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墨書 Inktalez
I stammered, "What the hell is this?" At that moment, I was drenched in cold sweat, and I could only imagine how pale my face must have looked.
"I don't know, but it's definitely not something good," Mai Lao said beside me.
The three of us slowly stepped back, inching away as those bugs crawled forward. The path ahead was completely covered by these red creatures, leaving us with almost nowhere to escape.
Just then, Jenny and Li Xin arrived, but when they saw the scene before them, they gasped in horror. Jenny and Li Xin's faces turned ashen. "What... what is this?" Their trembling voices revealed that they were terrified.
"Oh my God, what is this? Is Old Wang... is he dead?" Big Guy shouted in fear, nearly losing it.
Without looking back, I said, "Don't ask questions. We need to get out of here."
At Big Guy's shout, the bugs seemed to get excited and crawled faster than before. We quickly retreated, knowing that if we stayed in this standoff any longer, we would all meet the same fate as Old Wang.
I glanced at the raft by the shore and said, "We need to figure out a way to get to the raft; otherwise, we're all going to die here."
Mai Lao replied while backing away, "I've thought of that already, but there's no way through. The entire shore is covered with these bugs; unless you want to die."
"What are we going to do? Mai Lao, think of something!" Jenny cried out beside us, on the verge of tears. Jenny was usually so capable, but at critical moments like this, she was at a loss for what to do and relied entirely on Mai Lao for support.
"Stop rushing me; we're trying to come up with a plan!" I said as Mai Lao and I protected the others from the front. I was nearly losing my mind over what to do.
At that moment, it seemed like the swarm of bugs grew impatient and suddenly rushed toward us like a wave, surrounding us in an instant.
Realizing the danger, I shouted urgently, "Run!"
We turned and ran, but the situation escalated too quickly. Jenny stumbled and fell, and those red bugs were already crawling toward her. If they buried her alive, not even a deity could save her.
Damn it, this is life-threatening. I gritted my teeth and turned back. I rushed to Jenny's side and pulled her up. Thankfully, my speed allowed us to narrowly escape, but even so, a few of the red bugs had already climbed onto her calves.
She sat on the ground, screaming, her hands frantically swatting at her legs. But as soon as those bugs fell off, they scurried back toward her. I quickly stepped over and crushed the bugs underfoot.
I grabbed Jenny and pulled her behind me, shouting, "Run!"
At that moment, I noticed that a large swarm of red bugs had surrounded us, right at my feet. Only one of us might make it out alive. My actions were purely instinctual; there was no other reason behind them.
Just as the swarm began to crawl onto me, several torches suddenly flew in from the side and landed in front of me. The moment the red bugs saw the flames, they all retreated as if they were afraid of fire.
Although the swarm backed off, they didn’t leave entirely; they just kept their distance from the flames, circling around the torches. A few bugs managed to bypass the fire and quickly crawled toward me.
With a series of dull thuds, I crushed those bugs underfoot. Jiao Ba and Mai Lao rushed over with torches in hand, surrounding Jenny and me with seven or eight people, each holding at least one torch.
Jiao Ba was even more straightforward; he held two torches in his hands. I grabbed a torch from the ground and rolled it along my thigh to ignite it. I wasn’t trying to set myself on fire; I needed the flames to burn off the bugs clinging to me.
I gritted my teeth against the searing pain as I burned from my leg up to my body. This tactic proved effective; as soon as those creepy crawlers encountered fire, they dropped off me. I quickly got back on my feet and stomped on every last one of those bugs that had nearly cost me my life.
Everything happened so fast; it was like lightning striking. From when I started saving Jenny to when Jiao Ba and the others arrived was only a matter of seconds, yet it felt like an eternity had passed.
Jiao Ba glanced at me nervously and asked, "How are you, Brother Yi? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. How about you, Jenny?" I pulled Jenny up and looked at her.
"I'm... I'm fine." She was strong, even though the fear on her face and the tremor in her voice betrayed her, she didn't let a single tear fall from her eyes out of fear.
I looked around carefully; the situation was worse than before. These red creatures had surrounded us from all sides, and only the insects behind us were slightly fewer. We were huddled together in a small circle, relying on the torch as we struggled for our last stand.
"Brother Yi, think of something quickly! We can't hold out like this for long," Jiao Ba shouted, turning his head. He held the torch low, constantly directing it at the surrounding insects.
The others were doing the same, sweeping their torches back and forth. If we didn't keep them at bay, these creatures would attack us directly. But the torch could only hold them off temporarily; once it went out, we would be done for.
Although these insects feared fire, they were clever enough to try to avoid the flames. That was why we formed a circle; otherwise, the insects behind us would have taken our lives.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" I was just as anxious, my hand holding the torch trembling.
"Why not just use a grenade to blow them up?" Big Guy shouted.
"No way! The raft is too far away. How much can a grenade take out? If we blow up the raft, we're finished."
I had considered using grenades, but it simply wouldn't work. The area around the raft was swarming with these red creatures. To safely rush over there would require far more than eight grenades.
Moreover, grenades could only be thrown far away; the insects beneath us could still kill us, and we would have to dodge their lethal effects as well. These two deadly points sealed our fate—this was more dangerous than gambling with our lives; there was almost no chance of success.
At that moment, Li Xin suddenly said calmly, "Let's hide in the jungle. That's all we can do; we can't get to the raft—it’s too far."
Li Xin's words made sense. The distance to the raft was much greater than to the jungle behind us. With just this torch, we couldn't make it through. If we scattered and gave these creatures even a little opportunity, we'd all be doomed.
"Brother Yi, Mai Lao, you two need to make a decision quickly!" Shunzi said anxiously as the insects drew closer to us; it was because the torch was nearly burnt out.
I exchanged a glance with Mai Lao, who nodded. I turned to the others and said, "On the count of three, we throw the torches back at the same time. Remember, do not throw them from above; keep them low and sweep them across. Then we’ll run straight after the torches."
If we threw them from above, it would take time for the torches to fall, and by then, we would be surrounded by the bugs. But if we swept them along the ground, we would have enough time to escape along with the torches.
Everyone nodded nervously. I whispered, "One... two... three."
When I reached three, I turned around, bent down, and hurled the torch behind me. Then I grabbed Jenny's arm and took off running. The others were quick as well, and all the torches swept across.
As the torches flew along the ground, those red bugs immediately scattered, creating a small path for us. We dashed into the jungle.
During our run, as we passed the fire pit, I grabbed another torch and handed Jenny directly to Mai Lao. "Take her away."
At this critical moment, someone needed to hold the rear. Shunzi and Changshan surprisingly stayed behind as well. The three of us threw a few more torches forward, giving the others more time to escape.
Mai Lao and Jiao Ba had already entered the jungle when Shunzi shouted at me, "Brother Yi, let’s get out of here!"
Changshan echoed, "Let’s hurry!"
Just as we were about to flee, I kicked apart the fire pit and cursed loudly, "I'll burn you all to death!"
As the fire scattered, it indeed burned some of the bugs. Taking advantage of the chaos, the three of us turned and sprinted into the jungle, running as if our lives depended on it—barely daring to look back...
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