Chapter 1501: It"s a Matter of Principle to Save Lives and Heal the Wounded
The advantage of the Veda having no emotions finally became evident at this moment.
The knocking startled Lin Sanjiu. She found herself torn between wanting to shout for help and wanting to tell the knocker to flee. In that split second, Yu Yuan wasted no time. Before she could even divert her attention from the iron door, he grabbed her by the collar and dragged her back.
As Lin Sanjiu"s back hit the wall, a dark tide seemed to engulf her vision. She instinctively raised her arms to s.h.i.+eld her face, bracing herself for the inevitable pain of being torn apart. But nothing happened. The sensation of countless insects fluttering against her, the feeling of their legs scratching her skin, all paused.
The rumbling of her empty stomach was drowned out by the deafening hum of the locust swarm. Lin Sanjiu forced down the hunger pangs, and when she looked up, a s.h.i.+ver ran down her spine.
Amidst a s.h.i.+mmering, radiant light, countless locusts were slamming against a diamond barrier in front of her. The diamond was so clear that she could distinctly see the pulsating bellies of the insects, their black and thick stripes, and the relentless twitching of their countless legs. The emotionless little black eyes all seemed to be staring at her in unison.
"There"s another group approaching from the side. Use the wind to repel them quickly," Yu Yuan said calmly.
Lin Sanjiu quickly realized what he meant. Creating a diamond wall was apparently easier than making bread. In the brief moment, Yu Yuan pulled her against the wall, he had erected a ma.s.sive diamond wall in front of them. These locusts could devour anything, even thick plastic. But against the hardness of the diamond, they were momentarily halted. For several seconds, there was no sign of the diamond breaking or being eaten.
However, the hasty diamond wall that Yu Yuan created wasn"t large enough. Although it reached the ceiling, it didn"t extend to the room"s walls on either side. As he worked on extending the barrier, Lin Sanjiu, dizzy with hunger, stepped forward and unleashed her [Tornado Whip], sending a swarm of locusts cras.h.i.+ng into the horde of hunger-inducing characters. Yu Yuan timed it perfectly, and as Lin Sanjiu retracted her whip, the diamond wall curved around, enclosing them within.
But as her gaze followed the locusts to the characters, Lin Sanjiu felt her knees buckle and collapsed to the floor. She had never felt this hungry. It wasn"t just physical anymore; it felt as if her very soul had been hollowed out. If not for Yu Yuan, who swiftly handed her another long loaf of bread, she might have turned and bitten off his head in her frenzied state.
As she crazily stuffed the bread into her mouth, avoiding any sight of the locusts, the knocking on the door resumed.
"Is anyone there?" the girl"s voice inquired again.
"I"m worried that even the diamond won"t hold these locusts off for long. After all, they"re not ordinary locusts," Yu Yuan whispered, already crafting another loaf of bread.
Lin Sanjiu couldn"t respond at all. Just then, there was a "click" from the iron door. The doork.n.o.b turned, and the door was slowly pushed open by someone.
If one ignored the locusts fluttering and crawling around, and peered out through the gaps between their countless legs, they would find that the girl outside the door was quite cautious. She didn"t walk straight in. She stood outside the door for a couple of seconds before slightly poking her head inside— even with the rustling sounds of the swarm, her surprised exclamation was clearly heard by the two inside.
She quickly realized that the only two people in the room were struggling to protect themselves and posed no threat to her. She stepped in without hesitation and shut the door behind her.
Through the buzzing swarm of locusts, Lin Sanjiu, desperately swallowing the bread, heard the girl mumble, "What in... Who are you? It seems you"ve angered him quite a bit... Oh, you won"t last long like this. You clearly don"t understand the severity of the situation."
Yu Yuan, undeterred, focused on the main points and replied, "We accidentally entered here. Can you let us out?"
This girl"s appearance here and now must not be a coincidence. But Lin Sanjiu wasn"t too hopeful about whether she would or could help—Lin Sanjiu had to exert a lot of effort to s.h.i.+ft her focus from voraciously eating to thinking about anything else.
However, whatever the girl did, the diamond wall that was showing signs of wear due to the locusts suddenly stood clear. Like dirt washed away by water, the locust swarm disappeared in the blink of an eye, transforming into characters that spelled "locust", and then vanished from the room.
"You can remove the diamond wall now," said the girl in the pink sweater, standing in the center of the room.
Yu Yuan kept giving her new bread, and Lin Sanjiu kept shoving it down her throat, the volume of bread making her tear up. She glanced through her teary eyes but couldn"t get a clear look at the girl.
"Hurry up," the girl said, impatient. "What"s wrong? I just saved your lives, and you"re still being cautious?"
Yu Yuan thought for a moment, then reached out and deactivated the diamond wall.
"That"s a pretty sizable diamond," the girl said, glancing at the two. "If I had such a big diamond in the past, I"d have been very wealthy."
The sounds of Lin Sanjiu"s dry heaving, her labored breathing, and the tearing of bread echoed clearly in the room after the locusts disappeared. While the locust text was gone, the hunger text remained.
She could feel the girl"s gaze linger on her for a moment. Even with her resilient and calm personality, Lin Sanjiu felt a hint of embarra.s.sment— she was well aware that her current state was less of a human and more of a humanoid locust.
"Thank you. Can you make those words disappear too?" Yu Yuan asked.
The girl turned her head and looked at the hunger text as if she had just noticed it upon Yu Yuan mentioning it. "No wonder she looks like this. Quite unsightly... Hmm, why aren"t you affected?"
"I"m not human," Yu Yuan replied. "Can you make those words disappear too?"
The girl scoffed. "Of course. Honestly, you"re lucky to have run into me. Not everyone is as kind-hearted as I am."
Every second she spent speaking felt like torture to Lin Sanjiu. Her cheeks ached, the corners of her mouth chafed raw in mere moments, her vision blurred, and tears mixed with sweat rolled down her face. After the girl finished speaking and saw no response from Yu Yuan, she placed her hands on her hips, lost in thought for a moment, and finally said, "Turn around. I don"t want you staring at me."
As Yu Yuan bent down to pull Lin Sanjiu, she accidentally bit too hard and bit into her own finger, causing blood to splatter. The girl chuckled, seemingly amused, and said while sucking in a breath, "That must have hurt, huh?"
No one answered. Yu Yuan merely turned Lin Sanjiu around to face the wall. After five or six seconds, Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt a warmth in her stomach, as if a black hole had closed, and all the agonizing hunger disappeared instantly.
She tossed away the bread, sat down to catch her breath, and wiped away the tears and sweat from her face without turning to the girl. Slowly, she stood up and turned around.
Only now did she get a clear look at the girl. She was short, with protruding cheekbones, slightly sunken cheeks, and a square jaw. It might sound ungrateful to think this way about her savior, but Lin Sanjiu couldn"t help but think: given the girl"s skills and combat capabilities, she might only qualify as a waitress in the Twelve Worlds, somewhat on par with the man they encountered earlier.
"Thank you," Lin Sanjiu said, her voice hoa.r.s.e. "And you are?"
"Oh, I"m just a soft-hearted person who can"t stand seeing others in pain. It"s all about morality and doing what"s right," the girl said, folding her arms. "I"m one of the game makers here. They call me Queen Nocturna."