After seeing what happened, Liu Hai had a bad feeling. He suspected that every tree in this area had become sentient. To confirm his theory, he launched another attack on two nearby trees. Both dodged his strikes with ease.
"Zhang Nu, I think every tree here has awakened sentience," Liu Hai said, his tone filled with unease. "I just tested two more trees, and both evaded my dagger just before it struck."
Zhang Nu was taken aback by this revelation. If every tree in this land had become sentient, the danger they faced was far greater than anticipated. If the trees banded together to attack, their current strength might not be enough to fend them off.
"It seems we're in real trouble now. If all the trees here are sentient, they might team up against us," Zhang Nu replied grimly.
Liu Hai, recognizing the truth in Zhang Nu's words, grew even more serious. They couldn't allow these Tree YaoGuais to unite against them.
Meanwhile, the ancient Hundred-Year Tree YaoGuai listened to their conversation and chuckled inwardly. To the YaoGuai, Zhang Nu and Liu Hai seemed foolish. Even if the surrounding trees hadn't gained full consciousness, it would still protect them, aiding their cultivation. The YaoGuai felt confident that their misunderstanding would make them easier to defeat. The warning from its superior now seemed unnecessary---these two were far less formidable and calculating than initially believed.
The Tree YaoGuai launched another attack on Zhang Nu and Liu Hai, with the vines tightening around them, causing increasing pain. They quickly realized they couldn't allow the vines to keep binding them, or they would be crushed under the pressure.
"Liu Hai, we must break free from this Tree YaoGuai immediately," Zhang Nu said urgently. "If we let it keep wrapping us , it will strangle us to death."
Liu Hai nodded in agreement, but he found himself at a loss, unable to figure out how to escape from the tightening grip of the vines.
"Zhang Nu, what should we do? How do we break free from this?"
Zhang Nu shook his head in frustration, but both noticed something alarming---the vines seemed to tighten even more after they spoke about escaping. Liu Hai wondered if it was just his imagination or if the Tree YaoGuai was reacting to their conversation.
"Liu Hai, do you feel like these vines are tightening even more?" Zhang Nu asked.
Liu Hai immediately nodded. He had noticed the same thing and was about to mention it. It became clear to them that the situation was not just a figment of their imagination. The Tree YaoGuai had likely overheard their plan to escape and was now trying to crush them.
Now, both of them were gasping for air, the vines coiling tighter with each desperate struggle. Their attempts to free themselves only seemed to make the vines constrict harder, pushing them closer to suffocation.
At that critical moment, as Zhang Nu was on the verge of suffocation, he heard a voice echoing deep within his mind.
"Use your blood, use your blood, and you will break free of the bonds."
Zhang Nu didn't know whether to trust this voice, unsure if it was real or a mere trick of his desperate mind. However, with no other options, he chose to take the gamble. If the voice was right, he and Liu Hai could break free from the Tree YaoGuai's restraint. If it was wrong, his death would only come a little sooner, and at this point, that didn't matter much.
Slowly, Zhang Nu raised the small blade in his hand and sliced his palms. With blood dripping from his hands, he grabbed the vines tightly, as if trying to burn them with his touch.
The ancient tree, sensing Zhang Nu's blood, began to shudder violently. It had never expected that this human's blood to be its weakness. The tree desperately tried to shake Zhang Nu off, but now it was as helpless against him as Zhang Nu had once been against its constriction.
Liu Hai, thrown forcefully to the ground by the vine's sudden movements, looked up in a daze to see Zhang Nu still entangled, but with the upper hand in this deadly struggle.