Cornflower Witch

Chapter 156 Twisted Dead Tree
The next day, the team set off at dawn. Their belongings and packages had been checked and prepared the night before. After sunrise, they had a quick breakfast and then set off on the path.

Leaving the town of Beg, they headed west along a mountain path, passing through forests filled with weeds and shrubs, until they slowly reached the edge of their encampment.

Compared to the peaceful town, the air here is noticeably different, and even the distant scenery appears gray and still, as if it were a picture drawn with a sketch pen.

"This is it."

The 'Bad Apple' walking in front stopped and looked back at the group. Arn was not far behind him, followed by Sylvia, Bona, and Karl.

"The black and white parts of the land in the shadow are actually a world that doesn't exist. It just looks like it exists, but in fact it's merely a projection of the Cloud Sea Continent," he explained simply to Silti.

"When it has 'color', it gradually acquires a real part from its illusion."

“Every time we walk through it, we leave faint traces. When these traces accumulate to a certain extent, they can transform this part of the illusion into the real world.”

"However, this process is quite lengthy, and most people won't be able to witness it."

"Although you can't see them, this also brings an advantage: if your perception is exceptionally high, you can follow these faint color traces to know which route the predecessors who came to this secret realm took."

“We will be safe as long as we follow the same main road. Of course, the downside is that everyone thinks this way, so we will get less harvest from such routes.”

"This time, our main purpose is to familiarize ourselves with the environment and help Tiya get acquainted with the exploration process, so we chose to take the main road."

After the explanation, everyone nodded in understanding, and then they entered that strange black and white world.

Walking through the black-and-white world of shadows, it was exceptionally quiet. Hiltiya followed closely behind the group, walking briskly. About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the first intermediate node, which was the area with color.

"Phew, I can talk again." Bona leaned on her back, looking a little tired.

"It's not far from the base, so there's unlikely to be any monsters around here." Karl looked around; this was the first time he had spoken since setting off.

"There are remnants of charcoal on the ground, so someone must have spent the night here a couple of days ago."

"Why didn't you just go back to town since it's so close? Maybe it was too late that day." Bona touched the charcoal inside; it was already a little damp.

Hiltiya also looked into the distance. Because of the many forest trees blocking her view, her field of vision was limited. She could only vaguely sense faint 'traces' leading to the next node.

"Let's keep going." After resting for a couple of minutes, the group set off again.

After that, they passed through several similar nodes, and the journey was quite smooth, probably because they had not yet truly reached the secret realm.

Around three o'clock in the afternoon, when Hilti followed her teammates into a forest again, a cool breeze swept over them, and the surrounding trees regained their color.

This must be deep in the forest. The tree trunks are covered with moss, the air is cold and damp, and the thick canopy of leaves overhead makes the light in the forest exceptionally dim.

"That's right, this is it. We've finally arrived at 'Deepwood Road'," commented the 'Bad Apple' ahead.

"Cheer up, everyone, we need to be careful now." He scanned the surroundings with his eyes and walked ahead with light, silent steps.

Not far behind him, Yann, dressed in full heavy armor and carrying a shield and longsword, followed step by step, his eyes focused on what was ahead and what was under his feet, without wasting any energy looking around.

In this dim forest, Hiltiya could not hear the birdsong. The five of them could only hear the sounds of their own activities as they moved through it, such as the soft breathing, the snapping of dry branches, and the rustling of thorns and brambles.

The first few hundred meters went smoothly without any unusual or unexpected events, until Karl at the back of the group suddenly stopped.

“Wait a minute, do you see that tree?” He was referring to the darker depths of the woods beyond the roadside bushes.

“I can’t see it.” Bona stood on tiptoe and looked around a few times, then shook her head.

She has little farsightedness and is not sensitive to certain sexual energies.

“I can sense something different, but it’s vague, and I don’t know exactly which part it is,” Yann said, glancing inside. “I can roughly smell some scents and pinpoint the direction,” 'Bad Apple' said, twitching his nose.

“I think I saw it.” Hilti’s answer surprised the others slightly.

“What did you see, Tia?” Karl turned around and asked carefully.

"It must be a rather strange tree, as if it has a twisted appearance," the girl described carefully.

“That’s it, it must be the ‘Twisted Dead Tree’.” Bad Apple rubbed his nose and then turned his gaze to Carl.

"Should we go over and look for it?"

“Yes, thank you all.” Karl nodded, then raised his hand, and a phantom ghost cat leaped out, rushing straight into the depths of the forest.

The group left the main road, using their weapons to clear away the weeds and branches along the way, and carefully approached the place described by Hilti.

This is a withered tree, its branches and trunk seemingly still covered in white ash, exceptionally silent, yet the still, twisted face on the trunk makes everything terrifying.

"If you want to cut down the tree, you do it, Yann." Bad Apple wiped it for a moment, then stepped back.

“Okay.” So Yan put down his heavy backpack, took out an axe, walked to the dead tree, and began to find the right direction to start his attack.

"First, take your positions. Tia, you and Bona stand at the very back, as far apart as possible."

“Okay.” Hiltiya and Bona took a few steps back.

Karl then came to wait behind and to the side of Yann, carefully observing the large tree.

"Alright, let's begin." He nodded.

Yann raised his axe high and then swung it down, striking the tree root. The axe embedded itself in the withered wood, and then wisps of black mist oozed from the cut.

“As expected, this is the ‘Twisted Dead Tree’.” Karl’s expression was complicated.

"It is said that in the Eighth Age, an evil church developed a special ritual, which involved placing the corpses of the dead into tree trunks and sealing the wounds."

"This big tree will also slowly die, and then, under the influence of the ritual, it will gradually condense into the 'dead embers' aspect."

"If the ritual is successful, the remains buried in the tree trunk will also be tainted with the 'death' properties, eventually coming to life and becoming some kind of walking corpse."

"The evil cult at that time used this method to create zombies and ghosts for use in war or to learn certain special spells."

"The Shadow World where this secret realm is located was once the activity place of those cult members. To this day, there are still hidden 'twisted dead trees' that have not been discovered, and they still nurture corpses and ghosts."

As he explained, Yann drew his axe and chopped away, while the black mist that emerged became increasingly noticeable.

Then, with a crack, the withered tree slowly fell, revealing skeletal remains, including a rotting skull, through the cracked trunk.

He walked over, and the ghostly cat rushed to the split tree trunk, its fur standing on end, hissing warningly as if something unseen was coiled around it.

“Boring,” Karl said coldly, then sprinkled the strange fluorescent powder he carried, which drifted toward the cracked tree trunk.

A hideous human figure emerged, its lower body attached to the skeleton inside the tree trunk, writhing and moving from time to time.

【Dead Souls】(Tier 1 - Dead Ashes): The ghosts born from the remains of the dead are often irrational and will only instinctively attack living things.

(End of this chapter)