When system cheat becomes rampant!

"Woof?"

Xiaohei scratched his head, looking at Xiang Beifei with confusion and waved his Small Water Gun. He was ready to throw the bubbles over, but the sudden change in the tree people caught Xiaohei by surprise.

The bullets were loaded, but were they not going to shoot after all?

"I wonder if it's the water guns in our hands that scared them off."

Xiang Beifei examined his Breath Soil Gun. The tree people's reluctance to approach the mountain they had just been near was very likely due to the eerie creek water on it. They had brought along many waters from the creek earlier, thinking it might also restrain the tree people.

Was it the scent of the creek water that shook them, or was it the piece of black wood at the top of the mountain?

"Or could it be something from the Dou Constellation?"

Xiang Beifei stared at the calling tree people.

They seemed to have lost their hostility towards them; on the contrary, their eyes were filled with respect and urgency. They murmured the words "You" and "meng", but Xiang Beifei had no idea what the tree people were trying to express.

Although he had the ability "Learn by Analogy" and was very fast at learning languages, he had to actually—learn them first.

For example, Xiaohei's entire language consisted solely of the sound "Woof". When Xiang Beifei first learned Xiaohei's language, knowing what Xiaohei meant allowed Xiang Beifei to simply ask how Xiaohei would "woof" to compliment his handsomeness or talent. Even though Xiaohei woofed reluctantly, through back-and-forth translation with more woofed syllables, Xiang Beifei learned it.

Should he try getting the tree people to compliment him as well?

The only problem was whether the tree people understood his language, because communication required that both parties understood the meaning and then translated accordingly.

Xiang Beifei cleared his throat and said solemnly, "I don't know what you are saying, and I don't know if you can understand my language, but if you can, please knock 6."

"Woof!"

Xiaohei stretched out his two front paws and showed six claws.

The tree people stopped their chanting and looked at each other in puzzlement.

"Say six six six in your language!"

Xiang Beifei held out his thumb and pinkie, shaking them to demonstrate to the group of tree people.

The tree people seemed not to quite understand. A few tried to imitate Xiang Beifei's gesture, showing thumbs and pinkies, but they seemed to be just copying him while pondering in their eyes.

"This is six!" Xiang Beifei said again.

"Youmeng... Youmeng... Youmeng!"

The tree person at the front, who had pine needles on its body, cautiously voiced out.

"Ah? Are you saying to express 'six' you need to make six syllables?" Xiang Beifei asked in surprise.

That would be something if they had to say "a hundred million".

"How do you say 'you are handsome' in your language?" Xiang Beifei asked earnestly.

A tree person with poplar leaves spoke in a very deep voice, "You..."

"Are you translating, or are you asking?" Xiang Beifei noticed something off in the tree person's tone.

"Youmeng... Youmeng!"

Another tree person with banana leaves spoke hurriedly, then pointed to the ground.

But Xiang Beifei still did not understand them. The tree people looked anxious, but if he could not learn their language, communication would be difficult. Xiang Beifei was quick at learning languages, but it seemed the tree people were not very cooperative.

And then—

Buzz!

A vibration came from the ground below, swirling around each of the tree people. Their bodies jerked sharply as if they showed a look of despair, frozen in place. Then they began to slowly transform, sprouting various branches and leaves, rooting on the spot and turning back into trees! Continue your journey on My Virtual Library Empire

Then each tree began to wither, as if swept by an autumn breeze, the mountain woods turning golden.

The whole process took less than ten seconds!

"They've all turned back into trees?"

Xiang Beifei and Xiaohei, a man and a dog with water guns in hand, looked at each other.

The tree people no longer bore any malice, and although he had thought of communicating with them, the opportunity vanished abruptly, robbing Xiang Beifei of the chance to learn the language of the trees.

"Woof?" Xiaohei asked.

"I don't know."

Xiang Beifei shook his head; he likewise had no clue how to awaken the tree people.

He approached a pine tree which turned green again, but that was it; there was no difference from how everything appeared when they first arrived.

Just now, it was probably the sight of Xiang Beifei defeating the black wood that caused the tree people to hold him in awe. However, he couldn't be certain why they turned back into tree people later; it seemed some mysterious force underground was constraining them.

What sparked Xiang Beifei's curiosity was the black wood in the volcano earlier!

The black wood appeared very formidable, making the tree people so wary, he had thought it must surely be a unique and powerful divine object.

But it just perished outright.

Xiang Beifei hadn't even had the chance to figure out its origin!

After trying for a moment, he found he still couldn't turn the trees back into people.

"Forget it, let's not worry about this for now."

Xiang Beifei couldn't make sense of it, so he decided not to think about it. If there was a mysterious power here that could restrict the tree people, then the place was still dangerous.

He hurriedly helped Xi Keyao up and channeled his Spiritual Power into her, which brought her back to a groggy state of consciousness.

"Are you okay?" Xiang Beifei asked.

"I'm alright, it felt like someone grabbed me just now." Xi Keyao touched her forehead, having been confused from the very start by the black wood, only to feel herself falling before being caught.

She patted her forehead with her hand to clear her mind a bit, "Did classmate Xiang Beifei save me?"

"Nearly didn't catch you, glad you're fine."

"What about the others?" Xi Keyao asked further.

Xiang Beifei stood up, looked around, and began searching for the others, saying, "I don't know, I saw you falling and went to find you first."

The others might have been swept up to the mountain by Li Zimu, and it was unclear what their condition was now.

"Classmate Xiang Beifei looked for me first?" Xi Keyao brightened, sneaking a glance at Xiang Beifei, her heart brimming with joy.

——Out of all the people, he chose to look for me first!

Xi Keyao sat on the ground, her mind wandering who knows where, a blush suddenly spreading across her face as she sat there, giggling to herself, as if the bruises on her body didn't matter anymore.

But Xiang Beifei wasn't paying attention to her; with the tree people now silent, he needed to regroup the team first.

"Hurry, we need to find the others."

"Okay!"

When Xi Keyao came to her senses, she found that Xiang Beifei had already walked far ahead and hurried to catch up.

The clouds in the sky had been scattered, and daylight had broken. The Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage had vanished, and the tree people stood at attention. Xiang Beifei called out twice, and there were responses from the mountain; soon, they found everyone.

Fortunately, the others weren't seriously harmed. A person from Yongzhou University had been swept halfway up the mountain and left hanging from a tree off a cliff, having been knocked unconscious, but otherwise lucky.

Long Guocheng had been swept into the woods on the mountain and seemed to have had a bad fall, with a broken leg.

Ma Ziqian, however, was unharmed. His ability to control speed also meant he had faster reflexes than anyone else, and he possessed a power called "Relative Speed" that allowed him free control over velocity. By transferring his own speed to something else, making that object move faster, he could reduce his forced movement to a crawl.

Ma Ziqian had only managed to grab Tang He and Di Sheng, transferring the speed to the surging water, then stood motionless in the water like the Calming Sea Divine Needle. Relatively speaking, the three of them were almost uninjured.

With the help of Cheng Xin'an, Li Zimu and Hu Hongcai also managed to stabilize themselves.

Xi Keyao had a strong self-recovery ability and quickly got better. She then reset Long Guocheng's broken leg and healed the head wound of a student from Yongzhou University who had a concussion and seemed to be unconscious for a long time.

"He should wake after quite a while, but it shouldn't be anything serious," said Xi Keyao.

"Thank you."

Cheng Xin'an breathed a sigh of relief. It was a relief that his team was okay. As long as they could save a life, once out, there would be Awakeners in the alliance with various powerful healing systems.

He asked Hu Hongcai to summon a hawk to carry the unfortunate fellow. Among them, this guy was the only one to have suffered such a fate, the unluckiest of the lot.

"The tree people have turned back into trees, is it because it's daylight now?" Long Guocheng, tapping his reattached leg, asked with confusion.

"It seems so," replied Ma Ziqian with a nod.

They hadn't seen Xiang Beifei dealing with the tree people and were unclear about what had actually happened.

"Let's go, we need to quickly find a way out," Xiang Beifei said.

"Then which way should we go?" asked Cheng Xin'an.

Xiang Beifei pondered for a moment. Perhaps due to his recent experiences, the withered forest no longer seemed as eerie to him.

The trees here were clearly dead, yet each one seemed alive, standing there as if eagerly watching him, each tree forming a fleeting and uncertain connection with Xiang Beifei.

As he stared at these trees in contemplation, suddenly, a very faint voice came into his mind. The voice was indistinct in origin, but seemed to come from deep within the forest, as if converying something.

This voice was strange; it was difficult to tell which tree person was speaking. It might have been an illusion, but the voice sounded vaguely familiar.

Xiang Beifei turned towards the direction of the voice.

"What is it?" Li Zimu asked.

"Around here... did you hear anything?" Xiang Beifei asked.

Li Zimu and the others looked at each other, wondering if the Ghostly Visage and the tree people were making a comeback and promptly became vigilant, "What sound?"

Xiang Beifei listened carefully to that calling, but the others seemed to hear nothing.

"No sound, still just the ghostly sight from before," said Long Guocheng.

Since entering the withered forest, they hadn't even seen a small insect, let alone the chirping of cicadas or birds; it had been utterly silent except for the rustling of tree leaves.

Xiang Beifei took a few steps towards the sound, and soon, he began to make it out.

"Beifei... Beifei..."

Xiang Beifei frowned slightly in surprise.

What's going on?

Beifei?

Xiang Beifei felt puzzled, for the voice grew more familiar the more he listened, but he just couldn't remember where he had heard it. It wasn't his own voice, but he was certain he had heard it somewhere before.

Whose voice was it?

At that moment, Xiang Beifei suddenly found that all the withered trees in the forest seemed to be quietly changing; whenever Xiang Beifei set his gaze upon a tree, its leaves would silently turn.

It was as if they were deliberately guiding him!