Chapter 110.2
Soon, the other newbies also noticed the environment they were in and a nervous newbie said, “But how are we going to escape? This is an island…”
“Boat! There must be a boat!” The newbie pointed to Xiao Tangqiu’s group, “These kidnappers must have come by boat! Let’s find it!”
Tang Mianmian rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, “Then you guys should look for it quickly. If you find it, we also want to leave together.”
“You want to leave too?” The newbie looked suspicious, obviously not convinced.
Tang Mianmian sneered, “Did you not hear it just now? Our task is to escape from this island… If it is so easy for you to find a boat, that would be great, and we can leave together.”
“Hmph! I don’t believe it! There must be a boat, otherwise, how did we get here?”
Xue Junli said lightly, “Then you newbies are responsible for finding the boat, we will divide the labor.”
The newbie looked at Xue Junli suspiciously. He obviously doubted the term “divide the labor”, but he also didn’t want to act with Xiao Tangqiu’s group, so he reluctantly nodded, “We will definitely find the boat, otherwise how did we get here? Unless you hid the boat!”
The newbies turned away and went to look for a boat. The Reincarnation Team team gathered together and Xue Junli asked Bai Yushan, “Does the book say where the thing is?”
Bai Yushan shook his head and said coldly, “It’s very vague. Let’s go look around the island.”
Xiao Tangqiu nodded, “Everyone, be careful.”
Bai Yushan scoffed, “It’s just a D-cla.s.s instance, what are you afraid of?”
Xue Junli glanced at Bai Yushan, a hint of meaning flashed in his eyes. He said lightly, “Although it is only a D-cla.s.s instance, don’t forget that this is a hidden instance… The difficulty of a hidden instance cannot be compared with that of a normal instance.”
Xiao Tangqiu suddenly asked, “What did you encounter in the last hidden instance? How did your teammates die?”
Bai Yushan paused, then impatiently said, “It was so long ago, how would I remember?”
Without waiting for Xiao Tangqiu to say anything, she said coldly, “And I don’t want to talk about it so don’t ask anymore.”
Xiao Tangqiu had no choice but to leave it be. Xue Junli took another look at Bai Yushan, then said lightly, “Well, anyway, let’s go to the island to take a look. No matter what, stay cautious.”
Bai Yushan sneered, seeming to think that Xue Junli was too cautious, and she walked quickly to the front of the team.
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian wordlessly traded a look and followed suit.
Although this island was called Revival Island, there were no stones or idols on the island. There is only an endless virgin forest. After walking for a long time, they finally saw a dilapidated village deep in the forest.
“There is a village there! Go and take a look!”
They hurried over, but found that there was no one in the village. It looked to be an abandoned old village with everything in dilapidated conditions.
“Strange, is there no one in this village?” Tang Mianmian looked around.
“No, there are traces of someone living herek2026;”
Xiao Tangqiu went straight into a house made of bamboo. The bamboo house was rough and simple with gaps and leaks everywhere. The furniture in it had only undergone simple rough processing. It all felt very primitive, but it was strange because there were some modern things in the room at the same time. There was a lighter and an enamel cup on the table.
He picked up the enamel cup and looked at it, discovering that the water in it was still warm, “The water is still warm. This talent is probably not far away.”
“Never mind the lighter, why is there an electric kettle? This clash of aesthetics is too obvious,” Tang Mianmian picked up an electric kettle in the corner, “Is there electricity in this room? How do I boil water?”
Xiao Tangqiu leaned over and took a look, “This electric kettle seems to be broken, it’s probably used as a normal kettle.”
“Even if it’s broken, where did this electric kettle come from? It doesn’t match the scenery of this village either…” Tang Mianmian murmured.
At this moment, Duan Hongzhen raised an eyebrow and said, “People are coming, should we hide?”
Xiao Tangqiu nodded, “Hide first, it won’t be good if they see us and run away.”
Because there were countless lessons learned from previous mistakes, they prepared to hide first, and wait for an opportunity to move.
Soon, a group of people walked in from the village entrance. Their clothing was very strange. Some were undressed in primitive clothes, while others were dressed in outdated but neat modern clothes. It was like two worlds mixing together.
Although those people’s clothing styles were quite different, they all held a large piece of meat in their hands, looking to have just returned from a market or a slaughterhouse.
They returned to their respective houses with their respective meat. Soon, a middle-aged man in modern clothes also walked into their house with a piece of meat.
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian glanced at each other and rushed out the moment the middle-aged man closed the door. One grabbed the middle-aged man, and the other covered the middle-aged man’s mouth to prevent him from yelling.
“Mmm!” Xiao Tangqiu was responsible for covering the man’s mouth. Although his task was very simple, this middle-aged man had amazing strength and struggled like a beast. Fortunately, he was not the weak chicken from the beginning and was able to firmly cover the middle-aged man’s mouth.
Xiao Tangqiu said coldly, “Don’t shout, or we will kill you!”
He covered the middle-aged man’s mouth with one hand, and took out his crossbow and aimed it at the middle-aged man’s throat with the other hand.
“Do you understand me? If you understand, nod your head!”
The middle-aged man glared at Xiao Tangqiu, then nodded.
Xiao Tangqiu pressed a crossbow against the middle-aged man’s throat, and then let go of his hand. The middle-aged man did not yell, but his struggle became more violent.
Duan Hongzhen took a look at the meat in the middle-aged man’s hand, then raised his eyebrows, “What kind of meat is this?”
The middle-aged man did not answer. Xiao Tangqiu poked the middle-aged man in the throat with a bolt, “Is it human flesh?”
The middle-aged man answered reluctantly, his voice was hoa.r.s.e and scratchy, “No…”
Xiao Tangqiu then asked, “What kind of meat is this then?”
The middle-aged man said hoa.r.s.ely, “The bark of the Sacred Tree…”
“The Sacred Tree? The bark of a tree?” Duan Hongzhen scoffed from beside them, “What a joke! How could this kind of thing be bark? This is obviously the meat of some kind of animal!”
The middle-aged man gave Duan Hongzhen a resentful look, “Don’t insult our Sacred Tree! This is the bark of our Sacred Tree!”
“The Sacred Tree?” Bai Yushan was suddenly excited, she s.n.a.t.c.hed the big piece of meat over, “Quick! Tell me more about that tree!”
The middle-aged man was full of hostility towards Xiao Tangqiu and the group of strangers who suddenly broke in, but under the threat of the crossbow, he could only reluctantly respond, “There is a Sacred Tree at the heart of this island.”
It turned out that there was a Sacred Tree on this island. Everyone on the island respected and worshipped the Sacred Tree because it was their source of life and the only source of food on the island. Everyone gathered together every evening under the Sacred Tree and begged the Sacred Tree for food.
“The only source of food?” Xiao Tangqiu frowned, “What do you mean? Is there no other food on the island? There are no animals? Even if there are no animals on the island, aren’t there fish in the sea?”
The middle-aged man gave Xiao Tangqiu a fierce glare, and then said, “Apart from us, there are no living creatures on the island. Although there are fish in the sea, those fish will not come close to the island. There’s no fish within a hundred miles in radius of the island…”
Xiao Tangqiu felt it was more and more strange, “Even if there are no animals, you can grow food.”
“There is no food…” The middle-aged man said coldly, “We have tried to grow food on this land, but there was no harvest. No food can be grown on this land.”
“How is this possible? Aren’t there a lot of trees outside!” Xiao Tangqiu didn’t believe it, “Could it be that the woods outside grew out of thin air?”
The middle-aged man gave Xiao Tangqiu a gloomy look, “Those woods are native plants on the island. They existed before the first humans appeared here. We don’t know how those trees grew, but other than those trees, this island really doesn’t grow any vegetation.”
“Then you didn’t try to eat any of the native plants? Are there no wild fruits or something?” Tang Mianmian asked curiously.
The middle-aged man was silent for a while, “Someone has tried… but the wild fruits are extremely poisonous, and anyone who eats them dies miserably in pain within a few seconds…”
Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but feel a chill down his back, “There are no animals, no fish, and no food can be grown. The native plants on the island are extremely poisonous… How can you survive!”
“That’s why we have the Sacred Tree!” When the middle-aged man mentioned the Sacred Tree, his expression suddenly became extremely pious, almost fanatic, “It is the Sacred Tree that gives us food, the Sacred Tree gives us life, the Sacred Tree gives us everything…”
Xiao Tangqiu frowned. At this moment, Yu Fuling suddenly yelled quietly, “Ah! This meat… This piece of meat is alive!”
Everyone turned their heads and saw that the piece of “meat” was indeed squirming. Although it was not obvious, they stared at it for a while and still saw it.
“That’s disgusting!” Duan Hongzhen scowled, “What the h.e.l.l is this!”
“Don’t insult our Sacred Tree!” The man glared at Duan Hongzhen viciously. If it hadn’t been for Xiao Tangqiu’s crossbow at his throat, he might have already attacked Duan Hongzhen.
Xiao Tangqiu looked at it for a while, and said honestly, “It’s a bit like the legendary Tai Sui.”
Tang Mianmian touched his chin, “This thing is the bark of the Sacred Tree? I can’t imagine what the Sacred Tree looks like. The bark looks so much like human flesh. Would the Sacred Tree look like a person?”
Bai Yushan immediately grabbed the middle-aged man by the collar and said, “Quick! Take us to see the Sacred Tree!”
The middle-aged man gave Bai Yushan a sullen look and then said hoa.r.s.ely, “We can’t see it now. The Sacred Tree will only appear in the evening…”
Xiao Tangqiu raised his eyebrows, “How is this possible? Can the tree disappear and reappear as it pleases? Did it grow legs?”
The middle-aged man said coldly, “The Sacred Tree only appears in the evening, and now there is nothing there.”
Bai Yushan sneered, “I don’t believe it. Take us to have a look!”
A hint of fear flashed in the middle-aged man’s eyes, “Once it’s evening, you must never go out, otherwise…”
Xiao Tangqiu took another sentence, “Otherwise?”
The middle-aged man was full of fear, “Someone I once knew went out in the evening and never came back…”
“Someone you once knew?” Xiao Tangqiu suddenly thought of something and raised his eyebrows, “You shouldn’t be a native islander. Don’t you want to leave?”
The middle-aged man was silent for a long time before he said with a dazed expression, “Someone tried to leave before… but they sank instantly as soon as they got into the water, just like they were dragged into the water by a beast. No one can leave this island…”
He repeated in a murmur, “No one can leave this island…”