Previously, seeing Yu Aoqing and the others so flustered and scrambling to deal with them, Yang Kai had assumed these strange insects were difficult to handle. But now, after taking action himself, he discovered this wasn't the case.
Perhaps for Yu Aoqing's group they were troublesome, but for him, it was almost effortless.
The little creatures' wings were incredibly fragile, and their level was low. By charging head-on, Yang Kai didn't even need to strike; his scorching Yang Qi alone was enough to burn their wings away.
Once they lost the ability to fly, they posed virtually no significant threat to him.
Their only advantages were their sheer numbers and their ability to burrow holes, moving swiftly underground. They frequently erupted from beneath Yang Kai's feet to launch surprise attacks.
Employing his movement technique, Yang Kai quickly broke free from the encirclement of insects. After rushing forward several li, he suddenly stopped again.
He realized a hazy fog now blocked his path ahead—the same kind of mist that had just dissolved that ordinary person!
What was going on? Had he run in a circle back to where he started? Yang Kai wasn't certain. He hurriedly began running along the edge of the fog, hoping to find a way to break through.
But half an hour later, when a set of skeletal remains appeared before him, his expression changed involuntarily.
These bones belonged to the ordinary person who had dissolved earlier.
Unwilling to give up, he continued running. A short while later, Yang Kai's face darkened.
Not far ahead lay another corpse, but this one was mangled beyond recognition, its features completely destroyed. However, the clothes on the corpse were familiar to Yang Kai—they were the uniform of a Cloud Mist Sect disciple.
Judging by the weapon beside the body, this person was precisely the Qi Yuan whom Yang Kai had thrown out earlier!
After running for so long, he had merely been circling! The area within a radius of over ten li was entirely enveloped by that highly toxic fog.
Only now did Yang Kai realize those strange insects weren't as easy to handle as they appeared. While his scorching Yang Qi could indeed destroy them effortlessly, he had no idea what abilities they possessed to have used that poisonous mist to seal off such a vast area.
Unless he could break through the fog, there was no way out.
Could he withstand the mist's corrosive effect? Yang Kai felt uncertain. After thinking for a long time, he decided to test it.
Approaching the edge of the fog, his expression grim, he slowly extended one hand, pushing the True Yang Technique to its absolute limit. He even activated his Unyielding Pride.
The moment his fingertips touched the mist, Yang Kai retracted his hand lightning-fast.
A sizzling sound came from his fingertips. Lowering his gaze, Yang Kai's face sank.
The flesh at the tips had been nearly melted away, blood seeping from the wound. Agonizing pain shot through him. Without hesitation, Yang Kai sliced off that piece of flesh.
Tearing a strip from his clothes, he bandaged the wound tightly. Taking a deep breath, he surveyed his surroundings.
He and Yu Aoqing's group had separated nearby just moments ago, but where were they now? With the fog surrounding them, no one could escape. There were no other corpses here—so where had they gone?
*Rustle, rustle... Bzzz, bzzz...*
Countless strange insects, as if sensing blood in the water, once again closed in on Yang Kai.
Yang Kai's expression shifted. He forced his True Yang Energy out of his body and charged headlong into the swarm of insects.
Just as before, it was effortless. Once their wings burned away, the insects tumbled from the sky like rain. Yet their numbers showed no sign of decreasing; in fact, they grew denser. Heaven knew how many insects were hidden here—blanketing the sky and earth, too numerous to count.
Yang Kai ran and fought simultaneously, circling the area several times, but still saw no sign of an exit. A trace of anxiety began to build within him.
Although he had a considerable amount of Yang Liquid stored in his dantian, enough to sustain such a slaughter, his physical stamina was finite. If he exhausted his stamina, no amount of Yang Liquid would save him; he would only be waiting for death.
"Young Master, demonic beasts of this swarm type almost always have a queen insect, much like bees," Di Mo spoke up at this critical moment.
"What do you mean?" Yang Kai asked hastily amidst the fray.
"This old slave means, if you can subdue that queen insect, it might be possible to escape this place."
"Do you know where the queen is?"
"Ahem... this old slave does not know."
Yang Kai had no patience to rebuke Di Mo for stating the obvious, but a possibility had just occurred to him.
Perhaps... these insects weren't trying to kill him, but were instead engaging in a hunt!
The disappearance of Yu Aoqing's group without leaving any corpses was proof enough—those Cloud Mist disciples had very likely been captured and taken somewhere by these insects.
And that location would be the insects' nest!
Bees operated similarly; some went out to gather honey and brought it back for the queen to consume. Could he interpret the insects' behavior as gathering honey?
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. A daring plan began to take shape in his mind.
Carefully weighing the plan's chances of success, Yang Kai finally retracted his True Yang Energy abruptly. Gasping for breath, he looked towards the swarm of insects.
When Yang Kai stopped resisting, the insects surprisingly ceased their attack and instead surrounded him in layer upon layer.
"Young Master, what are you doing?" Di Mo was shocked.
"Running an experiment!" Yang Kai said, his face grim. Since he couldn't escape the fog surrounding them anyway, continuing to fight would only lead to exhaustion and death. Better to use this trick while he still had the strength to resist.
If his guess was correct, there might at least be a slim hope of survival.