The survivors cast one last, fearful glance at The Great Willow before turning on their heels. This time, they didn’t walk; they fled, footsteps hurried and desperate, aiming for the village exit.

The atmosphere had shifted. The nervous whispers from before were gone, replaced by a suffocating silence.

Zhou Lan and Zhou Xiaoxiao exchanged a look of pure dread. They quickened their pace, instinctively closing the gap between themselves and the Beyonders. In this broken world, safety was a commodity only the powerful could provide.

Chen Ye’s heart felt heavy, like a stone sat in his chest. His instincts screamed that leaving Longevity Village wouldn’t be this simple.

His intuition was proven right almost immediately.

After ten minutes of brisk walking away from the village center, the group rounded a bend and froze.

Looming before them, massive and grotesque, was The Great Willow.

The silence broke. Panic erupted.

“How is it still here? We walked the opposite way!”

“Is it a ghost wall? Are we trapped?”

“No, I swear we turned our backs to it! Why are we back?”

“Damn it! I survived the fall of Deer City! I won’t die in this shithole village!”

The survivors clamored, their voices rising in hysteria. Terrified eyes turned to the three Beyonders, begging for a solution.

Iron Lion swallowed hard, the fear in his eyes slowly hardening into something feral. “Damn it. The tree is playing games. Let’s just chop the bastard down!”

Titan Sequence Beyonders were usually indistinguishable from normal humans in demeanor. But once combat was on the table, their nature shifted—becoming fierce, brutal, and hungry for violence.

“Big dummy, don’t lose your head,” Nana snapped, though her own voice was tight. She turned to Chen Ye. “Chen Ye, what’s your read?”

Chen Ye took a deep drag of his cigarette, the smoke burning his lungs, forcing him to think. Time was their enemy now. Chu Che had been clear: be out by 4 PM. If they weren’t, the captain would leave. Without a Pathfinder to navigate the return trip, they were dead anyway.

“How much time?” Chen Ye asked, his voice gravelly.

Nana checked her mechanical watch. “Twenty minutes.”

“One more try,” Chen Ye decided. “If we loop again, we fight the tree.”

“Agreed.”

The group turned around again, practically running this time. They kept their eyes fixed on the path, refusing to look back.

Ten minutes later, they rounded a corner.

The Great Willow stood before them, its branches swaying gently in a wind that didn’t exist.

Despair crashed down on the survivors.

“It’s impossible…”

“Why can’t we leave? Why?!”

One survivor, his eyes bloodshot with madness, whirled on Chen Ye. “You! You said walking away would work! Why are we still here?!”

He had overheard the strategy earlier. Now, in his terror, he needed someone to blame.

“Aren’t you Sequence Beyonders supposed to be gods? Why are you useless?! Get me out of here! I don’t want to die!”

The man screamed, his voice cracking into hysteria. He took a step toward Chen Ye, fists clenched, sanity gone. If Chen Ye couldn’t save him, he would hurt Chen Ye.

Chen Ye’s expression went cold. His left hand dropped to the hilt of his Heavy Machete. He had no patience for this.

Thump!

Before Chen Ye could draw, a massive leg lashed out. Iron Lion kicked the screaming man squarely in the chest. The survivor launched backward like a ragdoll, flying over ten meters before crashing into the dirt, plowing a deep furrow. He didn’t move again.

Iron Lion lowered his leg, his face dark. Even laden with supplies, his power was terrifying.

“If you want to die, I can help you with that,” the Titan growled, his lion-like gaze sweeping over the rest of the cowering group.

Silence fell instantly. The survivors shrank back, averting their eyes.

Iron Lion glanced at Chen Ye. He knew the Mechanic was a support class; fighting wasn’t his forte. The big guy was protecting his own.

Nana ignored the violence entirely. Her eyes were locked on the tree. “It seems we have no choice. We have to confront the willow.”

“Heh… finally,” Iron Lion grinned, licking his lips. “It was getting boring anyway.”

Chen Ye didn’t speak. He checked his Hand Crossbow one last time. This was it.

Iron Lion strode toward the tree, excitement radiating from him. It was a jarring shift from his usual honest demeanor—like a switch had been flipped. Nana followed, her hand on her hilt.

No one looked at the unconscious survivor in the dirt.

The Zhou sisters clung to each other, fear in their eyes. They realized now that Beyonders weren’t heroes. They were just people with the power to kill. Offending Chen Ye had been a gamble they lost.

“Hehe… don’t go to the tree… dangerous… hehe…”

A voice rasped from the path ahead.

The group froze. The Hunchback Thrall stood there, blocking their way to the willow.

“Who are you? Why stop us?” Chen Ye asked, signaling Nana to hold back.

The creature chuckled, a wet, rattling sound. “You stole so much from my house, and you still ask who I am?”

“You’re… the Village Chief?” Chen Ye asked, surprised.

“I am… and I am not. Hehe…”

“Why can’t we go to the tree?” Chen Ye pressed. If this Anomaly could talk, it might have information.

“If I say you can’t, you can’t. Young man, do you think I’d harm you?” The thrall lifted its head, revealing turbid, milky eyes that seemed to swim with madness.

Faintly, underneath the thrall’s voice, Chen Ye heard it again—the soft, weeping cries for help.

“Tell us how to leave,” Chen Ye demanded.

“Hehe… you can’t leave. Stay here. Keep me company. Hehe…”

“Playing ghost games!” Nana snapped.

She drew her sword. Her fingers traced the blade, murmuring an incantation. The steel hummed, glowing with a soft, ethereal light.

“Die!”

She lunged, a streak of light aimed at the creature.

“Hehe…”

The thrall moved with unnatural agility, dodging like an ape. But a Sequence 2 Sword Immortal was not so easily evaded. The blade missed his head but sliced through the hump on his back.

Fabric shredded.

The hump burst open.

It wasn’t a deformity.

Revealed beneath the rags was a woman’s head, her hair disheveled, her face twisted in a silent scream, fused into the old man’s back.