This Monk Can't Take It

Hearing that, Wu Hen's heart warmed.

So the beauty had come all this way to find him, afraid that he'd been infected by the Pupil Worm!

"When someone is infected for the first time, the Pupil Worm is still at the egg stage. If they use this Five-Colored Liquid in time, they can be saved. But if they keep sleeping in the Soul-Resting Tree, they'll quickly fall under its control. Given enough time, their eyesight will deteriorate and their sense of smell will grow sharper. By then, they'll hardly be human anymore," Ming Yi explained.

"Large numbers of people from the homeland have fallen into otherworlds. They're desperately searching for a way back, and in their eyes, these parasitic Soul-Resting Trees are a lifeline... They're probably all going to be infected." Wu Hen shuddered at the thought.

The Nuwa Divine Terminal was already on the brink of collapse. To make matters worse, for the sake of a brief respite, its people would bring large numbers of parasitic Pupil Worms into the human homeland. If no one stopped them in time, it wouldn't be long before the whole homeland was eaten away!

"Our squad's mission is to destroy the Eyed-Insect Trees in the Wasteland. Since you're all right, I should rejoin my unit," Ming Yi said, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"Ming Yi, it's not that simple." Wu Hen immediately called out to stop her.

"Do you have information?" Ming Yi asked.

"I ran into an Insect-Eyed Half-Human in the homeland. They were deliberately destroying human medicine stockpiles. They must be plotting something big." Wu Hen told Ming Yi what he'd deduced.

Ming Yi's eyes widened. She clearly hadn't realized that!

Destroying the Eyed-Insect Trees would only cut off the source of the parasites. But by now, plenty of Insect-Eyed Half-Humans had probably already infiltrated the human homeland. If they weren't dealt with, the entire Nuwa Divine Terminal would rot away!

"Wu Hen, this is no small matter. Our squad has to find the Pupil Worm Mother Tree in the time we have and stop the widespread infection. That would leave us free to deal with the Insect-Eyed Half-Humans who've already infiltrated our homeland... Can you help us?" Ming Yi's tone grew more serious.

"You came all this way for someone you'd only met once. Of course I'll do everything I can to help." This time, Wu Hen didn't refuse.

On the one hand, he hadn't expected Ming Yi to have come specifically to save him. On the other, the Insect-Eyed Half-Humans were already threatening the area where his family lived.

"Good. I'm glad I came to see you." Ming Yi smiled. "I recently acquired this Yuan You. Take it."

She held out a glowing orb, which shone like a pearl in her palm.

"For me?" Wu Hen asked in surprise.

Only those who had traveled through otherworlds knew how valuable a Yuan You was.

Ming Yi probably had only this one to her name, and she was still giving it to him.

"This will let you return safely to the homeland. You can also absorb it to strengthen yourself, so you'll at least be able to protect yourself when you're in danger," Ming Yi said.

"Miss Ming Yi, you've been so good to me. In my next life, I'll serve you like an ox or a horse..." Wu Hen was touched.

"Is that the kind of service you'd be happy to give for a little grass?" Ming Yi asked, playfully blinking her lively eyes.

Wu Hen was at a loss for words.

"Uh... Holy Maiden, please control yourself." Wu Hen could only turn into Tang Monk and silently chant, My lady, don't be like this. This monk can't take it!

Ming Yi's laughter rang out like a lark's.

She said no more and tossed the Green Cicada into the air.

The Green Cicada unfolded from within, transforming from an ordinary-sized insect into a Mechanical Green Eagle with a wingspan of more than two meters. It was quite a sight.

Ming Yi leaped up and grabbed the eagle with one hand, revealing an astonishing waist-to-hip ratio. The glossy armor-like suit she wore made her all the more captivating.

The Mechanical Green Eagle beat its wings and soared over the forest, carrying her slender, graceful figure away until she disappeared into the clouds...

But Ming Yi's bewitching laughter still tugged at Wu Hen's heart, leaving him with the urge to "never attend morning court again."

"You're Wu Hen, Wu Hen from Class Eight?" After a long while, Yang Qin finally asked the question she'd been holding in.

Yang Qin had thought this guy looked more and more like her classmate, but hadn't dared ask. Not until that powerful beauty had called him by name.

"I'd only wanted to get along with you as an ordinary person. I guess I can't keep it up anymore. The high school student thing was just a cover. I'm an elite member of the Human Gratitude Alliance. I went undercover at school because I had a difficult mission to carry out," Wu Hen said.

Yang Qin was stunned!

What was the Human Gratitude Alliance???

And he really was her classmate, Wu Hen!

After all those times she'd embarrassed herself and wet herself in front of him, how could she ever show her face again?

"Wu Hen... After you left school, I was actually really worried about you..." Yang Qin blurted out.

"Forget that for now. I have an important task for you. You woke up at the school, right?" Wu Hen asked.

"Yes." Yang Qin nodded quickly.

"I need you to wake up in the homeland right away and find out something important: who woke up from the Soul-Resting Tree before us?" Wu Hen said.

Wu Hen remembered that after the Eye-Patterned Man destroyed the Shangxia medicine depot, he'd mentioned the school's Medicine Warehouse as the final target.

So the best way to find the Insect-Eyed Half-Humans in the human homeland was to lie in wait.

The school was guarded by the Order Maintenance Force, so outsiders couldn't get in.

That meant the only way for the parasitic group to infiltrate the school was through the students who'd fallen into otherworlds. They could then use the opportunity to destroy the school's Medicine Warehouse!

"I was the one who told them they could return through the Soul-Resting Tree... I've made a terrible mistake..." Yang Qin realized that almost everyone who'd woken up through the Soul-Resting Tree had probably been infected by Pupil Worms.

"Now's not the time to blame yourself. If you hadn't told them, someone else would have. Their goal is to infect as many people as possible," Wu Hen said.

"What do we do now?" Yang Qin was completely panicked. She could hardly think straight.

"We get involved and catch them in the act. They haven't made their move yet, and you don't want the whole school turning into a Pupil Worm paradise, do you?" Wu Hen said.

Yang Qin shuddered at the thought of the ball formed from thousands of curled-up larvae. If so many people were infected, her body in the homeland wouldn't stay alive for long either.

"But I'm scared. I... I really can't lie in the Soul Flower again..." Yang Qin said, trembling all over.

Right now, the only way she could return to the homeland was by lying in the Soul-Resting Tree again.

But if she did, she'd definitely be infected...

"Ming Yi said there's an incubation period. If you wash your eyes with Five-Colored Liquid before it ends, you'll be fine. We've been classmates for two and a half years. When have I ever lied to you? I promise that if you help me get the list I need, I'll clear out the dormant parasites right away and protect you on the way to the Nuwa Divine Terminal." Wu Hen began making promises to his classmate.

Yang Qin had no choice. Her body in the homeland was in danger, and so many students had been infected by Pupil Worms. If she didn't fight with all her might alongside Ming Yi and Wu Hen, she was as good as dead!

"The duty of protecting our alma mater is up to us!" Wu Hen continued to encourage her.

"Yeah. There are still so many classmates and teachers. We can't let anything happen to them." In the end, Yang Qin took the bait.

They stepped into the stone valley once more.

Wu Hen and Yang Qin had both awakened, and could now clearly see the white worms crawling all over the Soul-Resting Tree...

Honestly, the sight looked just like a huge grave mound. The people lying on the Soul Flowers were like corpses sealed in coffins, while white maggots crawled all over their bodies and burrowed inside them!

The Wasteland was truly terrifying to the bone!

Wu Hen was holding up all right. After all, he had no plans to return to the homeland this way.

Yang Qin's legs had gone weak, and with every step she hesitated.

If he'd known it would be like this, Wu Hen shouldn't have awakened Yang Qin at all.

So many things in the Wasteland seemed to deceive and mislead. Before you awakened, they all looked so beautiful and harmless. But once the truth was laid bare and you understood what you were seeing, the sight was truly unbearable!

With Wu Hen's enthusiastic help, Yang Qin still climbed into a Soul Flower.

Before she'd even fallen asleep, she already felt things crawling all over her body.

But as the petals closed, Yang Qin was quickly lulled to sleep, and her consciousness was carried back to her original homeland.

After seeing Yang Qin off, Wu Hen hurried away from the stone valley too. He found a safe place that looked scenic and peaceful, then crushed the Yuan You in his hand.

This was the first time Wu Hen had used a Yuan You while fully conscious.

In an instant, Wu Hen felt as if his soul had left his body.

Bathed in light and enveloped by a gentle spring, he could even feel wisps of energy gathering inside his soul, slowly washing and reshaping it...

This was a soul-origin power that transcended the limits of his current body. No matter what body he inhabited in the future, this profound soul-origin energy would remain!

"This Yuan You really is making me stronger!" Wu Hen could feel it clearly.

At the same time, he felt an apparition covering his right hand. In his out-of-body state, Wu Hen could finally see a little creature clinging inside his body: a witch dragon patterned in alternating black and white...

The little fellow swam around anxiously, expressing its displeasure!

"Aw, Xiao Yi, stop staring at my Yuan You... I have to get back home sometime."

"Just think, there are even more delicious half-humans in the homeland!"

"What can I say? Go ahead and gobble them up. There'll be plenty!"

Only after hearing Wu Hen say this did Xiao Yi calm down.

Suddenly, the ghostly glow around him grew brighter and brighter, completely enveloping Wu Hen.

The next moment, as if summoned by something ancient, Wu Hen's soul shot into the sky and sped toward a sacred heavenly realm!

The whole process was incredibly comfortable, like a baby being lovingly cradled in a cradle. It was a peaceful, deeply satisfying sleep...

So this was what a proper soul bridge felt like—the blessing and summoning of the Nuwa Divine Terminal!

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