236: The riot of the flamingo swarm

After struggling along a "small path" almost completely swallowed by wild grass and vines for about an hour, the surrounding environment became increasingly primitive and claustrophobic. The roots of towering ancient trees were exposed and tangled like coiling Dragons, and who knew what was hidden under the thick layer of decaying leaves; the smell in the air, a mixture of humus and a faint fishy scent, grew stronger. Most unsettlingly, this so-called path clearly hadn't seen traces of humans or large creatures passing through for a very, very long time.

"This path... I'm afraid it's been abandoned for too long." Tao Yuanyi pushed aside a cluster of hanging, tough vines with his long spear, his brow slightly furrowed. "The traces have almost vanished. We must be exceptionally careful; some 'denizens' might have claimed this place as their own territory."

Just as he finished speaking, a low, dense, and scalp-tingling "buzzing" sound came from the shadows of the forest ahead and to the side. The sound approached rapidly from afar, growing louder and louder!

"Careful!" Cold Peach Blossom's cool voice carried a hint of urgency for the first time. "They're Fiery Hornets! They gather in swarms and have fierce toxicity, enough to poison a Martial King Realm Yao Beast to death!"

A "cloud" of mixed crimson and scorched yellow surged out from the branches and leaves of several giant trees. These were ferocious hornets the size of a thumb, with abdomens as red as fire and scorched yellow rings on their backs. Their compound eyes flickered with a fierce light, and their stingers were a ghostly blue, clearly extremely poisonous! Although their numbers weren't as great as the previous wolf pack, there were still over a hundred of them. The "hornet cloud" they formed lunged forward with a heart-palpitating sense of pressure!

"Fiery Hornets fear fire! Use fire attacks!" Tao Yuanyi reacted extremely quickly. As he shouted, his left hand already formed a seal, and his palm suddenly turned crimson as a scorching aura spread out.

"Flower-Interweaving Sword Finger!" Almost at the moment Tao Yuanyi spoke, Qin Feng had already joined his fingers like a sword, and Sword Qi shot out from his fingertips! This wasn't a grand sword move, but rather countless fine, precise, and incredibly swift condensed Sword Qi, like thousands of plum stamens suddenly blooming and withering on a spring day, silently sinking into the swarm!

Puh-puh-puh-puh—!

Tiny clouds of blood mist and hornet carcasses instantly burst in the air. This area-of-effect point-kill by Qin Feng instantly cleared nearly half of the hornets. Its high efficiency made even Tao Yuanyi, who was preparing to use his "Blazing Palm," flash a look of surprise.

The remaining Fiery Hornets were enraged and surged forward even more crazily. The red light in Tao Yuanyi's palm flared up, and he pushed his palm forward!

"Blazing Palm!"

It wasn't a raging sea of fire, but a condensed, substance-like red palm wind with a terrifyingly high temperature that whistled out, instantly sweeping the remaining hornets into it! A series of dense "crackling" burning sounds were heard as a charred smell filled the air. Those fierce hornets fell one after another in the high-temperature palm wind, their wings carbonizing instantly.

Xia Ya vigilantly raised her giant shield, protecting Miss Xiao Chun and herself from the front. Ji Ruxue and Cold Peach Blossom also brandished their respective weapons, striking down a few stray poisonous hornets that managed to get close.

The battle began in a flash and ended just as quickly. A thick layer of hornet carcasses lay on the ground, and the air was filled with a scorched stench and a faint, sweet, fishy poison gas.

"Strange..." Tao Yuanyi dissipated his palm power and looked around in confusion. "Fiery Hornets usually inhabit the middle section of the Ancient Wood Deep Forest, near places rich in Earth Fire or Sun Wood Essence. They rarely appear in swarms in such peripheral areas. Even if there were stray scouts, they shouldn't be so irritable and concentrated in number..."

Before he could finish, Ji Ruxue and Cold Peach Blossom turned their heads almost simultaneously, their cool gazes directed toward the deeper, darker parts of the forest. Both possessed the keen perception of top-tier assassins.

"There's a fight deeper in," Ji Ruxue said succinctly.

Cold Peach Blossom nodded slightly and added, "The energy fluctuations are chaotic, with explosions. It's not an ordinary Yao Beast fight."

At their reminder, Qin Feng and the others also focused and listened. Sure enough, from behind the layers of forest barriers, muffled thuds, the sharp ringing of clashing weapons, and some sort of beast-like roar faintly drifted over. However, the distance was quite far, and the sound was muffled by the dense vegetation, so it wasn't very clear.

Just then—

"Buzz buzz buzz—!!!"

Another crimson-yellow "hornet cloud" exploded from the tree canopies ahead! The scale was even larger than before, likely two or three hundred of them! They didn't seem to be specifically targeting Qin Feng and the others; instead, they were flying around mindlessly as if they had been greatly disturbed, and a portion of them happened to crash toward their direction!

"More?!" Xia Ya's eyes widened.

"Destroy!" Tao Yuanyi's expression darkened as he and Qin Feng attacked again. Qin Feng's Flower-Interweaving Sword Finger crisscrossed while Tao Yuanyi's Blazing Palm wind swept through. The two joined forces and quickly routed this chaotic swarm.

However, before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief—

"Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz—!!!"

A third wave, a fourth wave... more Fiery Hornets were startled into flight from different directions deep in the forest, as if a nest had been disturbed. Crimson-yellow "clouds" rose one after another. Although most flew into the high sky or elsewhere, a portion still surged toward their area in a panic!

"Holy crap! What the hell is going on?!" Xia Ya couldn't help but curse, blocking and swatting with her shield, looking a bit flustered. These hornets weren't a big threat individually, but in large numbers, their toxicity stacked, and they crashed around recklessly without fear of death, which was truly annoying.

Qin Feng's fingertip Sword Qi didn't stop, and his brow was tightly furrowed. "It's endless! Could the fight deeper in be happening right near the Fiery Hornets' nest? Or did they... literally poke a hornet's nest?"

"Very likely." Tao Yuanyi swatted away a swarm with his palm. His breath remained steady, but his gaze had grown solemn. "Judging by the commotion, both sides of the fight are not weak, and the scope of the impact is very wide, which is what caused the entire swarm to riot. Our route probably happens to be on their escape path."

"This can't go on," Ji Ruxue said calmly. "The swarm is startled and blind; this will continue for a while. If we force our way through, we'll inevitably be constantly harassed, wasting our True Origin for nothing, and we might attract other Yao Beasts that prey on hornet swarms."

Qin Feng quickly weighed his options. The System's intelligence hadn't given any new warnings, indicating that while the swarm was troublesome, it wasn't a direct life threat. But that unknown fight deeper in... could it be related to the Yin Demon Sect's pursuit? Or were other adventurers or forces fighting over something?

He glanced at Senior Brother Tao and Senior Sister Leng, then at his companions, and said in a heavy voice, "Senior Brother Tao, Senior Sister Leng, dealing with the swarm passively like this consumes too much energy. The fight deeper in is the source; perhaps we should... conceal our presence and scout the situation from a distance? If it's a battle above the Martial Emperor level, we won't go near and will flee immediately. If we can find out the cause, we might be able to avoid the main escape direction of the swarm, or perhaps... there are other paths to choose?"

Tao Yuanyi pondered for a moment. His original intention was to avoid all complications and cross the forest as quickly as possible. But with the continuous hornet trouble and the source unknown, he feared there would be constant harassment on the road ahead, actually increasing the risk. Although the fluctuations of the fight in the distance were strong, they didn't seem to have reached the heart-palpitating Martial Emperor level (at least there was no obvious Emperor's Path pressure spreading recklessly).

"Very well," Tao Yuanyi finally nodded. "We'll approach cautiously and only observe from afar. Peach Blossom, you protect Miss Xiao Chun and Junior Sister Xia Ya. Junior Brother Qin, Junior Sister Ruxue, follow me to scout the way ahead. Be sure to restrain all your aura."

"Understood," everyone replied.

Just as they were about to set off and quietly move toward the direction of the fighting—

"Buzz buzz buzz buzz—!!!"

Another large swarm of panicked Fiery Hornets rushed out from an exceptionally dense Ironwood Forest that emitted a strange scorched fragrance ahead and to the side, swarming over them head-on!

"It never ends!" Qin Feng also felt some anger, pointing his fingers repeatedly as Sword Qi formed a net.

Tao Yuanyi also helplessly waved his Blazing Palm wind again.

After clearing this batch of "clueless" poisonous hornets, the group didn't dare delay any longer. Each restrained their aura to the limit, and under the lead of Tao Yuanyi and Qin Feng, like the quietest shadows in the forest, they crept toward the dark depths from which the energy fluctuations and roars originated.

The closer they got, the clearer the sounds of fighting became, interspersed with the roars of Yao Beasts and the dense sounds of trees being crushed and rocks exploding.

The tranquility of the Ancient Wood Deep Forest was completely shattered; an unknown conflict was waiting for the quietly approaching observers.