Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes

Chapter Four: Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes

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"Snick."

Diya pinched the end of the small sword between two fingers, planted one foot on the Crimson Blood Python's body, and pulled. A section of the blade emerged, and a spray of blood shot out, splattering across the ground. The sweetly fishy scent of blood immediately filled the air.

After breathing steadily for several seconds, Diya gathered his strength and pulled again. Another section of the small sword came out, followed by another spurt of blood. After repeating this three times, Diya finally pulled the small sword free. Crimson blood immediately gushed out. Without hesitation, Diya dropped down and brought his mouth close to the wound seven inches from the snake's head, swallowing the flowing blood. Instantly, warmth spread through his entire body.

Diya had drunk Crimson Blood Python blood several times long ago, but after more than ten years, he had already forgotten its taste. Now that he tasted it again, its sweetness, faint scorching heat, and slight fishiness left him intoxicated.

"Whew."

Diya straightened up and gulped down several mouthfuls. His stomach was somewhat full, but the blood continued to flow. It pained him greatly to watch it spill away. It was all money, after all. Yet he could not drink any more, nor did he have anything to store it in. He could only watch with regret and heartache as the blood spurted out, scattered across the ground, and was absorbed by the soil.

He closed his eyes painfully. Suddenly, faint sounds reached his ears. Diya opened his eyes and looked toward their source without blinking, utterly focused. Others might have dismissed the sounds as an illusion because they were simply too faint, but Diya trusted his senses.

"Buzz." "Buzz"...

A sharp vibration of air came from ahead, sounding like mosquitoes beating their wings. Diya's expression changed. He grabbed the broken small sword, hurriedly retreated, and ran away. After fleeing roughly a hundred meters, Diya hid behind a massive tree and secretly watched the Crimson Blood Python's corpse.

Clusters of red figures shot out from the depths of the Twilight Rainforest. Looking closely, there was an almost transparent distortion on either side of each red figure, clearly caused by the rapid beating of wings.

There were four red figures in total. After flashing through the air, they stopped above the Crimson Blood Python's corpse, allowing Diya to see them clearly. Each was the size of an adult's head, entirely pink, with a vivid red bloodline running through the center of its body. The sharp mouthparts at their mouths were as thick and long as a middle finger. They looked like enlarged versions of Earth's mosquitoes, except for their different coloring.

These creatures were indeed a kind of mosquito, scientifically known as Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes. As the name implied, they survived by sucking blood. In terms of individual strength, Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes were worlds apart from Crimson Blood Pythons.

However, Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes were social creatures. Under normal circumstances, a Blood-Sucking Mosquito colony contained at least a hundred individuals. Only four appearing this time could only be considered an accident.

Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes survived by feeding on the blood of living creatures. Other than Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes themselves, anything with blood inside it could become their target. Just imagine hundreds or thousands of Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes attacking together—that was a horrifying sight. Of course, it was nothing much to true experts.

Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes were not magical beasts. Like Crimson Blood Pythons, they were still classified as ferocious beasts. They were naturally extremely sensitive to blood. The bloody scent of the Crimson Blood Python must have drawn them here. Fortunately, Diya had been born with powerful spiritual strength, and his five senses far exceeded those of ordinary people. He had detected the sounds early, and after seeing and learning so much over the past decade, he had made the correct decision and left immediately.

The four Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes hovered above the Crimson Blood Python's corpse, their wings buzzing. Then they happily swooped down. Forming a circle, the four Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes inserted their mouthparts into the wound seven inches from the snake's head and began sucking its blood.

Under normal circumstances, Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes could never suck the blood of a Crimson Blood Python. Its hide was extraordinarily tough, and the strength of their mouthparts was simply insufficient to pierce it. No matter how many there were, they could only become food for the Crimson Blood Python.

Yet these four Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes were exceptionally fortunate this time. To them, Crimson Blood Python blood was a tremendous tonic. It was obvious from the red bloodlines on their bodies, which were giving off a faint glow. Though dim, Diya could see it clearly. It was as if something was flowing within them.

The Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes' abdomens also expanded and contracted like beating hearts. After roughly ten minutes, they stopped sucking blood. One by one, they flew up with swollen bellies, swaying unsteadily as though their wings might fail to bear their weight and send them crashing down.

They looked as if they were ten months pregnant. At the Crimson Blood Python's wound, every drop of blood had vanished, as though it had been washed clean with water. Only a finger-wide wound remained, with pale flesh curling outward.

The four Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes hovered in the air, their wings seemingly struggling to keep their bodies aloft. Their abdomens expanded and contracted as enormous amounts of energy flowed through their bloodlines, making them appear rich with blood energy, as if blood might drip from them at any moment.

Diya hid behind the massive tree and held his breath, afraid of attracting the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes' attention. Not to mention four of them—even one would be difficult for him to handle now that he was unarmed.

As Diya sighed inwardly, the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes' bodies stopped contracting and began expanding continuously. Once they had grown to roughly twice their original size, they stopped. Then, a shell-like layer seemed to appear over their bodies before splitting open from the bloodline down both sides.

"Pop"...

The shells on the four Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes fell away like snakes shedding their skins, revealing their new bodies. Their pink coloring had become even brighter, while the bloodlines had turned dark red. Their bodies had doubled in size, their wings had grown longer, and their mouthparts had become two middle fingers in length and somewhat thicker.

Their mouthparts were entirely black, giving off a faint gleam. At their sharp tips, a bloody cold light flickered. Unconcealed horror appeared in Diya's eyes. The Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes had evolved. After absorbing such a large amount of Crimson Blood Python blood, they had evolved into Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes.

Just from their appearance, it was clear how great the difference was before and after mutation. If Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes before mutation could not threaten a Crimson Blood Python, then after mutation, a single Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito could give one more than enough trouble. The Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes had already stepped beyond the ranks of ferocious beasts and entered the realm of magical beasts, though only barely reaching the lowest tier.

Now, Feng Kuang dared not make even the slightest movement. If four Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes spotted him, he might still have a chance to escape. But if Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes spotted him, there would only be one road left: death.

Suddenly, the Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes hovering in midair turned toward Diya's direction, making his heart tighten. Had they discovered me? Should I run now? In an instant, cold sweat seeped from Diya's forehead, and his palms became drenched as well.

"Plop."

A crisp yet indistinct sound suddenly rang out, but both Diya and the Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes heard it clearly. Then came a series of rustling sounds as droplets of water passed through layers of dense leaves and fell to the ground with faint patters.

Diya looked up, and joy immediately appeared on his face. It was raining—and it was a heavy rain. He was saved. Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes feared water. Once soaked, they found it difficult to fly, and Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes were the same. Thus, the four mosquitoes immediately flew back in the direction they had come from, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Once Diya saw the Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes leave, he quickly looked around, ran beneath the Red Snake Fruit Grove, and crawled inside. At least with two layers of cover, he would suffer less from the rain.

Although rain poured outside, the dense leaves blocked most of it, and the Red Snake Fruit Grove provided a second barrier. Very few raindrops reached Diya. Even so, after more than an hour of continuous downpour, his robe was inevitably soaked, and his wet hair clung to his scalp, making him look like a drowned rat.

As soon as the rain stopped, Diya hurried out of the Red Snake Fruit Grove. From his clothes, he took out a black cloth he had prepared beforehand, though it was now damp, and picked the remaining twenty Red Snake Fruits, wrapping them inside. Then, holding the broken small sword, Diya began cutting along the extremely fine white line at the Crimson Blood Python's wound seven inches from its head. His movements were extremely careful. Though cutting along that line would make it easy to open the snake, considering the small sword's toughness, he had no choice but to proceed this way.

It took nearly half an hour before Diya completely cut through the fine line. Several times, the small sword nearly snapped again. After laboriously peeling back the Crimson Blood Python's hide, Diya removed its gallbladder. It was roughly half the size of a fist, crystal-clear emerald green, and gave off a bitter yet refreshing fragrance.

Taking out another damp piece of black cloth, Diya wrapped up the gallbladder. Then he began skinning the entire snake. After finishing everything, Diya was panting heavily as he rested on the ground.

He then looked at the snake meat, his eyes filled with regret and unwillingness. But there was nothing he could do. His body was too weak, and he simply could not carry it away. Helplessly, Diya put away the two black cloth bundles, tied the snake skin around his waist, covered it with his black robe, picked up the four shells shed by the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes, and headed out of the Twilight Rainforest. By then, the sun had already begun to set.