"Patter, patter..."
Sand leeches fell onto the carpet like raindrops. The moment they landed, their segmented bodies writhed away in every direction, leaving trails of foul-smelling slime.
"By the Deer of Abundance, what are those things?!" The Great Leader shot to his feet, unable to hide the horror in his voice.
Before he could finish speaking, the Scarface Elder shoved him aside and kicked over the long table. A clay bowl of melon hit the floor with a crash, splashing juice everywhere!
Outside, several white-robed guards peered in from the colonnade, confused, but the Scarface Elder shouted at them.
"Stay back! Those things can spread! Give me a moment to cast a containment spell!"
The white-robed soldier clutched his chest and kept retching. His bloodshot eyes bulged farther, making him look like a vengeful ghost. Sand leeches with sharp mouthparts burrowed out from beneath his eyes, waving their ridged, segmented bodies.
"Can he be saved?" Xia Lun's eyelid twitched as he glanced at White Line. "If not, I'll just burn him."
White Line said nothing. She pulled a spray can from her pocket, sprang forward, and vaulted lightly over the table before giving the soldier a quick spray.
"Pfft—"
A pungent white mist spread through the air. The thrashing sand leeches shriveled the instant it touched them, thin streaks of blood seeping from their plump, glossy bodies.
The white-robed soldier convulsed as if electrocuted, saliva spraying out along with fragments of sand leech. After a few breaths, his breathing suddenly steadied.
White Line had just breathed a sigh of relief when a sand leech lurking in the carpet opened its jaws wide and launched itself into the air!
Bang!
A muzzle flash flared and vanished. The sand leech burst into a cloud of blood in midair!
White Line turned in