Taking Action

Sun Haoran's shout from the well carried the desperation of a man driven into a corner. Hua Yin's eyes sharpened. Without a moment's hesitation, he rushed back to the edge.

He dropped to one knee, steadied his right wrist with his left hand, and aimed down the vertical shaft.

His breathing settled, and his gaze turned hawk-sharp. It was only a standard-issue pistol, yet in his hand it seemed to carry a cold, murderous intent.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The gunshots rang out again, this time in a steady rhythm, each with a clear target.

Every shot struck a Rotten-Toothed Rat trying to leap at the climbing Sun Haoran, or one that had crowded near the ladder and was about to scramble up.

The spirit-disrupting rounds burst into faint blue light amid the swarm. They were not lethal, but they were enough to make the rats they hit seize up and shriek in pain, throwing their attack into disarray.

Now and then, a bullet struck a rat squarely in its scarlet eye or open mouth, spraying filthy blood.

Sun Haoran heard bullets whistling overhead. Below him, the swarm's assault faltered, and the pressure on him eased sharply.

He seized the chance to climb with hands and feet, shouting between ragged breaths, "Not bad, White Butterfly! That's some shooting! Fast, accurate, and ruthless! Where'd you practice? A rookie at the bureau range wouldn't shoot like that!"

Hua Yin picked off another rat just as it was about to bite Sun Haoran's heel. The corner of his mouth lifted almost imperceptibly, but his eyes stayed fixed below. "I've practiced. In CF."

He paused, as if that was not quite precise enough, then added with a rare hint of preference, "I like the AK better."

"Pfft—!"

Sun Haoran nearly coughed up blood. Caught between laughter and despair, he said, "An online game?! And an AK? You little..."

Before he could finish, he finally caught the rim of the well. Under cover of another round of Hua Yin's precise shots, he hauled himself onto the ground, clumsy but safe. He collapsed there, gasping, the scratches on his arms and calves burning.

But the danger was not over.

The Rotten-Toothed Rats below seemed utterly enraged by their fallen companions and the escape of prey already within their grasp.

They no longer confined themselves to biting. Using their sharp claws, they swarmed up the vertical metal ladder like a rising tide!

There were so many that the sight made one's scalp crawl.

Farther off, deep in the pipes, still more squeaks were converging.

"This is bad!"

Sun Haoran's face changed. He struggled to get up.

His Spirit-Tracking Nose was suited to tracking targets and sensing his surroundings, but it had little offensive power. Staying to hold back a swarm of this size would be suicide.

He looked around, spotted the van parked nearby, and said urgently, "We have to drive the van over and block the well! It'll buy us some time!"

Just then, Hua Yin emptied his last magazine.

The pistol gave an empty click.

The first few rats had already poked their heads out. Their scarlet eyes locked on the two men beside the well, fangs bared.

Sun Haoran's heart sank.

Hua Yin looked at the empty gun in his hand, then at the swarm pouring from the well like a black fountain. His gaze remained calm.

After only an instant of thought—perhaps less than a second—he made his decision.

He stepped forward, slid the empty pistol into its holster, and stood in front of the gasping Sun Haoran, who was trying to reach the van.

Then he opened his right hand toward the surging swarm.

Pale light erupted above his palm!

It was no gentle glow, but cold fire that looked almost solid!

The next moment, with a faint flutter that seemed to come from the depths of the void, countless Pale Bewitching Butterflies surged from his palm like a broken flood of pallid light!

There were so many that they instantly formed a churning pale cloud before him, made of countless beating wings!

Compared with the earlier test, the butterflies had taken on more solid forms. The faint jade lines along their wings, inherited from the Jade-Bladed Mantis, now seemed charged with power. Keen spiritual light flowed through them, turning every wing into a tiny, cold, deadly blade!

Hua Yin's face visibly paled, and veins stood out faintly at his temples. Summoning and sustaining so many butterflies at once placed an enormous strain on his mental strength, though he had just entered the Late Meridian-Opening Realm. Waves of weakness also trembled through his meridians.

But his gaze was cold, his will iron.

He gave a silent command.

The pale cloud of butterflies moved!

Rather than scatter, they gathered into a surging, spiraling torrent. Like a self-aware storm of death, they poured down upon the well and the Rotten-Toothed Rats that had already climbed out!

Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip—!

There was no earth-shaking roar, only a dense succession of faint, teeth-grating pops, as though countless wafer-thin blades were slicing through hide and brittle bone at once!

The first few dozen Rotten-Toothed Rats to emerge from the well managed only half a scream before the pale swarm engulfed them.

The instant their bodies touched the butterflies, it was as if they had been thrown into a high-speed meat grinder made of countless sharp blades!

Fur, flesh, bone...

As the wings swept past, gleaming with keen jade light, everything was effortlessly torn apart, broken down, and cut into countless tiny pieces!

The butterflies did not pause. They flooded back down through the mouth of the well!

The shaft and nearby pipes instantly became an efficient, horrifying slaughterhouse!

Pale light flashed and spun wildly inside, accompanied by the brief screams of countless Rotten-Toothed Rats—screams of utter despair that were swiftly cut short!

"Screee—!!!"

The cries came thick and fast, then merged into a chaotic noise that made the blood run cold.

Sun Haoran sat slumped on the ground, staring at the scene with his mouth hanging open, too stunned to close it.

He had seen plenty of powerful offensive abilities: fire, frost, lightning, shock waves...

But he had never seen anything so strange, so quiet, and so chillingly efficient at cutting things apart.

In his eyes, those beautiful, pale butterflies were now no different from the merciless scythe of death.

In less than five minutes.

No more rats climbed out of the well.

The skin-crawling sounds of cutting and screaming below rapidly faded, then ceased.

The pale butterflies surged back out of the well like a receding tide. There seemed to be fewer of them, but each looked more solid, and the jade light along their wings seemed a little brighter, as though they had absorbed nourishment.

They circled Hua Yin obediently for a moment, then dissolved into specks of pale starlight and sank into his body.

Hua Yin swayed and nearly lost his footing. His face was white as paper, his forehead drenched in cold sweat. Dizziness washed over him in waves from the strain on his mental strength.

He managed to stay upright and looked toward the well. Only splashes of suspiciously colored, viscous fluid and scattered scraps remained around it. Not a single whole rat was left.

Only then did the squeal of brakes and the clatter of hurried footsteps come from the distance.