Chapter 49
Su Ran was stunned for a moment.
When he came back to his senses, he followed Si Chengyan's gaze and realized after a few seconds: "Could it be... these vines?"
Si Chengyan nodded. He patted Su Ran's shoulder and led him to a vine. It was a green vine as thick as a forearm, quietly wrapped around the cliff.
It seems that there is no difference.
"this……"
Just as Su Ran opened her mouth, she heard Si Chengyan make a "hush" sound.
He turned on the flashlight he carried with him, even though it was mostly broken and the colonel had tied it up with a strap to prevent it from being damaged or distorted.
Then he bit the other side of the bandage and tied up the vines in front of him.
Su Ran: “?”
Faced with this puzzled little rose, Si Chengyan didn't explain. He waited until the vine was bandaged and Guji tied a knot. Then he turned on the flashlight he carried with him.
——The strong light only shone for a second, and the vine began to twist violently.
Su Ran was completely stunned. When the light faded and the vines stopped twisting, Si Chengyan spoke: "This is a mutant vine, probably the RE21 type."
"…mutated?"
"Well, they can be considered as deformed creatures, but they are benign," Si Chengyan said. "Because of certain environmental changes, they can only stay in caves all year round and survive in a humid environment."
"But the ability of these mutants is exactly the opposite. It's called phototropism," he said. "As long as there's sunlight or other light, they can't help but use their abilities in those places."
Su Ran listened very carefully.
As a serious rose, he even drew a big sun and curved vines on the sand in front of him.
But after just a few seconds, he suddenly said: "No..."
"If this is their special ability, then they will die after being exposed to sunlight." Su Ran asked, "Aren't they afraid?"
"The living environment of all living things is contradictory." Si Chengyan rubbed his hair, and seeing his bewildered face, he smiled and said, "You'll understand later."
"Hmm." Su Ran tilted his head.
As a plant, he knew that everything was a gift from nature, including humans - so whether it was the Rose Family or the Colonel and his men, no power could change this world.
but……
Su Ran raised his head and said seriously, "We will keep going."
Si Chengyan's gaze fell on this serious young man.
In the dim light, he leaned against the stone wall on one side, his thin body trembling slightly, as if his strength had not recovered yet and he was still weak.
"Go and rest quickly." Si Chengyan said, "Leave this to me."
Su Ran shook his head.
He took a few steps back, his hair falling down his cheeks a little, and he quickly tucked it behind his ears. Then, he shook his head stubbornly: "No sleep."
When he said this, his face was exactly like the shape of a rose.
"Maybe I can try harder and turn into a little rose." Su Ran said, "That way I can save trouble tomorrow."
Si Chengyan didn't answer immediately.
When he looked at Su Ran, a trace of worry flashed in his eyes, but he immediately saw Su Ran took a few steps back, sitting in this half-broken cave, hugging his knees and looking at him.
It seems that there is really nothing more to say.
Thinking of this, Si Chengyan bent down, cut some dead vines, lit them and started a fire.
In the flickering firelight, Su Ran saw some text-like carvings left on the surrounding stone walls. They were densely packed, like human runes after formation, but also seemed not to be.
"What are these?" he asked curiously, "Were they left behind by our ancestors?"
“I don’t know.”
Si Chengyan shook his head: "It is very likely left by other creatures, or..."
Su Ran hummed, "What could it be?"
"An ancient unknown god." Si Chengyan said, and threw the dead vines into the fire.
"I know this saying. The Rose Tribe also said it."
Su Ran paused for a few seconds, then shook his head as he recalled the past, mimicking the elder's tone. "They created everything, coexisted with those terrifying giants, carried those crazy creatures from the abyss, and violated all proper order."
While he was speaking, a lot of vines were thrown in. For a moment, the fire crackled and the whole cave was illuminated in an instant.
Su Ran's gaze followed and fell on it.
From them upwards, there were all such mysterious symbols, presenting a hieroglyphic spelling, with triangles and squares, as well as circles and strips. They were layered and intertwined, winding all the way to the deep invisible place, seemingly endless and extending directly in.
It seemed that behind them - there were some dark shadows quietly surging, staring at them.
"Don't look at it." Si Chengyan said, "It's easy to get stuck."
Su Ran nodded obediently.
After retracting his gaze, he looked at the colonel seriously.
"Actually, we Roses also have our own gods to worship," Su Ran said. "That's what the Rose Elder told me. It's the God of Harvest."
"In the past, the Rose Family also grew some things, um... what we'd call crops in the human world." He counted on his fingers, speaking bit by bit. "Besides that, the Deep Tree District has remained safe until now thanks to gods like these."
"Do you believe this?"
"I don't believe it." Si Chengyan said. Seeing Su Ran looking at him, he said calmly: "But I will be in awe."
"Is that so..." Su Ran didn't say anything else. He didn't know how long it took until the fire went out and the mysterious symbols disappeared again. Si Chengyan handed him some water.
Su Ran took a big sip obediently.
He hasn't eaten anything from now until now.
If he were not in human form, he would have become a little rose that lacked water, dry and ugly.
After drinking, he pushed the cup down a little, letting Guji take a few sips as well.
Just as the little mushroom was sipping the water, the sky began to lighten and morning came to this world again.
Su Ran's eyes dimmed slightly.
How should I put it? He had been hiding something during that time.
——For example, the power of healing.
He didn't want to tell Si Chengyan about that matter, not only because he was afraid that he would worry, but also because of a selfish motive.
At the same time, he didn't want to mention that strange and crazy tree man, as if saying this would open a hole in the colonel's heart. Although he didn't know what happened that day.
"Let's go." Su Ran stood up and put Guji back into the colonel's pocket. "It's almost morning, the vines should have woken up."
"Um."
So they bent over and came out of the cave halfway up - they saw that the daylight was just setting, and the warm white light fell on the surroundings and the vines, making a rumbling sound.
The entire cave began to vibrate.
Due to abnormal reasons, these vines do have the ability to "tend to light" as Si Chengyan said.
They crowded together, extending and merging towards the light source in front of them, and then stretched madly towards the bright place, as if this exit would be completely blocked in the next moment.
Su Ran was a little anxious.
When he looked at Si Chengyan, he saw that he looked normal. He gently grasped his palm and rubbed it a few times with his thumb.
Su Ran felt relieved.
About ten minutes later, when the light was completely covered by layers of vines, they stopped moving, just like giant snakes, winding around the dead tree in the middle, like a ladder, leading directly to the cave above.
Su Ran: "Success!"
Joy appeared on the young man's face, and he pulled Si Chengyan all the way to the lowest vine.
But once he got there and saw the scene above, Su Ran began to feel troubled again: "But...how do I get up there?"
"Take your time. First, grab the vines with your hands, then step on the roots of the branches." Si Chengyan moved closer to him and demonstrated step by step...
Just then.
Something seemed to have penetrated his arm.
Si Chengyan suddenly stopped moving.
He frowned subconsciously and looked at his arm - he saw a very tiny wound where the sleeve was rolled up.
Unlike ordinary injuries, the blood droplets were black, coagulating little by little on his skin. At the end of the wound, the black blood continued to spread, as if it had life, and in a short while, it seeped into the back of his sleeve.
Si Chengyan frowned slightly, and while Su Ran was not paying attention, he untied the bandage on his wrist and tied a knot on his arm.
"Hmm?" Su Ran noticed something was wrong and turned to look at him. "What happened?"
Si Chengyan: "Nothing."
He rolled up his sleeves and said calmly, "Let's go."
Despite saying so, Si Chengyan understood it clearly from the first glance.
The black blood beads represent that he is contaminated.
He must have been affected by the distortion during the previous collapse—perhaps due to the toxins in the rocks, or perhaps due to those monsters.
Over the years at the base, all soldiers who came to register due to deformation would have such wounds, which might be just a small cut, or a lot of scars.
But overall, toxins contaminate the blood.
Then, when the poison reaches the limbs and heart, they will fall into a brief coma until every cell is contaminated, and when they wake up, they will become a deformed creature that looks like nothing.
Those who are unlucky may never wake up after falling into a coma.
But at this time, Su Ran stopped.
"No." He looked at Si Chengyan, as if he had discovered something. Maybe his face was too pale, or the action just now made him subconsciously feel that something was wrong.
So Su Ran called out to the colonel, and those light-colored eyes looked at him and asked seriously: "...What happened?"
The author has something to say:
A sensitive rose.
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