Chapter Fifty-Nine: Dodder

"Who knows? Not only has your face thinned, you look deathly pale," Liu Chang scrutinized him up and down, but found no other signs of an attack. He asked, "Are you sick?"

"Impossible. If I were to get sick, I would have died long ago during the Great Death. I must have been attacked by something," the soldier hurriedly put down his gun, tore off his camouflage jacket, and checked his body in panic. After a moment, his hand touched something lumpy on his skin.

"Damn it!" he screamed in terror. The young soldier frantically peeled off his camouflage shirt, exposing the tight undershirt beneath.

"It looks like something is stuffed inside your camo T-shirt."

"What is it?" the soldier yanked open his shirt in terror. When the two of them saw what was clinging to his skin, they felt a chill run through their bodies—goosebumps breaking out uncontrollably.

"What’s going on?" Up ahead, Zhao Yue heard the commotion and stopped leading the team, tracing his way back to see this strange scene for himself.

"Ugh, that's disgusting—what the hell is that?" As soon as Zhao Yue arrived, he saw the soldier tugging frantically at tendrils of plant matter stuck to his skin—these tendrils clung tightly to him, drawing his blood and fat as if they were fused to his very bones.

"Looks like dodder," Li Qingshui approached, eyeing the vines on the soldier. "You didn’t feel them crawling up your body at all?"

"Of course he didn’t. Otherwise, would he have let them feed until they grew this fat?" Liu Chang looked at the thing on the soldier with disgust—it was revolting, the way those plants latched onto his skin, wrapping him tightly, their hair-like roots piercing his flesh one by one, sucking out his blood and subcutaneous fat through tiny straw-like holes. Judging by their size, they’d been there a while, for the once-green plant tissue was now swollen with the soldier’s blood and fat, red and white, bloated like a mosquito gorged on a feast.

"No wonder I felt dizzy earlier," the soldier cursed, yanking the vines off and stomping them into the ground. As he crushed the plant’s skin, blood and fat spattered everywhere with a squelch. The vine he stomped seemed to feel pain, twisting as if trying to burrow into the earth.

"It really is dodder." Li Qingshui grabbed the end of the vine, dragged it out, and examined it closely in his hand.

"What exactly is dodder?" Liu Chang asked, checking his own body. He found a similar plant in his trouser leg. Fortunately, it had only just started to worm its way in and hadn’t yet begun to feed.

"Dodder is a parasitic plant. When mature, it has no roots or stems—it survives by parasitizing other plants. I never imagined that now even animals have become its hosts," Li Qingshui explained, carefully avoiding the barbs. "Those barbs must have a strong numbing effect, just like a mosquito’s proboscis. Once they pierce the skin, you don’t feel a thing."

"God, that's terrifying." Liu Chang fished the vine out of his trouser leg and stomped the ghostly parasite dead, then shouted loudly, "Everyone, check yourselves for these things! You could get sucked dry and not even know it!"

At his shout, every soldier in the mist realized what was happening and hurriedly stripped off their clothes to examine themselves. Sure enough, another three or four found those dreadful tendrils attached to their skin.

"Mr. Li, are these plants poisonous?" The soldier whose face had become gaunt with blood loss looked utterly terrified as he ripped off the last of the fattened vines. If these things were toxic, his life would be forfeit.

"I don’t think so—they shouldn’t be," Li Qingshui examined the color of the barbs closely. "Are you nauseous, or having muscle cramps, or anything like that?"

"No, just dizzy," the man answered, shaking his head.

"Don’t worry. The dizziness is from blood loss, not poison," Li Qingshui tossed away the vine in his hand and called out to the team, "Be careful, everyone. There are too many hidden dangers in this forest. Stay alert to any changes in your bodies."

A few scattered voices answered, mingling with the rustle of clothing. Soon, all the soldiers had finished checking themselves, and the noise gradually quieted.

"Xiao Jing, why didn’t you sense the dodder’s attack?" After packing up, Liu Chang asked the young girl cautiously. He’d thought that with her around, they would always get some warning before an attack. But the horrors of the forest had shown him what a true ambush was—one where your flesh was already being eaten and you still had no idea.

"I don’t know. I thought they were just weeds. Their life force is almost identical to ordinary grass, and so faint I couldn’t detect them at all," the girl replied, looking aggrieved. "I’m sorry. If you hadn’t noticed in time, you and that soldier might not have survived."

"You don’t have to apologize—it’s not your fault. These damned vines must have come up from underground; no wonder you couldn’t sense them." Rolling up his trouser leg, Liu Chang made sure his ankle was in sight so he could spot another attack if it happened.

"Let’s move quickly. All this blood and fat will attract carnivores," Li Qingshui glanced at the blood-splattered ground and the pale, blood-drained soldier. "Can you still walk?"

"I can. I’ll be fine," the man replied, shaking his head vigorously to dispel his dizziness.

"If you’re good, let’s get out of here. Move!" The platoon leader was beginning to grasp just how deadly this forest was. He waved his hand, raised his mist lamp, rolled up his own trouser legs, and motioned for the soldiers to follow him on.

But fate had other plans. Just as he raised the mist lamp, the little girl spoke up in alarm.

"Brother, be careful—about a hundred meters ahead, a large number of flying creatures are approaching. Danger level around 0.2. They’re coming fast." Before she had finished speaking, Liu Chang heard the heavy beating of wings. He barely had time to warn the others before he saw a flock of bizarre birds swooping toward them.

In his field of vision, these birds had sharp beaks, each the size of a human head, with crimson eyes. As soon as they appeared, they dived at the team—clearly, they were not to be trifled with.

"Something’s coming from above! Heads up!" Liu Chang shouted, and just as he did, a massive bird dove for his head. He managed to smash it down with his crossbow.

"Damn!" He hadn’t even had time to stomp the bird when another wave of attacks followed. Overwhelmed, Liu Chang could only shield the little girl and press himself against a large tree to avoid being attacked from all sides.

"Fire into the air! Scare them off!" came the platoon leader’s order from the mist. "Aim straight up—don’t hit your own men!"

At his command, gunfire rang out in bursts. Startled by the gunshots, the birds stopped attacking and rose up, circling overhead. Although they were frightened, they clearly had no intention of leaving.

"Careful! They’re still up there!" As the gunfire died down, Liu Chang shouted to alert the others who couldn’t see above their heads. "They’re hovering. They won’t leave without getting some meat!"

After calling out, Liu Chang raised his crossbow, aimed at the fattest bird, and squeezed the trigger.

With a twang, the bolt shot forward, striking before the bird had time to react, piercing its body. Feathers and blood burst into a brilliant spray in midair.

At the same instant, as Liu Chang’s lips curled into a smile, the flock caught the scent of their comrade’s blood. In a frenzy, they all swooped down on the corpse, fighting over it. In the span of three blinks, the freshly killed bird had been devoured to the bone, leaving Liu Chang—who alone could see it—in stunned silence.

But his shock lasted less than a second before the girl’s next words yanked him back to reality.

"Another flock is coming—more dangerous than the last, danger level 0.5."

"You’ve got to be kidding," Liu Chang frowned deeply, just as a droning buzz filled the air. Then a swarm of mosquito-like insects with razor-sharp mouthparts appeared before him. The birds, on seeing these giant mosquitoes—each half the size of a human—scattered in panic. The slower ones were caught and quickly became breakfast for the monstrous insects.

Martial Universe—updating at the fastest speed.