"Given the situation now, we just need to hang on a bit longer, and leave the Soul Hunting Forest tonight."
As the captain of the Soul Hunting Squad, Wang Neng naturally couldn't allow the lives of those present to be put in danger.
Traveling at night was dangerous, but it was still better than being stalked by an unpredictable soul beast.
If they could avoid such a murderous soul beast, that would be ideal.
"Alright, let's stick to our original formation and move out. I'll report what happened here to the Spirit Hall," Su Yuntao also said.
He positioned Xiao Gui, Tang San, and Xiao Wu in the center of the group. As for the rear guard, Su Yuntao still assigned that spot to Xiao Lin.
Although this might put Xiao Lin at a disadvantage, there was no other choice—no one else was more suitable for that position.
At this moment, no one wanted to speak, for fear of attracting the attention of that deadly Bullet Bee.
The group marched on in silence, making their way through the Soul Hunting Forest at the fastest pace they could manage. Leading at the front, Shi Dan hacked away at obstructing shrubs and undergrowth to clear a path for the others.
Generally, thousand-year soul beasts could be defeated if soul masters worked together in coordinated attacks.
Not to mention that their captain Wang Neng was a Soul Elder.
But that was under normal circumstances.
Just like in the original timeline, where Yu Xiaogang claimed he could help Tang San get his first two soul rings—only to nearly get himself killed by a 400-year-old Mandala Snake.
And when it came to the terrifying speed and poison of a Bullet Bee, it could easily kill in an instant.
Poison might be considered the weakest attribute on the Douluo Continent, but when it came to killing low-level soul masters, it was arguably the most efficient.
With minimal cost, poison could take the life of a low-level soul master.
That was why even though Dugu Bo was the weakest Titled Douluo, he was still considered the strongest control-type soul master.
In front of Dugu Bo, low-level soul masters—whether it was one or a group—were as good as dead.
On the road, Xiao Lin noticed Tang San was rubbing together some mysterious powder while traveling, and curiously stepped forward to ask.
"Xiao San, what are you doing?"
Xiao Lin was very curious. Whatever Tang San was doing at such a critical moment surely wasn't something meaningless.
"I'm making insect repellent powder—the best one," Tang San replied without slowing down his hands.
"Since we suspect that soul beast is a Bullet Bee, an insect-type soul beast, I'm preparing this to keep it from attacking us."
"To make it find us repulsive and go after someone else instead."
In Tang San's heart, the mindset was basically: "Better them than me."
Xiao Lin fell silent upon hearing this.
He didn't blame Tang San for it—he had no desire to play the hero either.
Still, he wondered: if they could unite all the soul hunting teams in the forest, maybe they could kill the Bullet Bee together.
That thought made Xiao Lin quietly shake his head.
At this point, what more could be said?
It would be fine if they ran into other soul hunting squads, but they couldn't afford to waste time searching for others.
Buzz… Buzz…
Suddenly, Tang San and Xiao Wu—both with sharp hearing—instantly picked up the sound of insect wings flapping.
"Not good! Enemy approaching—it's the Bullet Bee!"
Tang San immediately shouted, summoning his Blue Silver Grass.
"First Soul Skill: Blue Silver Regeneration Bracelet!"
The moment the yellow soul ring beneath Tang San's feet lit up, blue silver bracelets formed on the wrists of Xiao Lin, Xiao Wu, Su Yuntao, and Tang San himself.
Hearing Tang San's warning, everyone instantly summoned their martial spirits.
"Battle Tiger Possession!"
"Lone Wolf Possession!"
…
"Soft Bone Rabbit Possession!"
"Moonlight Shining on Osmanthus Frost!"
Even Xiao Gui summoned her Moon Osmanthus flower spirit, handing out a handful of the blossoms to everyone—but Xiao Lin refused to take one.
The Moon Osmanthus blossom was both a healing item and a beacon.
In the dim and dark Soul Hunting Forest, its glowing petals served as a lock-on target for the Bullet Bee.
But soon enough, just as Xiao Lin expected, no one there was stupid.
In a matter of moments, everyone popped the blossoms into their mouths and absorbed the life force within.
Only Xiao Wu hesitated, and only after Tang San signaled her did she eat it.
Buzz! Buzz!
As the group tried to move away, the buzzing sound of insect wings grew louder—loud enough for even those without keen senses like Xiao Lin to hear clearly.
It was obvious the Bullet Bee wasn't planning to let them leave.
Perhaps leading Xiao Lin and the others here had been part of the Bullet Bee's trap.
What Xiao Lin didn't know was that among the Soul Hunting Squad and Tang San's group, a silent fear had begun to grow, slowly eroding their psychological defenses.
Perhaps it would be the weakest, Xiao Gui, who broke down first—or maybe Shi Dan, the "battle chicken"…
In the past, Xiao Lin would've said that fear of the unknown was the scariest.
But now, he wasn't so sure.
Xiao Gui clung tightly to Xiao Wu's arm, and at some point, her grip had become so tight that even Xiao Wu was visibly uncomfortable.
Xiao Wu could only look helplessly at Tang San for help.
"Acting all sneaky… Do thousand-year-old Bullet Bees even have that much intelligence?"
Xiao Lin found things increasingly strange.
Generally speaking, it was rare for soul beasts with only a thousand years of cultivation to possess high intelligence, and insect-type soul beasts had always been known for their low IQ.
Compared to other powerful soul beasts, insects could only rely on their raw stats.
For example, the Strength Ants had decent strength, but few lived past a hundred years.
Without high intelligence and only base stats to rely on, it was hard for such beasts to survive in the soul beast forest.
Meanwhile…
Roughly a hundred meters behind Xiao Lin and the others, a hunched old man in a tattered black robe was tailing them closely.
Looking carefully, aside from his ragged cloak, the hunchbacked elder's face was covered in eerie paint patterns.
"Just a little more… Once my little bee kills off the rest of these people, I'll have collected the blood of twenty-one different martial spirits…"
His face was full of elation at his impending success.
"Hehehe… cough cough cough!"
His laughter turned into a coughing fit, but it didn't bother him much.
At that moment, the old man summoned a blood-red gemstone.
This was his martial spirit—a spirit-type called Blood Ruby.
But after decades of failing to break through to the Soul Ancestor level, he had sought every possible method.
Recently, he had stumbled upon an ancient book in his home, which described a way to condense a new martial spirit using the blood and life force of different soul masters.
This could potentially evolve his own martial spirit and allow him to break through.
Driven by desperation, he ignored the risks and came into the Soul Hunting Forest alone, where he took control of a Bullet Bee.
He continually used his martial spirit to control the bee and even employed a secret technique to rapidly boost its age.
As long as the bee killed these last eight people, the life force and blood of twenty-one soul masters with different martial spirits would be complete.
In the end, the bee's stinger would form a new needle—created from the fusion of the different martial spirits.
That needle would become the catalyst for the evolution of his Blood Ruby.
No matter the compatibility between the martial spirits, the old man believed that if this succeeded once, he could continue doing it in the future.
"Evolve! Evolve!"
"Bullet Bee, go and kill those people!"
(End of Chapter)