"Ah, it crawled in. It hurts, ah!"
The next moments were too fast for anyone to react. The insects seemed to be summoned by some force, all swarming the injured person. In an instant, the person was covered and devoured by the insects.
Screams of agony echoed through the mountains.
In less than a minute, the person was completely consumed. What remained, besides their clothing, was a pile of white bones. As the bones fell onto the ice, everyone noticed something terrifying: not a drop of blood was left behind. These were no ordinary cockroaches. These were clearly man-eating insects.
Even with their spiritual spring water, the four of them dared not act carelessly. From bite to bare bones took just one minute. The water might heal wounds, but it couldn't regrow flesh instantly.
Fearful but unwilling to wait to be bitten, Lao Gao summoned courage. He burned forward with his fire ability while cautiously moving ahead. Fire could work on insects, but they were too small and numerous. He could only protect their immediate group.
Just as everyone felt anxious, more screams rang out across the mountains.
Lan Jin panicked. If she didn't act fast, they would all be bitten to death. She shouted, "Ling Jiang, see if you can freeze them!"
Ice alone wasn't enough. It was already tens of degrees below zero. The insects could still move across the ice. Cold alone wouldn't stop them.
Lan Jin continued, "Xiao Huang, water, help Ling Jiang a little."
Huang Jinghe immediately used his water ability, flooding the ice. Ling Jiang touched the ice and released her ice ability. Soon, the water hardened into a thin ice shelter. The tiny insects were completely trapped, unable to move.
For now, the disaster was over.
As everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Ling Jiang collapsed onto the ice.
Lan Jin ran to her, realizing Ling Jiang was only weak from overusing her ability. Lan Jin relaxed. She placed ice crystals from Ling Jiang's pouch into her hand, while Lao Gao helped Ling Jiang absorb the energy by leaning on him.
In a short time, the energy was absorbed. Ling Jiang recovered much of her strength. After drinking spiritual spring water, she was fully restored.
However, Ling Jiang realized her ability hadn't upgraded from the fight. Lan Jin's electricity increase might not have come from the battle, though perhaps it had. Without a clear explanation, nothing was certain.
Seeing Ling Jiang recover, Brother Zhang finally exhaled. "Feeling better?"
"Yes. Luckily we prepared crystals before leaving, otherwise…" Ling Jiang's words trailed. The consequences would have been unimaginable.
But while they recovered, Brother Zhang's men had not.
Looking at the frozen clothes of four of his brothers on the ice, his emotions were indescribable. Reality left no time for grief. The man-eating insects were frozen, but the ones Lan Jin had electrocuted earlier were twitching again.
Lan Jin, hearing the movement, exclaimed helplessly, "No, I can't do this. Are their lives endless? Weren't they dead? Why are they still moving?"
Fear made Lan Jin incoherent. Huang Jinghe comforted her, "Sister Lan, don't be afraid. Let's just see what's happening first."
"Don't look. Don't look. Burn them to ash!" Lan Jin refused to watch. She feared a sudden attack. She truly didn't know how to fight them.
Burn to ash?
She hadn't even stepped forward when the insects twitched more violently than before. Even watching from a distance was terrifying. Then, a thin slit appeared on the back of one insect. It looked like something was trying to squeeze out. In the dim light of their camp, it was barely visible.
Lao Gao whispered, "A butterfly. Don't butterflies come out of insects? There's a saying… breaking out of a cocoon."
"Doesn't matter what it is. Just thinking it was a bug makes me sick." Lan Jin instinctively stepped back a few times.
The insect's slit wriggled violently. Brother Zhang shouted seriously, "Everyone, stay alert!"
Immediately, everyone raised their weapons in readiness.
After a long struggle, something slowly emerged from the insect's back. It flapped its wings a few times in the air. It was a butterfly. A large one, roughly the length of a human arm, similar in size to the insect it came from.
The butterfly was pure white, with semi-transparent wings. It was beautiful, yet the wings bore patterns like eyes, just like the insect's markings. Seeing it reminded Lan Jin of the bugs and their corpses nearby. Her legs went weak, and she couldn't stand.
Huang Jinghe helped her up, "Sister Lan, are you okay? The butterfly is harmless, right?"
"Harmless? No, it's worse. This butterfly doesn't look simple." Lan Jin whispered. She turned to Brother Zhang, "Brother Zhang, have you seen this before? Is it dangerous?"
Brother Zhang frowned, "No. If possible, I'd like to catch a few for research."
"How can we catch it? It can fly. And who knows what danger it has? Who would dare?" Lao Gao looked at the butterfly hovering midair. He was unsure how to catch it, but it wasn't mandatory. Doing his best was enough.
Then, the seemingly harmless butterflies slowly flew toward them.
The distance was neither too near nor too far.
The butterflies circled, waiting. After confirming the humans did not shoo them away, they flew closer.