Ye Yiqing, who was running in the lead, gradually slowed down and then stopped completely, standing still and staring straight ahead.
"Are we there yet?" Keke peeked out and looked ahead.
Then he froze for a moment.
Everyone except her, Hela, was stunned.
"Ah~ what~"
Ye Ciqing was entangled by more than a dozen vines.
His whole body was flushed, his eyes were glazed over, and he looked like he was completely drunk.
Keke's face turned red and then pale, and occasionally trembled. In short, it was extremely exciting.
Ye Yiqing wasn't much better off, forcibly suppressing her urge to sever ties with Ye Ciqing.
A sword aura slashed out, severing all the vines that were binding Ye Ciqing.
He immediately ran over, caught Ye Ciqing, and gently placed him on the ground.
The severed vines did not wither; instead, they quickly contracted towards one spot.
Ye Yiqing reacted quickly, slashing out with his sword again, a shark fin-shaped sword aura flashing past.
Split the large rock at the source of these vines in two.
Strangely, the stone that had been split in two seemed to come alive and wriggled a couple of times.
Then it slowly dissipated, revealing its true form.
It was a huge pink flower bud, surrounded by vines about the thickness of a wrist.
"What is this thing...?" Keke hid behind Hela, trembling as she looked at the flower bud-shaped Variant that had been cut in half.
Ye Yiqing walked over, bent down, and plucked a pink petal.
The enormous petals were as big as a human face.
But less than ten seconds after being picked, it withered rapidly in Ye Yiqing's hands.
In contrast, the two flower buds still growing on the ground were still oozing green liquid from their cut surfaces.
But there was no sign of it withering at all.
Ye Yiqing's eyes narrowed, and he reached out and grabbed the base of the flower bud.
Then he quickly got up and pulled hard.
The flower buds were pulled out, revealing several thick and vibrant rootstocks.
The rootstock is still connected to the ground at the end, so its exact length is not apparent.
Ye Yiqing gripped the rootstock with his other hand, just about to exert more force.
As if sensing something, the flower bud's rootstock quickly broke off on its own and then instantly shrank into the soil.
Ye Yiqing dropped the flower bud, took out a knife, and slashed the ground, leaving a cut more than ten centimeters deep.
But the rhizome still managed to escape.
"It got away." Ye Yiqing put down the knife and shook his head.
The flower buds on the ground, whose roots had already broken off, withered instantly.
"Huh? Huh! What happened?" Ye Ciqing suddenly woke up and looked around in confusion.
"Oh, you were just bewitched by the Variant. Ye Yiqing just rescued you," Coco, who was sitting beside him taking Keke him, replied.
"Ah?! What about that Variant? Did you kill it?!" Ye Ciqing tensed up instantly and quickly sat up.
"Uh... over there." Keke pointed to the withered flower bud.
Ye Ciqing looked over, was first taken aback, then realized something, and his body trembled violently.
"Then... well, tell me, what did you see me like back then..." Ye Ciqing's neck seemed rusty as he turned to look at Keke.
"Uh..." Keke turned her head away, her face slowly flushing red, "That time you were wrapped up in a bunch of vines, and you even looked like you were enjoying it..."
"Ah--!" Ye Ciqing suddenly clutched his head and roared to the sky, then jumped up in front of everyone.
It darted into the nearby bushes and ran for its life.
"Hey, little brother!" Seeing Ye Ciqing run away, Ye Yiqing reached out to comfort him, but stopped when he saw his retreating figure.
"Please don't tell anyone about my brother's matter today, thank you," Ye Yiqing said to the three women, then bowed to them.
"Good."
"No need to be so polite."
"Yes, we're friends, of course we wouldn't say anything." Keke waved her hand, and both she and Han Xiaoxiao felt that Ye Yiqing was being a bit too polite.
Only Hela, that stubborn fool, nodded in agreement.
"This Variant isn't dead, is it?" Han Xiaoxiao's eyes revealed disgust as she looked at the withered flower bud.
"Nine times out of ten, this is just one branch of it."
The only thing that's uncertain now is whether it has a subject.
"If there's no main body, and it's just many such buds intricately connected together, sharing Life, then it becomes a bit troublesome."
At that moment, Keke and Han Xiaoxiao both looked at Hela.
"It's just like me." Hela's words echoed what the other two were thinking.
"Hmm? What do you mean, 'seems like'?" Ye Yiqing walked over.
Keke began to explain to him, "It was when you went hunting that Hela showed us her abilities."
It was discovered that as long as one part of her body tissue was intact, it could regenerate with some nutrition.
"So, as long as there's even one cell alive, Hela won't die?" Ye Yiqing frowned slightly.
"Uh... you could say that," Keke, somewhat uncertainly.
Ye Yiqing nodded.
"But at least we can now confirm that the strange flower bud should just be a ' Homicide ' level Variant."
Otherwise, with my brother's spiritual power at the ' New Star ' level, he would probably have been killed long ago.
Then, as if remembering something else, he added...
"Also, there's that Variant we encountered in the mist earlier. Its cultivation level is probably also ' Homicide,' but within that level, its combat strength is top-tier."
Everyone nodded.
"Let's think about the rest tomorrow. I should get some rest now."
"Where will we sleep?" Keke looked around, trembling slightly.
"Anyway, don't sleep here. What if that Variant comes back?"
Then Ye Yiqing led the three of them to find a safe spot to rest.
A mist filled the forest, and a huge figure shrouded in mist slowly walked to a large pink flower bud.
The mist surrounding him slowly dissipated, revealing a giant wolf, three meters tall, with bluish-white fur.
It had a cross-shaped scar on its cheek, and a horrifying wound on the left side of its body that was slowly bleeding.
"Oh dear, you're so badly injured~" The figure of a girl slowly appeared in front of the giant wolf. If Ye Ciqing were there, he would recognize her.
This was the very girl who had seduced him back then.
"So weak~ You can't even beat a human of the same level~" The flower fairy girl mocked mercilessly.
The giant wolf lay down in front of the flower fairy and growled angrily.
"Alright, alright, just kidding, don't be angry~" The flower fairy girl chuckled twice, walked to the giant wolf's side, and stroked its fur.
"With such serious injuries, it seems we can't act alone anymore."
Although they didn't know the full extent of this group's strength, they had a general idea.
"Now let's team up and take care of the most powerful one first, then we can deal with the rest."
The giant wolf listened to the flower fairy's plan and nodded slightly.
Ichika and the wolf were silent for a moment, then the flower fairy slowly spoke.
You probably smelled it too, right?
The giant wolf nodded calmly.
"That girl is Variant."
The flower fairy's eyes flashed with coldness, "I hate traitors!"