"Exactly, a species that doesn't follow the law of nature. Tigers only kill for hunger, and I haven't seen a species that lives for destroying." Qing Shui raised the bottle. "However, it destroys, destruction is in its nature. It shouldn't have been born in the nature though, it's the product of gene alteration and a chemical weapon…"

"Is it this dreadful?"

Since the last time they met Willow, Qing Shui hadn't talked in such an intense tone.

"It is. If they were given a certain area to reproduce, they would grow exponentially. My estimation is that in 180 days, it would devastate everything except for itself on this planet. Wherever it invades, it will engulf the land, causing extinction of all organisms on land.

"In other words, it is a species that has the same effect as a meteorite shower to Earth, instead of causing the rise of temperature, it drains nutrients from the land. Eventually, Earth will be turned into a lifeless dessert as it will also die out once all the nutrients are gone.

"All the species dwindle in this disaster, humans will be no exception."

"What the h.e.l.l..." Chang opened his mouth widely out of astonishment. He felt shocked by the moss in the bottle. "So this is the end?"

While Zhizhi was wiping the bar counter, Qing Shui's word made her hand trembled.

"We could say that. Moss itself is the trailblazer of the nature; it can survive in different lands. The Evil Moss so far haven't met any natural enemies." Qing Shui put away the bottle in his pocket, then added, "Therefore, I wanted to forbid cultivation of Crystal Pea in Zhengzhou so that it's reproduction is constrained, and at the end, hopefully we can overwhelm this species."

"Does it really work?" Chang asked.

"It should work."

"But... If Crystal Pea is forbidden to cultivate, more than eighty percent of the civilians will start starving again. Starvation will drive them crazy, they will do anything for food." Chang leaned forward, staring at Qing Shui. "I can foresee that your decision will end up in an uproar, and the situation will only be worse than four years ago. Why? When the red fog arrived at that time, people considered that as a natural disaster which they had no control over; but this time is different, it is you who make them starve. They don't care about parasites, their desire is to feed their stomach. I don't think this can be settled down anymore once started, even it is you."

"I... I can't do anything about the riot but to have more military patrolling. Don't worry, I'll make this work." Qing Shui let out a sigh. He was aware of the thorniness of this decision to be made. "I'll release more seeds of new kinds of crops soon, even though they are less productive than Crystal Pea, and they are more likely to mutate after a few cultivation periods, they will still be able to ease the public's stress."

Chang sighed.

"Of course, this is just the first thing I wanted to share with you."

Qing Shui's voice became lower and lower.

"And?"

"Two more things. And one is worse than the other." Qing Shui brushed his own hair with a hand. "First, do you remember the species that I found monitoring me at the Yessie battle?"

"A super life, right? What happened?" Chang asked. "Does it have offspring now?"

"I think so. In four years, it disappeared for two years and three of them surfaced recently."

"Really?" Chang touched his own forehead. "Then it should be a species that domineers over humans. Not only is it intelligent, it is also capable of cloaking and reproduction..."

"Therefore, they aren't allowed to exist on this planet." Qing Shui supported his head with a palm, the elbow laid on the counter. "I need to wipe them out before the species grows big. I am not saying that you are in charge of a mission but I just need you to keep an eye on it when you go to the jungle.

"The third thing I wanted to tell you is about the Willow. I just got news about it." Qing Shui's face slightly distorted for the first time as fear slowly slid in to his mind. His pupils contracted. "It is in the city of Wuhan now. I heard that the city was razed to the ground when it arrived. But a source told me that the city was fraught will silence. It does the old trick again, ma.s.sacring humans and crus.h.i.+ng their scalps; it robbed brains and made them its own while draining blood and flesh from the corpses as its nutrient source. It seems like it finally owns an ego and wisdom. It knows how to plunder knowledge and intelligence, limitlessly."

"A real doomsday..." Chang closed his eyes.

The flashback scenario resurfaced of the Willow twigs raining on the land, the hopeless human... The Willow rooted deeply, its roots flouris.h.i.+ng under ground as its branches above the horizon. From there, it would reach out to the whole world eventually.

"How did you get your information?" Zhizhi interrupted. At this moment, she forgot about her hatred and fear of Qing Shui.

"We worked hard to get the communications back in these years. We set up a communication frequency but it only works during the rainy days, when the concentration of the red fog is the least dense. This information came when it rained a few days ago." Qing Shui exhaled. "Wuhan is a willow city now."

"Are we able to hinder the Willow?" Chang asked.

"I don't think so."

"What about nuclear weapons?"

"That doesn't work either." Qing Shui smiled wryly. "Don't forget about this fact - the Willow's intelligence comes from humans. It owns more than a million brains now, so it must know what devastation can be caused. If it dares to show itself, it means that it isn't afraid of anything anymore. Let's step back - he may have nuclear weapon launch codes already in one of the brains he robbed."

"Well, I suggest that when the day comes, we commit suicide together, this just isn't something that we signed up for." Chang lowered his head, joking. "Let's live the rest of our life happily and not think about this."

"Don't give up yet. It's in Wuhan at this moment, where it will settle down for a while before coming north again." Qing Shui smiled. "And remember that those humans only lost their bodies but not their brains, they may still exist in it, and they are still alive in another form."

"Stop, please. It really scares me." Chang checked the time of the day, halting Qing Shui's explanation, "It's getting dark. Let's get more drinks, the whole bar is reserved for us tonight. It's a celebration for us, for still being alive now."

"Sure, but I think we should open the bar. We really need some good vibe tonight." Qing Shui stood up. "We'll grab a table over there."

"Alright." Chang stood up as well , accompanying Qing Shui to the table. "Zhizhi, thanks for bartending tonight in advance, we'll be over there," Chang said, pointing at the table mentioned by his friend.

"And Jing, as well as that fatty, we should invite them too." Qing Shui added.

"Sure! I'll get them."

Chang laughed wholeheartedly. Soon, he came out with Jing, who was still pouting. Sanpang followed behind them.

"Just enjoy tonight, alright?" Chang clammed Jing's waving arm under his. "For one day, can we stop the fighting?" Chang raised Jing's head, looking into her eyes from below. "I promise, I'll never send you away again."