Chapter 2892: Small Town Infrastructure Construction Proceeds Happily 12

Jin Chen did not follow Huo Zhaoye into the Wasteland Forest; instead, he led the boys back to North Town.

「All of you go home, finish today's unfinished records, and redo them tomorrow. 」

Huzi replied listlessly, and the other children also nodded obediently.

After the anger had subsided, facing Teacher Jin, they felt a little guilty.

Jin Chen led the group of teenage boys down the bridge, passed the small square, and happened to meet another patrol team preparing to change shift.

「Teacher Jin! 」 a young team member greeted.

「Teacher Jin, this afternoon you checked the sky record and said there might be a thunderstorm after evening, telling everyone to prepare in advance…… but today, 」 he lifted his gaze to the blazing poisonous sun, 「it doesn't look like it—do we really need to do it？」

The weather on the wasteland, especially thunderstorms, often brings hail, even small tornadoes.

Each time they strike, the town suffers some losses: roofs torn off, dried food destroyed, circuits pierced—these are common occurrences.

Therefore, everyone is especially sensitive to such warnings and also especially cautious.

Jin Chen stopped his steps and also looked up at the sky.

「Will happen. 」 He withdrew his gaze, 「Take precautions, especially reinforce the roofs of the granary and chicken coop, houses near large trees should watch for lightning, disconnect antennas and metal objects, and ensure grounding. 」

「Got it! We'll go notify everyone right now! 」

Several people split up and ran off, shouting loudly.

Soon, the town rang with the summoning gong and people's responding cries.

Jin Chen watched the town gradually spring into action, turned, and headed toward his small dwelling.

He wanted to go back to make something to eat and wait for Huo Zhaoye to return.

Jin Chen dried his hands, prepared to take some stored coarse grain, thinking about what to cook for dinner, when a Cold Alert suddenly came as a reminder.

【Master Jin Chen, a plot key point has been triggered: the protagonist, Yan Tenggu (the uke), was snatched by an unknown mutated creature at the edge of the Wasteland Forest ten minutes ago.】

Jin Chen's motion paused slightly, and he raised an eyebrow.

According to the original plot, this is the key juncture where the protagonist's seme and uke feelings intensify—the hero saves the beauty, and they rely on each other in danger.

But now……

【Not only Lu Jun, but Huo Zhaoye also went to the Wasteland Forest.】

【Yes.】999 confirmed, 【Based on the original plot's progression, this event has a probability to naturally proceed; the chance of the protagonist (uke) safely escaping danger is 95%.】

【Master Jin Chen need not intervene; it is suggested that staying in North Town is the safer option.】

Jin Chen interrupted 999's suggestion, 【With all this excitement, how could I not go?】

【……?】

999 glitched for a moment.

In the previous world, the plot had already deviated to the point it could deviate no further; it could not help Master Jin Chen at all. In this world, it can barely help, so Master Jin Chen…

He wouldn't listen to a single word.

But he didn't dare to advise.

Jin Chen made up his mind, placed the eggs beside the stove, turned, and walked into the inner room.

He took off his coat, a white cotton shirt; the shirt was somewhat loose, and his pale skin looked even more glaring in the dim indoor light.

【Master Jin Chen, your outfit……】999 wanted to say something but hesitated.

In the gloomy, filthy, densely vegetated Wasteland Forest, wearing all white is practically a walking target.

【More conspicuous, easier to find.】Jin Chen said casually, pushed the door, and went out.

The sunset sank a little further, and the horizon began to glow orange‑red.

The townspeople were still busy preparing for the thunderstorm; Jin Chen sauntered along the town's edge path, heading toward the Wasteland Forest at a leisurely pace.

——

Edge of the Wasteland Forest.

Thick fog spread from somewhere, like a heavy gray‑white veil, enveloping the trees tightly.

Light was distorted and devoured, vision became extremely blurry, making it hard to discern a person's shape beyond three or five meters.

Even stranger was the temperature: just moments ago in the town it was muggy, but upon entering the Wasteland Forest, a chill seeped up from the ground, climbing from the ankles straight to the bone marrow—damp and cold—making the forest feel like another world compared to the wasteland outside, where a poisonous sun hangs.

Huo Zhaoye and Lu Jun led two groups, following the faint water sound of the old-world river upstream, each person fully alert, weapons in hand, vigilantly scanning the surrounding mist for shadowy shapes.

Along the way, they discovered two more corpses.

One was hung on a low bush covered in thorns, its abdomen ripped open.

The other was half‑buried in slippery moss, only half of its body remaining, its death gruesome, the wound grotesque.

Everyone recognized them as youths from South Town, their hearts sank, and they had no idea whether any survivors remained inside.

They pressed deeper; the fog grew thicker, the sound of the river was nearby, but they could not see clearly.

「Be careful! 」 Huo Zhaoye suddenly barked.

Everyone immediately stopped, held their breath, and focused.

A dozen meters ahead, a strangely shaped willow tree stood by the riverbank.

Its trunk was thick and twisted, the bark split and oozed black fluid, and its willow branches had become countless barbed tendrils, writhing slowly like living things.

Several of those vines wrapped around two corpses completely drained of fluid, their barbs piercing the flesh.

「It's a mutated plant! 」

「Fall back! Don't get close to its attack range! 」 Lu Jun urged.

But it was too late; the mutated willow sensed the humans' presence, and several vines shot out like poisonous snakes.

「Scatter! Attack its trunk and roots! 」 Huo Zhaoye reacted instantly, sidestepping a whip‑like vine, his machete arcing down to cleave the vine, which spat out foul‑smelling juice at the break.

At that moment, the people from the two towns also set aside their grudges, fighting back‑to‑back in cooperation.

Blade flashes, axe shadows, bullets whistling— the vines were incredibly tough, immensely strong, and numerous; if one was carelessly entangled, the barbs would dig deep into flesh.

Huo Zhaoye and Lu Jun were at the forefront, but the mutant willow was really hard to deal with; its trunk was tough, and the vines seemed endless.

"This won't work!" the monkey shouted, panting after chopping off a vine, "I can't cut them all!"

Huo Zhaoye's eyes narrowed; he spotted a spot near the base of the willow's trunk and shouted, "Attack the roots! That might be its weakness!"

He and Lu Jun exchanged a glance and exerted force together.

Lu Jun threw several homemade firebombs, which smashed into the vines in front of the willow, igniting flames; Huo Zhaoye seized the opening, rushed forward, and poured all his strength into his machete, fiercely chopping at that knot of root scar.

The blade sank deep; the mutant willow emitted countless hisses from leaves rubbing, the vines twitched and spasmed, then quickly withered.

The battle ended; everyone was exhausted and panting, more or less injured.

"Count heads! Treat the wounded!" Huo Zhaoye wiped sweat and bloody grime from his face and said in a low voice.

From behind a bush half-covered by vines nearby came a faint groan.

"Anyone still alive!" Xiao Wu's sharp eyes spotted it; he immediately rushed over and pushed aside the bushes.

Inside, three people were curled up—two from South Town, one from North Town—still alive, but their bodies bore deep blood marks from the vines' strangulation and puncture wounds from the thorns, their breath faint.

Upon seeing Huo Zhaoye and Lu Jun, the young man from North Town among them struggled to speak.

Huo Zhaoye crouched, examined his wounds—not life‑threatening, but needing prompt treatment.

"What's going on? How did you end up here and provoke that thing?"

The young man panted, his face full of lingering fear: "We didn't provoke it…… we were captured…… that willow tree we only encountered later……"

Lu Jun frowned, looking at the two survivors from his own town: "Who captured you? Did you see them clearly?"

The three survivors' faces showed terror as they glanced at each other.

"A black shadow…… very fast……" the South Town person stammered, "We were gathering firewood at the forest edge when something suddenly dragged us in…… its strength was terrifying."

"Yeah, I didn't see it clearly either; I just felt a pain in my neck and then passed out……"

"Mutant plant entities can't move far from their original spot."

Huo Zhaoye stood up, scanned the mist‑shrouded woods around them, and said, "Being able to drag someone from the forest edge here…… it must be a mutant beast."

Lu Jun's face grew even grimmer.

Just then, a shrill cry came from deeper in the woods, not far from their position.

Huo Zhaoye and Lu Jun's faces changed at the same time.

"Let's go check!"

Huo Zhaoye made a snap decision, telling the lightly wounded monkey and Xiao Wu, "You stay to tend the wounded and hold the position; the rest of you, follow me!"

Lu Jun led two others, together with Huo Zhaoye, sneaking toward the direction the sound came from.