This assassin is upright

Chapter 356 The Plight of the Group

"interesting."

As he watched the departing third-stage demon, a glint of light flashed in Yu Zhun's eyes.

He toyed with the two dried-out corpses of demonic insects, no longer than a finger, in his hand, a thoughtful look on his face.

Although giving away such a huge demonic insect might seem like a loss, Yu Zhun believed it was a worthwhile deal.

He obtained crucial information about the third level of the Underworld.

It's not just what the third-stage demon mentioned before, but also the function of the drained demon insect corpse in his hand.

According to what this third-level demon said, the corpses of these demonic insects that can no longer be absorbed are called insect coins here.

It is the most commonly used currency when dealing with other third-tier demons in the third layer of the Netherworld.

The existence of a specific currency implies that the relationships between the demons and the third pet of the Netherworld are far more complex than he imagined.

Compared to such important information, a single demonic worm was nothing to Yu Zhun, since with his special passive ability that forbids resurrection, there should be no shortage of such demonic worms in the future.

“I’ve roughly figured out the rules here,” Yu Zhun said slowly. “Next, it’s time to find the demonic insects.”

"I wonder how Yu Zhu and the others are doing now."

"If the rules here are indeed as I suspect, it should be a good thing for them."

"At least, they won't be subjected to endless attacks from the demons."
-
"Om-"

With a deep hum, Lu Wen gripped a longsword and slashed fiercely at the demon's body, which had expanded to its limit in the air.

"Useless!" the demon sneered, a look of contempt in his eyes. "A mere newcomer dares to attack me first."

"court death!"

As the angry roar resounded, terrifying demonic energy erupted from the opponent's body, transforming into countless demonic venomous snakes that viciously bit Lu Wen's wrists, ankles, and other parts, locking him to the ground.

"Tsk..."

Lu Wen clicked his tongue lightly, his face showing displeasure. "Just because I don't attack you doesn't mean you won't attack me."

"All I know is that the first to strike wins, and the last to strike suffers!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Wen's body vanished from the spot, narrowly avoiding a heart-piercing demon snake.

After rolling around on the ground a few times, he stomped his foot and charged at the third-level demon in front of him again. "Yu Zhun has probably already killed one."

"I can't fall too far behind!"

"Hmph!" With a low growl, the third-stage demon's dark eyes surged with killing intent, and terrifying power instantly enveloped Lu Wen.

Just then, a slight sound came from behind.

"The rustling—"

"The rustling—"

At the slight sound, Lu Wen's expression became alert, while the third-stage demon on the other side looked extremely surprised.

"boom--"

He abruptly pushed Lu Wen away, then headed towards the direction from which the soft sound came. "Consider yourself lucky."

"Next time we meet, I will kill you."

"Hmph! I'm the one who should be saying that!" Lu Wen snorted.

Watching the third-stage demon rapidly disappear into the distance, a hint of doubt appeared in his eyes.

what's the situation?
During the fight, his opponent didn't seem very proactive, and now he abandoned him because of that peculiar sound.

Could it be that the demons on this floor have become peace-loving?

It should be impossible.

Then it can only be because of the sound.

With a flicker of his eyes, Lu Wen took off like the wind and chased after the third-level demon without hesitation.

Soon, he saw the third-level demon again, but at this moment the demon was confronting a giant demonic insect that had suddenly appeared and was a thousand meters long.

Is that the source of the sound we just heard?
Lu Wen's eyes flashed.

Just as he was about to make a move, the third-stage demon swiftly attacked, his thin body rapidly expanding and transforming into a giant demon tens of meters tall. Terrifying demonic energy surged forth and quickly surrounded the demonic insect.

Seeing that it was about to be trapped by the demonic energy, the demonic insect let out an angry, sharp hiss and twisted its body to retreat back into the darkness.

"Don't even think about leaving!"

The third-stage demon roared, no longer trying to trap the demonic insects, but instead clenched his fist, causing the demonic energy cage to collapse instantly.

"squeak--"

With a painful cry, the demonic insect's body was instantly crushed, but then, each shattered part of its body transformed into a brand new, smaller demonic insect, scattering and fleeing in all directions.

"Damn it~" The third-level demon's face was gloomy. In his haste, he quickly captured the small demonic insects, which were only a dozen meters long.

As for the other demonic insects, they had all fled into the darkness.

"What a pity!" The third-stage demon sighed. "If we hadn't come out in such a hurry without any preparation, we could have wiped them all out."

"Hey!" Lu Wen suddenly spoke up after watching for a while, "What was that thing you just killed?"

"Tell me honestly, and I might let you off the hook."

"Heh..." The third-stage demon turned his head coldly and looked at Lu Wen, "I was so busy dealing with the demonic insects that I forgot to deal with you."

"I didn't expect you to actually dare to follow me."

"It seems you really are..."

"Om-"

A soaring sword aura instantly slashed towards the demon, the terrifying sword light engulfing him in a moment and bringing his words to an abrupt halt.

"I wonder if villains die from talking too much?" Lu Wen sheathed his sword and pursed his lips. "I didn't really want to use this move."

He sheathed his longsword and walked step by step toward the demon who had collapsed to the ground. He watched as the demon turned to ashes in bewilderment and despair, and then picked up the bead and several finger-length demonic insects that the demon had left behind.

"Crunch—" Lu Wen casually tossed the bead into his mouth and chewed, then frowned.

The effect of swallowing a round bead on his strength was negligible.

"Could it be that the rules for this third level have changed again?"

As he spoke, he looked at the few finger-length demonic insects, and then at the four or five large demonic insects beside him that had already been killed.

Lu Wen stroked his chin, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.

"Could this thing be something to eat?"

Thinking of this, Lu Wen casually grabbed one, looked at the hideous purplish-black patterns on its body, a look of disgust appeared on his face, and he forced himself to take a bite.

Immediately afterwards, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Chicken flavor, not bad."

After thoroughly draining one of the demonic worms, Lu Wen looked at the others with delight and then pounced on them without hesitation.

A moment later, the giant demonic insect was no longer beside Lu Wen, and he had several new insect coins in his hand. "I don't know what these things are for, but since the demon has them, I might as well take them too." Lu Wen muttered to himself, stuffing the insect coins into his pocket, smacking his lips as he savored the lingering delicious taste in his mouth and the significant increase in power within him.

"I haven't had enough to eat..."

"I'll catch some more." He muttered to himself, walking step by step in a certain direction, and then suddenly drew his sword, stabbing it into the void.

"Pfft-"

A demonic insect, hidden in the darkness and theoretically undetectable by any living being, died on the spot and was dragged out of the darkness by Lu Wen.
-
"strangeness…"

Yu Zhu stroked his chin, watching the departing third-stage demon.

With her continuous healing and invulnerability, she was about to kill this guy when he unexpectedly chose to run away.

Such a thing would not happen in the second level of the Netherworld.

Even if the demons there fight to the death, they will never retreat.

"It seems that the environment and rules of the third level have changed again compared to the second level, which is why the demons here are different from those on the previous level." Yu Zhu muttered to himself, then suddenly stopped in his tracks.

A slight rustling sound came from not far beside her.

The sound was like something slowly wriggling and crawling, but when Yu Zhu turned his head, he could not see any trace of it.

The rustling sound gradually drew closer, and Yu Zhu's expression tightened accordingly.

Could this be the difference between the second and third floors that she had just guessed?
So what exactly is this?
In the blink of an eye, a giant demonic insect emerged from the darkness, its enormous mandibles snapping open as if to swallow her whole.

Yu Zhu's heart tightened, and he picked up the pastor's book without hesitation.

"Feigned death!"

"boom!"

With a low rumble, the demonic insect landed instantly, motionless as if it were asleep.

"Phew! You scared me!" Yu Zhu breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the huge thing in front of him, and couldn't help but walk around to the side to take a closer look.

When she saw its enormous body, which was over a thousand meters long, she couldn't help but gasp. "It really is a huge creature!"

"Is this a demon?" Yu Zhu guessed casually, but then shook his head. "No, a demon shouldn't be like this."

"And its strength is also weaker."

"No matter what, kill them first!" Yu Zhu took a deep breath, raising his priest's book high. "Poisonous milk!"

A powerful dose of poisonous milk slammed down on the demonic insect, causing the life force within its body to rapidly dissipate, leaving only incredibly pure demonic energy.

“This thing…” Yu Zhu circled it a few times, a look of doubt flashing in his eyes, “Could it be some kind of food?”

In the third level of the Netherworld, this enormous, weak, and self-aware creature looks like food no matter how you look at it.

Thinking of this, Yu Zhu took out a small knife and carefully cut open a piece of the other person's flesh. After hesitating for a moment, he put it into his mouth.

"Hmm~ the taste is not bad?"

Yu Zhu smacked his lips, his gaze towards the demonic insect burning with intensity.

"In that case, I won't be polite."
-
"boom!!!"

With a deep, booming sound, a huge, spiked hammer slammed down, striking precisely the body of an adult demonic insect that was over a thousand meters long.

Under this terrifying power, the adult demonic insect's body suddenly exploded, and in the process of flying, it quickly transformed into hundreds of smaller demonic insects, trying to escape into the darkness to avoid the impending disaster.

Arrows streaked across the void, piercing through the demonic insects with terrifying speed that could traverse space.

Watching the demonic insects land silently on the ground, the female demon wielding the heavy hammer laughed and gave a thumbs-up behind her, "I knew I wasn't wrong, you're the most suitable demon to hunt demonic insects!"

“As we agreed before, we’ll split it 50/50,” Udir said calmly as he walked over.

“No problem.” The female demon casually flicked her wrist, and half of the demonic insects flew to Udyr’s front. “These are all yours.”

"Ah."

Udir nodded calmly, grabbed one, took a big bite, sucked it down to the length of a finger and put it away, then grabbed a second one.

Compared to the others, Udyr had a much smoother time after entering the third level of the Underworld.

She was teleported directly to the side of the female demon named "Tart," who was fighting a giant demonic insect.

At that moment, she instinctively wanted to attack Tat, but he asked her to help him hunt the demonic insects.

Realizing the situation was different from what she had expected, Udyr quickly changed her target and completed her first collaboration with Tata.

The two parties then formed a cooperative relationship.

With Tata's explanation, Udyr learned about the concepts of demonic insects and insect coins, and gained a better understanding of the third level of the Underworld.

"Done." Tat quickly absorbed the demonic insects and walked towards Udyr with a smile, but the smile looked anything but friendly against the other's ferocious face.

"The demonic energy of the little demonic insects is too weak, and it does little to improve our strength." Ta sighed. "It's a pity that the big demonic insects are not easy to kill."

The larger the demonic insect, the greater its effect on enhancing the strength of the third-level demon, and the difference between large and small demonic insects is enormous.

Take the giant demonic insect as an example. It split into hundreds of smaller demonic insects, but killing and devouring all of them would only increase one-tenth of the power of the giant demonic insect.

“However, the little demonic insects also have advantages; at least we can get more insect coins.” Ta shook the insect coins hanging in his hand.

"With these insect coins, we can exchange them for things at the market."

"There are so many things you can exchange at the market. If you have enough Insect Coins, you can even exchange them for the leftover divine blood food from other demons."

“Speaking of which, you have a pretty strong smell of divine blood on you.” Tata sniffed and looked at Udyr with a strange look in his eyes. “But don’t worry, I won’t eat you.”

"After all, our cooperation has been quite pleasant."

"How far are we from the market?" Udir finally asked.

"A day's journey," Tart grinned. "Your lost companion might be there too~"

“I hope so.” Udir nodded, then asked, “How many markets are there on this third level?”

“I can’t say for sure,” Tat shook his head. “Nobody knows exactly how big the third floor is, so the number of markets is naturally uncertain.”

"However... there are always at least a dozen."

“Alright,” Udyr sighed.

According to Tata, the Demon Market is a place where the vast majority of demons on the third floor go. She believes that if the other four teammates figure out the situation here, they will also head towards the market.

This would be the easiest way to reunite with teammates.

And Tart can take her to the nearest market.

This is also why she was willing to cooperate with the demon temporarily.

“Don’t worry too much.” Seeing Udyr’s concern, Tata said casually, “If your companions aren’t at the market we’re going to, you can spend Insect Coins to have other demons keep an eye out for you.”

"Of course, the premise is that you have enough bug coins."

“I understand what you mean.” Udyr gripped his longbow tighter. “We’ll continue our cooperation on the way to the market.”

“Still a 50/50 split, just like before.” Tat’s voice became lighter. “I know a place where demonic insects often go. Come on.”

(End of this chapter)