As the sound of "tapping" got closer and closer, Xiang Jiuxi couldn't help but be taken aback when he saw the appearance of the predator through the flying dust.

"That's ...... Is that a cow? ”

Beneath the dust, a mad bison was coming at him in a rage.

"Moo!"

Seeing that the prey was not far away, the bison roared in the sky, revealing a row of sharp fangs.

"What the hell is going on, aren't cows flat-toothed? How can you also grow fangs? ”

Xiang Jiuxi couldn't believe his eyes, and after repeated confirmation, he finally accepted the fact that the cow had fangs.

For some reason, he suddenly felt his scalp tingle, and subconsciously tugged at the coat draped over his body. After all, being eaten by a cow is unacceptable to anyone.

As for the bison, it seems that it has entered the final sprint stage, and the pursuit speed has increased by more than one notch.

At this critical moment, Xiang Jiuxi suddenly stopped.

Although escaping from the bison chase was imminent, but a dozen meters further was the giant tree, and he had to prove his idea to have a chance of survival.

Xiang Jiuxi covered his mouth and nose with the corners of his clothes, squatted down calmly, grabbed a handful of dirt on the ground, and came to his eyes to observe carefully.

The soil here is noticeably wetter, softer and more fertile than in other places, and the soil is not grayish-brown in color, but mixed with a little ...... Green.

Putting down the soil, Xiang Jiuxi cautiously took a few steps forward and began to carefully observe the towering tree.

Although the tree is green, it does not have much life, and all the branches are very stiff, and they do not sway with the wind at all, and there is no sound of "rustling" leaves.

Moreover, there are many animal skeletons under the tree, which are quite well preserved, with no traces of being torn by wild beasts, carefully identified, and even a few pairs of human bones.

If you look closely, you can see that the whole tree is covered in green, and it is not a leaf at all! Rather, they are green spores that attach to tree trunks and branches.

"Absolutely, yes!"

Xiang Jiuxi stood up excitedly.

"Moo!"

"Quack!"

By this time, the bison had rushed behind him, its horns less than three inches from his neck, and the crow was crying excitedly as it saw that it was about to be preyed.

Xiang Jiuxi seemed to have been prepared, rolled over on his side to avoid the sharp horns, and took out two dark stones from his pocket like lightning, and ran towards the big tree like a hundred-meter sprint.

"Moo!"

Seeing that the blow did not succeed, the bison looked a little furious, and gasped for breath to prepare for a new attack.

Xiang Jiuxi ran forward with all his might, and there was a very soft soil under his feet, as if he was stepping on soft snow, and then he went down ten centimeters, and the soles of his feet could touch some solid bar-shaped hard objects.

"Moo!"

His body was already weak, and coupled with the limitations of the soft soil, he didn't run far before he was caught up by the big bull.

At the last moment, Xiang Jiuxi unexpectedly lay down on the spot, and at the same time rolled up his body with his coat and rolled under the big tree.

The bison didn't expect Xiang Jiuxi to use this trick, and one slammed into the big tree with too much force, and the green spores scattered down and floated in the air.

"Moo! Oh! ”

This really annoyed the bison, and it let out an almost roaring roar, and crashed towards Xiang Jiuxi like crazy.

Xiang Jiuxi rolled his body into a dumpling with his coat, and lay motionless under the root of the tree as if he was resigned to his fate, but after lying for a long time, the bison never bumped into him, and even the roaring sound stopped abruptly.

Xiang Jiuxi secretly rejoiced in his heart, probably succeeded!

He looked through the gap in his coat and carefully looked out, and although he had been mentally prepared, the scene in front of him still made him creepy.

The ferocious bison was floating quietly in the air, and many green branches were waving around it, piercing its body in a steady stream.

The moment the branch pierced into the bison's body, it immediately faded its color, turned into its original gray-black, and instantly evaporated into powder and disappeared into the air.

The most terrifying thing is that in the soft soil, countless branches have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, some of which are reaching for the bison, and some of which are spreading towards him!

……

It is a very peculiar fungus that can penetrate into the brain through the mouth and nose of animals, so as to control the entire central nervous system, manipulate the host's body at will, and absorb the host's nutrients.

The bones scattered under the tree are the hosts that have been parasitized by this fungus.

Based on this trait, they have a rather terrifying name: zombie fungi!

Xiang Jiuxi recognized that the green color covering the skin of the big tree was the spores used by zombie fungi to spread, so he thought of using the zombie fungus to infect the big bison to make it slow down, and then wait for an opportunity to escape.

It's just that he never expected that this zombie fungus would be so terrifying, and even the branches could be controlled so freely!

In the tens of millions of years that zombie fungi have existed, there has been no precedent for parasitic plants.

However, according to Xiang Jiuxi's judgment, the current environment of the earth is equivalent to the Cretaceous period in the early ancient period.

At this stage, there was a mass extinction of life, and the dinosaurs had to be wiped out in this era. This is the Earth sifting through life on its own, and the surviving species will open the door to a new world!

So, there are only two paths for life on Earth: evolution or extinction.

This is the case with zombie fungi, which are unable to find their next target before their host nutrients are drained due to the drastic decline in animal numbers, so they can only temporarily cling to large trees.

Large trees, on the other hand, have lost most of their nutrient sources due to their inability to effectively photosynthesize, and can only rely on more minerals to maintain their vital functions. Over time, the land becomes more and more barren and the trees eventually die, which is the common outcome of most plants.

However, the current situation is different.

Zombie fungi parasitize the surface of the tree, and at the same time, they bring the decaying corpses of the animals, which make the land more fertile and necessary for the growth of the trees.

In this way, the tree and the zombie fungus form a delicate interdependent relationship, similar to the crow bison, but more intimate, they seem to have merged into one: the zombie tree!

Looking at the current situation, the zombie tree has completely given up growing its trunk and used all the nutrients to evolve the roots of the tree, which is why it has derived so many dexterous whiskers.

Xiang Jiuxi secretly respected, it turned out that both animals and plants were living so hard in this barren last days!

He was infected by his own emotions, and his desire for life skyrocketed.

Xiang Jiuxi secretly observed through the gap in his coat and found that the bison's body was completely covered with green spores and had completely lost its vital signs.

There is no way, its wheezing frequency is too large, and it has inhaled enough zombie fungal spores from the beginning, and its body has long been unconsciously seized by zombie fungi, so it will be hit without warning.

Xiang Jiuxi is different, he covers his mouth and nose from the beginning, and reduces his breathing to the lowest frequency as much as possible, so even if he inevitably inhales zombie fungus, it is within the controllable range and can stay awake.

But the situation in front of him is not optimistic, the dense green roots have surrounded him, and there is no way out.

However, what is puzzling is that the zombie tree does not intend to actively attack, but confines him under the root of the tree, and then gently shakes the roots, so that the green spores are scattered all over the sky.

In Xiang Jiuxi's view, this is equivalent to a cat playing with its prey, and the zombie tree is curious about not being able to occupy the human body in front of him.

It seems to exist in its own consciousness!