Chapter 58 (Part 1)

Thick, gloomy clouds gathered like the most violent storm, gradually spreading from the sky over the west of the city.

The wind howled like huge waves, and pedestrians on the street had to raise their hands to shield their foreheads to avoid being swept by fallen branches and leaves.

An old man playing chess on the street had packed up his stall early. The radio kept repeating the same message: [Here's a weather update: The Meteorological Office has issued a red storm alert. Citizens, please take precautions...]

As the old man moved the chair, he looked up suspiciously at the dark sky. "What's going on? Why is there such a strong wind out of nowhere?"

The weather forecast was not announced earlier, and the potted plants in his house were about to be blown to pieces.

Oh, so angry.

“Tick-t ...

The shrill sound of alarm bells came from far away and the security personnel finally arrived at the old factory area in the west of the city.

Wenxue struggled to open the car door. The strong wind made it impossible for her to open her eyes. She could only shield her eyes with her palms. "Such a strong wind, such a strong energy fluctuation!"

The detector was about to explode. The beeping noise was so loud that it made people panic. When we surrounded the old factory area, it skipped several digits and the red light flashed so fast that it was almost like a seizure.

"What on earth is going on?"

…

Inside the factory warehouse, Xia Muqing looked up in astonishment. The enchanting and strange figure of the Ghost Butterfly fell into her light brown, slightly trembling pupils.

"Ghost Butterfly?"

How is it possible? How could it be the Ghost Butterfly?

Even she had never included the mysterious beast, the Ghost Butterfly, in her game encyclopedia.

But Xia Muqing knew it.

Because it appeared in the game's cutscenes, and in the game's NPC descriptions, it is a terrifying demon that embodies all kinds of negative emotions such as hatred and resentment.

Born from a flawed evolution, the Wrathful Soul Butterfly absorbed all the world's ill will from its inception. It's neither first nor second order, a cursed form, born of vengeance. Carrying the energy of ultimate hatred, it will ultimately return it to humanity, bringing endless disaster to the world!

"Xiao Zi!"

Xia Muqing was so anxious that her eyes turned red. How could she, a little caterpillar, suddenly become a big devil?

The little caterpillar is still so naive and innocent like a child, and can be happy for days in a small cradle. It has a strong curiosity about everything in the world and should not be burdened with such strong malice!

"Didn't Sister Wenxue say that poachers don't have many opportunities to enter other dimensions, and that many of the profound beasts they have are also kidnapped?"

It was natural for abducted mystical beasts to resent poachers. However, Xia Muqing clearly felt that the hatred she sensed from the Wicked Soul Butterfly made no distinction between targets; it was an equal hatred for all humans!

"No, this is not right. There must be something wrong."

Xia Muqing pursed her lips tightly, her mind racing as beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. Suddenly, she rushed to a large shelf, ripped open the packaging, and quickly searched for the specimen jars inside.

"Xiaofeng, Xiaojin, help me see if there are any wild mysterious beasts here!"

After receiving the order, the Gale Dog and the Koi Fish immediately started searching separately.

There are many shelves in the warehouse, but fortunately, large cardboard boxes are usually placed on the bottom floor and their size is conspicuous. Xia Muqing quickly found a large specimen jar that was one meter high, in which a dead ghost rhino was soaked.

The Phantom Rhino is a second-tier mysterious beast. The darker the color of its pupils and the more ripples on its horns, the stronger its strength.

The pupils of the creature in front of me were as black as ink, and there were nine circles of ripples on its horn, indicating its long life and its strength when it was alive.

But an ordinary ghost rhino should be 2 to 3 meters tall, but the one in front of us can only be stuffed into a 1-meter-high specimen jar. Its body has shrunk beyond recognition, its skeleton is almost folded together, and its skin is covered with scars like desertification. It is obvious that it suffered a lot of torture before death.

Only its pair of eyes, pitch black, without pupils, as if condensed with infinite hatred from the underworld, were staring at the outside of the specimen jar. At first glance, it seemed to be still alive, looking down coldly and cursing everything in the world.

The temperament of the Phantom Rhino was obviously different from that of other mysterious beasts. It was filled with a cold murderous aura, and Xia Muqing recognized it at once.

"This must be a wild mystical beast, maybe even a beast king!"

Only such a powerful mysterious beast could possess such strong resentment, and only then could its mysterious power still remain in the warehouse after death, condensed and not dissipated.

Generally speaking, as time passes, no matter how much resentment it has, it will gradually die out. But just at this moment, Xia Muqing brought a little caterpillar, and the little caterpillar happened to have an extremely rare trait: emotional perception.

It absorbed the resentment of countless residual souls in the warehouse and accepted the remaining immortal spirit of the Phantom Rhino. As a result, it lost control and evolved into the terrifying Ghost Butterfly.

Xia Muqing took a deep breath.

After sorting out the whole story, she began to think about how to save the little caterpillar. The little caterpillar's mind was too weak to withstand the impact of so many regrets. The longer she delayed, the less hope she had of finding the little caterpillar. She had to hurry -

Xia Muqing was thinking anxiously when suddenly, something strange happened in the sky.

The Ghost Butterfly that had completely broken out of its cocoon let out a clear cry, and thousands of red lights flashed in its scarlet compound eyes. It spread its huge wings and flapped them vigorously a few times, and a hurricane suddenly arose in the sky!

The wind was chaotic, the clouds were dark, and countless red lights were mixed in, just like silk threads hanging from the sky, one end of which was connected to the abdomen of the ghost butterfly, and the other end turned into a winding thread, rolling towards the hundreds of specimen jars in the warehouse!

“Crack!!”

All the glass jars turned into powder at the same moment.

Debris flew everywhere, scattering everywhere. Xia Muqing was caught off guard and was almost hit in the face by broken glass. Fortunately, the Swift Dog sensed the danger early and spit out a whirlwind of wind to block them.

Although the glass fragments blocked her view, the scene that happened next still made Xia Muqing's pupils shrink suddenly.

Blood-colored silk threads entwined themselves around the remains of each mysterious beast, breaking silently and melting deep into the skeleton. The next moment, the eye sockets of the remaining bones glowed crimson, and their joints crackled and twisted as they stood up in extremely stiff postures!

Xia Muqing: “……!”

She watched helplessly as the skeletons began to move, transforming into streaks of light as they rushed out of the warehouse and pounced on the black-clad men, who were writhing on the ground, clutching their heads. The poachers continued to groan in pain as they were quickly surrounded by the remains of several mysterious beasts. Their black and yellow fangs bared, they pierced the poachers' throats without hesitation!

"ah!"

"No, don't come over here—Ahhh!"

Screams rang out one after another.

The eyes of the skeletons were filled with the same hatred as that of the ghost butterflies. They were still not satisfied after killing the poachers and tore into their bodies one bite at a time. In an instant, the old factory area became a river of blood.

Xia Muqing's heart was pounding, her ears were buzzing, and the blood in her body was almost flowing backwards.

This is the skill of the Ghost Butterfly, 'Resurrection'!

The wreckage had no consciousness, only the obsession and hatred to destroy everything. After taking revenge on the poachers, some of them rushed out of the factory, while the others turned around and looked at Xia Muqing and the two mysterious beasts in the warehouse, with red light flashing in their eyes.

Realizing that the situation was not good, the two mysterious beasts immediately stood in front of Xia Muqing. The Gale Dog lowered its head slightly, and a low growl of protest came from its throat, while the Koi Fish made a leaping posture and spit out a long string of bubbles.

"Gurgle!"

Master, run away!

“Gurgle gurgle!”

The little caterpillar has become like this, I'm afraid it's too late to save it. There are too many resurrected souls. If we don't leave now, they won't be able to stop us for much longer!

"..." Xia Muqing clenched her teeth tightly, "Wait a little longer, give me some more time!"

She couldn't just abandon the little caterpillar!

As early as when she brought the Gale Hound back from Zhu Ning's breeding center, Xia Muqing swore in her heart that she would never abandon any of her mysterious beasts at will.

Although the little caterpillar has only been with her for a short time, he has signed a spiritual contract with her and will be an important partner who fights alongside her in the future!

Seeing that Xia Muqing still refused to give up, the koi fish swung its tail irritably and turned its head away.

It gurgled a few times and spit out a long string of golden bubbles, but in its eyes, besides worry, there was also a hint of hidden happiness.

Even though Xia Muqing had turned and run, it couldn't say it had done anything wrong, and it would continue to accompany the Beastmaster through thick and thin. But now, seeing Xia Muqing willingly putting herself in harm's way to save the little caterpillar, the little koi felt a surge of joy from the bottom of its heart, despite its anxiety and worry.

"Gurgle!"

Well, since it’s the Beastmaster’s decision, then it will buy a little more time with the stupid dog!

Beside it, the Swift Dog also raised its head slightly and growled cheerfully, "Woo!"

It finally suppressed the remaining medicine in its body, mobilized all its energy, and released a howling blizzard—

Skill, blizzard!

The sky and the earth changed color, snowflakes flew, and the temperature in the warehouse dropped by more than ten degrees in an instant. The flying wreckage was blocked by the mysterious power and fell one meter away from Xia Muqing.

Xia Muqing looked at this scene with relief: "Xiaofeng, Xiaojin, thank you."

Immediately, she closed her eyes and stroked the forehead of the Phantom Rhino's corpse with her fingers.

——I can’t think of any other way, so I can only release all my mental strength to see if I can mobilize the consciousness of the little caterpillar in the body of the Ghost Butterfly!

…

Outside the warehouse.

The overwhelming wreckage rushed out, and the security personnel who had just arrived were shocked by the scene before them, but fortunately they were well-trained and summoned mysterious beasts to block it.

The team leader shouted: "Protect the citizens, don't let them enter the city!"

Sister Wenxue also opened the beast control space: "Fire-patterned Eagle, Floating Whale!"

Two flying mystical beasts appeared out of thin air, sobbing as they hovered high in the sky. They unleashed their abilities, smashing into the countless debris ahead. Mystical light danced, and bone dust flew everywhere.

But soon, they found that something was wrong.

There is too much debris, and there is no fear of death at all!

Moreover, during the battle, strong mental interference was transmitted in the sky, like the miserable wailing of a wronged person, denouncing the injustice in the world, or like the roaring of evil spirits in hell, shouting to destroy everything.

The mysterious beasts such as the Fiery Eagle were soon disturbed, and even their flying posture became a little unstable. They staggered and landed on Sister Wenxue's shoulders, their heads aching so much that they almost exploded.

The floating whale tried to attack the ghost butterfly directly, but before it got one meter close to the ghost butterfly, a huge invisible wave slammed into it.

The twisted patterns on the butterfly's body let out a shrill scream, and the sounds merged into a line and went straight into the ears of the floating whale, instantly making it look dull, its face distorted and crazy.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Sister Wenxue hurriedly called back the mysterious beast and rubbed its head with heartache.

She looked at the scattered bones on the ground, then raised her head to look at the dark sky and the ghost butterflies in the sky that looked like evil spirits descending to the earth, feeling anxious and angry.

"W-What the hell is going on?"

"Where did this monster come from, and why is it so strong?"