Chapter 267: 013 District Specialty: Skin-Retaining Beetle

The two players exchanged glances. The female player let out a laugh and patted the shoulder of the person beside her. "Brother Xue, this little girl is quite interesting. Leave her to me."She lifted her chin toward Yan Jiayu. "Based on that, you're calling us Player-Eaters?"

However, Yan Jiayu didn't bother wasting words with her. She swung her stone staff and charged forward to attack.

The female player didn't take the slender-armed, thin-legged girl seriously at all. Instead of retreating, she moved forward to meet the attack head-on, even attempting to catch the stone staff with her bare hand.

But when the stone staff landed in her palm, she realized she had misjudged the situation. Forcing herself to deflect the staff, she hid her unconsciously trembling right hand and leaped backward. Meanwhile, Yan Jiayu shot forward like a cannonball, closing the distance in the blink of an eye and hammering down with her stone staff three times in rapid succession!

Seeing his companion being beaten back step by step, the male player called "Brother Xue" immediately moved to assist. However, at that moment, a thin wire tipped with a metal hook flew through the air and wrapped around his wrist. The other end of the wire was held in Xu Huo's hand.

This was an item obtained earlier from killing the Wire Control Player. It had good flexibility, so Xu Huo decided to test its effectiveness in actual combat. When he saw the other party trying to pull the wire off, he flicked his wrist, causing the wire to loop around the male player's other hand instead. However, manipulating this wire from a distance wasn't as easy to use as imagined. It didn't tangle easily either, being quite slippery instead, and was effortlessly removed.

Brother Xue watched his clumsy movements and forcefully pulled on the wire to shorten the distance between them.

As Xu Huo pushed off the ground to charge forward, he coiled the wire with his left hand while his right hand formed a fist that he threw with full force.

Brother Xue met his fist with his own. Upon impact, his expression changed dramatically, and he instantly abandoned the wire in his hand to create distance between them.

"You're the Player-Eaters!" Brother Xue exclaimed with shock and suspicion. As he spoke, he took out a paper children's pinwheel and stuck it into the ground—dense yellow sand gushed out from the spinning pinwheel, instantly sweeping through this patch of forest!

Almost the moment the yellow sand appeared, Xu Huo swung his sword to slash at the pinwheel on the ground. However, sword energy couldn't destroy the item. Instead, massive amounts of sand came blotting out the sky and hiding the sun.

The yellow sand rushing toward them blocked more than just vision—it seeped into every available orifice. Ears, mouth, nostrils—even breathing became difficult!

Xu Huo immediately took out his twisted mask to block the sand, but this was only a temporary emergency measure. He couldn't open his eyes now, and his ears were filled with the rustling sound of sand, making it impossible to track the players' movements. When he barely sensed someone approaching from the left, he blocked with his Ox Shield and was sent flying backward by the powerful impact.

However, the other party didn't press their advantage. He immediately realized that Brother Xue was also limited by the item's effects. Grabbing his piano wire, he quickly ascended, then flew from high altitude toward the pinwheel's location.

All items have usage ranges. As long as the pinwheel's coverage area didn't encompass the entire dungeon, getting out wouldn't be difficult.

With no one obstructing him, Xu Huo took less than half a minute to escape the yellow sand area. In fact, the sand's range wasn't particularly large—at most slightly bigger than a soccer field—and the starting position was the pinwheel itself. This meant the item's usage method required separating from its holder.

Stomping the pinwheel deep into the mud with one foot, the sky-full yellow sand ceased instantly. The masked Brother Xue stood with his back to him, pouring a potion onto the ground. The farm-green potion mixed with weeds became incredibly sticky, and two small animals that had rolled out from somewhere were stuck to the ground, struggling continuously.

"You... how is this possible!" Brother Xue turned around and saw Xu Huo already holding the pinwheel, unable to conceal his shock as the words burst out. His expression then turned ferocious. "I underestimated you!"

Xu Huo tucked the pinwheel behind his waist, then advanced with sword in hand. Brother Xue also produced a pair of heavy hammers and met the crimson sword head-on. When sword and hammers collided, sparks flew. Brother Xue was forced back, then turned and jumped onto a nearby tree!

Xu Huo followed closely behind, using his piano wire to gain an advantage over his opponent. After kicking the man out of the tree, he stood on the branch and delivered a follow-up sword strike!

However, this strike didn't manage to hit its target. As Brother Xue landed, he rolled sideways to avoid the slash, then turned and flung two sharp spikes backward.

"Clink! Clink!" Xu Huo raised his sword to deflect the spikes. His gaze shifted slightly, only to see his opponent leaping up from the ground, three white objects held between his fingers as he stabbed toward him!

Seeing that the objects seemed to be squirming, Xu Huo instinctively leaned backward while using his reverse hand to push Brother Xue's arm aside. The white objects shot toward a tree to the side. The squirming creatures attached themselves and immediately burrowed into the tree bark, leaving only three holes on the surface!

"013 District's specialty—Skin-Burrowing Worms. Enjoy them!" Brother Xue laughed as he spoke, retreating while throwing out a handful of worms!

In that split second, Xu Huo tore off his clothing and threw it forward. As he retreated, he took out his lighter and set it on fire. The plump worms wrapped in the burning clothing fell to the ground. However, the fabric wasn't sufficient to burn the worms to death. Two of them hissed and burrowed into the soil.

Xu Huo only glanced at them before accelerating to catch up with Brother Xue, making the thin wires fly everywhere as if trying to trap his opponent.

Brother Xue, repeatedly hindered by the thin wires, saw the lines hanging from branches and leaves and changed direction, attempting to escape the wire enclosure. However, Xu Huo blocked his path again and again, seemingly intent on trapping him within the web of wires.

"You do know this item of yours can't kill anyone, right?" Brother Xue, unable to escape after several attempts, felt the humiliation of being toyed with like a cat playing with a mouse.

"I know," Xu Huo said. Seeing that the timing was about right, he sent out his piano wire along with another release of the thin wires.

Brother Xue, who had been angrily preparing to charge forward, suddenly found the wire hooked around his throat. He pulled a couple of times and realized this wire was different from the previous ones, or perhaps the item's effect had changed. He immediately produced two sharp spikes and forcibly pried the piano wire open, then escaped from it. Using the spikes, he twisted the piano wire into a tangled mess, then held it in his hand as he looked at Xu Huo. "You took one of my items, and I took one of yours. Why don't we be fair and exchange them back?"

Xu Huo remained silent from a distance, instead pointing at the ground. Brother Xue instinctively looked down and discovered he was already standing beside the clothing ashes, with a blackened flesh worm crawling onto his shoe!

He reflexively kicked his shoe off, but it was too late. The Skin-Burrowing Worm had already burrowed into his heel and was quickly swimming up his calf toward his thigh!

Brother Xue produced a short dagger and attempted to cut at the back of his knee. However, at that moment, a flying arrow pierced through his wrist. The short dagger fell to the ground with a clatter, and during this opening, the Skin-Burrowing Worm passed his waist.

Stomping the pinwheel deep into the mud with one foot, the sky-full yellow sand ceased instantly. The faceless mask-wearing Brother Xue stood with his back to him, pouring a potion onto the ground. The farm-green potion mixed with weeds became incredibly sticky, and two small animals that had rolled out from somewhere were stuck to the ground, struggling continuously.

"Urk... urk..." The half-kneeling man made strange noises, then collapsed to the ground in pain, convulsing violently.