Jing Minghe immediately stepped forward to intervene upon seeing this.
However, before he could reach them, Chi Hao had already blocked Du Heng and Qiao Qiao a step ahead of him.
Upon seeing Chi Hao, both of them revealed expressions of relief. But then, spotting Jing Minghe behind Chi Hao, they looked as if they had seen a ghost.
"Why are you running?"
As soon as Jing Minghe asked, Du Heng, dragging Qiao Qiao, retreated repeatedly and pointed at Jing Minghe, shouting, "You, you aren't dead? How... You, you are really, a person or a ghost!"
Upon hearing this, Jing Minghe raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "It seems you know nothing."
With that said, Jing Minghe moved a bit closer to them. "Since that's the case, then..."
Before Jing Minghe could finish speaking, Qiao Qiao quickly interjected, "What we know, you may not know. We, we, we can exchange clues."
"No, not now," Du Heng interjected, "Let's escape first. They, they will catch up soon."
"They?"
Facing Jing Minghe's question, Qiao Qiao nodded, "Du Heng is right. We should run. Those blood butterflies are very scary."
"Blood butterflies?"
Just as Jing Minghe was about to ask, he saw Du Heng and Qiao Qiao no longer afraid of him, but looking tense. They ran towards his back, glancing back as they ran, and even shouted at Jing Minghe and the others, "Run quickly! We'll talk about other things once we find a safe place!"
Jing Minghe also wanted to run, but he was simply too weak to escape. Moreover, due to the rules of the instance, he was now a useless weakling. Even if something were to chase after him, he would likely collapse after only a few steps.
"They're here," Chi Hao said, blocking in front of Jing Minghe.
Du Heng and Qiao Qiao, who had already run far away, saw that Jing Minghe and Chi Hao were still standing in place. Whether out of curiosity or some other reason, they stopped and watched the two.
As the surroundings quieted down, Jing Minghe heard a buzzing sound approaching them. He turned to see the frightened and tense expressions of Du Heng and Qiao Qiao, and couldn't help but feel confused.
What did the blood butterflies they mentioned look like? How could they scare these two so badly? Why run instead of fighting? Could it be that the blood butterflies were larger than that giant mantis?
Soon, Jing Minghe knew the answer. The reason for running instead of fighting was not the immense size he had imagined, but the sheer number. A dense swarm, like a surging tide of blood, was rushing towards them, making it impossible to fight.
Moreover, wherever they passed, the giant plants instantly lost their leaves and flowers, leaving only their branches.
Jing Minghe swallowed and leaned closer to Chi Hao, "Brother, should we... escape?"
"Can you run?"
"I can try."
Jing Minghe tilted his head and smiled, "Try what?"
As soon as he finished asking, Chi Hao scooped him up horizontally.
Jing Minghe thought Chi Hao was preparing to run with him in his arms, but Chi Hao did not start running and remained in place.
Seeing the blood butterfly tide slowly approaching, and Chi Hao and Jing Minghe showing no signs of escape, Du Heng and Qiao Qiao no longer waited for them and quickly turned to flee.
Jing Minghe hugged Chi Hao's neck, resting his head on Chi Hao's shoulder. "Brother, are we really not running? Will we be gnawed down to the bones by those butterflies?"
"Gnawed?"
"Haha, of course, butterflies only have proboscis, not teeth," Jing Minghe said with a laugh. "But even so, they still gnawed those giant flowers clean, right? So..."
"They're here."
As the blood butterfly tide approached, Chi Hao suddenly shielded Jing Minghe beneath him, turning his back to the swarm.
"Brother Hao?"
"Don't be afraid."
Jing Minghe immediately became nervous. He had his own suspicions, and he guessed that Chi Hao's thoughts were the same as his. But he absolutely did not want Chi Hao to take the risk by blocking in front of him.
Sensing Jing Minghe's intention, Chi Hao held the person in his arms tighter. With Jing Minghe's current stamina in this instance, he could not break free.
"Trust me," Chi Hao's voice reached Jing Minghe's ears, "and trust yourself."
Upon hearing this, Jing Minghe gave up struggling and hugged Chi Hao back tightly. He naturally believed his own judgment and would never doubt Chi Hao's judgment, even if it was wrong in the end, they would bear it together.
A faint blue light flashed from the pendant on Jing Minghe's chest, but his gaze remained fixed on Chi Hao's profile, completely unaware.
As the blue light flashed, Chi Hao, ignoring the approaching blood butterfly tide, quickly scanned his surroundings. His intuition told him that somewhere out of their sight, a pair of eyes were staring intently at them.
However, he could not determine whether they were benevolent or malevolent.
Regarding the matter of the pendant on Jing Minghe's chest, Jing Minghe did not mention it, and he did not want to ask further. Everyone had their secrets, and he would not use his current identity as a lover to demand that Jing Minghe reveal anything or anyone he did not wish to speak of.
The blood butterfly tide swept over the two of them, and the result was as they had guessed.
Apart from a sensation of being brushed by something, there was no other abnormality. Even though the giant flower branches beside them were reduced to mere stubs, they remained unharmed.
"So," Jing Minghe silently breathed a sigh of relief and jumped down from Chi Hao's arms, "they don't harm humans. They just use the spectacle they create to instill fear in everyone's hearts."
Chi Hao cast a final glance around and simply said, "Let's go. Follow them."
The two abandoned their original course and followed the blood butterflies.
Even though the blood butterfly tide's path was clearly marked, Jing Minghe still remembered to make the agreed-upon markings along the way.
After an unknown period of walking, the two noticed that the speed of the blood butterfly tide varied, and their numbers seemed to be slowly decreasing, though not significantly enough to be immediately apparent without careful observation.
Just as Jing Minghe was pondering how much longer the blood butterfly tide would last before its numbers completely dwindled, they suddenly stopped altogether.
Upon seeing this, Jing Minghe and Chi Hao also stopped.
With a swift movement, the blood butterfly tide in front of them landed on the ground simultaneously, creating what looked like a carpet of red at first glance.
The two exchanged glances. Just as they were about to step forward to investigate, they heard a scream of "Ah!" and their attention was drawn to the source of the sound.
Following the sound, they saw Du Heng and Qiao Qiao, who had chosen to flee earlier. The one screaming was Du Heng. Su Dan Novel Network.
Du Heng's mouth was wide open, and a blood butterfly was drilling into his mouth. Du Heng stood there as if frozen, completely still. Qiao Qiao stood not far from him, also like a wooden mannequin, frozen in place.
"You..."
Jing Minghe wanted to walk over but suddenly found himself completely unable to move, with only his eyeballs seemingly able to turn.
Only then did he realize that the two people were not standing still; they were simply unable to move.
How could this be?
While unable to move, he also lost his voice.
Not sensing any movement from Chi Hao, Jing Minghe guessed that Chi Hao was in the same situation. He turned his eyeballs, trying to scan Chi Hao, but his field of vision could not reach him. He couldn't help but feel anxious.