Free Web NovelChapter 136: Chapter 136 Tree Demon
Chen Village was on the eastern side of the mountain, so Wang Hao and Su Zhenping had never been to the western side, and were not very familiar with the environment there.
Upon arriving, what met their eyes was a neglected scene, sparse trees, withered grass, a stark contrast to the other side. No wonder few people came here.
"How can there be such a big difference in the same mountain?"
Wang Hao said in surprise.
"Don’t you think this place is very strange?"
Su Zhenping pointed at the surrounding environment. Wang Hao followed his gesture and looked around, noticing that indeed, only the area where they stood was barren.
The vegetation in other parts was very lush. freēwēbnovel.com
Moreover, in the corner of this barren area stood a huge tree, tall and thick, yet without a single leaf, looking as if it was about to die.
"You know what, it really is quite magical!"
Wang Hao also felt amazed and went with Su Zhenping to closely examine the big tree.
Su Zhenping was very curious as well. If the place was really this barren, how could the tree have grown so tall and large?
And how did this tall tree come to be in such a state now?
Was there something special about this place? Or was there something mysterious underground?
The two walked around the big tree but couldn’t find any clues. Eventually, Su Zhenping, feeling helpless, patted the trunk twice.
"Is anybody there?"
Wang Hao was looking down at the soil beneath when he heard Su Zhenping ask this and couldn’t help laughing.
"Uncle Su, are you alright? If the tree answers you today, I’ll take your surname."
Su Zhenping looked at him with a puzzled face and said nothing, just stepped back two paces.
"You’re mistaken, I didn’t say that!"
Su Zhenping said in horror.
"What? Uncle Su, don’t scare me in broad daylight! If you didn’t say it, was it the tree that spoke?"
Wang Hao didn’t believe it.
"It really was the tree!"
Su Zhenping frowned and his face grew more troubled.
Still skeptical, Wang Hao pressed his ear against the trunk to listen carefully and heard a series of "tap tap tap" sounds, like someone knocking on a door.
Wang Hao thought Su Zhenping was patting the tree again but, glancing up, he saw that Su Zhenping was far away. The sounds weren’t made by him.
At this, Wang Hao’s face turned pale "whoosh", and he mustered his courage to listen again.
The patting sounds came once more, and Wang Hao was certain it wasn’t Su Zhenping playing a trick on him, so he hurried away.
"Oh my goodness! Seeing a ghost in broad daylight!"
Wang Hao shouted in fright.
He had never heard of trees making sounds, could it be a tree demon?
"Help! Somebody save me!"
Just as Wang Hao hadn’t recovered from the initial shock, the tree started talking again.
This time, Wang Hao was standing right next to Su Zhenping; both were sure the voice came from the tree and, terrified, turned and ran.
In a frantic rush, Wang Hao hadn’t run two steps before tripping over a tree branch, falling flat on the ground.
The moment his face touched the ground, Wang Hao felt the mountain beneath him vibrating.
Wang Hao thought the tree demon was exerting its power to capture him, so he prepared to get up and run.
"I am Gao Shenglin, please save me!"
Just as Wang Hao got up, he heard the tree demon announce its own name.
He hadn’t expected a tree demon to be so trendy, assigning itself a human name.
Wang Hao took a couple of steps but then suddenly stopped. He remembered that Gao Chao’s grandfather was also called Gao Shenglin.
Wang Hao found it very strange, so he turned back and looked, but saw no one, only the tree standing alone.
"Are you Gao Chao’s grandfather?"
Wang Hao asked, gathering his courage.
"Yes, yes, young man, please save me!"
The tree demon admitted to being Gao Chao’s grandfather.
"You’re quite the cunning demon. I think you’d better focus on cultivating inside, and don’t think about coming out to harm people anymore."
Wang Hao, probably having watched too many TV dramas, actually started instructing a demon on how to behave.
"Are you stupid, kid? There are no demons in this world! Hurry up and save me, I’m inside the tree!"
The tree spirit seemed a bit angry and scolded Wang Hao.
Having heard this, Wang Hao was stunned. He thought about calling Su Zhenping to come over and take a look, but Su Zhenping had already run off and disappeared. freewebnoveℓ.com
This old man, always runs away at critical times.
Wang Hao had no choice but to grit his teeth and carefully approach the large tree.
"Are you really Gao Shenglin?"
Wang Hao was still half in doubt, the tree looked dry, but it was still alive.
How could a perfectly fine person be trapped inside a tree?
Seeing no response from outside for a while, Gao Shenglin knew that Wang Hao was still hesitant and did not believe him, so he described the structure inside the tree to him.
"The inside of this trunk is hollow. There’s a fork about two meters above your head, and the entrance is right there."
Wang Hao looked up and saw that there indeed was a large fork in the branches. Climbing up for a look, he found a hole that extended all the way down.
However, it was pitch dark inside the tree hollow, and he couldn’t see anything clearly.
But there was a rope tied at the edge of the hole, stretching all the way down into it.
"Grandpa Gao, are you in there?"
Wang Hao leaned over the hole and shouted inside.
"Keep your voice down, those people probably haven’t gone far; we’ll be in trouble if they find us!"
A voice came from inside the hole.
"Grandpa Gao, there’s a rope here, grab onto it, and I’ll pull you up."
Wang Hao shook the rope he was holding.
"I can’t move right now, they’ve tied me up; you have to come down and untie me first."
Gao Shenglin whispered.
Wang Hao was thinking of ignoring him and just going back to get some people to come rescue him, but then he thought about the safety of the Blood Ganoderma and the Dragon Pool Spring and that there might be others inside.
Wang Hao decided to go down and check it out for himself. If he could catch those people, he could take them all out at once, ensuring the secrets of the Blood Ganoderma and the Dragon Pool Spring wouldn’t be leaked.
After pondering for a moment, Wang Hao slid down following the rope.
He slid for quite some time without touching the ground, and Wang Hao thought the trunk couldn’t be that tall; maybe he was already inside the interior of the mountain.
At that moment, Wang Hao looked down and saw a faint light below. It looked like he was about to reach the bottom.
But just then, Wang Hao suddenly felt weightless, and he plummeted down.
"Ouch!"
Wang Hao landed with a thud on his behind, but fortunately, he was close to the bottom and didn’t suffer much harm.
"Young man, are you alright?"
Hearing Wang Hao’s cry, Gao Shenglin from inside the hole asked with concern.
"I’m fine, won’t die!"
Wang Hao quickly got up dusting off his behind. Seeing the broken piece of rope in his hand, he cursed inwardly.
Turning around, he discovered a flashlight on the ground, and next to the flashlight, Gao Shenglin was tied up tight, hands bound behind him, leaning against a stone.
Wang Hao walked over and saw that Gao Shenglin looked exactly like the photo in the missing persons notice, except now his face was covered in grime.
"Grandpa Gao, how did you get tied up here?"
Wang Hao began to untie Gao Shenglin while asking.
"Those damn thugs brought me here and tied me up!"
Gao Shenglin said angrily, immediately tossing away the stone in his hand.
He had used this stone to knock and make noise to attract Wang Hao’s attention successfully.
Gao Shenglin was tied up from the back, and since it was pitch black down there, deep and seemingly endless, he might scream his throat hoarse and still no one would come to rescue him.
Thus, he found a stone to knock against another stone at his back to make noise. If there was any movement above, the stone knocking would draw attention and offer a chance to be rescued.
"Look, now the rope’s broken, how are we going to get back up?"
Wang Hao said, frowning at the broken rope on the ground.
"Those Desert Camels have tools, but they’ve already gone inside, and there are more of them; the two of us are probably no match for them."
Gao Shenglin said.
"Desert Camels? Why would they be here?"
Wang Hao looked shocked and immediately thought of the five fake thieves that the Cheng Family had hired. Could this incident really be related to them?
