Chapter 31: Plants vs. Zombies
From a distance, the towering spire appeared incredibly sacred; however, Xianyue—who had absorbed the essence of the Patterned Wood—perceived a faint scent of blood emanating from within. As for Du Xin, needless to say, he saw far more than that.
"Let's go inside and take a look; this tower is surely no ordinary place!"
With those words, Xianyue took Du Xin's hand and began walking toward the tower.
As they slowly advanced, Xianyue—having absorbed the Patterned Wood—now possessed the very essence of wood and enjoyed the favor of the spirits regarding the power of life. Consequently, she now felt a profound sense of revulsion and rejection toward this place; only the presence of pure evil and death could evoke such a reaction in her.
Suppressing the urge to flee that welled up in her heart, Xianyue gritted her teeth and pulled Du Xin inside the tower.
Strangely enough, for a tower of such wickedness, it maintained a completely normal outward appearance. It was, in fact, a Mages' Guild. Only after stepping inside did Du Xin and Xianyue realize this; they were greeted by an enthusiastic attendant. Upon noticing the four-star badges pinned to their chests, the attendant's demeanor instantly became far more respectful. Yet, Xianyue thought she caught a fleeting glimpse—a flicker of mockery and pity—in his eyes. Dismissing it as a mere illusion, she paid it no mind.
Having obtained permission to explore, the pair began wandering through the tower. However, despite searching every floor from top to bottom, they made absolutely no discoveries—they didn't even manage to locate the Guild Branch Master.
"Hey, aren't you the Son of God? Can't you use your divine powers—or something similar—to help me find what I'm looking for?"
After completing yet another fruitless circuit of the building and realizing the futility of her efforts, Xianyue finally turned to Du Xin for assistance.
"Xianyue, I assume you've already guessed my true identity, and that you've gained at least a faint understanding of who I am. It is true that I know a great deal about this place. However, once you witness this tower's true form—its true nature—you will be forced to make a choice. Are you still willing to go inside?"
Du Xin came to a halt and spoke to Xianyue with grave seriousness.
"I want to go inside!"
Xianyue replied to Du Xin with equal conviction—her voice firm and resolute.
"Very well, then. Follow me."
Tilting his head slightly, Du Xin spoke with a hint of resignation. He then led Xianyue toward a specific corner of the tower—a spot they had passed by countless times before. Standing in the corner, Du Xin harnessed the power of a Sixth-Rank Mage to inscribe a tiny magic circle in the air. With a sharp *crack*, the floor ahead slowly split open, the sections sliding gradually apart until, moments later, a hidden tunnel was revealed.
Xianyue frowned; logically, such a trap should not have been able to deceive the eyes of a Sixth-Rank Mage. It was only when she noticed the faint traces of residual magic lingering on the stone slabs that her expression softened.
They descended slowly into the earth. The narrow passage twisted and wound, and two minutes passed before Du Xin and his companion finally reached the bottom—a depth of at least several hundred meters beneath the surface.
Below lay a massive laboratory, filled with various instruments and apparatuses. Inside a series of colossal containment tanks, mutilated bodies floated—some belonging to magical beasts, others to humans.
At the very center of the subterranean chamber stood an altar nearly five meters high, already drenched in blood. Resting upon the altar's center was a pair of stitched-together wings; unattached to any body, they flapped in the air with an eerie, autonomous motion.
*Sinister, bloody, and nauseating*—such was Xianyue's immediate reaction.
Although Xianyue had slain her fair share of magical beasts—and even humans—the scene before her still shook her to the core. Stretching into the far distance on both sides stood rows of tanks containing bodies submerged in a murky, dark-green fluid; every so often, a body would twitch, a gruesome reminder that its occupant was still alive.
The bodies in the outermost tanks were predominantly human; as one moved inward, however, the transformations became more pronounced. Some subjects had sprouted a wolf's claw, others were covered in thick fur, and some bore a single horn atop their heads. The closer one approached the altar, the more thoroughly the test subjects had been mutated, their human characteristics fading away almost entirely.
Flanked by Xianyue, Du Xin finally reached the epicenter of this ring of test subjects: the massive altar itself.
Six tanks encircled the altar, yet only three of them contained test subjects: a five-meter-long, silver-grey giant wolf, whose fur occasionally crackled with arcs of electricity; a colossal elephant towering fifty meters high; and, finally, a tiny bird no larger than the palm of a hand.
"Du Xin... what *is* this? *Cough, cough!*"
Overcome by revulsion, Xianyue began to cough. Her face flushed crimson—not from the exertion of coughing, but from the intensity of her seething rage. "Oh my, oh my! How very well-behaved! You've certainly saved me the trouble of having to go out and find you myself."
Just as the two of them were deep in discussion, a voice suddenly rang out abruptly from behind them.
"Oh! I really didn't expect you two to find your way down here on your own. And to think you've caught a glimpse of my laboratory before I've had a chance to tidy it up—how terribly rude of me! My apologies, my apologies."
The newcomer was an old man; the aura radiating from his body proclaimed him to be a powerhouse of the Sixth Rank, while the badge pinned to his chest identified him as the Vice-President of this very Magic Guild.
"Who are you? Are you in charge of this place?"
Sensing a massive, malevolent energy emanating from him, Xianyue couldn't help but frown as she spoke.
"Me? Who am I? I am the Messenger of Satan! The Undead of Hell! The Guardian Knight of Death!"
As he spoke, the old man grew increasingly agitated; raising both hands high, he greedily inhaled the foul-smelling air around him.
"Now, what shall we do? It seems I'm no match for you—you 'Messenger of the Elves'! Tell you what: why don't I let my little darlings come out and play a game with you?!"
As he continued speaking, the old man's expression suddenly twisted into a grotesque grimace. His bloodshot eyes locked onto Xianyue with an unblinking, death-like stare as he rasped out his words.
Suddenly, the transparent canisters scattered throughout the room began to shatter. Greenish fluids oozed out slowly, instantly rendering the floor slick and slimy.
One by one, grotesque half-human, half-ghost monstrosities emerged from the wreckage. Their withered bodies slowly began to swell and fill out, appearing even larger and more imposing as they absorbed the liquid around them.
The sheer, overwhelming pressure of their presence left Xianyue feeling somewhat flustered. The old man had vanished into thin air—no one knew where he had gone—but Du Xin remained unperturbed; he had decided to let Xianyue use this opportunity to truly familiarize herself with the extent of her own powers.
The massive monsters surged forward, all lunging straight for Xianyue. The fastest among them was undoubtedly a tiny, palm-sized bird-like creature; it reached Xianyue's position the very instant it burst free from its canister.
Lacking any real-world combat experience, Xianyue nearly ended up skewered clean through by the tiny bird's razor-sharp beak. Fortunately, Du Xin reacted just in time to yank her out of harm's way.
As the bird-like creature prepared to launch its second attack, the other nearby monsters slowly began to close in as well. Their guttural roars caused Xianyue's face to turn pale with alarm. She unleashed a rapid succession of Wood-element spells, transforming the subterranean chamber into a miniature forest; however, the hostile environment severely dampened her magical potency—otherwise, the forest she conjured would have been at least twice as vast. The forest was teeming with plants attacking the monsters—whipping vines, shooting thorns, and even explosive fruits.
Suddenly realizing something, Du Xin's face went completely deadpan; he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Isn't this... *Plants vs. Zombies* in real life?"
That quip completely shattered the tense atmosphere. Just then, the plants within the small forest began to glow with a green light, as an aura of vitality slowly permeated the air. The green branches striking the monsters were no longer merely half-hearted; instead, the plants' attacks landed with brutal force, sending sprays of blood—and severed limbs—flying.
What Xian Yue failed to notice was that, even as the monsters fell one after another, no pile of corpses accumulated outside the forest; the monsters' bodies had simply vanished.
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