The red bees flew over the Winter Sunflower, their wings vibrating, and the buzzing sound echoed in the ears.
The wind blew through the valley, causing the Winter Sunflower to sway. Light penetrated through the gaps in the petals, shining on Lin Xiu's face.
Squatting beside a Winter Sunflower stem, Lin Xiu stared straight ahead, slowly raising his gaze.
Only when getting closer could one feel the dreadfulness of the red bee nest.
Three meters above the ground, a red bee nest with a diameter exceeding five meters presented an overall dark red color.
When sunlight shone from the other side, Lin Xiu could see the dim contours inside, resembling red crystals, interconnected and overlapping.
The nest had a spherical shape with densely packed holes, each about thirty centimeters in size. Red bees continuously emerged from them, flying towards the outside of the valley.
Upon comparison, Lin Xiu found that a red bee's body length was similar to half of his forearm. Most of their skin had a red color, with black stripes at the neck and waist junction.
The largest part of the red bee was its tail, alternating with black and red stripes, concealing a bee sting at the tip.
"The Bee Queen doesn't easily leave the nest. To find it, I must figure out a way to force it out," Lin Xiu assessed the bee nest, finally focusing his gaze on the bottom of the nest.
It was supported by pillars formed by converging red liquid.
Mountain Breaker!
Lin Xiu used both fists and feet to kick two pillars, causing the nest to shake and slightly shift but not fall.
Hiding to the side, Lin Xiu waited for a while, then saw a large hole appear at the bottom of the nest.
A half-meter-sized red bee crawled out without wings, moving on the pillars using its legs.
Seeing the broken pillars, the red bee circled around, then looked up towards the nest location. Just as it made a sound, a sword slashed across its neck.
Plop.
When the head of the red bee fell to the ground, Lin Xiu had already retreated to his previous position.
"In the nest, besides the honey-collecting bee swarm, there are worker bees responsible for repairing the nest. Only by eliminating all of them will the Bee Queen personally take action."
After receiving the mission, that Senior Sister provided Lin Xiu with a lot of information, with the most emphasized advice being not to take unnecessary risks.
But Lin Xiu only absorbed information related to the bee nest.
After killing two more worker bees, when Lin Xiu saw them again, three emerged together.
"Sensing something is wrong, perhaps due to insufficient worker bee numbers, the Bee Queen is getting anxious."
Lin Xiu speculated in his mind, rushing out again with a sword, sliding close to the three worker bees, resolving them with two strikes.
Red bees had very fragile bodies, and compared to other Magic Beasts, their advantage lay in their numbers.
"Now, the Bee Queen should show itself, right? There's only one chance. If I don't take it down, and the Bee Queen senses the crisis, it will call back the other red bees."
Holding his breath, Lin Xiu grasped the sword handle in his left hand, the right palm facing downward, gathering Lightning Attribute Dou Qi to form Thundering Palm, preparing for action.
Not far away, behind several Winter Sunflowers, a middle-aged man hid.
"He's actually going for the Bee Queen?" After watching for a while, the middle-aged man discerned Lin Xiu's intention, couldn't help but sigh at the boldness of the newcomer.
"The Bee Queen is a Second Rank Magic Beast, very fast, and its venom is far beyond that of ordinary red bees."
The middle-aged man frowned, contemplating what Lin Xiu relied on, suddenly recalling the two palm strikes he received yesterday.
"Red bees naturally fear thunder. Upon hearing thunder, they instinctively stop. This kid's palm techniques can evoke a thunderous momentum. I understand now."
His mind raced like lightning, a cold smile appearing on the middle-aged man's face. He concealed himself behind the Winter Sunflower, remaining silent and motionless.
It's not that he didn't want to ambush Lin Xiu, but having followed Lin Xiu all the way, the middle-aged man was well aware of Lin Xiu's alertness. An ambush was likely to fail, potentially alerting him and causing more trouble than it was worth.
At this moment, Lin Xiu's entire attention was focused on the Red Bee Queen. He had only one chance to attack; if he could take it down in an instant, he wouldn't face the risk of being surrounded.
Otherwise, if the Red Bee Queen called back the red bees, even if he defeated the queen, he would be stung with venom from head to toe.
At the bottom of the nest, a head the size of a watermelon peeked out. The Red Bee Queen was extremely cautious, only showing its head briefly before retracting it, repeating this process several times. It only emerged from the nest when it felt there was no danger.
The Red Bee Queen looked more like an enlarged red bee, with a body length of nearly 1.2 meters and two pairs of translucent wings on its back. Its eyes scanned the ground where the worker bee corpses lay, and it approached gradually.
Suddenly.
Boom!
In Winter Sun Valley, a thunderous sound echoed.
"Is it going to rain?"
Somewhere under a Winter Sunflower, Xue Ni was collecting flower nectar. Hearing the sound, she pulled her head out from the Winter Sunflower, and the loosened Winter Sunflower shot up into the sky.
Seeing the clear sky, Xue Ni's face revealed astonishment, "Did you all hear the thunder?"
The others nodded.
Among them, only Xiao Yu lightly furrowed her brows. She felt that this thunder did not seem to come from the sky, and it resembled someone else's thunderous sound.
"How could he be here?" Xiao Yu shook her head, thinking it wasn't that coincidental. Lin Xiu should be by the lake fishing at this moment.
Just then, a buzzing sound erupted overhead, extremely loud, causing discomfort to the eardrums.
Xiao Yu looked up, her mouth subconsciously gaping.
Countless red bees were flying overhead at a rapid pace, as if the nest was about to be destroyed.
"What's going on? Why are they suddenly flying towards the center? Shouldn't they be collecting honey on the outskirts right now?" Xue Ni's voice was filled with confusion.
The others also felt something was amiss.
At that moment, a scream suddenly rang out.
Xiao Yu and Xue Ni turned their heads simultaneously, just in time to see a man in gray robes approaching another guy from behind.
!
The guy's face was full of pain, and the scream came from him. On his stomach, there was a blood-stained knife protruding.
"Luo Pi!"
With a low growl, Ke Lin's Dou Qi surged, quickly charging towards Luo Pi.
Bang!
As Ke Lin approached Luo Pi, a sunflower suddenly burst open, and from within emerged a middle-aged man with a cold expression.
"Be careful, Ke Lin!"
The four girls hastily warned.
Ke Lin had already reacted when the commotion began. He stomped his foot on the ground, halting his forward momentum, and then dodged the opponent's attack.
Bang!
Avoiding the middle-aged man's hand that was like a stream of blood, Ke Lin, due to a lack of evasion space, was kicked in the chest.
Crashing through more than a dozen Winter Sunflowers, Ke Lin's figure was engulfed by the Winter Sunflowers.
"Take him away."
The middle-aged man shouted at the man in gray robes. His condition wasn't great at the moment, with blood flowing profusely from his left shoulder.
The man in gray robes complied, chopping off Luo Pi's head with a single stroke. His gaze swept across the four girls, "Big-chested and long-legged, perfect"
With that, the man in gray robes immediately charged towards Xiao Yu.
Clang!
Drawing her sword to retaliate, Xiao Yu's long sword could only swing twice before the opponent's stronger force shook her fingers, making her unable to hold the sword.
Losing her grip on the long sword, the man in gray robes closed in, clashing with Xiao Yu. He pushed her back repeatedly with a palm strike, then swayed behind her, slashing her neck with his hand.
Xiao Yu's eyes rolled back as she fell forward, caught by the man in gray robes who bent over, lifting her onto his shoulder.
"Xiao Yu!"
"Xiao Yu!"
Xue Ni and the other two girls were surrounded by red bees, unable to protect themselves, and completely powerless to intervene.
Seeing this scene, they were filled with anxiety, but there was nothing they could do.
Xue Ni felt even more regretful.
If only she had listened to Xiao Yu and not ventured so deeply.
"Let her go!"
A large area of Winter Sunflowers burst open, and Ke Lin rushed out from within, attempting to stop the man in gray robes but was intercepted halfway by the middle-aged man.
The two quickly exchanged a few moves. The middle-aged man's attacks were evidently more cunning, twice using life-threatening moves, forcing Ke Lin to shift from offense to defense, rendering him helpless.
Plop!
After being deceived again, Ke Lin received a palm strike to the chest from the middle-aged man, spewing blood from his mouth.
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