276: You seem a bit dead!

This pounce was filled with her madness, and her speed was actually thirty percent faster than before!

However...

In Ye Chen's eyes, this was still a meaningless struggle... He didn't even move his feet; he simply raised his right hand casually and gave the lunging Li Mei a massive backhand slap.

"Slap—!!!"

The crisp, loud sound of the slap echoed through the restaurant once again.

Li Mei's lunging figure flew backward even faster than she had come, spinning seven hundred and twenty degrees in mid-air before crashing back to her original spot like a pile of limp mud. Her head lolled to the side, and she completely blacked out.

Blood mixed with several shattered teeth leaked from the corner of her mouth, and her originally somewhat pretty face swelled up at a visible rate.

Ye Chen shook his hand and muttered under his breath.

"She didn't die the first time, and after a trip to the Miao Sect, she's actually become a bit more durable?"

"Forget it, it's just a matter of a finishing blow."

As he spoke.

He was about to raise his foot... when suddenly!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

A gust of sinister wind blew in through the shattered window without warning.

Immediately following that.

A figure appeared like a ghost in front of the limp Li Mei, perfectly blocking Ye Chen's descending foot.

Ye Chen checked his momentum and looked up.

The newcomer wore deep blue Miao territory clothing and a pale, ghostly mask that only revealed a pair of eyes filled with coldness.

"Who are you?"

Ye Chen's brow quirked slightly, his tone indifferent as if he were just asking casually, but his invisible Qi had already locked onto the opponent.

The ghost-masked man said coldly, "I am Li Mei's martial uncle. You cannot kill this person right now."

Upon hearing this, a look of realization appeared on Ye Chen's face.

"Oh? So that's how it is!"

"Beat the small one, and the old one shows up? It seems you're one of those people from the Miao Sect she was talking about?"

The ghost-masked man nodded slightly, the gaze behind his mask growing colder: "Correct, I am Miao Sect Elder Miao Renfeng. This woman has already entered the gates of my Miao Sect. Her life and death shall be decided by the sect; it is not for an outsider to dispose of her."

"Miao Renfeng? Holy crap!"

Beside them, Chu Niubi's eyes widened. "That name sounds even more arrogant than my 'Chu Niubi'! Does everyone in your Miao Sect pick such domineering names?"

The brow under Miao Renfeng's mask furrowed, and his cold gaze swept over Chu Niubi. He was about to speak... however, Ye Chen had already waved his hand impatiently.

"Alright, enough nonsense."

"If you're here to take her away or stop me from killing her..."

"Then you can stay here with her!"

"Arrogant!" Miao Renfeng narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Kid, don't think that just because you hold the title of Dragon Group Chief Instructor, you can look down on everyone. Today, let this old man see just how much weight you, this so-called Chief Instructor, actually carry!"

Before his voice had even faded.

Miao Renfeng flipped his right hand, and a thick, long, pitch-black short flute appeared in his grasp.

Without another word, he held the flute to his lips. In the next moment, a sharp, eerie flute sound suddenly exploded!

"Wooo—Chirr—Screech—!!!"

The flute sound followed no melody, yet it possessed a piercing power that stabbed directly into the soul!

The faces of the crowd who hadn't yet escaped the restaurant turned pale instantly. They felt a splitting headache and a nauseating tightness in their chests, as if countless fine needles were pricking their eardrums and nerves!

What was even more bizarre.

As the flute sound rang out, dense rustling noises began to come from the corners of the restaurant, the cracks in the floorboards, and even outside the windows!

Countless centipedes, scorpions, and brightly colored spiders surged out like a tide, crawling rapidly toward Ye Chen and Chu Niubi!

A sweet, fishy, strange fragrance filled the air, making anyone who smelled it feel dizzy!

The eyes behind Miao Renfeng's mask locked icily onto Ye Chen as the flute sound became increasingly shrill and high-pitched.

So much so.

That the speed of those poisonous insects also skyrocketed, forming a spine-chilling tide of bugs!

Chu Niubi's expression changed, and he instinctively backed away, but he didn't forget to curse, "Holy shit! Playing dirty? Whistling for bugs? Miao Renfeng, you have no damn martial ethics!"

Looking at the scalp-numbing tide of insects before him, Ye Chen suddenly smiled.

"If this is all you've got..."

"Then I won't be polite!"

He leisurely pulled out a nearby chair and sat down, casually picking up a bamboo chopstick from the scattered tableware on the table. With a slight flick of his finger, he tapped it gently against the rim of a porcelain bowl.

"Ding—"

A crisp, pleasant vibration sounded, appearing exceptionally abrupt amidst the flute music.

The brow behind Miao Renfeng's mask furrowed, and the flute sound instinctively faltered for a fraction of a second.

It was in that exact split second!

Ye Chen's wrist flicked lightly, the bamboo chopstick moving like a flower swaying in the wind as it continuously tapped against the bowl's rim, the cup's wall, and the plates, producing a series of eerie, crisp sounds!

"Ding-ding! Dong-dong! Dang-dang!"

At first, the sound seemed chaotic, but upon closer listening, it carried a peculiar rhythm, like a mountain stream washing over pebbles or spring rain tapping on plantain leaves. It was clear and natural, instantly shattering that treacherous, shrill flute music!

Something even more bizarre happened—

The army of poisonous insects that had been surging toward Ye Chen like a tide suddenly seemed to lose their target. It was as if they had heard another irresistible command; they all stopped in their tracks, raised their heads, and their antennae vibrated frantically.

In the next moment!

"Hiss—"

"Rustle—"

The insect tide suddenly reversed direction, turning back toward Miao Renfeng like a black torrent!

That's right!

They had all betrayed him!

They were launching a counter-attack!

"What?!"

Miao Renfeng's pupils constricted, and the face beneath his mask instantly lost all color!

He played the short flute desperately, trying to regain control of the insect swarm, but those rhythmic taps seemed to possess a certain magic, firmly suppressing his flute music and disrupting the subtle connection between him and his venomous insects!

"No! Impossible!"

"How do you know my Miao Sect's Insect Control Secret Technique?!!"

He cried out in shock, his voice filled with disbelief.

Unfortunately, no one answered him.

Dark gold centipedes, shiny black scorpions, and multi-colored poisonous spiders... the countless insects he had painstakingly nurtured and driven were now like avengers, instantly covering his legs and crawling into the gaps of his clothes.

Then.

Those sharp mandibles and venomous stingers pierced into his flesh without mercy!

"Ahhh!!!"

Miao Renfeng let out a series of shrill screams, no longer able to play the flute.

He dropped the short flute on the spot, his hands frantically slapping and scratching at his body.

But there were too many insects!

And many of them had been stimulated by his secret methods, making their venom extremely potent!

In just a few breaths.

Dark, shiny pustules bulged on his exposed skin, quickly merging into one. The mask on his face even snapped open due to the swelling of his features.

He wanted to use his internal power to blast the insects away, but his meridians had already been corroded by several types of mixed toxins, making his True Qi sluggish and difficult to move!

He wanted to take out an antidote, but his hands had been gnawed into a bloody mess by the insects and simply wouldn't obey him!

"Save... save me..."

He reached out a hand with difficulty toward Ye Chen, a wheezing sound coming from his throat.

Finally.

His whole body convulsed violently a few times before he fell straight down beside Li Mei, kicking up a cloud of dust.

His eyes were wide open, and his breath was faint; only the extremely weak rising and falling of his chest proved he was still alive.

As for the insects that had lost the flute's guidance, after completing their backlash, they seemed to have exhausted their strength. They fell off his body one after another, curling up on the ground and ceasing to move.

The restaurant fell into a dead silence.

All the diners who witnessed this scene had their mouths wide open, stunned like wooden chickens.

What had they just seen?

That terrifying masked man blew a flute to summon countless poisonous insects, only for Ye Chen to use a chopstick to tap a bowl... and reflect them back?

And then the masked man was bitten to the brink of death by his own bugs?

This plot twist was too fast! Too bizarre! Too... damn satisfying, wasn't it?!

Chu Niubi swallowed hard, his gaze toward Ye Chen filled with incomparable worship: "Master! You're incredible! You can break an evil art just by tapping a bowl with a chopstick? Your methods... are simply divine!"

Ye Chen casually tossed the bamboo chopstick aside and slowly stood up.

"Evil art?"

"It's just some small tricks for driving poisonous insects, using melody and aura to disrupt their instincts, that's all."

In fact... it was because of the uniqueness of the [Thick Earth Inheritance].

Whether there were other ways was one thing, but when it came to dealing with things that crawled on the ground or burrowed in the dirt, he had plenty of methods!

He walked over to Miao Renfeng, looked down at the miserable state of this Miao Sect Elder, and said with a speechless expression: "An Earth Realm peak expert only has this much ability? I thought those who played with bugs would be something special!"

Miao Renfeng: "???"

Ye Chen thought for a moment and offered a pointer: "If you hadn't used bugs to kill me just now, you might have been able to resist for a bit. But now, you failed at showing off and got bitten by your own bugs instead. Does it feel good?"

Miao Renfeng: "..."

Ye Chen glanced at Li Mei beside him and shrugged helplessly: "Well, now you're just like her; you both seem a bit dead."

Miao Renfeng: "!!!"