen Gu’s carriage hurtled forward, the tree paid it no mind—having observed earlier that the vine-drawn carriage avoided obstacles, it felt no fear of a collision. But as the carriage drew near, the door swung open and five Bloodshadow Wolves leapt out, sinking their fangs into the grotesque face upon the trunk.

An axe struck the ancient bark—a single hand extended from the carriage window, Chen Gu gripping the axe and calling out, “Circle it—keep circling!”

As he spoke, he hacked relentlessly at the old tree. Who knew how many centuries this ancient hardwood had stood, but with every swing, woodchips flew. Still, the tree was massive; Chen Gu had never intended to fell it with an axe alone.

After the carriage had made seven or eight revolutions, Chen Gu had carved a deep cavity into the trunk.

“Fire Spirit Crows—prepare for Fire Spark: Detonate!”

The crows, newly revived and flapping about the carriage, now crackled with fresh embers. The Bloodshadow Wolves, who had attacked the tree, had already succumbed to unnatural slumber at its roots, a testament to the tree’s bewildering powers.

Chen Gu pointed to the gash he had made and ordered the Fire Spirit Crows to attack. Three sparks, guided by Chen Gu, flew into the hollow, and with a swift motion, he slapped a fragment of armor over the opening.

The carriage shot forward. Before he could even look back, a thunderous boom erupted behind him—the old tree’s trunk exploded from within.

The ancient tree had never imagined Chen Gu would fight so ruthlessly.

The blast split the trunk nearly in two, and the Corpse-eating Vines seized the moment, wrenching the sundered remains from the earth. At last, aided by the relentless vines, the wise old tree with its hideous face was torn asunder and crashed to the ground.