From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!

Gu Xi’s spiritual power poured out, but the area below the cliff was completely empty. She couldn’t sense a thing.

’This isn’t right.’

She glanced at Ye Junhan, who stood beside her.

After exchanging a glance, they walked slowly toward the edge of the cliff.

The area ahead had just been cleared by Qian Shan and his team. The sandy hill was bare, with only a few specks of green scattered about.

Gu Xi leaned over to look down. The cliff face was steep and the rocks were jagged. Numerous unknown mutant plants grew from the crevices, trembling precariously in the wind. Below lay a bottomless abyss, lurking in the thick darkness of the night, faintly wreathed in clouds and mist.

As for the crooked-neck tree from her memory deep in the abyss... she could only make out a faint glimpse of its crown through the clouds and mist.

’It’s clearly still there, so why has it vanished from my senses?’

’How strange.’

Gu Xi frowned slightly and leaned forward again. She had a slender frame, and with the strong night wind atop the mountain, the sight was genuinely dangerous. Ye Junhan stood half a step behind her. Even knowing how powerful she was, he subconsciously raised a hand, wanting to pull her back at a moment’s notice.

The night wind carried a chill. Ye Junhan’s gaze fell upon the young woman before him. His fingertips curled slightly, but he ultimately let his hand fall.

He stepped forward, choosing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her at the edge of the cliff.

Gu Xi glanced over. The man stood in the darkness, his presence as solid and profound as a mountain, his sharp edges concealed. For a moment, she had the strange, fleeting feeling that he was someone she could rely on.

But Gu Xi quickly snapped out of it. Li Ming had taught her from a young age that it’s better to rely on yourself than on others. Especially in the apocalypse, life wasn’t easy for anyone. If you wanted to survive, the only person you could count on was yourself.

Ye Junhan glanced at Gu Xi beside him. "Find anything?"

’Yes.’

The crown of the crooked-neck tree was still faintly visible, meaning the tree was still down in the abyss.

But Gu Xi... still couldn’t sense her old friend’s presence.

After a moment of silence, she looked up at Ye Junhan. "I want to go down and take a look." ’Not just for my old friend,’ she thought, ’but also to get my knife back.’

Ye Junhan tilted his head. "Is *it* down there?"

Gu Xi’s heart sank. She instinctively thought he was referring to her knife, but she quickly realized he must be talking about that *thing*.

"You can sense its presence?" Gu Xi asked, surprised.

Ye Junhan looked away, his gaze returning to the abyss below. "It’s been following the convoy this whole time, hasn’t it?"

Gu Xi didn’t deny it. "Yes." After a pause, she added, "Its situation is... special. For now, I have to let it follow me."

Ye Junhan’s brow furrowed slightly. "What exactly is it?" ’A parasite? A form of energy? Or some kind of unknown, intelligent microorganism?’

Gu Xi met his deep-set eyes and said slowly, "I’m not sure either."

Ye Junhan watched her, silent.

The night wind howled across the summit, scattering the mist in the abyss and revealing the massive crown of the crooked-neck tree.

Gu Xi’s brow slowly furrowed. "I’m going down to take a look."

As she spoke, she pushed off from her toes, about to leap from the cliff to investigate.

But Ye Junhan suddenly shot out a hand and grabbed her wrist.

The night air was cool, but his hand was warm.

Gu Xi froze, her gaze falling to the hand clasped around her wrist.

Ye Junhan calmly pulled her back a step. "It’s too late. We can’t see anything down there. Let’s wait until morning."

Gu Xi’s gaze traveled up his arm to meet his pitch-black eyes. She raised a slight eyebrow.

’Did he notice something?’

Ye Junhan’s gaze was deep and clear, but the hand gripping her wrist tightened slightly.

Gu Xi felt Sprouty stirring eagerly and tried to subtly pull her hand away. Ye Junhan’s expression remained unchanged, but he only tightened his grip.

Gu Xi said, "...You’re right. It’s too late. We should head back."

Keeping a firm hold on her hand, Ye Junhan led her away from the cliff’s edge. They stood extremely close, his posture almost that of a protector as he guided her back to the SUV.

It was a feeling Gu Xi wasn’t used to.

Thankfully, Ye Junhan released her hand once they reached the SUV. He opened the passenger-side door and gestured for her to get in.

After Gu Xi settled into the passenger seat, Ye Junhan closed her door, strode around the front of the vehicle, and slid into the driver’s seat.

He rolled up all the windows and pressed the intercom. "Yang Liu, send me all the surveillance footage from the past few hours."

Gu Xi turned to him. "Just now... what did you notice?"

"It’s hard to explain." The instant Gu Xi prepared to jump, Ye Junhan was struck by the feeling of being targeted by a predator.

The sensation made his heart skip a beat, and he had grabbed Gu Xi without a second thought.

Ye Junhan raised his hand and activated his personal terminal. Yang Liu had already sent all the requested surveillance footage.

Gu Xi leaned over to look at his Light Screen. In the darkness, the bright moonlight filtered through the swirling clouds, dappling the massive treetop with silvery spots of light.

The image was beautiful.

But it was an eerie kind of beautiful.

Gu Xi thought for a moment, then pulled up footage from different times to compare. She discovered that every frame was identical—not a single leaf had changed its position.

And yet, the wind tonight was so strong.

Just moments ago, standing at the cliff’s edge, she had even heard the sound of the wind rustling through the branches.

Yang Liu must have noticed the problem too, because he sent the drone out for another pass. But in the footage, aside from the drone itself flying high and low, everything was eerily still. It was as quiet as a painting.

A static image.

Now, looking through the drone’s top-down perspective, Gu Xi had a sudden realization: maybe the giant crooked-neck tree in the abyss was no longer the old friend she remembered.

’No wonder I couldn’t sense its presence before,’ she thought. ’Or the presence of any plant, for that matter.’

And this, perhaps, was why the thing following her was so excited.

Gu Xi could feel the thing growing more and more agitated. It was even ignoring her wishes—the wishes of its own "kind"—and was relentlessly urging her to go down.

It claimed it had something good to share with her.

’Something good... Does it mean the thing in the abyss that’s controlling the crooked-neck tree?’

For a moment, Gu Xi even wondered if the thing constantly urging her to go down was colluding with the entity at the bottom of the abyss to set a trap.

A sudden chill ran down Gu Xi’s spine. Her finger, which had been tapping on the window, froze.

When she first came back, all she wanted was to tend her land and live a quiet life. Even when she was forced into a script of revenge, Gu Xi hadn’t thought it was a big deal.

At most, it just meant killing a few more people.

She was good at that kind of work.

But now, new, unknown species were appearing one after another... Perhaps the world was truly on the verge of a third great mutation.

Gu Xi had lived through the early days of the apocalypse; she knew better than anyone what this meant.

The natural world was likely facing another great reshuffling. And in the face of such a cataclysm, humanity would seem pitifully small.

But this time, things were different.

Gu Xi lowered her gaze and poked Sprouty.

The next moment, Sprouty, which had been wrapped around her fingertip, suddenly vanished...

This time, Gu Xi didn’t use her spiritual power. She sent Sprouty out directly.

Soon, Gu Xi sensed Sprouty’s indignation, and... disgust.

Sprouty wasn’t even willing to go near the crooked-neck tree!

Gu Xi was taken aback.

Sprouty had always been domineering. Even when faced with that other thing—the one that could parasitize creatures and had a Devouring Superpower—it had never shown fear.

But now, it was this... wary?

’So what in the world is at the bottom of that abyss?’

Sprouty: *Not wary. Disgusted!*

Gu Xi was speechless.

Beside her, Ye Junhan stared calmly at the Light Screen. His eyes flickered toward Gu Xi in his peripheral vision, and his fingers paused.

’She is...’

Just then, Gu Xi’s personal terminal rang.

It was a call from Qi Xiang.

When Gu Xi answered, she saw that the Light Screen on the other end was crowded with people. Besides Qi Xiang and her friends, there were also several members of the Special Service Team.

’What’s going on? Why is everyone gathered together this late at night?’

Gu Xi frowned slightly and exchanged a subtle glance with Ye Junhan.