"Is that so?"
Jing Minghe got up and walked over, gently patting You Mi's shoulder, indicating for her to sit down first.
"Whatever it is, let's deal with your injuries first."
With that, he helped You Mi sit down again. After bandaging her wound, they supported each other and walked towards the direction You Mi had pointed.
On a large, drooping leaf, there were a few crooked, strange characters.
You Mi stared at them for a while, then turned to Jing Minghe and asked, "Can you tell what these characters are?"
Jing Minghe squinted, leaned closer, examining them as he read aloud, "Blood guides the way, silver light paves the path."
"What?" You Mi repeated the words Jing Minghe had just read, "Blood guides the way, silver light paves the path? What does that mean?"
After You Mi asked, she tried to lean closer to get a clearer look, but the crooked characters gradually disappeared without leaving any trace.
"This..."
"It's the same as before," Jing Minghe chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "It seems these clues, once discovered, will vanish. Therefore, the clues each of us, or each group, possesses might be unique."
You Mi frowned. "When we first entered, the text prompt we received was 'Enter the Golden Butterfly Chrysalis, limited to three days.' This mission objective is very clear, but what does 'Blood guides the way, silver light paves the path' refer to?"
"When the mission objective is clear, the clues will naturally be more obscure," Jing Minghe turned and leaned against a nearby branch. "I can't figure out what this sentence means for now. Let's jot it down and study it after we rendezvous with Brother Hao."
With a bang, the two giant praying mantises outside finally overturned the hiding place of Jing Minghe and You Mi.
"Run!" You Mi saw this and quickly pulled Jing Minghe, running towards another direction.
·
"Mr. Chi," Shi Wan said, clutching the wound on his stomach and enduring the pain, "Thank you for saving me."
Chi Hao's gaze swept lightly over Shi Wan, finally landing on Zhuo Fei, who was pinned beneath his foot. Zhuo Fei was still struggling fiercely, trying to break free from Chi Hao's grasp, shouting incessantly.
"Impossible! I'm clearly the strongest, how can I not be your opponent! We Black Butterfly Imprint users are invincible, we absolutely cannot lose!"
"Besides this, what else do you know!" Shi Wan stepped forward and questioned sternly, "Zhuo Fei! How many times did Chen Mo and I save you in the last instance? And in this instance, you tried to kill me twice!"
Zhuo Fei glared at Shi Wan with a distorted face, shouting viciously, "What's the big deal about killing you! As long as I can live, what's wrong with devouring you alive!"
"You..."
Chi Hao's peripheral vision caught sight of a giant praying mantis he had previously knocked down slowly getting back up. He frowned, kicked Zhuo Fei, who was struggling, away. The kick was precise, sending him right towards the mouth of the giant praying mantis.
The giant praying mantis, smelling its prey, immediately perked up, turned its head, and bit down.
"Ah!"
With a wail, one of Zhuo Fei's legs was firmly clamped in the giant praying mantis's jaws. However, the mantis had been badly beaten by Chi Hao earlier, so while it had the strength to hold Zhuo Fei, it was not agile enough to attack further.
Driven by a powerful survival instinct, Zhuo Fei was willing to sacrifice a leg to tear himself from the giant praying mantis's mouth. As a result, one leg was literally ripped in half.
Seeing Zhuo Fei's situation, Shi Wan's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Chi Hao beside her. It was already perplexing enough that he could easily capture Zhuo Fei, but what made her even more confused was that since he had captured Zhuo Fei, who possessed a different butterfly imprint, Chi Hao had no intention of interrogating him for instance clues. Instead, he threw the man to the mantis, watching it torment him.
Shi Wan even had the illusion that she saw a look of "reasonably satisfied" on Chi Hao's face, and she felt a dangerous aura emanating from him that surpassed that of the giant mantis and Zhuo Fei.
She didn't know Chi Hao well, but she had heard You Mi speak of his power. Before entering this instance, she had encountered him once in the resting area. Ding Chang, a companion from the previous instance, saw Chi Hao from afar and, instead of greeting him, quietly detoured, clearly trying to avoid him.
At that time, Shi Wan couldn't understand why someone as excellent as Chi Hao would be avoided like a plague.
At this moment, she felt she was beginning to understand. Chi Hao possessed not only excellence and strength, but every movement, every glance, exuded a terrifying wickedness.
Shi Wan took a couple of steps back. Facing such a Chi Hao, no matter how dissatisfied she was with his handling of Zhuo Fei, she dared not voice any objections.
After stepping back, she couldn't help but pause for a moment. This person was clearly not like this yesterday evening. It was as if he had suddenly transformed into someone else.
"Let's go."
Chi Hao's cold voice reached Shi Wan's ears.
On the other side, Zhuo Fei was still locked in a back-and-forth struggle with the giant praying mantis, neither able to destroy the other. Shi Wan wanted to ask some questions, but Chi Hao had already walked far away. For her own safety, Shi Wan had to give up on pursuing clues and quickly followed Chi Hao.
·
"Tsk, it's actually a Cyan Butterfly. What a waste of an opportunity."
Ding Chang looked displeasedly at Qiao Qiao, twirling the remaining long thorn in his hand. The hunting time was about to end. If he couldn't find someone whose time could be taken, he would perish at nightfall.
Damn it! It's bad luck to encounter a Cyan Butterfly Imprint user whose time cannot be taken.
Ding Chang appeared calm, but his heart was filled with anxiety as his mind raced.
No, the instance wouldn't present players with an unsolvable situation. There must be other butterfly imprint holders within my hunting zone. I must find that person quickly!
With this thought, Ding Chang immediately dropped the injured Qiao Qiao and turned to find his next prey.
Seeing Ding Chang leave, Qiao Qiao quickly got up. She didn't know if giant praying mantises would appear again. Even when uninjured, dealing with those things was difficult, and now that she was wounded, if she encountered one, she would only face being torn to shreds.
She wasn't sure which direction was safer. Qiao Qiao looked around and finally chose to run in the direction with more plants and opposite to where Ding Chang was heading. Regardless of the probability of encountering a giant praying mantis, at least finding a hiding place would be easier.
Qiao Qiao ran, constantly paying attention to the sounds around her. After running for a while, she felt she couldn't run any further and leaned against a plant to rest.
However, before she could catch her breath, she heard the sound of a fight not far away.
Who could it be?
Even though she was scared, her curiosity wouldn't let her be. She cautiously approached the direction of the fighting sounds, but before she could take a few steps, the fighting suddenly stopped. Qiao Qiao froze.
Before she could decide whether to move closer or turn and leave, a heart-wrenching scream nearly shattered her eardrums.