Chapter Six: The Art of Survival

As the zombie tree shook violently, spores filled the air in overwhelming numbers. Jiang Xiu tightly covered his mouth and nose, not daring to take a single breath. Spores, being minuscule dust-like particles, could not be kept out even by shielding himself with his coat; inhaling even a little would be fatal, just as it had been for the wild ox. It was a dead end with no escape, and yet Jiang Xiu still had a final gambit. The dense spores in the air would become the key to his survival.

“Dust, oxygen—just one more thing…” His gaze sharpened as he looked at the two black stones he’d been clutching all along. Painfully, he rose from the ground and made a diving motion. Holding his breath, he scanned the gaps between the branches, searching for a relatively large opening, and, summoning all his strength, charged forward with brute force.

The zombie tree would not allow such antics; its branches swiftly wove into a wall that blocked his way. Already red-faced from holding his breath, the exertion left Jiang Xiu’s blood surging, his heart threatening to burst. In a flash, his expression changed—he raised the black stones high and struck them together.

A sharp crack rang out as the two stones sparked. They were flints.

A single spark would usually come to nothing, but the dense spores gave it power to ignite an inferno. The spores near the flint caught fire, and in an instant, flames swept across the entire tree.

A wave of heat surged over him; Jiang Xiu’s hair was more than half scorched. The zombie tree, overwhelmed by the blaze, could no longer hinder him. Seizing his chance, he pulled his coat over his head to shield himself from the flames, and, tapping into some primal strength, broke through the barrier of branches.

The world before him suddenly opened up. Once beyond the encircling branches, the air was much clearer, the spores vastly reduced. He took a deep breath, calming his pounding heart, when a crackling came from behind him.

The tree’s trunk, long since rotted, snapped in two under the fire’s assault. In the flames, countless branches twisted and writhed in their final struggle. Gratitude filled Jiang Xiu—he had escaped death by a hair’s breadth—but he could not help but sigh, for he had ended the zombie tree’s path of evolution.

But nature is a contest of survival; he, too, must forge his way.

Just as he was about to leave, the scent of roasted meat suddenly hung in the air.

Crows circled overhead, cawing incessantly. Only then did Jiang Xiu realize that the fire he’d set had ignited not only the zombie tree, but a wild ox as well. Swallowing, he decided to wait for the flames to subside before moving on.

The zombie tree had long lost its hold over the ox; the beast had fallen from midair and now lay beneath the tree, belly up, its body roasted by the flames and giving off a tantalizing aroma. Exhausted from his ordeal, Jiang Xiu was about to lie down and rest while waiting for his meal—when, to his astonishment, the ox stood up in the midst of the firelight.

The zombie tree no longer thrashed with its former menace; in the blaze, it had lost all vitality and now seemed no different from an ordinary tree.

“The fungus has abandoned the tree and chosen to parasitize the ox instead?” he wondered.

The ox moved with extreme sluggishness, dragging its stiff body out of the flames, every step heavy and uncertain—like the living dead. Clearly, the zombie fungus could not control the ox as deftly as it had the tree.

Jiang Xiu’s nerves settled, his gaze fixed on the ox’s sturdy hindquarters. The fungus seemed to sense his threat; after leaving the fire, the ox slowly moved away from Jiang Xiu. But he was unwilling to let such a feast escape; he strode forward, intent on cutting off some hind leg meat for his journey.

The ox’s body, ravaged by fire, could barely stand. Sensing Jiang Xiu’s approach, the fungus tried to hasten the ox’s steps, but after only a few paces, it stumbled and collapsed. Still refusing to give in, it began crawling forward on its knees, every muscle straining in the same direction.

Covering his mouth and nose, Jiang Xiu went to the ox’s side and, following the direction of its struggle, saw a withered tree not far off. At once, he understood the fungus’s intent—it wished to use the ox’s body as fertilizer for the dead tree, forging a new symbiosis.

Jiang Xiu shook his head, deciding to offer the fungus a chance at survival—repayment for the debt he owed, for without the zombie tree’s intervention, he would have perished in the ox’s belly. He tore strips of meat from the ox’s back and belly, and took some organs for trace nutrients—parts that would not hinder the ox’s movement.

But the crows had other ideas. Drawn by the scent of cooked meat, they landed in flocks upon the ox’s back. To them, cooked meat was little different from carrion; even if it came from a former companion, they showed no mercy.

Unlike Jiang Xiu’s selective butchery, the crows targeted the bones from the start, their strong beaks cracking them open to feast on the marrow. This would quickly cripple the ox, dooming the fungus to extinction.

Jiang Xiu despised such blatant betrayal for profit. Glaring at the wretched birds, he resolved to help the fungus once more.

“Get away! You wretched creatures!” he shouted, grabbing a stick to drive the crows off the ox.

But the crows were loath to surrender their prize; the stick had little effect, so they scattered across the ox’s body, making it impossible for Jiang Xiu to keep up. Before long, he was spent, yet the crows remained undeterred.

“All right, you fiends, so you won’t relent unless I get serious?” With that, he tore a strip of cloth from his lining, wrapped it around one end of the stick, and lit it with fire from the burning tree to make a crude torch.

The cloth, lacking oil, would not burn long, but it sufficed to scatter the crows. Sure enough, the open flames worked; the crows quickly surrendered, flapping away from the ox and vanishing into the distance.

Jiang Xiu tossed aside the half-burned torch, clapped the dust from his hands as he watched the crows flee, then turned to the crawling ox.

“You saved my life, so I’ll leave you your body. We’re even now. From here on, let’s go our separate ways.”

Having spoken his piece to himself, he thought he saw the ox pause, its stiff neck twisting to give him a nod. Jiang Xiu started in surprise, then watched its retreating form with a rueful smile.

“These days,” he sighed, “even a fungus is more honorable than most people.”