Chapter One Hundred Eleven: But I’m in No Hurry

“What?” The mockery at the corner of Kuang Shao’s mouth deepened. “Lost your nerve to speak?”

“You…” Xiao Daopeng glared furiously at Kuang Shao, but still said nothing more.

He truly did not dare continue. He had begun to wonder whether it really was a Zerg.

Kuang Shao shot him a glance. In the end, he left him a little dignity and did not provoke him further.

Zhan Yu then asked Xuan Xuan, “Are you certain it’s a Zerg?”

They had not noticed anything at first, but someone from the girls’ dormitory had suddenly reported that no one was in Wanqi Xuanxuan’s room.

After all, she was Kuang Shao’s junior apprentice and also the disciple of the girl from the Star Network, so Kuang Shao had hurried to find Zhan Yu.

After thinking it over, they decided the most likely possibility was that Wanqi Weihao and the others were involved.

They came straight over, only to hear the news from outside. Zhan Yu looked at Wanqi Xuanxuan in surprise. She seemed to possess extraordinary strength. If he had not sensed Lou Yitong’s presence from outside, he would hardly have been able to confirm that anyone was inside.

He could not sense Wanqi Xuanxuan’s spiritual power at all.

Just like her teacher, Zhan Yu thought with a frown. Their spiritual power was incredibly formidable.

Xuan Xuan nodded. “It’s basically confirmed.”

“Then why is this Zerg so small?” Zhan Yu asked, puzzled. They had indeed discovered many mutated Zerg on the Zerg side, but they had never encountered this particular type.

Xuan Xuan shook her head. No one could say for certain what mutation might produce.

“What does it do? What is its primary function?” Kuang Shao was more concerned about that.

“We haven’t determined that yet.” Xuan Xuan had not studied it. She was only making a guess. “If I’m not mistaken, it should affect a person’s spiritual power, monitor and control the host, or perhaps even directly control the host.”

Zhan Yu frowned. That possibility seemed unlikely.

“How certain are you?”

A bug this small, even if it possessed a certain degree of intelligence, should not be capable of controlling a person.

But if such a possibility truly existed—and if parasitism was so simple—then Zhan Yu had to admit that they were facing serious trouble.

Xuan Xuan shrugged. If he did not believe her, so be it. She had no desire to explain.

Zhan Yu seemed different from the person he was on the Star Network. He was colder toward others and not nearly as trusting. Just as Wanqi Weihao and the others had said, he truly was a Grim Reaper.

Xuan Xuan gave a delicate yawn. She was beginning to feel sleepy. Perhaps they should come back tomorrow. With Zhan Yu and the others still here, having so many people around was troublesome.

“Let’s go back.” She called out to Lou Yitong and prepared to leave.

Lou Yitong quickly nodded. She was afraid that Zhan Yu and Kuang Shao would blame Xuan Xuan. After all, they had left the dormitory in the middle of the night and even appeared inside the boys’ dormitory.

When Xiao Daopeng saw Xuan Xuan about to leave, he panicked. The thing on his head had not been dealt with yet.

Oh, right. She had nearly forgotten.

Xuan Xuan walked over and took a look. She pulled out a silver needle, pierced the skin around it to draw some blood, then sniffed it.

“It’s fine. The venom isn’t very strong. I’ll deal with it when I have time. It will take a while after entering your body before it becomes active, so there’s no need to worry.”

It was poisonous?

And it would become active later?

And she was telling him not to worry?

Xiao Daopeng immediately grew frantic. “No. Deal with it now.”

“You deal with it, then?” Xuan Xuan asked. She was counting on this bug to help her locate the thing connected to the spiritual-power network. How could she remove it now?

The one in her hand also needed to be kept as a spare. Besides, it seemed to possess greater toxicity and vitality inside the human body.

“You do it!” If he had been capable of dealing with it himself, he would have done so already.

Who knew whether this thing would release poison after it was removed?

And it was hidden in his head. Although it was close to the surface, who could say exactly what was going on?

He did not dare touch something like this recklessly.

“It isn’t affecting you for the moment. Don’t be anxious,” Xuan Xuan comforted him. This specimen still needed to be kept alive.

Xiao Daopeng gritted his teeth. “I am anxious.”

“But I’m not,” Xuan Xuan replied.

Xiao Daopeng looked ready to gnash his teeth to pieces, yet he could do nothing at all about Xuan Xuan.

Kuang Shao glanced at Zhan Yu’s dark expression. Xuan Xuan had ignored him completely for so long, and Zhan Yu had actually endured it.

Suppressing a laugh, Kuang Shao asked, “Xuan Xuan, what principle does this thing operate on? How can it be dealt with?”

“This is merely an appendage. Something is controlling it with spiritual power. Lou Yitong, did you sense it?” Xuan Xuan glanced at Kuang Shao, then asked Lou Yitong.

When everyone turned their eyes toward her, Lou Yitong’s face flushed bright red. She said timidly, “There is spiritual power.”

Kuang Shao’s eyes lit up. “Where?”

“Over there.” Though nervous, Lou Yitong slowly closed her eyes and pointed north.

Xuan Xuan was somewhat surprised. Lou Yitong’s spiritual power was not the strongest, but it was clearly the most sensitive.

She could actually detect such a faint presence of spiritual power.

With everyone staring at her, Lou Yitong became even more nervous. Her words grew halting. “It—it really is over there…”

She then pointed at the top of Xiao Daopeng’s head. “Its spiritual power has always been connected in that direction.”

Xuan Xuan patted her reassuringly.

Xiao Daopeng was horrified. It felt as though there were another creature inside his head.

And it was a bug—a soft-bodied, disgusting parasitic bug.

He hurriedly said, “Why don’t we go over and take a look?”

Xuan Xuan hesitated for a moment. There were too many people. If they went over, they might scare some of the creatures away. Still, having Zhan Yu and the others do the labor was rather convenient.

It would save her quite a bit of trouble.

She nodded. “Let’s go.”

The place Lou Yitong had indicated was within the island, in the rainforest.

Before entering, Xuan Xuan gave each person a sachet containing some insect-repellent medicine.

Zuo Chen clutched his as though it were a precious treasure. It could drive away the vicious insects in the rainforest—and drive them away directly. His martial grand-aunt was truly extraordinary. One could tell at a glance whether she was the real thing.

With Lou Yitong there, Xuan Xuan was spared considerable effort, since Lou Yitong could guide them directly.

They had not gone very far when Lou Yitong said that the location was nearby. Zhan Yu also told everyone to stop. It was probably difficult for that Zerg to control the smaller creatures from a distance, and it could not do so if they were too far away. That was why it had chosen the edge of the rainforest, near the camp.

Everyone looked toward Xuan Xuan. She nodded. “It’s right around here.”

Zhan Yu asked, “Should we capture it directly?”

Xuan Xuan nodded. She controlled the terrain around them, then shared her spiritual power with everyone nearby and surveyed the area. There seemed to be only four Zerg. But logically speaking, there should have been more. Moreover, the spiritual power in this area was divided into separate strands.

It was impossible to tell which strand belonged to whom, or which Zerg was connected to the one on Xiao Daopeng’s head.

Zhan Yu took one. Kuang Shao took one. The two Wanqi brothers took one each. Zheng Chao and Zuo Chen took one together.

Because of the creature on Xiao Daopeng’s head, Xuan Xuan was worried that something might go wrong and did not let him participate.

“Capture them alive. I still need to study them,” Xuan Xuan instructed.

Kuang Shao’s mouth twitched. She really was exactly like her teacher.

The six exchanged glances and nodded.

They moved at the same time. Xuan Xuan kept her attention on the four Zerg and shared their locations with the six of them through spiritual power.

Perhaps they believed that discovery was impossible, because there were no other Zerg anywhere nearby.

Xuan Xuan frowned. Something felt wrong.

Then, without warning, the Zerg being restrained by Zuo Chen and Zheng Chao launched a fierce counterattack, and Zuo Chen was unable to suppress it.

They could not let it escape. It was a perfectly good experimental subject—how could she allow it to get away?

“Don’t move,” she instructed Lou Yitong.

Xuan Xuan stepped forward and examined it carefully. This type of Zerg was not especially large. It possessed the abilities of a queen insect, as well as a certain offensive capacity. Its spiritual power was also quite strong, allowing it to launch spiritual attacks. That was why Zuo Chen and Zheng Chao were unable to suppress it.

The spiritual attack came suddenly and could not be stopped.

Xuan Xuan stepped forward. This junior nephew of hers was a little too foolish. Even Stone Mountain was somewhat better than him. He clearly needed some proper training.

She advanced and took control of the Zerg. Several earthen spikes rose up and surrounded it.

One spiritual attack nearly knocked the Zerg unconscious. Only then did she look at Zuo Chen.

“What are you waiting for?”

Zuo Chen’s face flushed with embarrassment, even the roots of his ears turning crimson.

This supposedly useless martial grand-aunt—how was she useless at all?

Who had started that rumor?

His own teacher, Elder Ji, had even acknowledged her as his teacher. How could she possibly have accepted a useless disciple?

Besides, she appeared to be even younger than him.

He quickly nodded and moved forward with Zheng Chao, injecting the anesthetic they had prepared into the Zerg.

Xuan Xuan’s gaze shifted toward the center. It seemed something was moving over there.

She raised her feet and walked in that direction.

Just then, she suddenly heard Lou Yitong scream.

Xuan Xuan turned and saw that Xiao Daopeng, who had been standing beside Lou Yitong, had somehow seized her by the throat.

Xuan Xuan frowned. Space shifted, and she appeared in an instant, kicking Xiao Daopeng away.

She glanced at Xiao Daopeng, who had fallen to the ground. He had already fainted.

Only then did she pull Lou Yitong up and inspect her neck. A large area had already turned bluish-purple.

She handed Lou Yitong a bottle of medicine. “Apply it to the injury after you get home. It’ll be healed by tomorrow.”

Lou Yitong was still terrified. She clung tightly to Xuan Xuan’s hand and refused to let go.

At that moment, Zhan Yu and Kuang Shao returned with the captured Zerg. The two Wanqi brothers, Zuo Chen, and Zheng Chao followed close behind.

Zhan Yu looked at Xiao Daopeng on the ground, then at Lou Yitong. “What happened just now?”

Xuan Xuan patted Lou Yitong beside her. “We’ll talk after we get back.”

Seeing Lou Yitong’s expression, Zhan Yu nodded. He ordered Zheng Chao to carry the unconscious Xiao Daopeng, and they left together.

Xuan Xuan suddenly turned to look behind them.

She moved her feet, shifting through space several times and circling the surrounding area. Then she expanded her spiritual power and frowned.

Could she have sensed it incorrectly?

Zhan Yu’s steps faltered slightly before he came to stand beside her. “What is it?”

Xuan Xuan closed her eyes and expanded her spiritual power several times over, thoroughly searching even beneath the ground.

Still, she found nothing.

She glanced at Lou Yitong. Ideally, she would have used her for the experiment, but given her current condition, that was clearly impossible.

Xuan Xuan sighed. “Nothing. We’ll talk after we get back.”