Care for Her with Your Body Heat

The twenty-one-person team split into two groups.

The ten people at the front were protected by the Spirit Crown released by a tall, pale member of Wu Hen's team.

The ten people at the back were protected by the Spirit Crown released by a man from Cai Jinlin's team, whose face was wrapped in a brown scarf.

Little Stutterer stood in the very middle of the team, holding the Spirit Candle so that both groups could see whether their Spirit Crowns were still holding.

"I... I'm maintaining my Spirit Crown," the pale man said at once. To prove his innocence, he made it shine even more intensely, until it was bright enough for ordinary people to see.

Captain Qin Sheng realized immediately that the masked man at the back of the team hadn't released his Spirit Crown!

"Something's wrong! Ming Yi, Fei Ying, there's a ghost on your side!" Qin Sheng roared.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the Spirit Candle in Little Stutterer's hands went out!

"Click, click, click~~~~~~~~~~"

The densely packed Yin Ants began gathering around them in terrifying numbers. Each one was tiny as a grain, yet possessed hundreds or thousands of times its own strength. Even a tiny White Yin Ant could hit with the force of a bullet when it launched itself at them!

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!!!"

At the very back of the team, a man carrying a backpack who wasn't Awakened was pierced through and rotted away in a matter of seconds. Yin Ants crawled up his body in a frenzy, beginning to devour him through the tiny holes. They ate at a horrifying speed...

Before long, a stark white skeleton stood there. Even reduced to bones, the movements of its body conveyed the pain and despair he'd felt before he died!

"What are you standing around for? Release your crowns and protect yourselves!" shouted the burly man with the black armband.

There were Awakened among the ten people at the back, of course. The moment they realized they weren't covered by a Spirit Crown, they released their own...

But they had underestimated the strength of the White Yin Ants. They were fundamentally different from the Gravel Locusts outside. When a Spirit Crown wasn't bright enough, the ants could use their combined bodies to cover it and swallow up its light!

Releasing a Spirit Crown took time; it had to build from dim to bright.

In fact, by the time they realized they had no protection, the White Bone Yin Ants were already all over the ground beneath them and swarming around them. Even if they released their Spirit Crowns immediately, the crowns wouldn't reach a high enough intensity to drive the ants away before they were devoured completely!

One skeleton after another appeared, from the very back of the team to its middle.

There wasn't even time to stand stunned. Five team members were swallowed by the White Yin Ants!

"It's too late! Get over here!" Captain Qin Sheng hurriedly released his own Spirit Crown, hoping to expand the area it protected.

The White Yin Ants surged like a tide from all directions. Even those covered by Spirit Crowns didn't dare move a single step, terrified that an arm or hand reaching beyond the light would be gnawed down to bone.

Ming Yi and One-Eyed Sister were among those left outside the crowns at the back.

They reacted quickly and ran toward Qin Sheng and Wu Hen at once.

But the Yin Ants seemed to possess intelligence. They rapidly piled themselves into a white Tomb Wall, sealing Ming Yi and Fei Ying outside the Spirit Crown...

"No! No, I don't want to die!" screamed a woman in the team whose strength was at the Night Gloom level.

A wisp of Spirit Crown light bloomed from her, like the faint flame of a candle amid the densely packed white tide of ants.

But the powerful Evil Breath all around her, combined with the ants' relentless, demonic onslaught, made it extraordinarily difficult for an Awakened to ignite a Spirit Crown, like trying to light one damp candle after another. Even if they managed to release one, it would be snuffed out at once!

The woman with Night Gloom strength held out for only a few seconds. In the end, her entire face was crawling with White Bone Yin Ants. These merciless creatures burrowed into her five orifices, stripped away her skin and flesh, and left only the shape of her skull!

Ming Yi glanced back and caught sight of the horrifying scene.

She drew a deep breath, her bright eyes sweeping over the surging Yin Ants all around...

Ming Yi realized that releasing her Spirit Crown wouldn't protect her now. The white Tomb Wall in front of her had completely blocked the way, but she also noticed that the buildings along the side street were more sparse!

With her spiritual perception, she could clearly see the Yin Ants' movements as they "painted" the area. In fact, their numbers in any given area were limited. The towering Tomb Wall before her hadn't appeared out of nowhere; the ants had been drawn from the surrounding "buildings of Yin Province"!

"Fei Ying, come with me!" Ming Yi grabbed One-Eyed Sister Fei Ying's hand and dashed toward the side street!

The white Tomb Wall towered like the walls of an ancient palace. At a glance, it seemed impossible to climb over.

But after Ming Yi and Fei Ying had moved about a hundred meters sideways, they saw that the deadly wall had a weak spot: this section was covered by only a thin layer of White Bone Yin Ants!

"Blast through it!" Ming Yi said to Fei Ying.

"Okay!" Fei Ying stayed calm in the crisis. She held out her palm, which was quickly covered by a layer of mechanical material.

The mechanical glove began to heat up. With an angry shout from Fei Ying, her entire palm erupted in searing flames. The fire surged like a crimson giant serpent toward the thin wall ahead!

At the same time, the white road beneath their feet had become the Man-Eating Heavenly Demon's long tongue. Countless Yin Ants swarmed onto their bodies, their tiny forms striking with the force of bullets. Ming Yi and Fei Ying were caught in a storm of gunfire.

"Get the hell away from me!" Ming Yi's temper flared. Armor as thin and translucent as Silkworm Wings appeared across her skin, radiating a vermilion glow!

The surging tide of Yin Ants was unstoppable. Other Awakened could barely withstand it for a few seconds before being reduced to skeletons, but Ming Yi's burst of power could briefly hold them back.

Ming Yi swung her arms like a pair of enormous flaming wings. Blazing scarlet fire transformed into a Fire Hurricane, crashing into the army of Yin Ants that had become a gigantic demonic tongue!

In an instant, the ants turned to ash. The white ants covering an entire stretch of road were wiped out, and the buildings on both sides, constructed from Yin Ants, caught fire. The side street looked blackened and ruined, as if it had gone up in flames!

"Ming Yi, they're constantly gathering to rebuild the wall!" Fei Ying unleashed scorching heat from both palms.

But after the heat destroyed the outermost layer of ants, the entire Tomb Wall quickly gathered itself together again...

Yin Ants from other parts of the wall were shifting sideways toward this weak spot. It was as if they shared an advanced hive mind, allowing them to coordinate their movements at astonishing speed!

"Watch this! I'm breaking through that wall no matter what!" Ming Yi took another deep breath and raised both hands high, gathering all the heat in her body above her head!

Brilliant flames gathered like feathers. In an instant, a mighty Fire Sparrow appeared above Ming Yi!

With her bright eyes fixed straight ahead, Ming Yi hurled the Fire Sparrow with all her strength!

The Fire Sparrow swept up a scorching blaze and smashed into the imposing white Tomb Wall...

The outermost Yin Ants turned to ash the moment the Fire Sparrow touched them.

But countless more Yin Ants continued rushing toward the spot without hesitation. Layer after layer burned away, only for new layers to pile themselves up!

The Fire Sparrow had sunk more than halfway into the Tomb Wall. They could almost see through to the other side, but a white web of ants quickly wove itself together. Then even more Yin Ants covered it, forming a thin wall.

From every direction, vast numbers of Yin Ants kept rushing forward. They filled the breach in no time, and moments later, another impenetrable wall rose before them, as despairing as the walls of a tomb!

"Click, click, click~~~~~"

Billions of Yin Ants let out a chilling chorus, like the shrill laughter of demons.

Clearly, they were telling the Awakened who had entered Yin Province that even the strongest could not escape death!

"Quick, this way!!"

Suddenly, Wu Hen's voice rang out from where they had first been.

"Come inside my Spirit Crown!" Captain Qin called out loudly.

The Tomb Wall in that area was indeed thick and impenetrable, but that also meant the wall along the main road was thinner.

After releasing the Fire Sparrow, Ming Yi hadn't expected it to break through the wall at all. She grabbed Fei Ying and immediately sprinted back the way they'd come!

The deadly Tomb Wall across the main road was now very thin, and Captain Qin Sheng's Spirit Crown had grown bright and dense. As he reached the white wall, the White Yin Ants scattered before him...

Wu Hen and Captain Qin ran toward Ming Yi and Fei Ying as well, and Ming Yi and Fei Ying understood at once. They raced toward them from the other side!

"Click, click, click~~~~~~~~~"

The Yin Ants' hive mind had probably been pushed so hard by the humans' maneuver that its CPU was overheating!

They fell into momentary disarray. The white wall in front of them began to tremble, and their movements were clearly no longer perfectly synchronized.

But the vast army of Yin Ants gathered in another area soon realized that the humans were using a diversion. In their haste, they dismantled themselves and reshaped their bodies, finally forming a huge black maw. Abandoning their original "wall-building" form, they lunged at Ming Yi and Fei Ying!

Unfortunately, despite their overwhelming momentum, they were still a little too slow.

Ming Yi and Fei Ying reached Captain Qin Sheng and Wu Hen safely, their bodies quickly vanishing into the area enveloped by the dense Spirit Crown...

"Click, click, click~~~~~~~~~"

The gaping black maw was right on top of them. The space around Wu Hen and the others became a tomb of white ants, with the Spirit Crown's light like a torch inside it. The area it illuminated was just large enough for the four of them.

The Spirit Crown's light flickered, ready to be snuffed out at any moment by this terrifying army of Yin Ants. Yet the surging, merciless ants stopped short. Though darkness stretched without end, they still seemed to fear the Spirit Crown's light and didn't venture in at all.

Fei Ying, the One-Eyed Sister, let out a long breath.

They had escaped death at last.

She couldn't help looking at Ming Yi.

Thank goodness Ming Yi was at the Thunder Radiance level. Her fighting power was astonishing, and she'd managed to hold out for a while under the onslaught of that terrifying swarm. Otherwise, like the other eight members of their team, they would have been reduced to bones in seconds.

Wu Hen gently patted Ming Yi's delicate shoulder and comforted her. "Stay close to me. It's all right, it's all right."

Nearby, Captain Qin looked puzzled. "What's the point of telling her to stay close to you when it's my Spirit Crown protecting her?"

Wu Hen immediately explained, "Captain, that's a bit of a sexist way to look at it. For a woman, a house and a car to shelter her from the elements are important, of course, but a man's constant gift of body heat is what truly comforts a girl's heart."

Recommended: a new book by the great urban-fiction author Lao Shi.