It was impossible for Jing Minghe to not see Du Heng, as he was directly facing him because he had wanted to go over and check the situation earlier.
The blood butterfly had completely burrowed into Du Heng's mouth. Jing Minghe watched with his own eyes as Du Heng transformed bit by bit from a complete human.
His limbs, torso, and finally his head, along with the clothes he was wearing, all disintegrated into blood butterflies, numbering in the hundreds.
These butterflies followed the direction of the previous butterfly swarm. The last two blood butterflies even "intentionally" circled around in front of their eyes before following.
"Ah!" Qiao Qiao finally cried out.
One reason was witnessing Du Heng's fate, and the other was because of those two blood butterflies that had circled before her eyes. These were two blood butterflies with only wings and no bodies; their bodies were Du Heng's eyeballs, with shreds of flesh still hanging from them.
Circling once before leaving seemed to be telling their companions, "I'm waiting for you ahead."
Once his body could move, Jing Minghe immediately turned to look at Chi Hao. Chi Hao had already arrived beside him.
"Do we need to follow?"
Seeing that Chi Hao was fine, Jing Minghe felt relieved. He then looked at Qiao Qiao, who had completely collapsed on the ground, her eyes vacant with fear, her whole body trembling.
Let alone following the blood butterflies, it was uncertain if she could even speak a complete sentence.
Jing Minghe thought for a moment and shook his head, saying, "Let's forget it. The group of blood butterflies that Du Heng transformed into is much faster than the previous group. We might not be able to catch up."
"Mm," Chi Hao replied, his gaze sweeping around the surroundings. He asked, "Are you hungry? I'll go find something to eat."
Jing Minghe subconsciously looked at the blood butterfly corpses scattered on the ground. Just as he was about to speak, the large patch of red instantly merged into the ground, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, Jing Minghe walked towards Qiao Qiao and joked, "I was just wondering if these red butterflies were edible, and they disappeared. What a shame."
Chi Hao smiled silently and followed Jing Minghe to help the terrified and paralyzed Qiao Qiao up.
"Du... Du Heng, he..." Qiao Qiao stammered, leaning on Jing Minghe and Chi Hao for support, barely managing to stand. Her voice trembled so much that she couldn't speak a coherent sentence.
"He's dead," Chi Hao said, pulling Qiao Qiao slightly so she leaned more on him and was a little further from Jing Minghe. "Life and death are common here. You should get used to it."
Jing Minghe couldn't help but twitch his lips.
It was true that life and death were common, but how many people could truly get used to witnessing such events?
"Let's go meet up with Sister You Mi and the others, and tell them about the blood butterflies."
"And," Chi Hao lowered his eyes and glanced at Qiao Qiao, "what she knows."
Hearing this, Qiao Qiao immediately understood. Jing Minghe and the others wouldn't take her along for free. They had agreed to exchange clues, and if she couldn't provide anything substantial, she wouldn't get any clues from them either.
"I, I will, tell you," Qiao Qiao managed to force out a voice, quickly stating her intention.
Jing Minghe nodded slightly at Chi Hao. The two of them, supporting Qiao Qiao, prepared to leave. Chi Hao subtly pulled Qiao Qiao from Jing Minghe's grasp and supported her himself.
Jing Minghe understood his brother Hao's intentions and didn't mind. He took the initiative to look for the markers they had left when they arrived, leading the two of them back.
They didn't encounter anything else on their way back. Of course, they also didn't find any clues.
However, Jing Minghe's stomach rumbled with hunger, and his body grew weaker and weaker. He felt like he was breathing out more than breathing in, and could collapse at any moment.
Chi Hao watched with heartache, wishing he could cut off his own flesh and feed it to Jing Minghe.
As Qiao Qiao walked, she felt the hand supporting her from Chi Hao constantly tightening, as if trying to break her arm.
"Mr. Chi," Qiao Qiao stopped, giving Chi Hao an apologetic look, and said softly, "I'm much better now. I can walk by myself. Thank you, Mr. Chi."
After Qiao Qiao spoke, Chi Hao immediately let go. Then, he quickly moved to Jing Minghe's side, completely ignoring Qiao Qiao's gaze, and pulled Jing Minghe into his arms, walking forward in a half-embrace.
Jing Minghe said with amusement, "Brother, I'm not that delicate."
Chi Hao ruthlessly exposed him, "You're about to collapse."
As soon as Chi Hao finished speaking, Jing Minghe, who was about to tease Chi Hao, suddenly saw his vision blur. When he refocused, Chi Hao was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Qiao Qiao.
Looking around, within several miles, he was the only one left.
The giant flower, which had been gnawed down to its branches by the blood butterfly swarm, was now flourishing with lush branches and layers of petals, looking incredibly imposing.
"Are we back in again?" Jing Minghe walked to a plant and leaned on it, reaching out a hand. "It seems it's not far from dark. Another day is gone."
As he spoke, he heard that familiar voice. The giant mantis had appeared before him at some unknown time.
"No," Jing Minghe smiled wryly, "Big Brother Mantis, can you let me catch my breath before coming again?"
Of course, Jing Minghe knew the mantis wouldn't grant his wish. Moreover, losing time to players might still offer a chance of survival, but being torn apart by a giant mantis significantly reduced the chances of survival.
Fine, he'd just try to hide. Preferably, he wouldn't experience either, as there was always a chance of death.
The giant mantis stared at its prey and gathered its strength for a good while before lunging at Jing Minghe. Jing Minghe was already prepared and immediately leaped to the side, rolling under the giant mantis's leg and narrowly dodging an attack. Su Dan Novel Network.
At the same time, Jing Minghe heard the sound of a giant mantis attacking someone not far away.
He wondered who he was in the same space with this time. Even if he was going to lose time, he hoped he'd encounter someone who was less aggressive. Someone like Ding Chang, who maliciously retaliated and left him covered in injuries. He couldn't do anything about that person in this instance, so he really hoped he wouldn't encounter them again.
The giant mantis attacked again. Jing Minghe couldn't fight it and could only rely on the surrounding plants to constantly dodge. Soon, he felt his strength waning. While dodging, he panted heavily.
After a while, he started to feel dizzy, even worse than last time.
With a moment of distraction, the giant mantis successfully grabbed Jing Minghe. Jing Minghe immediately raised his hand to block. The giant mantis bit down on Jing Minghe's forearm, tearing off a piece of flesh. Bare bone was exposed, and the pain made Jing Minghe cry out.
This was the most serious injury he had sustained since entering the City of Death!
Jing Minghe endured the pain and kicked the giant mantis in the stomach, buying himself a sliver of opportunity to escape. But as soon as he pulled himself free, he was grabbed again.
Damn it!
Jing Minghe was almost certain that being torn apart by this creature would mean certain death.
Due to the intense pain in his arm, what little strength he had left was completely gone. Jing Minghe could only watch helplessly as the giant mantis's spiked forelegs, complete with barbs, slowly approached him, waiting for the moment he would be torn to shreds.