Before tonight, Zhao Guo'an, like most people, believed that fear stemmed from the unknown, but after tonight, he had to add that known dangers are equally terrifying.

The flying stones were like bullets coming straight at him, and he was the target, never knowing when he might be hit.

Xiao Feng felt this was no way to continue, so he simply reached out and grabbed a branch. Just as the stone flew by, he broke it off and threw it down, speeding up the process.

It's not that he felt sorry for his classmate Zhao Guo'an, but the longer the dozens of people stayed under the tree, the greater the chance of exposure.

Finally, after everyone tied the cloth strips around their wrists, the village chief waved his hand: "Go!"

The group charged like in a military assault toward the hut, eager to figure out the situation sooner to end their suffering, and no one dared to approach slowly.

However, before they reached the courtyard, they heard a "crack, crack, crack" sound coming from inside.

The village chief and those at the front stopped and saw Shao Wenxing wheeling himself out.

"..."

For a moment, there was a deathly silence.

The village chief and the others stared blankly at the young man in the wheelchair, thinking that they were almost suffocating despite wearing several layers of masks, yet he seemed completely unaffected.

"Sorry for disturbing your rest so late." Shao Wenxing smiled apologetically, but it felt insincere.

"Ahem, let's speak privately." The village chief's muffled voice said, feeling on the brink of collapse, his head spinning like he was drunk.

Some with weaker resistance were already in tears, uncontrollably shedding tears as if cutting onions, as the smell was truly eye-watering.

The village chief beckoned, someone came forward to stand behind Shao Wenxing to push his wheelchair, and the group hurriedly left the courtyard, heading right under the tree where Xiao Feng and the others were hiding.

Dozens of people removed their masks, breathing in the fresh air deeply with a sense of returning to life.

They hadn't realized the joy of breathing freely before, but once deprived of this most basic thing, it became clear how wonderful it is to breathe normally.

"Ahem." The village chief cleared his throat and said, "Perhaps we haven't been caring enough about you, as a member of our Huangshu Village, I think you can't continue living like this.

Take tonight for example, the odor from your household alarmed the whole village. I know it's unpleasant to hear, but it's the truth, isn't it?"

"I think you're mistaken." Shao Wenxing said calmly, "Though the smell is a bit stinky, breathing it in is actually beneficial to the body, otherwise wouldn't I have suffocated long ago?"

As he spoke, he even took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and said with a look of enjoyment, "If you don't believe me, try it yourselves."

The village chief and the others looked at each other, their expressions turning peculiar.

However, there really were people not too sharp who believed Shao Wenxing and closed their eyes, opened their mouths, and took a deep breath just like him.

The result was immediate — their eyes widened in disbelief.

The village chief and the others exchanged glances, some feeling tempted. One stepped forward to ask, "Could it really be effective..."

Before they could finish, the one who took a deep breath ran to the side in embarrassment, clutching their knees and vomiting profusely.

The scene fell into another deathly silence, and the village chief asked with a grim face, "Is this what you meant by beneficial to the body?"

Shao Wenxing nodded seriously, "Though it seems hard to accept, it does have a detoxifying effect."

Upon hearing this, not only the people below but even Xiao Feng and others up in the tree looked constipated. This guy's nonsense was blatant, as if not considering others as humans.

"Brother Xiao Feng, that Shao Wenxing is a bit like you." A little girl whispered in Xiao Feng's ear.

"Hmm?"

"He can spout nonsense seriously; he's the second one I've seen. You're the first."

Xiao Feng had black lines across his forehead: "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Absolutely!" The little girl nodded vigorously.

"..." Xiao Feng.

Just then, the village chief looked at Shao Wenxing and said, "There are some things I didn't want to say, but now I have to. You can live sloppily however you like, we have no right to interfere, but when you affect others, our village can't turn a blind eye."

Shao Wenxing patted his legs, "I don't want to be sloppy either, but given my condition, what else can I do? Maybe the village could assign someone to take care of me?"

"You!" The village chief was instantly choked up, as if dealing with a piece of rolling blade meat, impossible to handle whether soft or hard, truly vexing.

Xiao Feng frowned, finding this shameless demeanor to be somewhat reminiscent of himself.

Wait!

Wasn't that an insult to himself too?

The village chief was clearly unwilling to argue further with Shao Wenxing and immediately said sternly, "Regardless, we hope not to see similar situations again. If it happens again, don't blame us for not considering community ties."

With that, he left with a sullen face.

Shao Wenxing maintained his expression but looked up at the tree, a fleeting smile adorning his lips.

"Crack..."

A crisp sound echoed, like something breaking, and Zhao Guo'an, perched on a branch, looked panic-stricken as if realizing something.

The village chief and his group hadn't gone far when they heard the sound and paused to look back, only to see a figure fall from the tree.

"Thud!"

Zhao Guo'an landed heavily on the ground. Although it was soil, he almost got the wind knocked out of him.

"Damn it, why am I always the unluckiest one!" Zhao Guo'an cursed, feeling pain throughout his body and hissing in cold breaths.

"Need some help?" Shao Wenxing asked with a grin, showing no surprise, as if he already knew someone was in the tree.

But it was different for the dozens of people with the village chief. Upon seeing someone suddenly fall, they rushed over aggressively: "Who are you?"

Zhao Guo'an looked at the dozens of feet now in front of him, trying hard to raise his head, and after pondering for a moment, said, "If I say I'm sent by the Tree God, would you believe me?"

"What do you think?" The village chief said with a dark face.

Zhao Guo'an felt like crying but had no tears; Shao Wenxing had just made up nonsense and some of them believed it like fools. Why wouldn't they believe him?

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