After Luo Zheyu arrived at the Universal Building, he did not go in, but took a taxi.
Ten minutes later, seven or eight cars of the same model drove out of the underground garage of the Universal Building one after another and headed in the same direction.
"Just keep up with the cars ahead, thanks."
Luo Zheyu handed the taxi driver a few RMB notes.
The driver took the money without asking any questions. He started the car silently and followed the convoy from a distance.
The convoy's route became increasingly deviated, and soon it reached outside the Third Ring Road from the city center.
Half an hour later, a line of vehicles passed the mall and stopped at the gate of a community 500 meters away from the mall.
The taxi that Luo Zheyu was riding in wanted to follow but was stopped by traffic police and was told that the road ahead was impassable and that they had to take a detour.
At this point, there wasn't a single passerby wandering around the mall. Instead, there were many police patrolling around and setting up restricted areas.
Any vehicle attempting to pass by the residential area was stopped and asked to take another route.
Luo Zheyu got off the bus opposite the mall and looked up at the second floor of the mall.
Behind the slanted transparent glass, one could only see closed shops. This place, which should have been bustling, was deserted. If one didn’t know that this mall had been in business for several years, one would almost think that it had not yet opened.
He walked towards the entrance of the community, in the direction where the convoy stopped.
"I'm sorry, sir, you can't pass through here at the moment."
The patrolling police were originally setting up prohibited lines, but when they saw Luo Zheyu coming over, they quickly blocked his way and stretched out their hands to stop him.
"What happened in there?" Luo Zheyu asked.
“Yes, in that community.” The police pointed to the gate of the community where the convoy stopped. The words “Yunzhi Community” were hung on the gate.
"The gas cylinders were illegally stacked and are now leaking, so people are being evacuated urgently. To avoid open flames and explosions, pedestrians and residents are temporarily not allowed to pass by here."
"Is there a gas leak?"
Luo Zheyu murmured softly.
What a careless excuse.
How large a gas leak would it take to evacuate everyone within a radius of one kilometer?
His sense of smell was quite sensitive now, so how come he didn't smell any gas at all?
Combined with the eight cars from the Universal Building, which is the supervision and inspection headquarters, parked at the entrance of the community.
There must be something strange here.
"Thanks."
He thanked the patrolling policeman, turned around and walked back, as if intending to bypass this place and find another way.
When passing the street corner, Luo Zheyu looked up at the ginkgo leaves on the roadside. A leaf fluttered and swayed, then slowly fell, blocking the camera on the roadside.
About five seconds later.
The ginkgo leaves fell, and the camera image was no longer obstructed and restored.
The young man who was standing upright in the camera just now has disappeared.
Maybe it turned into a road that other cameras couldn't capture.
…
"Have you seen the tree with its top sticking out above the community? This tree is very magical. It suddenly appeared in the community today. It is very different from the trees we usually see. It can move and is very flexible!"
"The incident happened suddenly, and we only got two pieces of information: First, the tree can move, but it is the branches that move, and we don't know where the roots are rooted. Second, the tree is very aggressive and can hurt people."
"Another point is that although most ordinary people in the community have been evacuated, there are still a small number of people whose whereabouts are unknown. I suspect they are trapped in the community. You have two tasks when you go in. One, save people, two, find the roots of the tree and then destroy it."
"yes!"
After looking at the map of the community, the two teams, wearing combat uniforms and holding their own weapons, ran into the community one after another.
"Oh, yes, wait, there's one more thing." The captain suddenly called out to everyone.
Not surprisingly, everyone stopped and looked back at him silently.
"I collected two branches and the institute said they want to make specimens for careful study."
"Try to keep it intact!"
…
Luo Zheyu raised his head and looked at the leaves that had some branches sticking out above the community.
The leaves are emerald green, oval in shape, with tiny serrations on the edges, and the branches are brown. They look no different from ordinary trees, but as far as the eye can see, a faint black aura can be seen surrounding the leaves, which makes people feel uncomfortable.
I don’t know if the people supervising the investigation can see this black air.
Luo Zheyu entered the community with the supervisors and entered through the main gate in broad daylight.
He ran beside Wen Jin, but no one else could see him and Wen Jin didn't notice him either.
The sleight of hand is very useful and is a must-have skill for home and travel. Luo Zheyu is becoming more and more proficient in using it.
As we walked into the residential area, the vague black air became thicker and thicker, and the sky seemed to become even darker, pressing down heavily, ready to fall on everyone's shoulders.
The community was deserted, as most of the residents had been taken away. The person supervising the inspection only took a rough look at the surroundings and then ran straight into the community, where the strange tree was.
However, before everyone arrived, a young man suddenly ran out from the corner.
The direction he came from was exactly where everyone saw the top of the strange tree outside the community.
When the young man saw the people in combat uniforms, he was overjoyed. He raised his arms high and ran even faster, alternating his legs very quickly.
“Help! Help!!”
When he got closer, you could see that his face was pale. Even though he was running so breathlessly, there was not a trace of blood on his lips.
When the two sides came into contact, the young man cried with tears of joy as if he had seen his own father, and threw himself into the arms of Wen Jin, who was in the lead.
"Help! I'm so scared... There's a monster over there, a tree monster! Tree monsters eat people! I almost got eaten... " The man sobbed and cried, his snot and tears all over Wen Jin's clothes on his chest.
Wen Jin: ...
"Alright, alright, it's okay, you're safe now."
Reach out and gently pat his back to comfort him.
As for why the young man jumped into Wen Jin's arms instead of someone else's, it was because there were only four people in the lead, the captain of the first team, the deputy captain Yu Biao, the captain of the second team Wen Jin and the deputy captain of the second team.
Among them, Wen Jin is not the oldest, but Wen Jin has the most mature and stable appearance and temperament.
At times like this, it seems particularly safe.
After crying for a minute, the young man recovered. He wiped his tears, burped, and pointed in the direction he came from, saying, "Believe me, there really is a tree demon over there. It's a spirit and can move. You'll believe it if you go over and take a look!"
"What you said is true, we believe it, and we are here to clear this tree."
Wen Jin comforted him seriously.
“Really? That’s great.” The young man hasn’t fully recovered yet, his expression still stuck in a panic.
"That's right! If you want to go, go quickly! There are still many people trapped in there. Two elderly people are injured, and there are several children..."
"Are there any wounded? Where are they? How many are there in total?"
"In the underground garage, there are more than twenty people in total!"
"…But the light in the garage was broken, so I might not have counted them. Besides, that tree demon had dragged out several people. I was lucky enough to escape when it was dragging me out."
"How many people were dragged away? How many people were dragged away? How were they dragged away? Can you tell us in detail?"
This strange tree was much more aggressive than they had imagined.
The young man swallowed and organized his words, "I was going to go out at noon today, so I drove to the garage. I didn't expect to see a lot of branches and leaves as soon as I entered. They were very dense, as if they were growing in the garage. There were no such things yesterday. Before I could react, the branches and leaves suddenly moved, like... like octopus tentacles."
"They tied my hands and waist and dragged me into the garage."
The young man stretched out his wrists and lifted up his shirt to show everyone the bruises on his wrists and waist.
"It's very powerful." Wen Jin said.
"Yes, it was very strong, and its branches were very hard. I struggled hard but couldn't break a single one. Instead, it got tighter and tighter, so I didn't dare to move."
"Then I was dragged into the back of the garage, where branches and leaves were everywhere, forming a wall of trees. The branches kept tying me up, preventing me from moving. After a while, I saw other people being tied up with branches and dragged in, including men, women, young and old. The two elderly people were injured at this time, rubbing against the ground for a few times."
"And then?"
"After that, no one was tied up by the branches anymore, but every once in a while, someone was dragged away by other branches sticking out from outside the garage."
"When the branch came to drag me, I took off my sleeves and put my hands inside my coat, pretending to be very weak, and let the branch drag me away. It seemed that there was also a part of the trunk outside the garage, and it wanted to drag me into the trunk outside the garage. I took the opportunity to take off my coat and slip away. When I ran out, I saw you."
The captain of the first team frowned in thought, then asked, "From what you described earlier, the branch was very fast. Why didn't it chase you when you ran away, or why didn't it catch up with you?"
The young man scratched his head, obviously confused.
"Yeah... I don't know either. There was a branch right behind me..."
"Is there a branch behind you?"
"Well, there must be thorns on that branch. Although it didn't hold me back, it hit me and it hurt really badly." As the young man spoke, he touched his arm.
There was a red mark on his arm, slight swelling, and many tiny red dots.
"Okay, thank you. Can you think of any useful information?"
The young man frowned and murmured softly.
"Useful information..."
"Oh, right! When I was tied up in the garage, I kept hearing this rustling sound. It sounded like a snake crawling on the ground, but the rhythm was very slow."
After thanking the young man for the information and comforting him, he was sent to the gate of the community where someone would meet him.
The two teams continued to advance quickly, weapons raised.
Luo Zheyu, whose figure was concealed by the sleight of hand, stopped and looked at the young man's back as he left.
There was a faint black aura lingering around that person.
It gives the same feeling as the strange tree.
…
The young man walked quickly, his heartbeat still not calming down. He touched the arm that was last pierced by the branch.
It felt a little itchy, so I scratched it with my fingernails.
It's getting more itchy.
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