Amidst the clinking of these silver ornaments, a magical change seemed to occur in their surroundings. The environment began to flicker, like lightning striking, frightening Ning Beichen, who tightly gripped his wooden sword, his eyes fixed on the changes around him.
The cave vanished, and so did the walls. Ning Beichen found himself and Li Haitang standing on a vast expanse of yellow sand. The surroundings were desolate and silent, without even a whisper of wind.
"Haitang, Haitang, where is this place?"
Ning Beichen called out twice, but receiving no response from Li Haitang, he quickly turned his head to look. He discovered that Li Haitang had suddenly disappeared.
"Haitang, Haitang..."
Ning Beichen had never encountered anything like this before. He frantically shouted Li Haitang's name.
However, Li Haitang was nowhere to be found. She had vanished as if into thin air, or perhaps had never been there at all.
Ning Beichen panicked, desperately shouting Haitang's name and searching for her everywhere.
"No, this isn't the real world. Where the hell am I?"
"Haitang, Haitang, get me out of here quickly! I don't want to be here alone!"
Ning Beichen cried out, tears streaming down his face. Haitang was gone, and he didn't know where he was. He wanted to go back but had no idea how to do it.
Although he was Ning Yanwang, adept at killing, arson, and fighting, he had no experience with this kind of situation!
Ning Beichen shouted for a long time. The place was dead silent, and Haitang offered no reply. He was at a loss.
Finally, he pinched himself hard. His thigh bruised, but it had no effect.
Therefore, Ning Beichen was unsure if he was dreaming or experiencing something akin to a dream. If it were a dream, he wondered if pinching himself would even work.
Ning Beichen had tried every method he could think of, all to no avail. Exhausted, he slumped to the ground, looking listlessly at the deathly quiet space around him, his expression one of utter despair.
Li Haitang had only mentioned that they might encounter danger and that he needed to protect her, but she had never said anything about this situation occurring. Even less had Li Haitang told him what to do.
Just as Ning Beichen sat on the ground, questioning his existence, he suddenly heard a strange sound coming from beneath his buttocks. He quickly stood up, warily watching the ground.
The sound from beneath his feet grew closer, and Ning Beichen became increasingly tense, cautiously backing away step by step.
With a tremendous boom!
The ground beneath Ning Beichen collapsed, creating a pit several meters wide, accompanied by the sound of dirt and gravel tumbling down.
Following this, Ning Beichen saw a large black insect crawling out of the pit with a laborious effort.
This massive black insect was as large as a yellow ox. Its body was covered in black markings, similar in color and appearance to age spots.
Ning Beichen's scalp tingled. He had traveled far and wide but had never encountered such a bizarre creature.
My God!
A bug as big as a cow?
Am I hallucinating?
Ning Beichen rubbed his eyes, only to find he wasn't hallucinating. The insect was menacingly crawling towards him.
"Oh my heavens!"
Ning Beichen's scalp exploded. He wasn't afraid of planes or cannons, but something as incomprehensible as this, it was impossible not to be scared. He wasn't a superhero.
Ning Beichen habitually reached for his weapon, but to his astonishment, all his personal weapons were gone, including the case he never left his side.
His only weapon was the palm-sized wooden knife Li Haitang had given him.
Ning Beichen held this palm-sized wooden knife and gestured at the insect before him.
He felt like Haitang was going to get him killed. Could such a tiny wooden knife, only a palm's length, possibly deal with an insect as large as a yellow ox?
Without a second thought, Ning Beichen turned and ran. What was the point of fighting it? He wasn't going to wait to fight the bug.
However, Ning Beichen had underestimated the insect's speed. He wasn't as fast as it was. In less than three minutes, Ning Beichen was caught up by the insect.
"Haitang... Haitang, get me back quickly!"
Ning Beichen cried out, tears welling up as he ran, but no matter how desperately he shouted, Li Haitang did not appear.
"Fine, I won't run anymore. You think I'm easy to bully? Do you know who I am? I am Ning Yanwang, the King of Darkness! You think I'm afraid of a mere insect."
Ning Beichen became angry. He stopped running and decided to fight the insect.
He, the dignified King of Darkness, was being chased by an insect. Where would that leave his reputation? It was like a tiger falling to the plains, harassed by dogs!
Ning Beichen thrust his wooden knife towards the insect's body, not caring whether it would be effective. If it didn't work, he would have to resort to hand-to-hand combat.
"Is that all?"
Ning Beichen stared in disbelief as the imposing, giant insect was defeated with a single stab. Its massive body dissolved into a plume of black smoke that ascended into the sky, leaving him with a peculiar expression.
He had expected this insect, so fearsome in appearance and so large, to be difficult to deal with. Yet, it was gone with just one stab, feeling as flimsy as paper.
"So that's all you've got. Do you know how scared you made me? My little heart was pounding like crazy."
Ning Beichen unleashed a torrent of curses at the insect that had turned into black smoke.
But before he could finish his tirade, the ground began to rumble as if an earthquake had struck, collapsing everywhere. A multitude of insects began to crawl out from underground, causing Ning Beichen's curses to halt abruptly.
"Big brothers, esteemed elders, I was wrong. I shouldn't have cursed you. Please pretend I said nothing, okay?"
Ning Beichen's heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys were all in turmoil as he looked at the dense swarm of insects before him.
However, these insects would not retreat just because he called them "big brothers." They ferociously surrounded him, quickly compressing his space to move into a small circle less than three meters in diameter.
Ning Beichen gripped his wooden knife, adopting a ready stance. At this moment, no one could help him; he could only rely on himself.
"You think you can destroy Ning Yanwang? Even the old Black Horse couldn't do it. How dare you insects think you can! You think I'm a docile sheep just because I'm not showing my tiger's ferocity!"
Ning Beichen exploded with rage. He had been retreating and conceding only because he didn't want to waste his energy fighting these insects. More importantly, he was deeply worried about Li Haitang's safety and was solely focused on finding her or leaving this place.