"No..." Tang Wulin let out a low growl, actually taking a step toward that direction.
Just then, Qian Renxue bit through her tongue—the sharp pain keeping her clear-headed. She grabbed Tang Wulin's arm with one hand while pressing the other to his forehead, sacred flames pouring into his brow: "Wake up!"
Tang Wulin's entire body shook, the confusion in his eyes instantly dissipating. He looked again in that direction—where was there any Gu Yuena? There was only an exceptionally thick Soul-Devouring Tree, the human face on its trunk revealing a strange, triumphant smile. And hanging from that tree's branches were dozens of dried corpses, some still maintaining struggling postures from when they were alive.
"Sorry." Cold sweat beaded on Tang Wulin's forehead, "I almost..."
"Falling for it the first time is normal." Dai Chengfeng's voice came—at some point he had already drawn his sword, vigilantly surveying the surroundings, "The Soul-Devouring Tree's illusions strike directly at the deepest obsessions and fears within one's heart. I also almost saw my younger sister..."
Before his words fell, Dai Chengfeng's expression suddenly froze.
Before him, a little girl in a white dress peeked out from behind a tree, calling out to him timidly: "Big brother... why did you take so long to come get me?"
Dai Chengfeng's sword dropped an inch.
"Chengfeng!" Bibi Dong shouted, but Dai Chengfeng's gaze had already become hollow as he walked step by step toward the little girl.
Qian Renxue was about to act, but Bibi Dong stopped her: "I'll handle it."
She walked before Dai Chengfeng, neither calling his name nor trying to wake him, but directly delivering a hand chop to the back of his neck. Dai Chengfeng's body went limp, falling forward. Bibi Dong caught him, propping him against a tree—deliberately avoiding those with faces.
"Simple and crude, but effective." Bibi Dong said indifferently, "In the Forest of Divine Fall, the most dangerous thing isn't the Soul-Devouring Trees' direct attacks, but the illusions they create. Once one sinks into them, the divine soul will be slowly drawn out, eventually becoming one of those dried corpses hanging on the trees."
"Then what do we do?" Qian Renxue looked around, feeling those whispering voices growing louder, more and more figures flickering indistinctly between the trees. She saw her deceased grandfather Qian Daoliu, saw herself as a child, even saw... another Qian Renxue, that dark one consumed by hatred.
"Seal the five senses, only believe in each other." Tang Wulin had already recovered, the Golden Dragon Spear planted in the ground as a golden domain unfolded with him at the center—Golden Dragon Berserk Domain. Within this domain, all mental interference would be suppressed by dragon might. "My domain can temporarily resist the illusions, but the consumption is heavy. We must speed up."
Dai Chengfeng quickly woke. He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling bitterly: "Thanks. It seems my guilt toward Mubai runs deeper than I imagined."
"Continue forward." Bibi Dong said, "We've already drawn attention. True attacks will come soon."
They reorganized their formation. This time Tang Wulin maintained the Golden Dragon Berserk Domain at its minimum range, just barely covering the four of them. Those whispers and phantoms twisted and dissipated at the domain's edge, but more and more Soul-Devouring Trees began to "awaken." The human faces on the tree trunks opened their hollow "eyes" one after another, branches moving without wind, emitting grating friction sounds that set one's teeth on edge.
After advancing about half an hour more, the path suddenly came to an end.
Before them was an open space, but the scene was even more terrifying than the dense forest. At the center of the open space grew a Soul-Devouring Tree so massive it was difficult to imagine. Its main trunk exceeded twenty meters in diameter, its height piercing straight into the unseen darkness above, its canopy spreading in all directions and covering the entire sky. And most terrifyingly, embedded in this giant tree's trunk were thousands upon thousands of human faces.
These faces were no longer vague, but clearly distinguishable, their expressions vivid. Men and women, old and young, some peaceful, some suffering, some angry, some despairing. They were all speaking, thousands upon thousands of voices merging into a chaotic, meaningless hum.
And at the giant tree's roots were piled mountains of bones. Some still covered in broken divine armor, some holding shattered divine artifacts in their hands—clearly all god-level powerhouses who had once intruded into this place.
"Tree King." Dai Chengfeng's face went pale, "According to records, there are seven such Tree Kings in the Forest of Divine Fall, each guarding a region. We... aren't very lucky."
"Not luck." Bibi Dong gazed at one face on the Tree King trunk—that face was different from the others, not participating in the surrounding murmurs, but quietly "gazing" at them, the corner of its mouth even carrying a faint, barely perceptible smile.
"It's waiting for us." Bibi Dong said, "Or rather, it's waiting for 'me.'"
"What?" Qian Renxue looked at her.
Bibi Dong didn't explain, but stepped forward, leaving the range of Tang Wulin's domain. Almost the instant she stepped out of the domain, that smiling face on the Tree King trunk suddenly spoke.
The voice was gentle, pleasant, carrying a nostalgic familiarity:
"Rakshasa, you've finally returned."
Qian Renxue, Tang Wulin, and Dai Chengfeng simultaneously looked at Bibi Dong. And Bibi Dong stood there, her expression unchanged, only her eyes becoming incomparably cold.
"You know it?" Qian Renxue asked.
"I know it." Bibi Dong's answer was brief and heavy, "Or rather, know 'a part of it.'"
That face on the Tree King smiled, its features beginning to change, gradually becoming clear—that was a handsome male face, golden-haired and blue-eyed, with a gentle expression, yet eyes precipitating ten thousand years of accumulated madness.
"Long time no see, my dear... collaborator." that face said, its voice echoing across the empty open space, "Thirteen thousand years. I thought you had long since fallen in the outside world. I never expected you would return, and... bring such interesting guests."
"Who is he?" Tang Wulin asked in a heavy voice, the Golden Dragon Spear already pointing at the Tree King.
"He is the prisoner of this forest, and also its guardian." Bibi Dong's voice was very calm, but Qian Renxue could hear the suppressed fluctuations within, "Thirteen thousand years ago, in the war between the Divine Realm and the Abyss, a god betrayed them. He opened the Divine Realm's barrier, allowing the Abyss to drive straight in. After the war, he was judged by the gods—his divine soul stripped, his body sealed, his consciousness imprisoned here, merged with the Soul-Devouring Tree King, eternally suffering the torment of having his divine soul gnawed upon by thousands of departed souls."
That face burst into loud laughter, the laughter full of mockery and madness: "Betrayal? Rakshasa, that word coming from your mouth is truly ironic. Back then, those who proposed 'cooperating' with the Abyss included more than just me. You, and that good teacher of yours—weren't you both also participants in that plan? Otherwise, do you think you could have so easily found the path into the divine tomb? That map in your hands—who gave it to you?"
Bibi Dong's hand tightened slightly.
Qian Renxue looked at her in disbelief: "Mother, is what he said true?"
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