39: Chapter 39 The Thorn Beast Appears

"Everyone travel light, check your rifles and hand crossbows. Unless a large number of Parasitic Fungus Vines appear simultaneously, prioritize hand crossbows for sporadic attacks, and avoid making loud noises as much as possible to expose our position."

Xiang Nan was lecturing the team preparing for the exploration with a serious expression.

"The Parasitic Fungus Vines move so fast. If we don't use guns, I'm afraid it will be hard to kill them in one hit."

Someone raised a doubt, and Xiang Nan immediately wore a stern look: "Our target this time is nearly five kilometers away from the stronghold, truly deep into the suburbs. Recklessly making loud noises might attract a large number of Parasitic Fungus Vines. We have no vehicles or cover, making it difficult to quickly escape their pursuit in the suburbs, so do not use guns unless necessary. Understood?"

The members of the 10-person team showed troubled expressions, feeling a bit scared in their hearts.

Xiang Nan noticed the change in their emotions and comforted them: "We are executing an exploration mission, not a combat mission. As long as we figure out the situation in that forest and find the possible water source, the mission will be successfully completed. Next, the team leader will lead the handling. If things go smoothly, we might not even need to fire a single shot."

As soon as these words were said, everyone's expressions eased slightly. Seeing that their equipment was all packed, Xiang Nan immediately waved his hand: "Let's set off."

Although the target forest was about five kilometers away in a straight line, they still needed to make quite a few detours to get to that location.

The team quickly walked out of the urban area of Vine Town. Facing them was a winding rural road extending into the distance, flanked by overgrown grass and bushes higher than a person's head, nearly out of control.

The rolling hills extended infinitely, looking like a green blanket spread across the earth.

Xiang Nan and the others explored outward along the road, looking at the surrounding environment with vigilant eyes.

'Fortunately, it's not all weeds higher than a person's head, otherwise we would have to set a fire to clear the wasteland first during the exploration.'

Weeds and bushes grew mixed together, growing in clusters. Although dense, most places still featured short wild grass and the low vines interwoven with it.

The suburbs were not the core nest of the Parasitic Fungus Vines, and the number of vines was sparse. Although interwoven with the short grass, it was difficult for them to completely conceal their figures.

The team kept moving along the road, walking a distance of about one to two kilometers. Although Parasitic Fungus Vines drilled out from the grass, their figures were quickly detected and shot dead by team members.

Having successfully intercepted and killed them a few times, the exploration team also began to familiarize themselves with the rhythm of attacks by the Parasitic Fungus Vines in the suburbs, gradually setting their minds at ease and speeding up their pace.

Continuing forward for another four kilometers and bypassing a sharp bend, the asphalt road suddenly came to an abrupt stop, as if cut off by someone, replaced by an overgrown dirt path covered in weeds. To call it a dirt path was just a place where the weeds were slightly sparser; walking through it would still take some effort.

However, at this distance, lifting one's head made it possible to already see the forest not far away.

"Let's keep moving forward."

The weeds on the dirt path were even more messy. Every step required cutting the weeds with a machete. Rustling sounds rang from the ears, and broken grass scratched against the arms and bodies it touched, but he didn't dare to relax in the slightest. This kind of environment was most feared for the sudden appearance of Parasitic Fungus Vines.

Advancing like this for a few hundred meters, Xiang Nan suddenly felt his foot sink and nearly fell.

"Brother Nan, are you okay?"

Hu Kang was quick-witted and steady-handed, supporting him and asking with concern.

"It's fine, just a puddle."

Midway through his words, Xiang Nan suddenly lowered his head to look, instantly wearing a smile.

The front half of his shoes was already wet. That step just now had actually stepped into a pool of water.

"We found the water source."

Xiang Nan's gaze quickly swept around. At this moment, the view before him suddenly opened up; the weeds became short, looking like a meadow growing on the puddle ground, with running water flowing beneath the grass and seeping into the ground.

Xiang Nan calmed down and immediately urged the team: "Search around, there must be a water source."

The team searched everywhere, and Fu Xing was the first to hear the sound of water: "It seems to be on the right side of the forest."

Following the faint sound of water, the team hurried towards the other side of the forest.

They walked all the way along a small slope, and after about three hundred meters, a winding river whose source was unknown appeared before their eyes.

The stream was not very wide, about 3 meters across. The upper reaches came from the forest, winding and flowing all the way to Vine Town downstream.

"Let's go, let's check out the water source."

Xiang Nan wore a smile. If there were no problems with the water source, then this exploration could be considered a complete success, because right beside the river was the forest, and the trees were basically as thick as a person's head, completely usable as timber for building the camp.

The problem that plagued the camp was solved all at once.

Snap.

The sound of snapping branches was like firecrackers, startling the team members walking down the slope.

They looked deep into the forest. At this moment, a huge dark shadow was walking among the trees. The dull footsteps sounded like beating drums, and the entire forest seemed to shake at this moment.

Xiang Nan only had to look at that dark shadow covered in barbs, with vine tentacles dancing like long snakes, to instantly turn as pale as a sheet.

"What the fuck, it's a Thorn Vine Beast! Run!"

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

The forest seemed to have been awakened, with rustling sounds coming from everywhere, and vines beginning to dance continuously.

Immediately following that, one Parasitic Fungus Vine after another actually emerged from the forest.

Some fell from tree trunks, and some drilled out from the soil. As if they had discovered prey, they grimly locked onto Xiang Nan and his group of ten.

"Run quickly!"

Seeing this scene, how dare Xiang Nan and the others linger? They directly turned around and began to run away frantically, wishing they had grown two more legs.

"Roar—"

The Thorn Vine Beast let out a heaven-shaking roar, then rushed out from the forest, continuously pursuing Xiang Nan and the others.

"I'll treat you to a big pineapple!"

Xiang Nan directly turned back and threw a grenade, which drew an arc in the air and landed in front of the pursuing Parasitic Fungus Vines.

The grenade rolled into the group of Parasitic Fungus Vines, and a deafening explosion blew the Parasitic Fungus Vines directly to smithereens.

Although the grenade explosion failed to severely injure the Thorn Vine Beast, the shockwave and shrapnel also blocked it.

Taking advantage of this blocking attack, the team members fled frantically, completely disregarding the exhaustion of their bodies.

Rushing forward for about three to four kilometers like this, they finally shook off those Parasitic Fungus Vines behind them, and could no longer see their figures.

Huf, huf, huf.

Xiang Nan panted heavily, his legs unable to stop shaking. A sense of exhaustion swept over his entire body, and people around him like Hu Kang and Huang Han weren't doing much better.

"Don't stop, keep running! Don't let your guard down; if we get hunted down, we're all done for!"

"Brother Nan, I sprained my ankle."

A young Guard Team soldier with black hair and yellow skin beside Xiang Nan turned pale at this moment, showing a painful expression.

During the frantic escape just now, although he followed the team and ran here, only when he stopped now did he realize his ankle was already swollen.

As the adrenaline faded, the pain could no longer be suppressed. It was absolutely impossible to keep running continuously like just now.

"What the fuck, when we get back I'll have Feng Bo lecture you to death. I told you guys to put in hard work during regular training earlier. Fu Xing, Du Juntao, carry him. You guys walk in front, and I'll cover the rear at any time. At this distance, they shouldn't chase after us, but caution is paramount."

"Huang Han, Ding Yu, pay attention to the Parasitic Fungus Vines that might appear around us. Although we cleared them once, there will still be monsters hidden around."

Xiang Nan cursed harshly, but he never thought of abandoning him. At this moment, everyone's position was relatively safe, and they could still bring all team members back.

The team staggered forward quickly. True to Xiang Nan's expectation, there were still monsters hidden in the grass during this time.

Fortunately, Huang Han, Ding Yu, and the others already had experience dealing with monsters. When the Parasitic Fungus Vines launched a surprise attack, they directly shot through them with the crossbow bolts in their hands.

About an hour later, Xiang Nan's team finally returned to the temporary stronghold. Ren Chuan, who was garrisoned in the stronghold, saw the team's wretched state and hurriedly led a team out to meet them.

"Quickly call Liu Ying out to take a look. This kid Tang Junlin is injured."

As soon as Xiang Nan entered the stronghold, he immediately told Ren Chuan to call over the girls from the medical team.

"What happened?"

"The timber you and Brother Dong wanted, as well as the water source, have all been found. But there is a big problem over there: there is a Thorn Vine Beast shrinking inside the forest. Until we solve it, none of us can touch that forest; we'll have to find the boss to deal with it."