Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles
Chapter 55 - 48: What Did This Bug Ever Do to You?
Red!
Not yellow, which represented neutral demon beasts, nor green, for friendly spirit beasts. It was red—representing hostile monsters!
A hostile creature!
And it had suddenly appeared right on the sect map!
Most demon beasts spawned on the back mountain or inside the Demon-Locking Tower.
’This thing that suddenly appeared over the sect... There must be some unexpected reward for it!’
After all, the "Golden Autumn Harvest Festival" was starting tomorrow.
’Maybe it’s a warm-up for the event?’
「Meanwhile, not far away.」
Lu Wu, who had come to the Hundred Herbs Valley to gather some Spirit Plants, also noticed the red dot.
"What manner of demon dares cause trouble in my righteous sect!"
Shen Nong looked at the coordinates displayed by the red dot and determined it was in the sky.
He raised his head. The afternoon sun was a bit blinding. He squinted for a long time but couldn’t make anything out, seeing only countless mosquitoes and flies buzzing around.
’Which one is it?’
"Forget it. They all look the same. I’ll just kill them all."
Meanwhile, in the sect channel, the disciple named [TheGreatFlameWolf] was also making an announcement:
[TheGreatFlameWolf: Coordinates (XXX, XXX, XXX), there’s a red-named mob! Big rewards, go get it!]
TheGreatFlameWolf had realized he was too far away to have a chance at snagging the kill, so he’d posted the information directly to the sect channel.
As for why...
If you know, you know!
On another side, Ji, who was preparing to go to the Artifact Refining Pavilion to "sacrifice" himself to raise his proficiency, also saw the information on the sect channel and the map.
"Audacious demon! Surrender at once!"
The next moment, Ji drew his bow and fired an arrow, which was instantly wreathed in cold, blue flames as it flew.
The little Contracted Spirit Insect was flying along when it suddenly saw a flash of light appear in its field of vision without any warning.
A heavenly ray of light that tore through the sky shot straight up from below!
The Contracted Spirit Insect’s minuscule consciousness didn’t even have time to react.
And in that instant, Su Ling’er’s heart stopped!
She wanted to use their connection to force the insect to dodge, but it was too late!
Following closely behind the sword light was a burning giant axe, then a rolling wave of fire, several Magic spells, and a dozen or so magic artifacts...
Countless attacks rose from the ground, their target being the insignificant... insects in the sky.
SNAP—!
In her mind, the connection that stemmed from her bloodline broke.
A sharp pain shot up from the depths of her soul, and her vision went black.
The Contracted Spirit Insect was dead.
Annihilated by a dozen powerful Magic spells, not even a speck of dust remained.
She could feel how the little insect had disintegrated under the first sword light that reached it.
The remaining attacks arrived one after another, blasting it until nothing was left...
The connection that carried all her hopes was severed, just like that.
Why?!
Why did this happen so suddenly?!
Everything was fine just a moment ago! Why would they suddenly be so ruthless toward a seemingly ordinary insect?!
What did this insect ever do to you?!
...
"Did you hit it?"
"Nope. You?"
"Me neither! My god, so many people fighting over one mob!"
"Can someone tell us who hit it? Who got the kill? Tell us, what was the reward?!"
Shen Nong, however, was stunned by the message on his panel.
[Game Notification: You have eliminated a great hidden danger for the sect. Gained Sect Contribution Points +200.]
Although nothing dropped, he got 200 Sect Contribution Points in one go!
That was the equivalent of doing 200 basic daily quests!
He immediately posted about this, along with his own judgment, in the sect channel:
[Shen Nong: Brothers! It’s real! You get 200 contribution points for killing one! Keep an eye on the sky, look for small, black flying insects that look like mosquitoes or flies! Anyway, if you see one, don’t worry about which it is, just kill it!]
[Shen Nong: Be careful not to hit Mr. Qian’s incarnation. We don’t want him to bug out and mess up our contribution farming for the event.]
[Ji: Should we log off and tell Eldest Brother?]
[Shen Nong: Let’s just tell him when he logs on. Besides, it only gives contribution points. No treasure drops, no EXP. If it’s just contribution points, Eldest Brother probably can’t be bothered with this kind of thing.]
[Lu Wu: Why don’t we catch the insects first, and when the event starts, we can have Little Sister kill them one by one. The contribution points will be doubled then, so we’d get 400 points for each one!]
[Wang Xian: I’m too lazy... I’m going to hang out with the Grievance Beast...]
[Shi Gandang: That would probably count as helping, so it wouldn’t give her contribution points. And you’d be catching them and putting them right in front of her to kill one by one. That’s too much of a shortcut. I doubt there’d be such an obvious loophole.]
[Shen Nong: Then forget it. Anyway, I think this is just a warm-up for the event. Maybe more will appear after the Golden Autumn Harvest Festival starts. It won’t be too late to have Little Sister kill them then.]
[Shen Nong: Besides, when I saw her go back to her hut earlier, she looked dead tired. We should let her rest.]
[Ji: True. I don’t know what Little Sister is thinking. She won’t even improve her own living conditions. She’s already at the peak of Qi Refining, but she’s still living in that thatched hut.]
[Yan Buliu: This is just... if you can endure hardship, you’ll just get more hardship. Ai, forget it, none of my business anyway.]
Despite this, the entire Guixi Sect was in an uproar.
Countless disciples, while doing their daily quests, also kept a close eye on the sect’s minimap, refusing to let a single moving red dot—a potential source of massive contribution points—slip by.
...
「In the shadows of the thatched hut.」
Su Ling’er’s body went limp, and she slid down onto the straw.
Her face was pale, and her red clothes were soaked with cold sweat, clinging tightly to her back and outlining her slender frame.
Through that fragile bloodline connection, she had clearly "seen" the excited expressions on the faces of the nearest disciples.
Their prey was just a swarm of flying insects, each the size of a sesame seed.
Just sesame-seed-sized! Flying! Insects!
The agony of her blood essence being forcibly torn away was still seared into the depths of her soul.
Why?
She couldn’t understand.
In the storybooks she had read, villains acted erratically and unpredictably, but even the most erratic actions had a reason.
For profit, for revenge, for lust, or even just for the pleasure of killing.
But this was just a single, unremarkable flying insect. Did it really warrant the use of a dozen or so Magic spells, sword beams, and talisman flames?
With such a grand display, she would have believed it if someone told her this demonic sect was besieging a righteous one!
Su Ling’er hugged her knees, curling herself into a ball on the straw.
Although this thatched hut was in the heart of the sect, allowing her to carry out her schemes in secret, she didn’t dare make a move now, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
’Have they discovered me?’
’Are they going to come knocking on my door any second?’
She couldn’t be sure.
Her outward appearance was supposed to be one of exhaustion, so she was even more afraid to take a single step out of the thatched hut.
This left her unable to respond effectively.
She could only hope that these Evil Cultivators hadn’t discovered her because of that insect.
After all, logically speaking, the insect had been blown to bits...
’There... shouldn’t be any problem, right?’