Among the plants, there were thorny vines, like roses.
A vast expanse of them bloomed, releasing a fragrance capable of inducing hallucinations, which served as the rose’s unique weapon.
Ruan Shu was quite happy as she toured the entire botanical garden with her elder cousin, ready to leave afterward.
But before they could exit, a sudden disturbance arose, followed by a piercing alarm.
“Something’s wrong! Someone threw an inducement agent into the mutant botanical garden, causing the mutant plants to go berserk!”
“Quick, everyone, evacuate the mutant botanical garden immediately!”
The staff of the mutant botanical garden reacted quickly, swiftly organizing the visitors to evacuate.
Ruan Shu was held in her cousin Ruan Linzhan’s arms as he moved swiftly toward the exit.
In the past, he might have stayed to help subdue the mutant plants, but now that wasn’t an option.
Ruan Shu was visibly startled by the sudden chaos, pressing herself motionless against her cousin’s chest, fingers clutching tightly to his shirt, her closed eyes and trembling eyelashes betraying her unease.
Crack…
Suddenly, there was a sound of shattering from the nearby protective shield.
It turned out that a mutant pine tree had thrown a pinecone over.
What was once food for squirrels now became a bomb, exploding on impact with the protective shield.
While a single pinecone wouldn’t damage the shield, countless pinecones collectively shattered it, causing cracks to spread across the shield like a spider’s web.
“Hurry! The shield has broken over here!”
Observing the chaotic scene, Ruan Linzhan frowned, then calmly raised his voice to issue instructions.
“Everyone, don’t push! Let those carrying children go out first!”
“Mutant star beasts with strong defenses, form a protective barrier on the perimeter!”
With a calm and authoritative voice directing the crowd, the chaos gradually subsided as people organized themselves. Star beasts with strong defenses instinctively moved to the outer edge, transforming to form a wall covered with scales.
Everyone knew how dangerous the incoming attacks from the mutant pine squirrels would be.
As the protective shield finally shattered, a swarm of sharp pine needles shot toward them.
The needle-like, mutated pine needles struck the scaled star beasts with metallic clangs, and some even sparked upon impact.
Though these mutant plants were formidable, the star beasts’ resilience was no small feat.
“Everyone, stay calm. Evacuate in an orderly manner; the mutant pine tree’s attack range is limited—just leave this area.”
Although the mutant pine tree couldn’t move, other mutant plants could.
Once a breach had been made, some frenzied mutant plants followed suit and approached.
“Oh no, it’s the mutant rose! Everyone, cover your mouth and nose—don’t breathe in the scent of the mutant rose!”
But before anyone could react, a few of the star beasts had already succumbed to its effects.
A pangolin and a tortoise separated from the crowd, walking towards the mutant botanical garden in a daze.
Ruan Linzhan’s face turned grim as he transformed into a majestic white qilin-tiger.
“Roar!”
The qilin-tiger let out a thunderous roar, and the star beasts who had wandered away from the group immediately dropped to the ground under the suppressive power of the high-level star beast’s Jingshen.
Everyone else was affected as well.
The qilin-tiger shielded little Ruan Shu beneath him, his cold eyes fixed on the advancing mutant plants.
“Roar!”
An icy blue Jingshen spread outward, emanating waves of chilling energy. The dense swarm of pine needles flying toward them instantly froze and fell to the ground in chunks of ice.
Ruan Linzhan used his ice ability to form a protective barrier, shielding his sister within it.
He lowered his head and gently nuzzled Ruan Shu before leaping out. To ensure their escape, he had to first contain the mutant plants.
“Brother!”
Ruan Shu, watching the qilin-tiger leave, was filled with panic, her small voice trembling with the hint of tears.
But she was soon completely wrapped within an impenetrable ice sphere, secure and insulated.
Though it should have been cold inside, she felt warm, thanks to the layer of Ruan Linzhan’s Jingshen surrounding her, keeping the chill away.
Even so, Ruan Shu was anxious, unable to see outside, her worry growing with each passing second.
After an unknown length of time, she felt the ice sphere around her shift slightly, though it quickly stabilized, as if it had been her imagination.
She waited anxiously, silently praying that her brother would stay safe.
“Little vine, can you make a small hole in the ice sphere?”
She wanted to see what was happening outside.
The little vine shook its tip, refusing her request. The scent of the mutant rose was pervasive, and if it made an opening, the fragrance could seep in and confuse her senses.
Ruan Shu tried reasoning with the little vine, but soon she noticed the ice sphere seemed to be melting.
“Brother!” She was overjoyed, thinking her brother had returned.
Wait… this wasn’t her brother!
Hugging the little vine tightly, Ruan Shu looked bewildered as a mutant plant appeared before her.
The ice sphere encasing her was melting due to countless floating willow catkins, and to her horror, numerous willow branches were descending toward her.
Her small face turned pale, gripped by fear. She clutched herself, trembling, her mind blank with terror.
At that moment, the little vine on her wrist sprang forward, aggressively unfurling and transforming into a massive mutant blackberry vine, which began to battle with the willow tree.
How dare this shameless willow try to capture its precious Shu! Did it think this blackberry vine was harmless?
The two mutant plants engaged in a fierce fight, leaving Ruan Shu at a complete loss.
What should she do? Where was she, anyway?
It seemed… she had been brought inside the mutant botanical garden.
So the earlier movement of the ice sphere hadn’t been an illusion after all!
“Little vine…”
Ruan Shu glanced at the fierce battle raging between the two mutant plants. As she stood up, something tripped her.
She pitched forward, bracing herself for a hard fall with her eyes shut tight—only to land on something soft.
Opening her eyes, she gasped at the sight. It looked so familiar.
Countless silvery-white threads were woven together, dotted with tiny red flowers.
Wasn’t this… dodder vine?
Oh no…
Ruan Shu’s heart sank. Mutant plants affected by the inducement agent would go berserk, even more dangerous than those in the wild. Even a normally passive plant like dodder wouldn’t behave peacefully.
At that moment, Ruan Shu remembered what the tour guide had said: the dodder’s skill was strangulation.
Would she ever see her father and brothers again?
With that thought, a sense of despair washed over her, and she began to sob, big crystalline tears rolling down her cheeks as she whimpered softly.
If she had opened her eyes, she would have noticed that many of the dodder vine’s silver threads were cautiously hovering around her, as if unsure how to proceed now that she was crying.
After crying for a bit, Ruan Shu realized… she was still unharmed?
With teardrops glistening on her eyelashes, she looked up, pitifully.
Her gaze met the many silver threads of the dodder vine, and she instinctively backed away, a frightened hiccup escaping her lips.
The dodder vine seemed to perk up when she looked at it. In response, small red flowers bloomed along its silver threads, and with a few quick weaves, it crafted a delicate wreath adorned with tiny red blossoms, gently placing it on her head.