Volume 2, The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 423: Insect Magic
As the two voices echoed through the open forest ahead, but the voices could not be seen, Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang immediately felt extremely nervous.
They only knew that two very powerful figures had arrived, but they had no idea what kind of people those two were. Their social circles were different from Zhou Ziwei's, so they naturally had no idea that there were such things as the world's top ten assassins.
Although Chu Qiutang is a soldier, she may not know much more than Wang Xuewei.
Suddenly, a faint buzzing sound echoed through the mountains and forests. By the light of the stars and moon outside, the two women could vaguely see a blurry shadow flying through the forest and arriving in front of the small cave in an instant. They then saw that it was a swarm of tiny flying insects.
These tiny flying insects are only about the size of a fingernail. They look somewhat like bees and somewhat like flies, with large heads, plump bodies, a pair of transparent wings, and a long, sharp thorn on their mouths.
For some reason, even though the light here wasn't bright and the insects weren't very big, when they flew right up to them, they could suddenly see what the insects looked like, as if they were a clear picture that had been deeply imprinted in their minds.
The little flying insect flew to the entrance of the cave, its speed suddenly increased, and then it immediately disappeared into the pitch-black world inside the cave. No matter how wide Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang's eyes were, they could no longer see a trace of the little flying insect.
The two women felt as if those tiny flying insects were approaching them in the darkness, or even had already landed on their bodies, desperately trying to burrow into them. They were so frightened that they screamed and cried out, instinctively clutching their clothes and stomping their feet and jumping around as if they could scare the insects away.
"Hehe... Little girls, don't be afraid. That damned bug is a born lecher. He won't let your beautiful bodies be ruined by his treasures..."
The delicate, alluring voice rang out again. Then, Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang looked up in response to the sound and suddenly saw something slowly swimming down from a small tree outside the cave, which was only as thick as an adult's waist.
The thing slid down the tree trunk in circles, and under the cover of the trees, only the faint glow of its shimmering scales could be seen, instantly giving the two women a feeling of dread.
Could it be a talking snake?
Only when the thing slid down the tree trunk to the ground and stood up did Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang breathe a slight sigh of relief, finally able to see what it looked like.
Although the person's appearance was strange, at least in Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang's eyes, she should still be a human being.
This is a blonde beauty who exudes mystery. Her hair is very long, reaching her waist and hips, and it is very smooth. It swings from the back of her head to her chest and then passes under her armpits, making her sexy body look exceptionally alluring.
The blonde beauty was not wearing any clothes on her upper body, except for two leaf-shaped ornaments attached to her two full and elastic breasts, which barely covered the two alluring rosy nipples.
Furthermore, the blonde beauty's upper body was completely and generously exposed to the air. Her dazzlingly white skin seemed to be carved from a translucent piece of jade, so beautiful that it was breathtaking. Her soft waist was so slender that it could not be encircled by two men's hands, and her swaying movements further demonstrated its softness and charm.
On the lower half of the blonde beauty's body, however, she was wearing a tight-fitting long dress with a scale-like pattern. The dress was very tight and narrow, perfectly outlining the shape of the blonde beauty's alluring buttocks and completely wrapping her long, straight thighs together, making them look like a large snake's tail.
This blonde beauty has such a perfect figure, so perfect and sexy. Whether you're a man or a woman, the first thing you'd do upon seeing her would be to be captivated by the alluring curves of her body and her strange outfit, and you'd probably overlook her facial features.
However, if someone were to look closely at her face, they would find that this woman is not actually very beautiful. At least compared to women like Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang, her appearance is several levels below.
Yet this woman possesses an allure that many women simply cannot have.
This fatal allure, however, stems more from the woman's eyes. Her eyes are even more seductive than her body, and only those who have observed closely might realize that her beautiful, slightly upturned eyes possess a strange, alluring quality...
With a sway of her lithe body, the beautiful snake walked slowly toward the cave. Her pace was not slow at all, but because of the cover of her long dress, no one could see her feet moving, so it gave the impression that she was floating forward close to the ground.
Seeing the blonde beauty quickly reach the cave entrance and rush into it without stopping, Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang immediately flashed forward and pounced on her. In the blink of an eye, they each raised their daggers and stabbed them into the blonde beauty's chest and abdomen without hesitation.
This woman was indeed very beautiful and charming, but fortunately Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang were also beauties. And beauties are naturally incompatible with each other. No matter how stunningly beautiful this blonde woman was, she would not be tempting to Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang. They only knew that this woman was there to target Zhou Ziwei.
Moreover, this woman is even more despicable than the man whose voice was heard but whose face was never seen, because she not only wants to harm Zhou Ziwei, but is also eyeing his body.
Women are selfish; they absolutely will not allow others to touch what they love most. So at this moment, the two women's stabs were swift and decisive, as if they had practiced thousands of times. Their coordination was also seamless. In this narrow cave entrance, the woman probably didn't have much room to dodge.
"Oh dear... what are you two little girls doing... we're all women, why do you have to start fighting and killing each other the moment you meet!"
The woman chuckled, but showed no fear in the face of the two gleaming daggers. Instead, she charged straight at them.
Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang were both taken aback, but their resolve remained unwavering. They still exerted all their strength and thrust straight at the vital parts of the blonde beauty's almost completely naked upper body.
"Hiss—" A sound like a snake flicking its tongue rang out, but it turned out to be a cold laugh from the woman's lips. Then, just as the woman's body was about to collide with the two daggers, it twisted strangely, and the two daggers that were thrusting straight at her missed their mark.
They slid past the blonde beauty's full breasts and slender waist.
"Hehe...you two little sisters are so naughty...why do you have to take advantage of your older sister as soon as you meet her?" The blonde beauty let out a string of coquettish laughs, then suddenly opened her arms, revealing her long, slender fingernails, and then, amidst her laughter, she suddenly reached out and grabbed at the necks of the two women...
With a "whoosh," two dazzling red beams suddenly shot out from Zhou Ziwei's body, heading straight for the blonde beauty's raised hands.
The blonde beauty was startled and hurriedly waved her hand to dodge. Two dark red rays grazed her body and then struck two large trees in front of the cave. Instantly, a blazing flame erupted and almost instantly burned the two trees in half.
What's puzzling is that, despite being extremely hot, the two rays only burned through a section of the two trees before abruptly disappearing without leaving behind a raging fire.
"Energy weapon!"
The blonde beauty screamed in horror and hurriedly took a step back. Then she saw another dark red beam of light shoot out from the inside of the cave, but this time the beam was aimed at her chest.
"Ugh... Why are you teasing me like this again..." The blonde beauty giggled, nonchalantly twisting her seemingly boneless body to easily dodge the dark red ray.
But before the blonde beauty could react, seven or eight dark red rays shot out from between Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang's bodies, each aimed at a vital part of the blonde beauty's body from head to toe.
"Oh dear... this is too much..." This time, the blonde beauty was really taken aback. She let out a soft cry and her body began to twist rapidly as if she were having a seizure. She actually managed to dodge every single attack without missing a single one.
However, the blonde beauty was still greatly frightened by this, hurriedly taking several steps back to avoid the front of the cave entrance, and then shouted somewhat exasperatedly, "You damn bug... this handsome young man is a bit too fierce, maybe... you should make the first move... it would be best to make him a little more obedient, but... don't use all your most poisonous treasures... Brother Black God wants a dead ashes to return alive, if you accidentally kill him, then..."
The sinister male voice rang out again: "Don't worry! Those I, the Insect King, want to kill won't live, and those I, the Insect King, don't want to die, won't be able to die even if they want to... My precious... Get him... Give me that person... Ah... How could this be... My precious... Where is my precious..."
At first, the man was living a leisurely and pretentious life, but in the blink of an eye, he suddenly screamed as if someone had stepped on him. Then, Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang saw a person fall from the treetop like a weightless leaf.
The man was very short, about the size of a six or seven-year-old child. He wore a light-colored long robe and swayed as he drifted down from the tree. But if you looked closely, you would see that he was holding a serrated knife-like object in each hand. He would occasionally tap the tree trunk behind him with this object, which would immediately slow down his descent.
Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang initially thought this person was a dwarf, but when he landed and stood up, they discovered that his legs seemed to be able to extend and retract on their own, suddenly becoming much longer. Standing on the ground, he was not short at all; on the contrary, he looked a head taller than a normal person.
"What's wrong... you damn bug, what are you yelling about?" The blonde beauty looked at the man who had fallen from the tree with surprise and asked with a puzzled expression.
Although the man had shown himself, he still preferred to hide in the shadows. Upon hearing this, he suddenly lost his temper and roared angrily at the blonde woman, yelling, "You dead bug, you dead bug... It's all your fault for talking nonsense. Now all my precious bugs have been cursed to death by you. You... you bitch, give me back my precious bugs!"
"What... they're all dead... how is this possible?" The blonde beauty ignored the man's angry outbursts, but paused slightly, a chill instantly creeping into her heart.
She had known this Insect King for a long time, and it wasn't their first encounter. Although she always outwardly expressed disdain for him, she instinctively felt a deep fear of the insects he controlled—perhaps it was a woman's nature! Although she was ranked one place higher than the Insect King, they had never actually fought each other. However, she knew very well that the Insect King's precious insects were practically indestructible; how could they have been killed so easily and silently?
"It must be that handsome young man who's behind this." The blonde beauty exclaimed in surprise, then calmed down and said, "I think this time we really have to team up. If you don't want to mess things up or even lose your life here... then cooperate with me and use all the treasures you have! But be careful not to kill anyone, otherwise... don't blame me for not taking responsibility when Brother Black God blames you!"
"Okay! I know what's important."
The Insect King roared through gritted teeth, saying, "How the hell did he kill those damned bastards who killed my treasures... I won't kill him... but this time I'll make him taste what it's like to be worse than dead... Hmph... If he only lost three legs, Boss Black God shouldn't be angry, right?"
After saying this, the King gave a sinister smile, waved his hand, and pulled out a small bottle from somewhere. The bottle was transparent, and inside it were three huge white ants.
Each of these white horse ants is about the size of an adult's little finger. They are completely white and have a slightly transparent appearance, as if you could see their internal organs inside.
The ants were fierce. As soon as the bottle lid was opened, three huge ants immediately bared their teeth and claws and rushed to the bottle opening. With each step they took, their bodies seemed to grow even larger. When the three ants reached the bottle opening one after another, they shook their backs and each of them shot out a pair of thin, transparent wings.
“￥#—*……￥#￥.”
The insect king treated the three white ants with a devotion akin to that of a deity, uttering a melody that made one slightly dizzy. After more than ten seconds, the insect king slightly raised its head, and with a flick of its hand, the three ants immediately spread their wings and flew into the air.
After the white ants took flight, they first circled the insect king's body, then flapped their wings violently, and the three tiny bodies suddenly vanished without a trace... The next second, they mysteriously reappeared above the cave entrance. The entire process showed no trace of the three ants flying that distance, as if they could perform spatial teleportation.
"Eek...you damn bug...oh...no, Insect King, you're really going all out...this time you've brought out your most treasured possessions!" The blonde beauty and the Insect King had worked together before, so she knew how powerful the Insect King's three ants were. Seeing this, she couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "Great...with your support, old bug, this time...hehe...I'll definitely win over that handsome young man and let him experience my power. Hmm...but old bug, don't go too far...just break two of his legs at most, and remember to save the third leg for me...hehehe..."
The Insect King snorted coldly and said, "This kid is not easy to deal with. Beautiful snake, I advise you to stop going into heat! Otherwise... you might not even know how you died... Go! I'll have my three little darlings cooperate with you, but... if you hesitate and refuse to be ruthless, then don't blame me... Ah... my darlings..."
Just as the Insect King finished speaking, he suddenly convulsed and then rushed towards the cave like a madman. The blonde beauty looked up in horror and saw that one of the three white ants that had been resting above the cave had inexplicably fallen from the sky, landing on the stone ground in front of the cave with a "thud." It kicked its legs a few times and then lay motionless, clearly dead beyond any doubt.
Volume Two: The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 424: Heavenly Fragrance Dew
The blonde beauty felt a sudden, nameless chill rise from her heart. She stared in horror at the inexplicably dead white ant, which dealt a severe blow to her previously brimming confidence.
If the opponent could only fire those scorching dark red rays, the blonde beauty, while finding Zhou Ziwei somewhat troublesome, wouldn't be too worried. After all, no matter how powerful or fast the dark red rays were, her exceptional reflexes wouldn't be enough to cause her a fatal blow. However, she clearly hadn't seen the dark red rays shoot out, and the white ant was obviously hiding in a blind spot outside the cave, invisible to anyone inside. So how did they manage to kill the white ant?
Compared to the blonde beauty's terror, the Insect King looked as if he had just lost his father, his expression filled with grief and rage. His body twisted and swayed strangely, like a crawling insect, yet his speed was incredibly fast. He avoided the direction directly in front of the hole and arrived in front of the ant's corpse in the blink of an eye. He lay down on the ground, carefully picked up the ant, and examined it closely. He saw that the white ant's abdomen had a large hole torn open, as if it had been hit by a miniature bullet.
But with that white ant's almost teleporting speed, what bullet could possibly hit it?
"Damn you, Dead Ash... I will definitely kill you."
The Insect King roared in pain, his anger almost driving him mad. He bared his fangs and claws and howled furiously. Just then, the Insect King suddenly felt a strange gust of wind and lightning strike from behind him. He was shocked, because in his mind, it felt as if an insect with incredible speed was hurtling towards him.
Anyone else would not have been able to discern the subtle difference, but the Insect King, having spent his entire life playing with insects, possessed an incredibly accurate sense of these things. In his shock, he quickly wriggled his body, twisting it into a strange shape like a large, sticky worm, making his entire body appear as if it were a boneless mollusk.
And in this strange way, he dodged the attack from behind. Although the Insect King reacted instantly, the gust of wind coming from behind him was also deflected by his wriggling body, and still slammed straight into the back of his head.
"Squeak..." The Insect King suddenly let out a strange cry, a sharp and piercing sound that would give anyone goosebumps.
But this strange cry suddenly stopped the swift wind behind him, abruptly halting it in mid-air.
"It really is a mutated ladybug." The insect king, having escaped death, let out a joyful shout. Then, its body suddenly twisted. Although its body was still standing there without tilting at all, its head was strangely turned 180 degrees, facing its own back.
He then noticed that less than half a meter in front of his head, a seemingly ordinary ladybug was quietly hovering in mid-air, slowly flapping its thin, transparent wings, neither flying forward nor backward, as if it were in a daze.
"Strange... This little ladybug doesn't seem to have anything special about it, it doesn't seem like a mutated ladybug, so how can it have such abnormal speed and such high intelligence?"
The Insect King tilted his head and stared at the little ladybug for a long time, muttering to himself. You see, although the rapid and sharp cry he had just made was his unique insect-repelling spell, this kind of advanced insect-repelling spell was not effective on all insects. Only insects with higher intelligence would be more affected after hearing the spell. Ordinary insects would not be affected at all.
At this moment, this seemingly ordinary ladybug is so strongly influenced by the secret language that... its intelligence is far greater than any mutated insect the Insect King has ever seen before.
The Insect King was puzzled and squinted as he continued to carefully observe the ladybug controlled by the secret language. Then, he seemed to realize that the ladybug's size was the same as the hole in the white ant that had just died, and his eyes lit up.
How could this little ladybug have killed his ants? Those snow ants had been soaked in chemicals from a young age, making their bodies as hard as ordinary stones. How could this tiny ladybug have pierced through their bodies? Could it be that the most prominent feature of this mutated ladybug wasn't speed or intelligence, but rather the hardness of its body?
Thinking of this, the Insect King was overjoyed. Seeing an even more novel insect was definitely the thing that made the Insect King happiest.
Although it was this little ladybug that might have killed one of his snow ants, which he had always cherished, he had no intention of killing the ladybug to avenge the snow ant. What he wanted most now was to recruit the ladybug and train it into his greatest trump card.
The insect king immediately became excited. Regardless of whether the little insect already belonged to someone, he immediately took out a small transparent bottle from his pocket, unscrewed the cap, and once again made a series of strange noises, constantly summoning the little ladybug to fly into his bottle.
As expected, the more intelligent an insect is, the more easily it is influenced by secret messages. The seemingly ordinary ladybug struggled slightly, then flapped its wings and slowly flew towards the small bottle in the insect king's hand.
"Come quickly! Come quickly! My baby!" As the ladybug flew closer and closer, the insect king's slightly pale face flushed with excitement.
However, just as the ladybug was about to fly to the mouth of the bottle, the insect king suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of crisis rise in his heart. He was slightly startled and suddenly realized that a dozen mosquitoes had gathered around him at some point.
Those were just some ordinary-looking little mosquitoes, but they caused the Insect King a great sense of crisis. Startled, he could no longer care about putting the ladybug back into the bottle and hurriedly opened his mouth again, letting out a series of strange screams.
However, this advanced whispered language could only be effective against a small number of insects at a time. The Insect King could control up to six intelligent mutated insects simultaneously with whispered language, but this time there were more than a dozen surrounding him. As a result... apart from six mosquitoes that were affected by the whispered language and suddenly stopped in mid-air, the remaining eleven mosquitoes swooped down onto the Insect King's neck and wrists at an even faster speed...
After a slight stinging sensation, the Insect King felt an excruciating tingling and itching sensation on his neck and both wrists, accompanied by a soft "sizzling" sound. Then, to his horror, he saw the skin on his wrists rapidly rotting away at a speed visible to the naked eye...
"No—" The Insect King let out a terrified scream. As if it had seen a ghost, it twisted its body and flew away rapidly. While its hands were still not completely numb, it quickly pulled out a medicine bottle from its pocket, unscrewed the cap with its mouth, poured out a small portion and applied it to the mosquito bites, and then gulped down the rest of the medicine into its mouth.
"I never imagined that Dead Ash would also be proficient in advanced insect control techniques!" The Insect King roared in a deathly tone, then let out two more low shrieks. The two white ants that had landed on the outside of the cave wall immediately flapped their wings and "whoosh!" appeared directly beside the Insect King. The Insect King then hurriedly used a small transparent bottle to put the two surviving snow ants into the bottle, and then turned around without hesitation and fled for his life.
"Hey...hey...you're just leaving like that? Aren't you afraid of being punished by Brother Black God?" The blonde beauty couldn't help but rush over and stop the Insect King, calling out anxiously.
"Punish me if you will!" the Insect King sneered. "I don't even know if I can save my own life, so how can I care about Boss Black God's punishment? Hmph... I still think... this Dead Ash is someone we can't handle at all. If you want to die, I don't care, but don't try to drag me to my death with you!"
"Brother Insect King, why do you always boost others' morale while belittling your own?" The blonde beauty suddenly broke into a shy smile, gave the Insect King a slightly coy look, pouted and said coquettishly, "If we give up like this, we definitely won't be able to explain to Brother Black God. Brother Insect King, please... just cooperate with me one more time, okay?"
"Okay... alright then!" Upon hearing the blonde beauty's sweet and seductive pleading voice, the Insect King's face, which was distorted by pain, froze for a moment, then revealed a slightly struggling smile, and then almost subconsciously agreed.
Hearing that the Insect King had finally agreed, the blonde beauty smiled even more charmingly and brightly. This mission might not matter much to the Insect King; it would be best if he could complete it, and if he failed, he would at most receive a scolding from the Black God.
However, what the Insect King didn't know was that this mission was crucial for the blonde beauty, because... the Black God had secretly made an important promise to her: if she could successfully complete the mission, the Black God would reward her with something she had long coveted.