Jing Minghe felt a sharp pain in his neck, but it was only a prick, not the dizzying sensation he experienced when it pierced his wrist. His mind remained perfectly clear.
But then, Jing Minghe felt something draining from his body. He saw a golden butterfly imprint appear and disappear rapidly on his wrist.
Golden Butterfly Imprint?
Jing Minghe was surprised. He hadn't been able to see the butterfly imprint on his wrist before, and Chi Hao hadn't been honest about it. So it was golden?
"Shi Wan? What are you doing?" You Mi questioned Shi Wan with confusion.
Shi Wan smiled at Jing Minghe, then pulled the long needle from his neck.
You Mi quickly stepped forward to check. Jing Minghe shook his head. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"What?" You Mi looked incredulous. How could he be fine? Such a long needle..."
As she spoke, You Mi moved to the other side to examine him. To her even greater surprise, there wasn't even a tiny wound on Jing Minghe's neck. Her words took a different turn.
"What's going on?"
Jing Minghe touched his neck and turned to Shi Wan, "Thank you."
This was supposed to be an experiment he and Chi Hao had agreed to try. He hadn't expected Shi Wan to cooperate. He wondered how Chi Hao had convinced her.
You Mi looked from one to the other, completely bewildered.
Qiao Qiao was also full of questions.
However, the fight against the giant mantises was still ongoing on the other side, and neither of them voiced their full confusion at that moment.
Before long, Chi Hao, Ding Chang, and Gao He, the three strongest fighters in this instance, had eliminated all the attacking giant mantises, each holding two long needles.
As soon as the fight ended, Jing Minghe said to You Mi and the others, "Let's go, we can leave now."
You Mi and the others quickly followed Jing Minghe. Chi Hao and the other two also walked towards the direction where the giant mantises had appeared.
They had only walked a short distance when they all stopped. Before their eyes were two bright red butterfly pupae. Upon closer inspection, the pupae were still wriggling slightly, as if something was about to break free.
But Jing Minghe and the others knew that if no one acted, the pupae would never change.
Shi Wan stepped forward proactively. She first walked to Ding Chang and said, "Mr. Ding, this double butterfly pupa requires both a hunter and a prey who have not interacted in the hunting space to trigger it. Among the remaining people, only you and I meet this condition."
A flicker of doubt crossed Ding Chang's eyes, but upon reflection, it seemed to make sense.
You Mi naturally assumed that Shi Wan had been taught by Chi Hao, and since it was taught by Chi Hao, there wouldn't be a problem.
Qiao Qiao was confused. After all, from last night until now, Chi Hao and Jing Minghe had never clearly told them the correct solution to the clearance condition. But Shi Wan's words, upon careful analysis, had some logic. She and You Mi could not have their time taken, so they were not prey. Chi Hao was not prey either; he was like the ruler of this instance, omnipotent. Su Dan Novel Network.
The only ones left, besides Shi Wan, were Jing Minghe, and Jing Minghe. He had his time taken by Ding Chang the first time and by Gao He the second time, both interactions with them.
Gao He also reached the same conclusion as Qiao Qiao after thinking.
The only one harboring doubts was Jing Minghe. He couldn't be sure of the condition for safely activating the blood butterfly pupa without being assimilated by the blood butterfly tide. Why was Shi Wan so certain?
After his confusion, he finally understood what that ominous premonition earlier had meant.
He suddenly turned to look at Chi Hao, wanting to stop Shi Wan, but Chi Hao's gaze directly suppressed the words about to be spoken.
At this moment, Jing Minghe truly felt the chilling terror emanating from Chi Hao that he had only heard about from others.
On the other side, Shi Wan unceremoniously snatched a long needle from Ding Chang's hand. "Mr. Ding, please follow me. Do whatever I do, exactly the same. Remember, it must be identical."
Even though it seemed logical, Ding Chang didn't fully trust Shi Wan's words. But annoyingly, he had no choice at this moment.
This strengthened Ding Chang's resolve to eliminate Jing Minghe and Chi Hao as soon as possible. With these two around, he could never take the initiative in the instance. Without the initiative, he couldn't complete the task assigned by "it," and thus couldn't successfully leave the City of Death and become truly free.
Therefore, Ding Chang secretly vowed that after this instance, he would ensure these two met their end, by any means necessary.
"It's starting."
Shi Wan's voice sounded in his ear. Ding Chang nodded with displeasure, indicating he knew what to do.
Shi Wan calmly and steadily approached the blood butterfly pupa with the long needle.
Perhaps realizing he had accidentally startled his beloved just now, Chi Hao leaned close to Jing Minghe's ear and whispered, "Everyone has their own choices. Respecting them, rather than forcing a choice upon them, brings greater peace."
Her own choice? So, Shi Wan knew what she was doing and the potential consequences. In that case, Jing Minghe gave up the idea of stopping her.
However...
Jing Minghe lowered his head and smiled helplessly. He didn't care what kind of person Chi Hao was. It was just that he had actually felt fear from just one look from Chi Hao. It was simply... too humiliating.
"Minghe?" Chi Hao looked concerned. He believed in Jing Minghe's feelings for him, but he also knew that he had indeed hidden too many things from Jing Minghe.
"Brother, I'm fine," Jing Minghe said at the right time. "I'm very good."
After speaking, Jing Minghe looked up to watch Shi Wan and Ding Chang. As Shi Wan gestured, they both simultaneously plunged the long needles in their hands into the two blood butterfly pupae.
Two bright red butterflies squeezed out of the pierced pupae, followed by a second, a third, a fourth...
Shi Wan turned to look at everyone, her lips slowly curling into a smile. Finally, she looked at Chi Hao with a hint of gratitude and thankfulness in her eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Chi, for giving me the chance to get revenge and stay here with him. I wish you and the one you cherish a safe journey."
"What the hell are you talking about!" Ding Chang heard something was wrong. He lunged to Shi Wan's side, grabbed her wrist tightly, and questioned her angrily, "Speak! What exactly do you mean!"
"Hahaha..." Shi Wan showed no fear of Ding Chang and burst into laughter, which eventually turned into a bitter smile. "Rules? What damn rules? Fine, you can use the rules, so can I, right?"
"You!"
Gao He, standing not far away, also reacted immediately. He moved forward while shouting, "No! How could you! Aren't you risking your life!"
"Life?" Shi Wan looked at Gao He dismissively. "Is life that important? Unfortunately, to me, life has never been the most important thing."
Gao He wanted to rush over to stop Shi Wan. Although he didn't know how, before he could reach Shi Wan, he saw the two blood butterfly pupae suddenly explode, and countless blood butterflies surged out.
Shi Wan stood still. Ding Chang tried to escape but found himself being held by Shi Wan. The more he struggled, the tighter she held on.
"Let..."
Before he could utter the second word, a blood butterfly burrowed into Ding Chang's mouth.
Shi Wan, meanwhile, had already opened her mouth, inviting the blood butterflies in.
Soon, both of them were completely engulfed by the tide of blood butterflies, not a single gap visible.