Chapter 411 : A Delicious Target
In the darkness, the person cultivating opened her eyes, golden pupils faintly reflecting light in the night.
Halfway through her cultivation, Jiang Mo heard rustling sounds from outside. It sounded like something moving through the underbrush, creating subtle and chaotic friction—sounds that would be easily overlooked without profound cultivation.
She didn't act rashly, and the spiritual energy continued to circulate within her body. The spiritual energy vortex unconsciously formed above the mansion showed no change whatsoever.
Gradually, she heard those sounds getting closer, until something climbed onto the window she had personally closed—the little tiger narrowed her eyes in the darkness, her vision completely unimpeded by the dark environment. She quickly saw something wriggling through the cracks of the tightly closed window. At first, it looked like black threads, but upon closer inspection, she realized they were black threadworms!
The little tiger feared nothing in heaven or earth—except insects. This trait had followed her from before her transmigration with no change whatsoever. Unless it was something like the Fire Venom Scorpion that looked transparent and beautiful... No, she couldn't accept even beautiful insects.
Thus, the moment she clearly saw those black threadworms, Jiang Mo felt her scalp crawl, and her body involuntarily stiffened.
The black threadworms moved quickly and were extremely sensitive—they seemed to sense that their prey had discovered them. Despite being several meters away, these soft, boneless worms suddenly leaped up, lunging directly at Jiang Mo's face.
With Jiang Mo's cultivation level, she naturally had no reason to fear any insect; even ordinary venomous insects would find it difficult to break through her defenses. But thick skin aside, when truly faced with dreaded insects pouncing toward her—not just one or two, but a number sufficient to trigger an immediate attack in those with entomophobia, swarming toward her face—Jiang Mo didn't know about others, but she immediately felt her breath catch, sensing her entire tiger self was not well.
Just as Jiang Mo was at a loss, suddenly a blue Ice Flame ignited. The flames quickly expanded into a blanket-like formation, completely enveloping the black threadworms lunging toward her.
In the darkness, there seemed to be "sizzling" sounds of burning, yet no smell of scorching followed.
Jiang Mo had prepared for strange developments tonight, but she had never anticipated that a mass of insects would appear. She was in a daze, feeling as though her entire tiger self was about to collapse, and thus failed to notice this unusual detail.
Of course, in her nervousness, she also failed to notice another point—she was unconsciously clutching the Little Swan Goose in her arms, and with considerable force. Any other spirit bird would likely have been strangled by now, and Yun Qingyue certainly wasn't comfortable. However, before breaking free, she noticed Jiang Mo's fear, and out of softness and pity, she ultimately didn't move.
After a moment, Yun Qingyue managed to free one wing and patted Jiang Mo's arm soothingly before speaking: "It's alright now. Let's get out of here first, otherwise this room will soon be completely filled."
Filled with what? Insects, of course!
From the moment Jiang Mo discovered worms entering through the window cracks, regardless of what followed, the threadworms outside the cracks continued to pour incessantly into the room. In just these brief moments of shock, the floor of the room was already covered with a thick layer of writhing worms.
When Jiang Mo raised her eyes and saw the black threadworms twisting and tangling endlessly on the floor, her scalp instantly bristled, and nausea surged in her heart. She covered her mouth with one hand, instinctively pleading with her Senior Sister: "Senior Sister, quick, burn them with fire!"
Yun Qingyue wasn't afraid of insects, but seeing a scene that could drive those with entomophobia mad, she naturally felt uncomfortable. Yet something even worse than this was happening. She shook her head and pointed out: "These aren't ordinary insects. They can't be burned. Let's get out first."
What kind of insects couldn't be burned even by Ice Flame merged with Phoenix true fire?!
Jiang Mo was extremely astonished, but more pressing than her astonishment was the situation before her. She raised her eyes toward the doors and windows and, through a thin layer of Ice Flame, discovered that the door and window cracks were all filled with insects, causing her body to stiffen severely.
Fortunately, Yun Qingyue had already noticed her fear of these creatures and controlled the Ice Flame to envelop them—her Ice Flame couldn't kill these black threadworms, but the worms also seemed unable to penetrate her Ice Flame. In this way, while the Ice Flame fell short in killing the worms, it provided perfect protection. The Ice Flame extended into a sphere, and apart from being cold inside, its defensive capabilities were unmatched.
When her field of vision was surrounded by ice-blue flames, despite the bone-chilling cold, an overwhelming sense of security instantly enveloped her entire heart.
Jiang Mo's tense body relaxed, and the arms that had been tightly holding Yun Qingyue loosened slightly, though she showed no intention of letting go completely. Jiang Mo managed to calm herself, then conjured a golden blade out of thin air, striking directly at the nearest window.
With a muffled "bang," the tightly closed window shattered, but what came into view wasn't the scenery outside but a dense mass of black... Countless black threadworms entered her vision, and though Jiang Mo was already afraid of insects, even Yun Qingyue, who wasn't afraid, couldn't help but feel her scalp crawl.
"Break through!" Yun Qingyue decisively commanded.
And this single word "break" seemed to activate a switch, or perhaps due to Jiang Mo's instinctive trust and obedience, she actually charged out of the broken window while holding the Swan Goose.
༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺
The unidentified black threadworms covered the entire mansion.
Perhaps attracted by the previous spiritual energy vortex, the black threadworms had almost all rushed toward the room where Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue were temporarily staying. Once they burst out of the room, they found far fewer worms outside. Upon leaving the courtyard where they had been staying, there were even fewer, and after leaving the mansion, the streets outside were almost completely clean, with only a few stray worms occasionally visible in the roadside vegetation.
Jiang Mo, carrying Yun Qingyue, rushed straight out of the mansion. Only when she saw the "calm" street did she stop, immediately stomping her feet and shaking her clothes vigorously, as if afraid that a worm might have inadvertently fallen onto her.
Fortunately, this didn't happen. The defensive power of the Ice Flame was sufficient against the black threadworms, protecting the two as they safely broke through.
Only after confirming there wasn't a single insect on her did Jiang Mo gradually recover from that panicked emotion. Holding the warm body of the Swan Goose in her arms, she murmured in confusion: "Where did all these worms come from? Why are there so many, and why are they so terrifying?!"
Yun Qingyue knew she still needed time to calm her emotions, so she didn't try to break free, but instead soothingly patted her arm repeatedly. Only when she felt the arm holding her finally relax did she speak: "Those aren't ordinary insects. I tried burning them with Ice Flame and felt they're more like a kind of spirit form..."
"Spirit form?" Jiang Mo murmured, feeling she didn't quite understand this explanation.
Yun Qingyue couldn't explain clearly either, as she didn't recognize this type of worm and was merely guessing based on the feedback from her Ice Flame. So she didn't explain further, only saying: "In any case, they're not to be trifled with, and they're difficult to kill. Let's leave first."
The Crimson Blood Sect had occupied the entire small town, and Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue weren't the only ones staying in the mansion. However, whether those others were too slow to react or simply indifferent, despite the considerable commotion Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue had caused while escaping, no one else had emerged from the mansion... No, forget about coming out to check the situation—not even a single light had been lit in those dark houses.
Since no one seemed concerned about them, Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue naturally wouldn't go door to door to warn people to flee. However, the question of where to go next became a problem—they didn't know where these black threadworms had come from. What if the worms had arrived from outside the town? Then running out might be walking straight into a trap. The demonic ship overhead seemed like a good destination, but unfortunately, the elder had taken the Spirit Nourishing Pill and hadn't returned. Both suspected that Sect Leader Zhu might have lost consciousness; otherwise, why wouldn't she meet with them?
The two exchanged a glance, and Jiang Mo suggested: "Why don't we hide in my Innate Space first, then observe the outside situation from within the space?" Earlier in the room, she had been so frightened by the insects that she'd forgotten about her Innate Space.
This suggestion was quite good, and Yun Qingyue was about to nod in agreement, but before she could, she spat out a mouthful of Ice Flame.
Jiang Mo felt a terrible chill sweep over her shoulder, a feeling of being frozen despite her high cultivation level. Fortunately, she always had complete trust in Yun Qingyue, so she offered no resistance, merely turning her head slightly to look at the burned area.
With this glance, Jiang Mo again felt her entire tiger self was about to collapse—she saw that her shoulder robe was covered with a layer of frost, and atop the white frost, strikingly visible, was a finger-length black threadworm. The Ice Flame clearly couldn't subdue it; even though the worm was completely frozen, it was still struggling vigorously beneath the frost.
Jiang Mo grimaced, unsure what expression to make, then quickly materialized a small knife in her hand and flicked the worm away. Then she watched wide-eyed as the fallen worm broke free from the frost's restraint, quickly regained its vitality, and lunged toward her again!
Wait, was she some kind of delicious target? Why were these worms so persistently attached to her?!
Jiang Mo was inwardly collapsing and immediately wanted to hide in her Innate Space. But she was stopped by Yun Qingyue, who even used her Ice Flame to wrap up the worm and take it along, saying she wanted to study it.