The protagonist who hates losers is so sweet to me.

After passing a traffic light obscured by unknown trees, the truck drove through a weed-infested road. A basketball-sized sparrow perched on a bare utility pole, grooming its gray feathers with its beak.
A vine quietly approached the sparrow from behind, and by the time the sparrow realized something was wrong and tried to flap its wings to leave, it was too late.
Yu Qing reached out and caught a gray feather floating down from the air, looked around, and saw nothing. Just then, Wu Zhenhu hesitated and said, “Is there a tree blocking the way up ahead?”
Everyone turned to look. In the middle of the road stood a towering, strangely-shaped tree with a huge canopy of lush branches and leaves. Its trunk was very sturdy, and the leaves rustled even without wind, as if the tree were alive.
The roots beneath the giant tree were twisted and tangled, resembling the veins of the earth.
Wu Zhenhu instinctively felt something was wrong. “Chen Yi, are there any zombies around here?”
Chen Yi: “There are a few ahead, but not many.”
Song Xinqi stared at the strange tree for a while, then suddenly said, “Stop for a moment, I’ll go check it out.”
Since Song Xinqi took the initiative to speak, no one objected. The truck stopped far away from the giant tree, and he jumped out of the truck bed with a machete.
Yu Qing leaned on the railing to watch and saw him stepping over the protruding roots and approaching the giant tree. He observed the surroundings and even patted the thick trunk.
Nothing happened.
Wu Zhenhu felt relieved and stepped on the gas to drive closer. However, Song Xinqi still felt something was wrong. His mental energy felt like it was being torn apart after entering this area, a feeling usually only encountered with strong emotions or sounds, but Chen Yi had said there were no living creatures around.
He touched the trunk and suddenly felt a heartbeat coming from inside. His expression changed, and he shouted, “Don’t come any closer!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the ground began to shake violently. The once flat land instantly cracked open, and soil and rocks disintegrated. Yu Qing banged his head on the railing, his head buzzing.
“An earthquake?”
Yu Qing quickly realized it wasn’t. Thick roots emerged from the sinking ground, breaking through like they were alive, grabbing the truck’s wheels like a toy.
“What’s happening!?” Tu Xiao screamed.
Yu Qing felt a sudden dizziness as the entire truck was hoisted and hung in the air. Then, like a giant pendulum, it started spinning wildly.
With the world spinning around him, Yu Qing clung desperately to the railing to keep his body from being thrown around. Chen Yi wasn’t as lucky; he didn’t grab anything in time and was thrown around the truck bed, crashing into the windows and railings, his bones feeling like they were being crushed, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Yu Qing opened one eye to look outside and saw a thick vine flash past him, shattering the driver’s window and dragging Wu Zhenhu out.
Wu Zhenhu’s abdomen was pierced by the vine, blood flowing down and spraying like rain as the vine swung.
“Uncle Wu.” Yu Qing’s face turned pale as he watched the vine toss him from a great height.
Right before his eyes, life was extinguished in an unexpected way. Yu Qing felt his stomach cramp up and had the urge to vomit.
Tu Xiao and Aunt An also grabbed the railing after being bumped once. Yu Qing wanted to find where Song Xinqi was. Through the railing, he saw him rushing over.
“Song Xin…”
Before he could finish his sentence, vines squeezed the carriage forcefully inward, twisting the entire carriage with immense strength, halving their space.
“Ah!!!” A scream from Tu Xiao pierced his ears. Yu Qing looked over to see that the spot Tu Xiao was holding onto was exactly where the vine exerted its force. Her half arm was caught in the squashed railing, twisted at a horrible angle.
Blood kept dripping from above the truck, and the next moment, the vine slammed the truck heavily to the ground.
Song Xinqi’s pupils shrank dramatically as he used his power to control the vine about to be thrown down. However, this only caused the vine to pause briefly in mid-air, and the truck was still thrown down.
“Yu Qing.”
“Yu Qing!”
Yu Qing’s eyelashes trembled as he struggled to open his eyes. He found himself pressed under something, seeing only a bit of light above. His head hurt a little, and his ears were still ringing. It took several shouts from Song Xinqi before he realized he was being called.
He propped up his upper body and shouted with all his strength, “I’m here.”
Soon, the light above was blocked by a shadow, and a hand reached in from outside. He grabbed the hand and, since his body wasn’t trapped, he was pulled out smoothly.
Seeing Song Xinqi’s face, Yu Qing hurriedly said, “I saw Uncle Wu get pierced by a long vine.”
Song Xinqi hugged him, speaking in a low voice, “I know.”
When Song Xinqi ran over, Wu Zhenhu had just fallen in front of him.
Yu Qing looked back. The towering tree was swinging its massive branches and roots, destroying everything within reach. A thick branch whipped towards their heads, and Song Xin swiftly pulled him aside.
The vine hit the section of the carriage, sending it flying almost grazing their scalps before crashing behind them into pieces.
After the truck flew away, it revealed Aunt An lying underneath. Her fingers twitched as she struggled to kneel.
“It’s Aunt An.” Instinctively, Yu Qing wanted to help, but Song Xinqi grabbed his arm and pulled him back forcefully.
“Are you crazy!”
Yu Qing woke up, realizing he had no strength to save others. Rushing over might injure him and implicate Song Xinqi. He had no right to seek his help, so he gripped Song Xinqi’s hand, trembling slightly.
Aunt An shakily stood up, looking around blankly, unaware of the thick branch whipping towards her back.
By the time she heard the branch whistling through the air, it was already inches from her face. Her body stiffened, rooted to the spot.
In an instant, a flash of cold light cut through the tree branch, which fell at her feet. Aunt An was stunned, then felt a force pulling her backward.
Yu Qing grabbed her arm and said swiftly, “Aunt An, run!”
She came to her senses, following him at full speed as they ran through the branches and leaves.
Song Xinqi cut through the branches, each slash causing the tree to scream with the whistling wind.
He took the rear, while the three dodged left and right, with him cutting down the branches behind them. They had to rely on dodging to avoid the attacks from both sides. Suddenly, the ground in front of Yu Qing split open, and a thick root emerged.
Panicking, he shrank his and Aunt An’s bodies and slipped under the arching root, avoiding the attack. He then restored their sizes and continued running.
This seemed to reveal a key strategy, as their constant size changes allowed them to maneuver through the chaotic branches like slippery soap, impossible to catch.
His actions during the escape were instinctive, unaware of how skillfully he was using his powers. The three ran non-stop until they were out of the tree’s attack range.
Yu Qing, hands on his knees, panted heavily, his legs feeling weak. He turned to Aunt An. “Aunt An, are you okay?”
She stared blankly, not responding to him for a while. Her eyes turned to the wrecked truck, and she began to tremble.
The giant tree was powerful, and the noise had affected Song Xinqi’s mental state, causing him severe headaches. “Let’s go,” he said grimly.
He led them to an open area, placing his machete beside Yu Qing, instructing him to stay put and wait.
Yu Qing nodded, watching him head back in the direction they came from. Once he was out of sight, Yu Qing turned to Aunt An, who had been acting strangely. “Aunt An, are you hurt?”
She shook her head slowly. They had held onto the railing tightly the whole time, and with Song Xinqi’s power cushioning them, they hadn’t sustained major injuries. However, the fall had been rough, and she now felt like her bones were falling apart.
Her lips moved, her voice hoarse. “What about the others?”
Yu Qing shook his head. “I don’t know.”
She stared blankly at the sky, her expression filled with sorrow.
Meanwhile, Song Xinqi reached the spot where the truck had fallen. The giant tree had calmed down, its roots retreating into the ground, and its branches resuming their original position. Only the cracked and damaged ground showed the extent of the tree’s earlier rampage.
He had seen Wu Zhenhu fall, leaving no chance of survival. The others in the truck were likely in bad shape too. He didn’t have much hope, but he wanted to see if he could retrieve the backpack with their supplies.
He found Tu Xiao and Chen Yi trapped inside the truck. It took some effort, but he pulled them out, finding both of them dead with shattered bones.
He frowned, thinking that Yu Qing would probably cry over this news.
He checked the backpack, finding the dry food intact, but the water containers were all broken, with only a small amount left. He transferred the remaining water into an undamaged bottle, getting about half a bottle.
After securing the supplies, he glanced at the two bodies on the ground before heading back.
Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by a surge of intense emotions that weren’t his or Yu Qing’s. The forced empathy gave him a splitting headache, and cold sweat covered his back.
Realizing something was wrong, he rushed back to where he left Yu Qing and Aunt An.
When he reached the open area, he found Yu Qing sitting with his head down, unmoving. Looking to the side, he saw Aunt An lying in a pool of blood, her neck severed and blood gushing out, staining the ground red.
Yu Qing lifted his head, his face splattered with blood, looking dazed.
“Song Xinqi, Aunt An committed suicide.”