Chapter 569 - 565: Earth Flame Poison Locust

Chapter 569: Chapter 565: Earth Flame Poison Locust

"Damn it, someone else has vanished. That’s the third one!"

Xiahuang Wudi’s face was ashen.

Of the three who had died, two were from the City of Sorrow.

Bai Luoxue and Xiao Shilang also looked grim. After the first two people disappeared, they had all started to be more cautious.

But that person still vanished suddenly right under their noses.

Hong Yu’s expression was uncertain. He had been observing the experts from the War Race the entire time and noticed that they showed no fear or panic from beginning to end, as if they had long been aware of this situation.

This further confirmed the suspicion in Hong Yu’s mind.

’The War Race has known about the Blazing Flame Pure Gold Vein for a long time. They just never excavated it. Instead, they waited until our three factions gathered to fight over the vein before making their move.’

It all gave Hong Yu the scent of a conspiracy.

Just as Hong Yu was considering whether to confront the War Race, Bai Luoxue suddenly turned to him with a dark expression. "Hong Yu, from the very beginning, all the people who have died have been ours. Your Hong Alliance, however, hasn’t suffered a single casualty. Don’t you think you owe us an explanation?"

"That’s right! Why is it that only our people are suddenly disappearing while your Hong Alliance is completely fine?"

"This must be a conspiracy by the Hong Alliance!"

"Fuck, you’re setting us up!"

The experts from the Divine Venerable City and the City of Sorrow erupted in anger, all pointing their fingers at Hong Yu.

At that moment, the members of the Hong Alliance were truly being condemned by all.

"All of you, shut up!"

Xuantian snorted coldly.

Unexpectedly, this only further infuriated the experts from the Divine Venerable City and the City of Sorrow. Just as a conflict was about to break out, Hong Yu raised his head.

He didn’t offer any rebuttal. Instead, he walked toward the experts of the War Race.

Standing before Mang Kun, he said lightly, "Elder Mang, don’t you think you have something to say?"

"Hehe, little friend, I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean!" Mang Kun said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

His single horn began to glow faintly, and a treacherous glint flickered in his eyes.

Hong Yu grinned, and his figure suddenly vanished. He reappeared next to a short War Race expert and slammed his palm toward the man’s head.

"ROAR!"

The War Race expert let out a low roar and hastily retreated. However, Hong Yu noticed that as he pulled back, he wasn’t protecting his head from the attack, but was clutching an embroidered pouch at his waist.

Hong Yu’s gaze was like lightning. A quick scan revealed that every single War Race expert had such an embroidered pouch at their waist.

He instantly became certain.

In an instant, he caught up to the dwarf, and with speed too fast for the eye to follow, he snatched the embroidered pouch from the dwarf’s waist.

The dwarf’s expression changed drastically. "Bastard, give me back the Locust-Dispelling Powder!"

"Locust-Dispelling Powder?"

Hong Yu gave a playful smile, his cold gaze turning to Mang Kun. "Elder Mang, don’t you think you should explain?"

"Hmph!"

Mang Kun snorted, his icy gaze falling on the dwarf. The dwarf trembled in terror and stammered, "Python Leader, I beg for forgiveness!"

Mang Kun said nothing and walked over to the dwarf.

He merely brushed past him.

"PSST!"

The dwarf clutched his neck, his eyes wide with horror, as a column of blood spurted out. He fell to the ground, unwilling to die.

"HISS!"

Everyone was stunned.

This dwarf was an expert comparable to an Unparalleled True Dragon, yet none of them had even seen how Mang Kun attacked before he was killed. This level of skill sent a heavy chill through everyone’s hearts.

They had originally thought Hong Yu would be the most difficult one to deal with. Now, it seemed that Mang Kun, being able to command the outer War Race, truly possessed formidable methods.

Hong Yu met Mang Kun’s gaze, neither servile nor overbearing, completely unafraid. "Elder Mang, an explanation."

"Good, good, good. You humans truly produce an abundance of heroes. You’re much stronger than those other wastes of space!"

Mang Kun roared with laughter.

The "wastes of space" he was referring to were Bai Luoxue and the others. They were furious, but the memory of Mang Kun’s earlier display of power forced them to endure it.

Mang Kun said nonchalantly, "This old man admits he was being a bit selfish before. This Locust-Dispelling Powder is a secret medicine of my War Race. Every member carries some on them daily to repel poisonous insects and creatures. The people who disappeared earlier were, in fact, attacked by the Earth Flame Poison Locusts in this tunnel."

"Earth Flame Poison Locusts?"

Hong Yu frowned.

Mang Kun nodded. "The Earth Flame Poison Locust is a mutation of a bloodthirsty leech that likes to live in underground caves. We didn’t know there were Earth Flame Poison Locusts here beforehand; we just carry the Locust-Dispelling Powder out of habit. You don’t need to doubt this point, little friend!"

"Heh..."

Hong Yu gave a noncommittal smile.

’Those words might be enough to fool a naive child, but that’s about it.’

’The only reason the War Race didn’t warn us was that they wanted to use the Earth Flame Poison Locusts to wear down the strength of our three factions.’

But Hong Yu didn’t expose his lie. Instead, he frowned and said, "Elder Mang, in that case, could you share some of the Locust-Dispelling Powder with us? After all, no one knows what dangers are hidden in this Blazing Flame Pure Gold Vein. We’ve only just entered and we’ve already run into Earth Flame Poison Locusts and lost three people. This will be a great inconvenience for excavating the vein later, won’t it?"

"Hehe, of course!"

Mang Kun gave Hong Yu a deep look, and with a wave of his hand, dozens of embroidered pouches flew out.

’The old fox was obviously prepared for this.’

Everyone received a packet of Locust-Dispelling Powder. Hong Yu secretly compared the powder he had just received with the one he had snatched earlier.

His brow furrowed slightly as he noticed a subtle difference between them.

The difference was extremely subtle. If not for his careful study of the *Divine Medicine Scripture*, Hong Yu would never have been able to detect it. He sneered and tossed the newly acquired embroidered pouch to the ground. "Elder Mang, this packet of Locust-Dispelling Powder isn’t quite the same as the ones you’re carrying, is it?"

"Hm?"

Mang Kun’s expression changed slightly.

This was the first time his composure had wavered.

He clearly hadn’t expected Hong Yu to be able to distinguish the subtle difference between the two and see through his underhanded trick.

But Mang Kun, ever the old fox, laughed to cover his change in expression. "You must be joking, little friend. What difference is there between them? If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to trade with me!"

"Hehe!"

Hong Yu smiled at Mang Kun but said nothing.

This confident demeanor made Mang Kun lose face. The experts of the Hong Alliance naturally stood by Hong Yu’s side.

The people from the Divine Venerable City and the City of Sorrow looked displeased.

The War Race had promised to cooperate with them wholeheartedly, yet now it was clear they had secretly withheld items like the Locust-Dispelling Powder. They, too, turned to confront the War Race.

Seeing this, Mang Kun narrowed his eyes slightly, then slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "Oh, dear me, my apologies! My memory gets muddled at my age. It seems the Locust-Dispelling Powder I just gave you was made last year. Its effectiveness has probably weakened by now. Let me exchange it for a new batch!"

This time, after receiving the Locust-Dispelling Powder, no one immediately put it on. Instead, they all looked at Hong Yu.

After inspecting it, Hong Yu nodded. "Thank you, Elder Mang!"

Only then did everyone else put the pouches on with peace of mind.

The group continued forward.

Only the experts from the War Race would occasionally flash a cold glint in their eyes, their intentions unknown.

They advanced for about ten kilometers.

Suddenly...

The entire tunnel filled with a "SHSHSHSH" sound, as if tens of millions of cockroaches were crawling about.

"What’s going on?"

A chill ran down everyone’s spines. They looked around but couldn’t find anything at all.

"Elder Mang, do you know what’s happening?" Hong Yu asked.

Mang Kun also shook his head blankly. "I don’t know. A commotion like this... something’s strange!"

Suddenly.

"AHH!"

A bloodcurdling scream came from behind.

Everyone quickly turned around to see an expert from the Divine Venerable City covered in fine black threads. The threads were long and slender, just like strands of hair.

About a hundred of these fine threads were crawling over the man’s body.

In the blink of an eye, the magnificent Ultimate True Dragon Level expert was sucked dry of his flesh and blood. His skin shriveled, and with a "BOOM," he disintegrated into dust, leaving not even a speck behind.

"Damn it, it’s the Earth Flame Poison Locusts!"

A War Race expert cried out in alarm.

"Didn’t you say the Locust-Dispelling Powder could repel the Earth Flame Poison Locusts? What’s going on? Did you give us fakes?" Xiahuang Wudi roared, his eyes wide with fury. The swarm of Earth Flame Poison Locusts had drained one person, but they were clearly not satiated and were now chasing after the rest of them.

Mang Kun shook his head. "Impossible. I gave you real Locust-Dispelling Powder. This... this can’t be..."

"AHH!"

Another scream rang out. This time, the one who died was actually a War Race expert.

His body was covered by hundreds of Earth Flame Poison Locusts. In the blink of an eye, his two-meter-tall frame was sucked completely dry and scattered on the ground as fine powder.

"How is this possible?"

"The Locust-Dispelling Powder actually failed?"

At this moment, even the War Race experts began to panic.

"SHSHSHSH!"

The chaotic noise grew louder and louder.

In the ambient glow, the group saw hair-thin black threads emerging from all around the cave.

Some crawled and writhed on the ground, while others dangled down from the rock ceiling above. A rough count suggested there were no fewer than one hundred thousand of them!

These Earth Flame Poison Locusts fell to the ground, crawling and writhing over one another, forming a black torrent that surged toward Hong Yu and the others.

"This is bad! I think we’ve run into the Poisonous Locust Mother Insect," Mang Kun’s expression changed abruptly as he exclaimed in a low voice.

The group retreated, looking at him with confusion.

Mang Kun gave a bitter smile. "The Poisonous Locust Mother Insect is the queen of these Earth Flame Poison Locusts. Normally, the Mother Insect is hibernating and only becomes active once in a very long while. Ten years ago, a Poisonous Locust Mother Insect charged into one of our tribes. An entire tribe of fifty thousand people was massacred overnight, without so much as a bone fragment left behind."

"Then what do we do?"

Everyone was shocked and furious.

A War Race Tribe of fifty thousand would have at least two Primordial Spirit Level War Kings among them.

If even a tribe with War Kings couldn’t withstand the Poisonous Locust Mother Insect, what could they possibly do, trapped in a tunnel with their escape route completely blocked by Earth Flame Poison Locusts?

"Run!"

Mang Kun roared, taking the lead and charging deeper into the tunnel.

The others also snapped to their senses and fled with all their might.

Behind them, more and more black Earth Flame Poison Locusts writhed forward, converging into a black torrent that had already filled the entire tunnel. It surged toward them, its speed increasing by the second.

Some people would run past a spot only to see Earth Flame Poison Locusts dropping down from the ceiling right after.

Everyone could only circulate their Defense Techniques at full power, unleashing powerful attacks to slay the locusts.

But the number of locusts only continued to grow.

Behind them, a raging torrent of locusts gave chase. Above them, deadly Earth Flame Poison Locusts dangled and dropped continuously, like the long, hanging hair of a woman with her head bowed low.

This cast a shadow of death over everyone’s heart.

Even Hong Yu’s forehead was beaded with sweat.

The scene was simply too horrifying—more terrifying than facing Venerable Xiahuang in a duel right now.

Along the way, another five people died tragically in the torrent of Earth Flame Poison Locusts.

They were turned to dust before they could even let out a scream.

Everyone was running for their lives.

But just then...

Mang Kun, who was leading the charge, suddenly showed a look of terror. His loud roar made everyone’s hearts sink...

"No, stop! Everyone, stop!"