Li Qing waited patiently until the firelight gradually disappeared from the three people's sight before letting the two prepare to go down with him.
At this moment, it was already dark below, but fortunately, most of the giant insects had been attracted away by Li. At most, only a few giant insects were left behind, which were probably sleeping and had not been attracted by Li. As for the queen insect, just as Li Qing had expected, it was very clumsy. During the time Li jumped down to attract them, it could only "panic" turn its head and then lie on the ground, unable to move an inch for a long time.
"Be careful, whatever you do, don't touch the giant insect," Li Qing said.
"Um."
The two nodded in agreement.
"It will be completely dark below. To avoid getting lost, we must always keep track of the location of our companions."
Extending a hand, Li Qing said, "Let's hold hands and walk together. That's the most convenient and safest way. Also, remember that we only need to cut one wound on the Queen Insect. The blood from one wound will be enough for our leaves to absorb."
At this point, there was no need for shyness anymore. The three of them held hands, which was the best way to soothe their nervousness in the darkness. Lieyan and Atuna each took one of Li Qing's hands, and the three of them stood side by side. Li Qing led the other two of them, and they quietly made their way down into the darkness.
They walked very slowly, because they were worried that making noise on the road would disturb the giant insect.
After descending to the open ground where the Queen Insect King was located, the three of them seemed to suddenly become blind. They were surrounded by complete darkness, and could only rely on their previous memories to find a general route to walk on.
The smell here was truly awful. The giant insects already had a foul odor, and not long ago, a large number of them had gathered here. The stench produced by these giant insects was enough to suffocate the three of them. Several times, the three of them had to fight desperately to suppress the urge to cough and vomit.
Li Qing's mind raced with wild thoughts: Fortunately, this place is very dirty, but these giant insects have a penchant for eating excrement, so there's no need to worry about stepping on their droppings on the road. Who knows if these giant insects are poisonous inside them, and if their excrement is also poisonous.
Following Li Qing's memory, they arrived at a general location. Li Qing gestured for the two to stop. He could vaguely sense some heat coming from ahead, which meant that the Queen Insect King was probably just ahead. He pursed his lips, took out a stone axe from his waist, and gently wiped it.
The two people beside him also felt the heat rushing towards them. As agreed, they each prepared the leaf in their hands that they would use to absorb the blood from the mother insect king's body. After they were ready, they squeezed Li Qing's hand hard, in order to tell Li Qing that they were ready.
Nodding, Li Qing knew that the most exciting step was coming. The Queen Insect was clumsy and slow to move, but Li Qing didn't know how sensitive this beast was to pain. If it was extremely sensitive, and the Queen Insect of this size went berserk in pain, the consequences could be dire.
But having come this far, there was no other way but to gamble. Li Qing was extremely eager to heal the strange bird's injuries and then leave this place with these people. He couldn't abandon the lives of those people on the ground!
Thinking of this, Li Qing shook his head and tried to put these chaotic thoughts behind him. He carefully used the stone axe to roughly gesture in front of him. Only after feeling a soft flesh in front of him did Li Qing stop.
Looking at the faint glint of light emanating from the stone axe in the darkness, Li Qing squinted. He felt that the spot where the stone axe had touched had suddenly recoiled.
It seems it doesn't like the cold stone.
"Heh heh, it's no use if I don't like it," Li Qing cursed inwardly. Without thinking twice, he forcefully slashed a line on it with his stone axe and immediately stuck the leaf on.
The leaf was quickly soaked with blood. Li Qing held the leaf stem and felt the leaf gradually becoming limp. He quickly removed the leaf and whispered to the two of them, "It's your turn."
First, Li Qing took Lie Yan's hand and guided her to place the leaf on the original wound. After Lie Yan felt the leaf was soaked and started to pull it back, Li Qing released Lie Yan's hand.
Aduna, on the other hand, repeats this process.
"I'm all better now."
Aduna said.
"Okay, let's hurry up and go then."
Li Qingdao.
He wondered which part of the Queen Insect's body he had just touched, but it seemed the plan was going much more smoothly than expected. The Queen Insect's reaction was rather slow; surely it hadn't realized what he had just done?
After the two men placed the leaves properly, Li Qing threw the stone axe on the ground—it was covered in the slime, and Li Qing didn't want to use it anymore. Besides, if he really needed a weapon, he could make one later.
Returning along the same route, they could vaguely see some light. This process was much simpler than going to the Queen Insect. The three of them unconsciously started walking, and gradually their steps became lighter.
The giant insects that were not far from the Queen Insect were not disturbed by the three of them and remained in their places. This made Li Qing feel incredible and he sighed that the journey was much safer than he had imagined. All he had to do now was leave and return to the ancient tree.
"I wonder how things are going with Li."
Li Qing's biggest worry right now is Li. From their current position, they can't hear any sounds coming from afar, so Li Qing doesn't know if Li is in danger or if he's already waiting for them outside the cypress grove.
Finally back in their original spot, a faint light returned, allowing the three to completely relax and loosen their clasped hands.
As they proceeded according to plan, none of them noticed that their palms were already soaked with sweat.
Li Qing carefully touched the leaf stem and took out the leaf. It was too dark before, so he couldn't see clearly. Now that there was finally some light, he looked at the leaf and saw that the surface of the leaf had changed from a relatively ordinary green to a purple with a slight red tinge. He smiled and said, "It seems that it was a success."
Atuna examined the strangely colored leaf. He noticed many spots on the leaf's surface that were bubbling. Still somewhat puzzled, he said, "Can this be put on that strange bird? It looks like it's poisonous."
Li Qing shrugged and said, "Who knows? Anyway, that's what the strange bird told Big Black. It wouldn't risk its own life like that, would it?"
Carefully avoiding contact between the leaf's surface and her body, Li Qing placed the leaf back into her grass skirt and said, "Alright, let's get out of here quickly. The blood in this leaf can't be preserved forever. If it dries up by the time we get back, then all our efforts will have been in vain."
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