Han Sen and Qu Lanxi continued their journey, and after ten miles, they had yet to encounter a single Iron Bug. They did manage to slay a number of tree crabs, though, and Han Sen was able to obtain three beast souls. They were all primitive armor beast souls, and they had all been given to him.
When they came across tree crabs again, Han Sen decided to avoid them. His pockets were full, and he had gained a lot of them.
On their way, they encountered a group of Blood-Scale Pythons. Han Sen avoided them, as there were too many of them.
"Strange. We haven't seen a single iron bug."
Han Sen thought to himself. Iron bugs were a common sight in Thorn Forest, and they were everywhere.
But they had been walking for thirty miles, and although they were still on the edge of Thorn Forest, there was no reason they hadn't encountered a single iron bug.
"Iron bugs?"
As Han Sen was thinking, he heard Little Wind barking in a certain direction. After Han Sen and Qu Lanxi crossed the forest, they found many iron bugs.
Black beetles, each the size of a fist, were crawling on the ground like a river of black beetles. All of them were crawling in one direction, as if they were migrating.
"What are they doing?" Han Sen asked Qu Lanxi.
Qu Lanxi shook her head and said, "I only know there are many iron bugs in Thorn Forest. They live in groups, but I have never heard of them behaving in such a strange manner."
"Let's go and take a look."
Han Sen was very interested in the strange behavior of these creatures. Often, there would be treasures that would appear. Han Sen had seen this many times in the Second God's Sanctuary.
They followed the iron bugs, and after a few miles, they came across a valley. It was narrow on the outside, but wide on the inside.
The Iron Bug swarmed into the valley from all directions. It was as if they were a tidal wave. They were all rushing into the valley.
Because the valley was full of iron bugs, they could not go any further, and they could not see what was going on.
"You and Little Wind should wait here. I will climb up the cliff and take a look." Han Sen pointed to the other side of the valley.
"Be careful," Qu Lanxi reminded him.
Han Sen turned around and went around the cliff. When he reached a place where there were no iron bugs, he used Aero and flew up. He wanted to see what the iron bugs were up to.
"I wonder if there are any high-class geno fruits in the valley?"
Han Sen wondered to himself. When he reached the cliff, he took a peek, and what he saw made him gasp.
In the middle of the valley, there was a cluster of rose-like plants. The red flowers were blooming beautifully, and the Iron Beetles were all rushing towards them.
But near the plant, there was a big crack. Countless iron bugs had died inside the crack, and it was like a river of corpses.
The Iron Bugs were still crawling in, as if they didn't know what death was. Whenever an Iron Bug fell into the fissure, it seemed to be injured by some unknown power. It didn't take long for it to fall between the Iron Bug's corpse and the corpse water to die. Corpse water flowed out of its body, and it became part of the corpse river.
"I wonder what level of plant this is. It seems to attract the iron bugs so much. They know they are going to die, but they are still going to die." Han Sen was shocked, and he looked at the rose-like plant.
But when he took a closer look, he saw that there was actually a figure in the midst of the roses. However, the figure was blocked by the lush roses, so he couldn't see clearly who it was.
Han Sen was confused, so he changed his position to see who it was and what it was doing.
Because the rose bushes were so thick, Han Sen couldn't see who was inside. He could only make out the shape of a person sitting cross-legged in the center of the bushes.
But after a while, Han Sen was able to tell that it wasn't the roses that had attracted the iron bugs.
Around the rose bushes, Han Sen saw many small candles. The smell of the candles seemed to be what attracted the iron bugs to them.
As for the large crack outside, if one looked carefully, one could see some traces of artificial. It should be a masterpiece that was half natural and half artificial.
And as for why the iron bugs had died there, it was most likely the work of someone.
"Is it a human or a spirit?
Or is it some sort of humanoid creature? "Han Sen's heart felt like it was being scratched by a kitten. He wanted to see what the shadow in the roses was.
But it was too far away, and Han Sen couldn't see clearly. His dongxuan aura and eighth sense weren't strong enough to support such a long distance.
"I should have reached the second tier of the Dongxuan Sutra and Jadeskin sooner," Han Sen thought to himself.
But Han Sen was overjoyed. He noticed that the candles were about to burn out. If the person in the rose-like plant had used the candles to lure the iron bugs to their deaths, he'd come out to replace them.
Han Sen waited patiently, waiting for the candles to burn out. He wanted to see who it was that had come out.
There weren't many candles left, but they still burned for more than an hour before they were about to go out. Seeing that the candles were about to burn out, the figure sitting in the rose bush still didn't move, as if he had no intention of coming out.
Han Sen waited until the candles had burned out, but there was still no movement. When the smell of the burning began to fade, the iron bugs began to regain their consciousness. They no longer entered the valley, and some of them even began to crawl away.
"It looks like he's not coming out." Han Sen frowned. If the person didn't come out, he wouldn't dare approach the rose-like plant.
To be able to lure so many iron bugs to their deaths in Thorn Forest, it had to be someone who was up to something big. Han Sen didn't want to get too close. He didn't want to be discovered.
The iron bugs in the valley had almost all left, but there was still no sign of the person. Han Sen thought he had lost his chance, and just as he was about to leave to meet up with Qu Lanxi, he heard movement from the rose-like plant.
Han Sen quickly bent down and looked in the direction of the rose bushes in the valley. He saw a person standing up from the rose bushes. When he saw the person's face, Han Sen's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. It took him a while to recover from the shock.