Chapter 50: Bullies the Weak, Fears the Strong |
One hour later.
Lu Xing reappeared at the respawn point in Emperor’s Mound Village.
The battle with the Mystic Butterfly left him shaken. In hindsight, he realized the Mystic Butterfly could have easily killed him but instead chose to toy with him through torment.
After his death, many players had already formed groups and headed for Ripple Pool, determined to capture the Fourth-Generation Primordial.
At this moment, Lu Xing opened the forum interface.
He selected the livestream category and clicked into the livestream of the player ‘Endless Night.’
The stream displayed the scene.
After over an hour of long-distance travel, Endless Night’s player team had arrived near Ripple Pool, just past the volcano spewing flames lay the area where the Mystic Butterfly had last been spotted.
At this time, the players in the stream were hotly debating one question, was the Mystic Butterfly still there?
From the bushes at the edge of the stream’s view, a pair of emerald-green eyes blinked repeatedly, observing the surroundings.
Upon confirming the Mystic Butterfly was still there, both the on-site players and livestream viewers erupted in cheers.
But the excitement lasted only a few seconds before the Mystic Butterfly suddenly leapt from the bushes, flapping its wings and soaring into the sky.
The team of players was instantly dumbfounded.
“Damn, after traveling all this way, it just flies away?”
“Where are the Owl-Headed Fiend players? Hurry up and flap after it, quick!”
“Idiot, we Owl-Headed Fiends are just ground chickens, we can only glide short distances. At our current levels, we can’t fly yet.”
—
The Mystic Butterfly flew farther and farther away, while the players could only watch helplessly as it disappeared from view.
Helpless, they had no choice but to turn back.
Seeing this, Lu Xing couldn’t help but shake his head.
The attempt to contain the Mystic Butterfly had ended in total failure.
Closing Endless Night’s livestream, Lu Xing activated his own livestream mode. Then he bought ten 1 point sacrificial power food cans from the item shop, preparing to continue his exploration journey.
Two hours later.
After passing through the Ancient Battlefield littered with Blood Corpses, Lu Xing once again arrived at the Ripple Pool area.
This time, he didn’t stop and continued heading northwest along the pool’s edge.
Just then, a sudden gust of wind swept down from the sky.
Startled, Lu Xing looked up to find the Mystic Butterfly descending from above, its broad white wings crashing down toward him.
“Good grief!”
Lu Xing instantly switched into his Owl-Headed Fiend form and dove to the side.
“Goo goo!”
Amidst the swirling dust, the Mystic Butterfly landed, letting out an excited cry.
Seeing the Mystic Butterfly again left Lu Xing dumbfounded. As he looked up, he saw it eyeing him with a human-like mocking expression.
“Nope, not fighting this time!”
Remembering the half-hour beating from before, Lu Xing decisively chickened out and ran.
But the Mystic Butterfly wouldn’t let him go.
It flapped its wings, flew behind him, pounced, knocked him to the ground, then flew to a nearby twisted ancient tree and perched, letting out another ‘goo goo’ cry while watching him.
Flattened to the ground, Lu Xing sensed something was wrong.
It seemed the Mystic Butterfly had fixated on him.
Recalling Guide’s analysis that described it as ‘bullies the weak, fears the strong,’ he realized he had become the weakling that the Mystic Butterfly enjoyed tormenting.
“Goo goo!”
The Mystic Butterfly took flight again, diving straight at him.
Lu Xing dodged quickly but still got knocked over by the butterfly’s wings, spinning and landing hard, seeing stars.
“Goo goo!”
“You’ve gone too far.” Staring at the butterfly standing proudly on the tree branch, Lu Xing felt deeply frustrated.
As the Mystic Butterfly dove again, Lu Xing decided not to back down and flapped his wings to meet it head-on.
While Lu Xing and the Mystic Butterfly battled, the livestream’s viewer count kept climbing.
“This is amazing, I thought the Mystic Butterfly had flown away, but it actually came back. We still have a chance to contain it!”
“I suspect too many people scared it off last time. Next time we should send fewer players, or have stronger players challenge it solo.”
“Come on! Fight the Mystic Butterfly again! You can win!”
—
With the influx of rubbernecking viewers, donation tips started pouring in once more.
Lu Xing and the Mystic Butterfly entered a new round of battle. This time, the Mystic Butterfly no longer used its Wind Control ability and instead toyed with Lu Xing in melee combat.
After half an hour of torment, Lu Xing lay on the ground exhausted, curled up and utterly giving up resistance, helplessly taking blow after blow from the butterfly’s wings.
As a scenery seeking player, he never expected to suffer such a disaster on his travels.
Before encountering the Mystic Butterfly, he had been killed by monsters and Evil Entities, but none were as painful as this.
Though filled with grief and frustration, the Mystic Butterfly showed no mercy, flapping its wings to summon countless wind blades, surrounding him and ending his life.
After Lu Xing logged off, many players regrouped and returned to Ripple Pool.
This time, the players were smarter. Realizing the Mystic Butterfly bullied the weak and feared the strong, they avoided mass challenges and instead sent a Level 10 player to approach it.
But to everyone’s surprise, upon seeing the stronger player, the Mystic Butterfly immediately flapped its wings and flew away.
The frustrated players stayed hidden nearby.
Half an hour later, the Mystic Butterfly returned, circled Ripple Pool twice to scout the area, then landed back into the bushes.
This time, the players sent another player similar in level to Lu Xing to challenge it, but the result was the same, the moment it spotted the player, it flew into the sky and disappeared again.
The team was left grinding their teeth in frustration but utterly helpless.
At that moment, a voice sounded in the team’s voice channel.
“It seems the Mystic Butterfly has fixated on the Explorer. He’s the only one it views as weak enough. Since we can’t get close to it, why not figure out a way to help the Explorer defeat the Mystic Butterfly?”
The proposal gained widespread support from the players.
When Lu Xing logged back in and started his livestream again, a flood of players poured into his stream.
“Bro, the mission of defeating the Mystic Butterfly is yours now.”
“Containing the first Fourth-Generation Primordial, this reward is better than winning the lottery. You can do it!”
“Bro, believe in yourself. We all have high hopes for you.”
Feeling baffled, Lu Xing scrolled through the comments and gradually understood why these players had come to him. Clearly, they hoped he would return to Ripple Pool and challenge the Mystic Butterfly once more.
In response, Lu Xing shook his head, saying he had decided to change his exploration route and would not be returning to Ripple Pool.
But what followed was a barrage of donations. The amounts weren’t large, but it showed how much these players wanted him to fight the Mystic Butterfly again.
Some even offered to provide remote coaching, promising to help him win.
After a long silence, under the livestream audience’s monetary persuasion, Lu Xing finally mustered his courage.
“Alright. I’ll give it another try!”
The moment Lu Xing agreed, cheers flooded the livestream.
And thus, Lu Xing once again set off on the journey to battle the Mystic Butterfly.