Chapter 48

The appearance of the small cactus was clearly not intentional on Bushi's part, for as it grew larger, Bushi realized he had never seen such a cactus before, not even on TV.

It was neither the thick and tall cacti found in the African deserts nor the small cacti commonly seen on the walls of rural homes in China during the 1980s and 1990s. Instead, it was V-shaped, with the left branch having a gray-black surface and the right branch being a normal green.

This peculiar cactus grew at an astonishing rate, quickly reaching a height of one meter and the thickness of an arm. At this point, it also revealed another difference: the spines on both branches were long, hard, and dense, making it look as if it had been born for the purpose of its spines.

At this time, the black quicksand continued to expand outward, and the score in Bushi's world had risen to 19.

However, Bushi no longer felt good about himself; instead, he had a strong sense of crisis. He increasingly felt that his current score might be very low!

He had the idea to go and check the main group, but then thought that if the situation was really bad, he would lose his composure. If it was a high score, there was no need to go and investigate; he just needed to let the world develop.

So he dismissed the idea and waited to see what would happen.

Then, a second cactus sprouted next to the first and began to grow vigorously.

The quicksand kept moving but did not affect the two cacti, indicating that their roots must be deeply embedded.

When the second cactus grew to about one meter tall, the first cactus had already reached its maximum height of two meters and stopped growing. The two branches did not grow any thicker or larger, maintaining the thickness of a human leg.

However, an unexpected situation occurred, one that even made Bushi feel a chill.

The first cactus stopped growing taller but began to vigorously develop its spines.

The spines on both branches became increasingly hard, long, and numerous. The spines on the left were gray-black, looking as if they were poisonous, while the spines on the right, though green, were equally terrifying.

Actually, these were not the most chilling aspects. The most chilling part was that when the spines on both branches grew long enough, they began to pierce each other's surfaces!

There was no sound of blades cutting into flesh, but as the gray-black spines approached the green surface of the right branch, and vice versa, Bushi felt his heart tremble.

This self-destructive growth did not stop. As the spines grew longer and pierced deeper into the other side, sap began to flow from the wounds—black and thick like ink on the left, and green and clear on the right.

Bushi was certain that this cactus was a single plant, not two, because its two branches split above the ground, not underground. Otherwise, he would have dug up the quicksand to see for himself.

As the wounds on both branches increased, more sap flowed, and both branches began to wither. However, the spines continued to grow outward, piercing each other.

Finally, when the spines were long enough, they completely pierced through the other branch, pinning it to their own spines.

Then, death followed.

The first cactus died, and anyone who saw it would likely feel a chill, as it looked like two people covered in spines had embraced each other without hesitation.

Then, the second cactus began to repeat the life cycle of the first. As it did, a third and fourth cactus also grew...

They were not evenly distributed and varied in height, but they all met the same fate: being killed by their own spines, or by the spines of their other half.

Bushi fell completely silent, even forgetting the red light, as he knew where the problem lay. He fell into deep thought, just as he had when lying in the hospital bed.

In total, there were six days, and everyone had wasted the first two. The actual usable time was only four days.

During these four days, Bushi spent the first two days in the black quicksand and cacti. On the third day, he closed his eyes. On the same day, after an unknown period of deep thought, a wind suddenly arose in the black quicksand area, which had already expanded to thirty meters.

With the protection of the world, the outside wind should not have been able to enter, so this sudden wind must have originated from within.

The wind had no fixed direction, varying in intensity, sometimes lifting the quicksand from the ground, sometimes only moving Bushi's hair.

The red light points that had long stopped falling in the world began to fall again, making the world's evolution faster.

However, the cacti that emerged from the ground were still V-shaped, though some had a larger gray-black left branch, and others had a larger green right branch.

Regardless, they all faced the same fate: death.

Most were killed by their other half, and a few unfortunate ones grew next to other cacti and were killed by them...

This was a struggle, a struggle of self-destruction!

It seemed endless, with only one outcome: death!

But was it really so?

If someone looked from a distance, they would see that the dead cacti had formed a vast forest.

Unconsciously, these dead cacti had spread from the center, occupying one-third of the black quicksand world.

Although they were all dead and their deaths looked quite tragic, from another perspective, this was actually a victory, a victory of death over life.

At the very beginning, when these small lives had not yet revealed their danger, they seemed full of vitality in Bushi's eyes. Now, they all met the same end: death.

On the fourth day, the last day, Bushi sat on the ground, but his expression showed that he was not at peace. Sometimes, he would become angry and impatient, clenching his fists until they creaked...

This was the last day, and it was almost over, yet he had not once looked at the score in the red light.

"Boom..."

A light thunderclap seemed to come from a distant place, reaching Bushi's ears. He did not open his eyes, as he was still immersed in thought.

Then, one thunderclap after another sounded, varying in intensity and distance, becoming increasingly dense.

It was not until a light thunderclap sounded near the ground in front of Bushi's left side that he was finally jolted awake, his eyes still carrying a hint of irritation.

How could thunder sound near the ground?

Frowning and listening carefully, Bushi soon heard another thunderclap, and it was very close to him.

Bushi stood up, somewhat bewildered, finally realizing that a wind had started in the world he had created, and the thunder was mixed in with the wind.

There was thunder but no lightning, and most importantly, the thunder sounded from various positions, which was very strange.

Then, Bushi saw the forest of dead cacti, which he was not sure whether he or the world had created. The strange and cruel forest, if anyone dared to run through it...

Bushi let out a light laugh, suddenly thinking that it would be a good idea to beat an enemy half to death and then throw them in there.

Looking further out, he saw the black quicksand that had expanded to a forty-meter range.

Bushi suddenly thought of the phrase "oasis in the desert." Hadn't he learned a related lesson when he was a child?

In this bizarre world with the sea as the sky, stagnant lightning, running cracks, and flying stones, there should indeed be an oasis.

But his oasis was even stranger.

Not yellow sand, but black sand. In the middle of the black quicksand, there was a large forest of cacti that had killed themselves. The wind blew without any pattern, and the thunder sounded randomly...

Is this the world I created?

This is the world I created!

Bushi accepted it and then looked up with a hint of expectation at the score in the world.

Bushi's eyes widened, almost popping out!

87!

But there was a minus sign in front of it!!!

Negative 87!!!

Just then, a voice suddenly sounded in the world: "Alright, time's up!"

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