Wild Crimson Rose: Beloved Handyman Princes Courtesan Wife - Chapter 435

Just as she was contemplating whether she should leave these people out of her Shield, a human scream sounded from outside of it.

Shen Tianyu watched as the girl that had fought with her seniors and f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y brought out a Night Pearl get surrounded by a mass of black. She continued to scream as she was engulfed in the stream of black that Shen Tianyu could not identify. The noise slowly died in with a strangled whimper. The body that was standing upright became smaller and smaller in size and it eventually fell on its back.

When the black fog dispersed, Shen Tianyu was finally able to identify what it was made up of. Jet black Hell Butterflies were fluttering in a cl.u.s.ter and moving around as one. Now that they were done with their first, they moved on to their second victim without stopping.

The sprightly young girl who was only about 16 or 17 now lay on the cold, rough ground. Her skin even more wrinkled than an old person and covering her bones. Her limbs were reduced to sticks and the rest of her body was not any better. Her eyes, however, bulged widely in horror never to close again. Her clothes were now barely covering her stick-thin body but it didn’t matter because there was now nothing to see. The Night Pearl she had brought out rolled away from her limp, dead hands into the darkness.

‘Ugh. I haven’t even met the owner of the Ascendant Monument and I already really dislike him.’ Shen Tianyu furrowed her brows in annoyance. She decided to leave the parasites inside her Shield be for now and left for the front of the group.

“What’s happening back there?” The people at the front asked upon seeing her.

“Some idiot attracted a swarm of Hell Butterflies.” Shen Tianyu’s voice held a hint of frustration and agitation.

Hell Butterflies were even more relentless than Parasitic Bees and Face-Devouring Mosquitos. Unlike the other two though, the carnage left behind by Hell Butterflies weren’t as gory but that didn’t mean the process was any better. Hell Butterflies lived off of vitality. And since one was usually not enough to feed themselves, they always come in swarms. Hell Butterflies used their needles to poke microscopic holes into their victims and suck them dry, blood, fat, and all. What made them even scarier for cultivators, was that, high-level Hell Butterflies could even suck away a cultivator’s spiritual energy. It wouldn’t destroy their cultivation base but without spiritual energy, cultivators are no different than regular humans and would not be able to fend off Hell Butterflies on their own. That was how Hell Butterflies survive and m.a.t.u.r.e. If they could not find prey for a long period of time, they will start to cannibalize each other, this was one, and the most common, way to birth a high-level Hell Butterfly.

Similar to a Gu, high-level Hell Butterflies also have toxic poisons in their bodies and can survive if not chewed up properly when consumed. Like a parasite, they can attach themselves to the predator’s insides and feed off their vitality that way. However, the longer a Hell Butterfly is merged, the bigger their appetite becomes until the host can no longer sustain them and dies. They then eat their way out of the host and leave. In cases where they are eaten by beings that possess no vitality, such as undead demonic beasts, they try to release the poisons in their body to paralyze or fell the predator and escape. Sometimes it works, but for older undead demonic beasts, even poisons can be useless.

However, humans have no such protection and ca only try to hide. Hell Butterflies are also attracted to light like moths and will swarm whatever is near the light. It does not mean that they will chase that light, however. They instinctually recognize light as the source of food, where living beings with vitality gather around. As soon as they see light, they will surge towards it and consume everything that is there, even if the light dies out.

For example, the Night Pearl has already rolled and disappeared to god-knows-where and its light can no longer be seen yet the Hell Butterflies are still flocking the surroundings of where the light came from.

“As soon as they’re done back there, they’ll start moving up. We should try to get out of here as fast as we can while they’re distracted.” Shen Tianyu said as she looked around in vain.

There wasn’t enough light to visualize their surroundings and if they added more light, it’ll just attract more trouble. The Shield is already emitting a dim light because of spiritual energy. The Hell Butterflies will eventually catch up to them. However, the Shields created by the Shield Talismans are immovable. If they want to run out of there, they’d have to find where the exit is and also take down the Shield. The problem was, they weren’t sure when the Hell Butterflies would lose interest in the prey at the back. If they started flying in their direction, even Golden Core cultivators couldn’t always outfly beings that were born with wings.

“Even if we alternated, Shields can only hold them off for so long.” One of the veterans agreed with Shen Tianyu. Shields can hold off Hell Butterflies, but not for long. The Hell Butterflies themselves also know how to create a high-level version of themselves, it’s just that they normally chose not to as they needed to hunt in groups. If they find out they can’t get to their prey, they’ll start getting agitated. And eventually offer themselves up to their leader, the one who called the shots or the one who laid the most butterfly larvae. When a high-level Hell Butterfly is born, they’re all screwed.

Currently, they don’t know if there is already one within the kaleidoscope, if there is there’s even less time for them to prepare.

“Should we get into the previous formation?” Another subordinate was ready to jump into action.

“No. Let’s switch it up a bit. Rong Jian’s subordinates are more accustomed to fighting people. Demonic beasts are our specialty, though I’m not sure if that’ll be of much help. But we’ll probably have a better chance than them. We’ll guard the outside this time. Have some Fire Talismans ready. If you don’t have any, pick some up from whoever near you has one.” Shen Tianyu organized her thought and gave out some orders.