Chapter 140: Lightning Butterfly

Chapter 140: Lightning Butterfly

Soon, Zhou Yun and Guan Yuanfeng were led into the hall of the "Hunter's Guild," an old-fashioned great hall with walls adorned with the horns of giant beasts.

The Four Seas Team introduced them to the president of the "Hunter's Guild," "Fei Lian," a female president adorned with silver bracelets and necklaces, whose delicate silver bells jingled as she walked. She had deep facial features, exceptionally bright large eyes, thick and curly hair and eyelashes, and a well-proportioned, slender figure.

Fei Lian greeted them with a bright smile: "Friends, have you heard of Dong Jun?"

Guan Yuanfeng: "..."

Zhou Yun: "..."

The feeling was complex, as if they had mistakenly entered a pyramid scheme and then discovered that the head of the scheme seemed to be one of their own.

Seeing their expressions, Fei Lian explained with a smile: "Dong Jun, the city lord of Abyss, founded the Grower's Guild."

Zhou Yun snapped out of his thoughts: "Fei Lian is the legendary wind god, is President Fei Lian a wind-type? Is your Hunter's Guild perhaps modeled after that Grower's Guild?"

Fei Lian's eyes lit up: "Yes, although I am a wind-type, I am honored to serve as the president by everyone's favor. In our small Sea Dragon City, many psychic squads gather here because it is the headquarters of our Hunter's Guild."

She sincerely said: "I greatly admire Dong Jun."

Guan Yuanfeng: "..."

Fei Lian continued to talk non-stop: "Therefore, I founded the Hunter's Guild, imitating Dong Jun, and set up regulations for the Hunter's Guild to share locations of mutant creatures, jointly kill mutant creatures and mutated plants, and exchange resources."

"Captain Lu returned saying he had received your help. I see that you two gentlemen are outstanding talents among psychics, and with your mutant dog, you are truly elite hunters. Meeting is fate, and our Hunter's Guild hopes to have the honor of your support."

She quickly unfolded a brightly colored printed sheet: "These are the regulations and benefits of our Hunter's Guild, please consider them. We also have a guild forum where you can go and learn more about it. The atmosphere in the entire guild is very good."

Zhou Yun took the printed sheet and remarked, "President Fei Lian is quite the orator." A real talent.

This President Fei Lian, without a doubt, is the city lord of Sea Dragon City, the high-level wind-type psychic Lin Lingling.

Being able to protect a city in the post-apocalyptic world as a guide, actively engaging in construction and management, she has won the people's hearts.

To secure the base's position, she founded the guild, using this relatively loose Hunter's Guild to enhance the prestige of Sea Dragon City, strengthen the reputation of the Hunter's Guild, and expand her own influence.

No wonder such a small base has been able to remain relatively independent and not annexed by official bases.

He was indeed somewhat surprised when he saw the tasks today, that such a small base had so many psychic squads.

He looked at Guan Yuanfeng, who said: "We have other plans and prefer not to be in crowds. We just happened to pass through and were intrigued by the lightning butterfly, so we won't participate in activities or join the guild."

Having been in high positions for many years, often making decisions, and knowing well that Zhou Yun dislikes dealing with outsiders, they do not lack companions. Originally, it was a journey for the two of them, and they did not want to deal with strangers, so they decisively refused.

Fei Lian was somewhat disappointed: "Although that is the case, we will still provide you with information on the locations of mutant plants and creatures. After all, you helped the Four Seas Team, and we really want to repay you a little, to express our gratitude."

Guan Yuanfeng nodded slightly: "Alright, send us the locations. We are used to acting on our own, and bringing others is inconvenient."

Fei Lian said: "Wait a moment."

Zhou Yun said: "If we have any gains, we will return some extra mutant creature parts to the guild as a thank you for providing the clues."

Fei Lian smiled: "Then I thank you two in advance, I'm sure you'll return with something, and I wish you the best of luck."

Not long after, Pan Jiuhong contacted the task issuer, compiled all the information, printed it out, and handed it to Fei Lian.

Fei Lian took the paper, glanced at it, and handed it to them with a smile: "The lightning butterfly was spotted by some adventurers in the Nine Paths Water Forest. They had prepared some mutant honey to lure it, but there's no exact location. The shadow ants, however, are clearly in the cave, and there's a map."

"The green vines are used in our rattan weaving industry, so those are the mutated green vines from the artificially planted industrial park. I’m a wind psychic, and I’m not very skilled with those mutated green vines. I originally planned to organize a few teams to eradicate them after the New Year, when psychics would have more time."

"That mutated green vine is elusive, and it has taken over the mountains in that park area, which is quite troublesome. I plan to recruit more fire psychics, lightning psychics, and earth psychics to handle it better. Are you sure you don’t need me to gather some psychic teams to help?"

Guan Yuanfeng said, "No need."

Fei Lian grinned, "Yeah, a lightning psychic and a fire-psychic dog are already pretty strong."

After exchanging a few more polite words, Fei Lian warmly invited them to dine, but after being refused by Guan Yuanfeng, she didn’t persist and personally escorted them out.

After leaving, they first stopped by the butcher shop to pick up the meat they had ordered, then headed down the mountain.

Zhou Yun chuckled and said to Guan Yuanfeng, "Didn’t think you’d turn them down."

Guan Yuanfeng was surprised, "We only wanted to find locals for specific information. Now that someone’s willing to give us the details, there’s no need to bring anyone else along. Don’t you want to test your new skills? It’s hard to do that with a crowd around."

Zhou Yun laughed, "Right, I was also thinking about how to phrase the refusal. But I didn’t expect you to refuse so decisively, and the other party seemed to fully understand without any persistence."

Guan Yuanfeng said, "If you don’t want to, refuse firmly. Being vague makes them think there’s still a chance, and they’ll keep pushing, wasting time."

Zhou Yun nodded, "You’re right. I’m still not great at saying no—I need to learn from you."

Guan Yuanfeng just stared at him, speechless.

Zhou Yun looked at his expression, "What’s with that look?"

Guan Yuanfeng said, "You were so firm when you turned down going to Zhongzhou with me." He’d never forget that day—the first time he felt reluctance, loss, and melancholy.

Zhou Yun: "..."

He quickly changed the subject, "Luckily, we brought some mutated honey for bait. Let’s go check out this lightning butterfly first."

They returned to the lodge, paid for internet access that night, and looked up the details to plan their next move. Early the next morning, they drove to Nine Waters Forest, just a couple of hours from Sea Dragon City.

In winter, the forest was blanketed in snow, with frost stretching as far as the eye could see.

The area is named after the nine springs that flow into the Nine Waters Reservoir, which spans over 300 acres. The mountains encircle the water, and the winding waterway twists and turns endlessly. Now the frozen water mirrored the frost-covered trees, creating a serene, snowy landscape.

Zhou Yun looked out the car window at the beautiful silver-white scene and murmured, "Do butterflies even stick around in winter? There aren’t any hot springs here."

Guan Yuanfeng said, "In the apocalypse, you never know what’s possible. I’ve seen mutated cicadas in Yanling before."

Zhou Yun said, "Cicadas live off tree sap, and Yanling’s still got plenty of trees. In our Danlin, we can indeed see cockroaches in winter, but butterflies... in this heavy snow, what do they eat? A lightning butterfly—are its caterpillars lightning psychics too?"

Guan Yuanfeng: "...Let’s send the drone out first and see what we find."

Following the location provided by the other party, they parked their car in a spot. They released Comet into the forest to patrol and alert, while Guan Yuanfeng operated the drone for reconnaissance.

Zhou Yun got out of the car to look around. As a wood psychic, he felt very comfortable entering the forest, standing by the water and looking around.

Comet darted into the forest, chasing a few small boars, until a big one charged out and started a brawl with him.

Zhou Yun saw Comet had it under control and didn’t step in.

Suddenly, Guan Yuanfeng inside the car said, "Found it."

Zhou Yun was surprised and went in to look at the drone screen. A sea of delicate pea-green flowers hung in clusters, their lush petals like tiny birds resting on the branches.

And in the sea of flowers, a group of butterflies fluttered, dancing gracefully, surrounded by electric light.

He was also stunned for a moment: "So there are flowers here after all... No wonder there are mutant butterflies. Is this... the sparrow vine?"

Afraid of being damaged by electricity, the drone was filming from a high altitude and did not descend, but from above, it was clear to see that half of this sparrow vine was scorched black, while the other half was in full bloom. From a distance, it looked like a flock of sparrows gathered, with lightning also lingering on the flowers.

After retrieving the drone, they locked the car. Zhou Yun summoned vines to camouflage the entire car, then called out to Comet, who immediately spewed fire to drive away the wild boars and trotted back.

The wild boars, instinctively knowing they were not to be messed with, did not pursue.

The two, along with Comet, ventured deeper into the jungle.

Soon they reached the area of the sparrow vine. Up close, they saw just how enormous this sparrow vine was, with thick, robust branches and lush foliage, entwined high in the air. The vine was covered with a thick layer of crystalline snow, but beneath it, delicate flowers hung in clusters, resembling lively white sparrows resting among the leaves.

Among the leaves and flowers, faint electric lights flickered, and the lightning butterflies were fluttering gracefully within, their bright blue wings large and spread out, collecting nectar sporadically. Guan Yuanfeng said, "There's a lightning field there, don't go in. I'll go in and catch those butterflies." They had brought insulated nets for catching them.

Zhou Yun looked at the blackened half of the vine and murmured, "It seems this mutated vine was struck by lightning and underwent a second mutation. And there might be caterpillar eggs in the vine, which have nurtured these lightning butterflies. The crystal core of this sparrow vine is likely dual-type, combining lightning and wood elements."

Guan Yuanfeng asked, "Is it useful to you?"

Zhou Yun replied, "Yes, the ginseng we found in Yanling was of the light type. After fusing with it, I could harness its light abilities through the ginseng."

Guan Yuanfeng pondered, "So, if you also fuse with this dual-type lightning and wood sparrow vine, you could use lightning abilities too?"

Zhou Yun said, "Only the lightning abilities of the sparrow vine. It seems now, it's likely the skill of this lightning field. And, it should give me some leeway to counter psychics like you who specialize in lightning, summoning it should be able to immunize and offset some lightning attacks."

He looked at Guan Yuanfeng with a smile in his eyes, "Still up for a spar with me?"

But Guan Yuanfeng thoughtfully asked him, "You mentioned before that you absorbed the Lotus and also have its abilities. I later checked, the Lotus can reproduce sexually through its flowers forming seed pods and seeds, and also asexually through its rhizomes."

Zhou Yun: "..."

Guan Yuanfeng teased him, "You said if we work hard, could you also give birth to..."

Zhou Yun firmly stated, "Don't extrapolate! It's just about using abilities, not turning into that species! I can't have children!"

Guan Yuanfeng said, "Our understanding of psychic abilities is still very shallow..."

Zhou Yun said, "Impossible, no way."

He quickly steered the conversation back on track, "Let's think about how to absorb this dual-type lightning and wood sparrow vine. It might not be that straightforward."