Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse-Chapter 165 - 160: The "Heart" of the Vines

"Jump into the water and try," Xu Xin suggested.

Xu Xin didn’t really have a good way to kill these bugs, so he could only let him jump into the water to hide.

He felt that these flying insects were difficult to deal with, which is why he initially chose to blow up the flower along with them. Now it seems it was indeed the best choice.

Wang Lei: "I got it! Ah, I’m so far from the stream now!"

Xu Xin shook his head and continued to walk out of the cave.

From over a hundred meters away, Xu Xin saw the entrance of the cave blocked by the collapsed ground. It was the three explosive arrows that shook the soil at the entrance down.

But it’s not a big deal; it’s just some loose soil. Silver King and Mimi quickly dug away the soil blocking the path, and they reappeared under the sunlight with the beasts.

Xu Xin mounted the wolf, heading towards the nearest of the remaining two caves, the one he and Keke had discovered.

Perhaps due to inhaling a lot of red mist in the cave, Silver King Mimi and Afu’s state noticeably became more excited and active than before entering. It seems this red mist may have effects beyond just strengthening mutant beasts.

With the map markers, the distance between the two caves was only a few hundred meters, and they arrived in a matter of seconds.

Getting off the wolf, Xu Xin once again observed the surroundings of this cave, squatting to grab a handful of soil, still not finding anything different.

Forget it; let’s just go down directly. The river will take care of itself when it reaches the bridge.

Before going down, he glanced at the information in [Explorer]. Wang Lei didn’t speak again, but Wen Guixin did.

"I just came out of a cave, and there wasn’t any heart, nor was there the flower you mentioned, but there was a mutant beast like a pangolin, as big as a wild pig’s head."

Another mutant beast appeared?

"Did you kill it?" Xu Xin asked.

Wen Guixin: "No, this beast digs and found me from afar, then burrowed underground to escape. I ran after it, but it had already dug deep. I got nothing from this cave and didn’t encounter any danger."

A mutant beast that digs? 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Xu Xin: "Does its burrow look large?"

Wen Guixin: "Hmm... less than one meter in diameter?"

Seeing it run upon spotting humans, it seems to be a low-level mutant beast. If Xu Xin encounters it, he might try to use a mutant beast contract to tame it. Digging mutant beasts are rare and should prove useful.

Xu Xin and the four beasts continued in an ordered formation, entering the cave before them.

The cave walls remained made of dry, pale red polluted soil. Having experienced it last time, Mimi at the front was less cautious, speeding up its pace.

Advancing roughly a few hundred meters, Xu Xin perceived something unusual.

"Hmm?" He felt like he heard some sound, but couldn’t hear it clearly.

Continuing forward, the faint sound gradually became distinct by his ears.

"Thump..."

His eyes gradually widened as he listened carefully.

"Thump... thump..."

A glimmer of joy appeared on Xu Xin’s face.

It’s the sound of a heartbeat!

It seems this is indeed the cave!

"Be careful, that big guy is right in the depth of the cave!" Xu Xin reminded Mimi and Afu ahead.

Two beasts responded with calls, Mimi’s steps grew cautious, and Silver King moved beside Xu Xin to protect him.

Xu Xin kept an eye on the map; they were now very close to the treehouse, even overlapping with those dense red dots.

Above them now are the Blood Patterned Vines that can regenerate infinitely!

"Thump! Thump!"

The heartbeat sound became increasingly distinct, almost identical to the sound heard in the video.

And now, a few meters ahead, there was a bend, with the heart just on the other side. Mimi moved forward to the bend and halted.

Xu Xin held the crossbow, stepped forward, and looked beyond the bend.

"Yelp!" Keke on his shoulder let out a low cry.

"Whew..."

Xu Xin exhaled, clenched his fist, a mixture of fear and excitement adorned his face.

It was another hall-like underground space, with vines growing wildly everywhere.

Besides the Blood Patterned Vine, Blood Thorn Vine, there were ordinary vines without any patterns, tangled randomly with mutant vines, altogether forming a spherical shape.

At the center of the ball, wrapped within, was the enormous pulsating flesh chunk Xu Xin had been seeking, the blood-red "heart" that provided energy for the Blood Thorn Vines above ground!

This heart is immensely large, standing at about six or seven meters tall, and the vines wrapping around it are layered thrice inside and out, reaching a height close to ten meters.

The entire underground space is filled to the brim with this ball of vines, and the nearest vines are only five or six meters away from the corner where Xu Xin is standing.

However, there is something different. Although this "heart" is also constantly beating, it does not emit the brighter red glow seen in Ji Chaoyang’s video, nor does it flicker with each beat. Similarly, the surrounding vines are also dim.

In addition, without the presence of the Red Mist Flower, the cave, despite always carrying a faint, strange fragrance, does not have red mist visible. The Silver King Mimi hasn’t been enhanced either, and the blood patterns on its body don’t glow red, leaving the entire cave in total darkness.

The intertwined vines, unlike the ones on the ground that sway with the wind, are in a completely still state. If not for most of the vines having patterns or blood thorns, Xu Xin might have thought they were just ordinary plants.

Only the red flesh in the middle is slowly and rhythmically pulsating, making the sound of a heart beating, "thump, thump."

In this dark and enclosed environment, the sound of the beating heart seems incredibly heavy, and with each beat, it seems to make Xu Xin’s heart skip a beat. He even starts to feel dizzy.

The sound of this heart beating can affect him, yet his spiritual power enhancement hasn’t even reached its time limit!

He suddenly realized that he hadn’t eaten a strawberry (blue) in the treehouse.

Strawberries can clear all negative effects, stabilize emotions, and last for half an hour.

Xu Xin actually wasn’t very keen on using blue-grade strawberries, mainly because they reminded him too much of something else and felt addictive.

But now, he couldn’t think about that. He hurriedly took a strawberry out of his backpack and ate it. Instantly, his dizzy head became much clearer, and his slightly nervous and excited mood calmed down.

Xu Xin retreated outside the corner with the four beasts, consuming all of his blue-grade fruits again to ensure that all the beneficial effects on him were active.

"Whimper..."

Xu Xin felt Keke’s body stiffen slightly on his shoulder.

It was very cautious of this heart in front of them. Now they were located directly beneath the treehouse, and this heart-like mass of flesh was the very thing Keke had been afraid of all day.

Judging by the distance they had traveled, they were now approximately three to four hundred meters underground.

"You all, stay here and don’t move. I’ll go in and take a look," Xu Xin whispered to the four beasts, placing Keke from his shoulder onto the Silver King’s back.

Not being able to see the full view of the interior from the entrance, he needed to go in and use his enhanced vision for a careful observation. He decided not to send Mimi in to scout first, as triggering this heart would be problematic.

The four beasts responded with a soft cry.

Xu Xin didn’t dare to act recklessly. Ji Chaoyang had also gone missing on his return journey after encountering this heart. Though his name had not grayed out, it was certain that he was in some peril.

Quietly, step by step, following the rhythm of the heartbeats, Xu Xin stepped into the underground space, and the entire scope of the space revealed itself fully to him.

He immediately noticed something different.

After walking for several hundred meters through the cave, he observed that the cave’s walls were made of polluted soil, but the soil in this space in all directions was just ordinary soil, not even at the green level; it was all white-level barren soil.

It seemed that this heart and these vines hadn’t yet polluted the soil beneath the treehouse.

This heart, about six or seven meters tall, was enveloped by chaotic vines layered thrice inside and out. The layers of vines surrounding the heart were about three to four meters thick, making it impossible to attack them directly with spears and explosive bolts, as they would only be blocked by the vines.

However, Xu Xin had another weapon.

Burning arrows!

With so many vines, using burning arrows could set a large area ablaze! Since they weren’t on the ground, it wouldn’t cause a jungle fire, making it practically the perfect solution!

Xu Xin had previously made forty burning arrows, and they were all in his backpack now. Forty would be more than enough.

Of course, there was a downside: the burning would consume a large amount of oxygen and produce thick smoke, so after igniting these vines, he needed to run out immediately; staying underground would only mean suffocating to death.

He decided to go for it!

Xu Xin slowly began to retreat.

Suddenly, the heart protected by layers of vines lit up with a blood-red light!

Xu Xin’s pupils contracted.

"Whimper!" Behind him, Keke’s anxious cries were clearly urging him to leave there quickly, as danger was approaching!

Resisting the urge to shoot an arrow, Xu Xin swiftly returned to the corner, hiding in a relatively safe spot while peering at the heart.

The frequency of its beating had obviously accelerated, and the blood-red light on the heart started to flicker with each beat!

The vines around the heart, with their patterned blood thorns, also began to glow red and slowly started to wriggle.

This scene was completely identical to the one in the video! The red light illuminated the entire underground space, coloring everything blood-red, sending chills down his spine.

"Hiss—what is that..."

Apart from the blood-patterned, blood-thorned vines, there were also some ordinary vines in this space. To Xu Xin’s astonishment, they started growing patterns and blood thorns right before his eyes!

These vines were mutating into blood-patterned vines with the heartbeat!

"Whimper whimper whimper!" Keke’s cries were filled with urgency.

Danger! Extreme danger!