Chapter 158 - 156: Xue Die

Chapter 158: Chapter 156: Xue Die

Li Qing asked, confused, "That thing?"

"The Divine Statue," Feng Ling said.

Li Qing said, "That depends on the Divine Statue’s location. If it was right near the Maze Master, it should have disappeared along with that area when the Master was eliminated. Otherwise, it’s still there."

Feng Ling took out her phone and began studying the map again.

Huangfu Miaomiao asked worriedly from the side, "Hasn’t your Pollution Value already dropped? Do you still need to find a Divine Statue?"

"It dropped, but one of my Cards is useless now. I want to get rid of one to prepare for absorbing a new Card," Feng Ling replied.

She only lowered her voice slightly while talking to Li Qing and Huangfu Miaomiao, making no effort to hide the conversation, so the Hunters sitting nearby heard every word.

They understood each word, but the combined meaning of her sentences felt strange and remote.

Most Hunters only had one or two Cards and were nowhere near the point of worrying about their Pollution Value. They also knew absolutely nothing about Divine Statues.

What Feng Ling discussed seemed to be on another level entirely.

Li Qing asked her, "Which one became useless?"

"Jellyfish. The ability to turn transparent in water is gone. I think it conflicts with my new Skills," Feng Ling murmured to him. "The new Skills gave me several cone spikes and white Scale Armor. I noticed it during the rain that night—my limbs and body got soaked, but I didn’t turn transparent."

"That does happen," Li Qing said slowly. "Every absorption involves trade-offs; the body can’t inherit a Card Ability completely. We’ll keep an eye out for a Divine Statue."

Feng Ling thought for a moment, then added, "The Alien Species probably need Divine Statues too. If the statue hasn’t disappeared, we might encounter Alien Species in addition to Pollution Bodies. I wonder if we’ll run into the Eye of Horus."

Li Qing shook his head. "The Alien Species active in the open mostly possess highly aggressive Cards. The Eye of Horus is likely hiding in the shadows."

"What if we kill a few more? I don’t believe it can reproduce infinitely." Feng Ling glanced out of the corner of her eye and realized that at some point, everyone had fallen silent and was listening to her.

She paused for a second, taken aback. ’These people are a resource,’ she thought.

She immediately pulled out the hard, specimen-like eye and had everyone pass it around.

"I’m looking for an Alien Species. Its Card Ability is something like planting eyes on others. If you find an Alien Species with these kinds of eyes on it, please let me know. Thanks, everyone..."

No one had ever seen anything like it. They looked and touched it curiously. Its texture was slightly coarse, like grayish-white coral.

When the eye reached Su Yuqing, his heart grew heavy.

The implication of Feng Ling’s words was clear: an Alien Species with a special Card was planting eyes on other Alien Species. ’Doesn’t that mean there’s an organized faction among them?’ he thought.

The Inspection Bureau was already overwhelmed dealing with lone Alien Species committing sporadic attacks. If an organized, calculating group was at work, there was no telling how much bloodshed they might cause.

But right now, he couldn’t afford to worry about such things.

The most important thing now was to find Ye Zheng. That was the primary purpose of his trip.

Everyone was more or less rested. They got up, packed their things, and set off again.

Feng Ling had chosen their direction, so she walked at the head of the group, sending her Cat Owl ahead to scout.

Imperceptibly, the wind died down.

The surroundings fell silent, the vast expanse of snow seeming to muffle all sound. The only noise was the crunch of snow under their boots.

Occasionally, a few fine snowflakes would drift down from the gaps in the branches, slow, gentle, and silent.

The oppressive silence put the Hunters on high alert.

The Divination had clearly indicated a large number of Pollution Bodies in this direction. Why was it so quiet?

Xu Yiming studied the snow-covered ground, keeping Su Yuqing behind him. "Don’t walk too fast, stay behind me," he whispered. "Something’s not right. There are no animal tracks."

Feng Ling also slowed her pace, looking around suspiciously.

Thick, straight larches and broadleaf trees blocked their view, and the deep snow in the forest further limited their sight. She couldn’t see very far, feeling only that the area was full of blind spots where danger could be hiding anywhere.

She trusted Li Qing’s Divination; there had to be Pollution Bodies here.

"See anything?" Feng Ling lowered her head and asked Huangfu Miaomiao beside her.

The naked eye might miss them, but as a "player," Huangfu Miaomiao could see the "words" directly. If a Pollution Body appeared, she should be able to spot it instantly.

But Huangfu Miaomiao shook her head. She hadn’t found anything.

’Haven’t we gone deep enough into the forest?’

Full of doubt, Feng Ling continued forward.

A dusting of fine snow landed on her shoulder. She brushed it away and glanced up, seeing only pine needles and branches laden with snow.

"My God, is that a butterfly?" someone suddenly shouted, pointing.

Feng Ling looked and saw a snow-white butterfly fluttering in the air like a large snowflake.

The Hunters took a few steps toward the butterfly, startling even more of them into the air—a rough estimate put their number at over a hundred!

Over a hundred white butterflies danced before their eyes, a dreamlike scene.

Then, a Hunter suddenly reached out, snatched one, and crushed it in his fist. "What are you all staring at? These butterflies are Pollution Bodies! They’ll spread the pollution if they get away!"

As if waking from a dream, everyone immediately started to exterminate the butterflies.

Feng Ling also caught a butterfly.

The butterfly was beautiful, its wings covered in snowflake patterns with a faint, crystalline translucence. Its loveliness was beyond words.

’Creations of genetic pollution aren’t always ugly. Sometimes, they can be beautiful, like this butterfly.’

Feng Ling thought of the little girl in the medical bay whose eyes were filled with ice crystals. With an inward sigh, she crushed the butterfly.

"Do these butterflies have a text prompt?" she asked Huangfu Miaomiao.

Huangfu Miaomiao nodded seriously. "There wasn’t any text before. It only appeared after they started flying. The name is Xue Die, and the font is grayish-white. They probably aren’t very dangerous."

Feng Ling was a little disappointed. "So the Divination was just referring to these butterflies..."

Just then, the Cat Owl perched on a branch let out a sharp screech!

Its cry was filled with tension and warning, as if it had discovered something.

Yet when Feng Ling looked up, she saw nothing.

Her hand was suddenly gripped tightly by Huangfu Miaomiao!

Huangfu Miaomiao’s face drained of color. She stared, wide-eyed, at the giant larch overhead and stammered in terror, "So many... So many Pollution Bodies! The tree is full of them!!!"

Everyone immediately went on alert and looked up.

But they saw nothing—Feng Ling included. Besides leaves and branches, what else was in the tree?

Wait...

Feng Ling looked again, her eyes locking onto a dark branch. It moved!

Like an impossibly thin and long sword, it suddenly lunged toward the Cat Owl in the tree!