Fire Butterfly felt a bit shy under his gaze.
The slender antennae atop its head curled and uncurled, wings trembling slightly as waves of sound pulsed from its abdomen.
The sound waves rippled outward, and the frenzied swarm of Fire Butterflies paused.
Some stopped in confusion, while others, eyes still burning red, kept chasing after Bai Maomao and the others.
The Fire Butterfly’s wings beat faster, the sound from its abdomen growing sharper.
The confused butterflies began to flap their wings in sync, joining in the chorus of cries from their abdomens.
For a moment, the whole plain was filled with the piercing calls of Fire Butterflies.
Mo Qin held Yan Miao tightly in his arms, both hands covering Yan Miao’s ears.
Yet his own eardrums, unable to withstand the high-frequency sound waves, began to bleed.
Two streaks of bright red blood slowly trickled down his cheeks.
Up ahead, Bai Maomao and Lang Junxian noticed Mo Qin and Yan Miao had fallen behind.
They hurriedly rushed back, only to see the giant butterflies bearing down on them with menacing expressions.
Bai Maomao braced himself for battle.
He grabbed the nearest Fire Butterfly and slammed it hard into the ground.
The battered butterfly feebly fluttered its wings, staggering as it tried to take flight again.
Rolling up his sleeves, Bai Maomao was about to smash another when he noticed that the Fire Butterflies behind had all hesitated, stopping in place.
Their long antennae curled and straightened uncertainly.
Bai Maomao stayed alert, watching as the crazed butterflies suddenly turned in unison and, with a great sweep, flew back the way they’d come.
Bai Maomao: ………………
The Fire Butterfly that had been shielding Mo Qin and Yan Miao saw its companions retreating.
Its antennae swayed as it edged closer to Mo Qin.
Mo Qin instinctively scooted back.
The Fire Butterfly inched forward again, and Mo Qin kept moving away.
Fire Butterfly: ………………
Mo Qin: ………………
What does this moth want???
The Fire Butterfly’s antennae curled again.
It fixed Mo Qin with a steady gaze, patted him with its wings, then fluttered off after its companions.
Baby.
“What did that moth want?”
Mo Qin asked, bewildered.
Yan Miao shrugged.
“Maybe it took a liking to you,”
Bai Maomao said lightly.
Thinking of the Fire Butterfly’s cold, compound eyes, Mo Qin shuddered and rubbed the goosebumps on his arms.
“Don’t scare me. I’m still—”
Bai Maomao smirked, watching him with a half-smile.
Mo Qin: ……
Could it really be true?
Bai Maomao kept up the act, scaring Mo Qin with a straight face.
Meanwhile, Lang Junxian glanced around, nose twitching.
His sharp eyes swept across a certain direction, and in a flash, he darted over.
“Who’s there?!”
A shadow hidden in the woods jumped in fright, clearly not expecting to be discovered from so far away.
Lang Junxian closed in, pupils narrowing, his gaze icy as he stared at the person on the ground.
“Who are you?”
“I, I’m…”
“You’re one of Gong Shaotian’s people?”
Lang Junxian recognized him before he could finish.
“I saw you that day, standing at the back.”
“So Gong Shaotian sent you,”
Lang Junxian stated.
“Where are the others?”
“I—I don’t know…”
This was the same shadow who’d tried to talk sense into Gong Shaotian before.
Now, terrified by Lang Junxian, he trembled and crawled backward on his arms.
Lang Junxian curled his lips, eyes narrowing with a hint of bloodthirsty excitement.
“Even if you don’t say…I know where they are.”
With that, he turned and, in a blur, appeared right in front of Gong Shaotian.
“Found you.”
Gong Shaotian’s eyelids twitched.
Sensing trouble, he shoved the person beside him toward Lang Junxian and tried to run.
Lang Junxian’s eyes blazed with killing intent, lips curled up in a barely contained thrill.
Gong Shaotian didn’t make it a hundred meters before Lang Junxian caught up.
Lang Junxian’s voice came coldly from behind,
“Did you lure those Fire Butterflies?”
Pinned and unable to move, Gong Shaotian’s mouth was still tough.
“Yeah, I brought them. So what? Consider yourselves lucky you survived this time.”
Thinking about how the Fire Butterflies’ rampage hadn’t finished them off, Gong Shaotian was furious.
Normally, Fire Butterflies are gentle yao beasts.
But during mating season, they become violently aggressive and bloodthirsty.
Anyone caught in their rampage usually ends up drained by their long proboscises.
This wasn’t the Fire Butterflies’ mating season.
But Gong Shaotian had a bottle of yaofen that could forcibly trigger their heat.
He’d had someone pour it into their nest ahead of time.
Once the Fire Butterflies went berserk, he used pollen from their favorite yaozhi to lure the enraged swarm toward Bai Maomao’s group.
If nothing went wrong, Bai Maomao and the others would surely be dead.
The more Gong Shaotian thought about it, the angrier he became.
He couldn’t resist taunting,
“You’d better let me go. Once we’re out of this Xiao Dongtian, neither you nor your pretty little lover will have it easy.”
Lang Junxian stared at him coldly.
His sharp claws extended involuntarily, a savage urge whispering in his mind: tear him apart, tear him apart…
Lang Junxian’s throat bobbed.
His black pupils narrowed to slits, claws flexing and gleaming with a chilling light.
With Gong Shaotian’s back turned, he didn’t notice the silence behind him.
Thinking Lang Junxian was intimidated, he got bolder.
Lang Junxian tightened his grip.
Razor-sharp claws stabbed into Gong Shaotian’s shoulder.
Caught off guard, Gong Shaotian cried out in pain, his face twisting.
The pressure on his shoulder kept increasing.
Lang Junxian’s beastly eyes narrowed to a single line, emotions surging within.
“Xiao Hei!”
Bai Maomao, following Xiao Hei’s trail, arrived and saw him pinning Gong Shaotian to a tree.
She cheerfully greeted him.
The vertical pupils shrank, but quickly returned to normal.
Lang Junxian discreetly sent a surge of lingli into Gong Shaotian’s neck, then turned and smiled.
“What brings you here?”
“I was worried you couldn’t handle it alone,”
Bai Maomao said, oblivious to his odd state.
She stepped forward, hauled Gong Shaotian up, and grinned,
“Let’s head back. Mo Qin and the others are waiting.”
Lang Junxian let himself be led back at a leisurely pace.
The others waited in place, each of them injured to some degree.
Mo Qin was hurt the worst—his eardrums damaged, he could barely hear.
Yan Miao fussed over him, tending his wounds.
Mo Qin grinned, carefree as ever, and loudly greeted Bai Maomao and the others.
Bai Maomao ignored the fool, tossing the unconscious Gong Shaotian onto the ground and nudging him with her foot.
The jolt woke Gong Shaotian up.
Clutching his shoulder in pain, Gong Shaotian eyed Lang Junxian warily.
The arrogance from before was gone, replaced by fear.
Lang Junxian looked at him coldly.
“What should we do with him?” he asked.
Bai Maomao thought for a moment.
“Killing’s illegal. Just cripple his Dan Tian.”
“You—you wouldn’t dare…”
Gong Shaotian blustered, but his voice quivered.
“I’m the young master of the Gong Family. Who dares touch me?”
“Today, I’m definitely crippling you.”
Mo Qin’s face darkened.
He kicked Gong Shaotian to the ground and planted his foot on his abdomen, sneering.
“I know a method I’ve been wanting to try on someone like you.”
“Mo Qin, isn’t this a bit much…”
Meng Qu, worried, tried to intervene, but Liu Lei pulled him back.
Gong Shaotian finally panicked.
If his Dan Tian was crippled, he’d be nothing.
He sobbed, snot and tears streaming down his face as he begged for mercy.
Mo Qin’s foot didn’t budge from his Dan Tian.
Gong Shaotian only cried harder.
“Hurry up,”
Bai Maomao urged.
“I’m starving.”
Mo Qin shrugged, then bent down and chopped his hand onto Gong Shaotian’s Dan Tian.
“This is my first time trying this method.”
Gong Shaotian’s eyes went wide as he felt his Dan Tian burst like a punctured balloon, lingli rushing out uncontrollably.
Mo Qin dusted off his hands, his usual cheeky grin returning.
He ruffled Yan Miao’s hair.
“Let’s go.”
The group made their way back to the cave, ready to rest and recover.
Chased by Fire Butterflies, they were all battered and exhausted.
There wasn’t much left in this Xiao Dongtian.
After a quick discussion, Bai Maomao suggested they just stay near the cave for the remaining days and wait for the assessment to end.
Midnight.
A red figure crept stealthily to the cave entrance, waving its massive butterfly wings.
It hesitated for a long time, then finally mustered its courage, tucked in its wings, and quietly slipped inside.
In the darkness, Bai Maomao’s bright eyes glimmered.
The Fire Butterfly was startled by his gaze, dropped what it was carrying, and fled outside.
Using lingli, Bai Maomao drew the item over and clicked his tongue in surprise, holding it up for Lang Junxian to see.
“Mischievous,”
Lang Junxian said, pocketing the wooden plaque and patting Bai Maomao’s head.
“Sleep.”
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