Chapter 3: Devil's Tendrils
Old Liu, carefree and self-satisfied, was not afraid of the hidden dangers around him. He faced the gentle breeze with narrowed eyes, as if he had seen through the worldly dust. It was just like Chen Shu-yi's song in the red dust, this life is not over yet, but his heart has already been untroubled, only wanting to exchange for half a lifetime of carefree wandering. However, with his current form, it's very difficult to use the phrase "out of the dust", even thinking of a word to describe him is extremely difficult. So here, I won't bother trying to come up with a description of how a mosquito sees through the worldly dust either. This is an extremely brain-damaging task.
Of course, our careless and reckless comrade Liu Ting naturally wouldn't know the kind of pressure his current state has brought to everyone. Just as he was stirring up the wings behind him, preparing to go out for a walk, he didn't expect that several mosquitoes would crawl over beside him, also slowly gathering around him, their two antennae on their forehead lightly touching Comrade Liu, seemingly transmitting some kind of message to him. Unfortunately, Comrade Liu couldn't grasp this difficult foreign language at the moment and had no idea what they were saying, so he became depressed.
"What are you doing, what are you doing. Get out of the way, this is my territory, I don't have time to deal with you!" Old Liu sent out an unpleasant message, relying on his strong physique, and with a few swipes, he brushed away all the mosquitoes surrounding him. The mosquitoes in front of him still stubbornly wanted to get close to him, and there were more and more signs of this, Old Liu couldn't help but get angry, his wings behind him vibrating violently, and with a whooshing sound, he flew out tumbling.
In theory, all blood-sucking mosquitoes are female. The antennae of male mosquitoes are thread-like and their antennal hairs are generally denser than those of females. Their mouthparts are severely degenerated, and they feed on nectar and plant sap. They have no killing power, so there is nothing to be proud of. Female mosquitoes, however, need to bite animals to suck blood to promote the maturation of their eggs before reproduction. According to expert research, each female mosquito produces approximately 1,000-3,000 eggs at a time, which are generally laid on the water surface and hatch into aquatic larvae (wrigglers) after two days. The wrigglers feed on algae in the water and undergo four molts before growing into pupae that float on the water surface. Finally, the pupal skin breaks open, and young mosquitoes emerge.
However, Liu Ting, who has become a mosquito after crossing over, seems to be a bit strange. Although Lao Liu is not very familiar with his body now and cannot check if he still has a small JJ below, he feels that he has not changed sex and is still male, not female. This is not self-deception, but rather an instinctual understanding of one's own body, just like how insects can determine the sex of their peers through smell and body shape during mating season. When engaging in some entertainment activities, it won't be too shocking to see a few males or females gathering together to mate. This has brought a bit of comfort to Lao Liu, who has been tragic since crossing over, and has prevented him from completely collapsing.
And as mentioned earlier, the mosquito larvae should be living in shallow water as wrigglers, undergoing four molts before growing into pupae that float on the surface of the water. Finally, the pupal skin splits open and young mosquitoes emerge. But here, the mosquitoes were directly hatched from eggs without going through any previous stages. This is completely different from what Liu Ting knew about insect development and life cycles. It's extremely inconsistent with the knowledge taught by Teacher Zhao. It's really a strange thing. However, although these things are all weird, could there be anything more ridiculous than crossing over as an adult mosquito? Old Liu has now become disillusioned with the world and doesn't bother to think about these trivial matters anymore. He just focuses on his own carefree and reckless behavior, completely ignoring the predators lurking in the rainforest. And yet, after a while, Old Liu's flying speed actually improved significantly. Look at him flying in S-shapes and B-shapes - this requires great skill! Who would have thought that he could even do flower-style moves?
Perhaps it was tired of flying, Old Liu slowly found a large leaf and landed on it, raising his head carelessly without looking around to see where he had flown to. Suddenly, with a flip of his body, he ended up lying on the leaf with his six feet in the air, performing a high-difficulty move. This sudden movement startled a small lizard hiding under the leaf, which was originally planning to sneak up and swallow Old Liu whole. However, it didn't expect Old Liu to suddenly strike this pose. When some insects die, they often assume this posture as if playing dead, such as cockroaches or dung beetles. This is not a good thing, because in the tropical rainforest of Gaya, there are many strange and exotic plants that can suddenly turn into terrifying monsters during hunting, with giant mouths emerging from nowhere to swallow you whole. Or they may sprout countless vines covered in toxic liquid, entwining you tightly and killing even a strong wild beast within ten seconds.
Now looking at Old Liu's appearance, it's like some plants that release highly toxic neurotoxins. Although this plant is not among the top in Gaya's carnivorous plant list, it's just a type that eats and waits to die. But for young lizards, it has extremely strong killing power. Who would dare to touch this and play with their own life? Although these rainforest creatures are not highly intelligent, their inherited experiences from generation to generation are incredibly rich, supporting the continuation of these biological groups. Nature is not to be underestimated. So, without even thinking about it, the little lizard suddenly slid down from above and ran away without looking back.
The mighty Liu Ting naturally didn't know that he had inadvertently scared away a giant ancient dragon, and was busy calculating which direction to go. The surroundings looked about the same in all directions, with endless tall vegetation and mud filled with moisture.
Old Liu, who couldn't tell directions, was delayed like this, and suddenly a hoarse roar came from the left, then the big tree started falling down with a crash, and it turned out that a huge creature had squeezed out a road in the dense vegetation like a bulldozer.
"My god, a Triassic dragon!!!! No, this guy doesn't have horns, what is this thing!!!?" Old Liu shouted and yelled, staring at the gigantic beast with wide eyes, his mouth trembling with excitement: "Am I transported to the Triassic period of the dinosaurs?!"
This beast seemed to be a massive creature from the age of the triceratops, constantly letting out thunderous roars and then crazily crashing into tall trees, with some sort of suicidal intention. In no time at all, it got itself covered in blood, with blood flowing everywhere. But those plants that were crashed into by it also suffered, I was originally growing well here, how did I encounter this madman, who not only destroyed the greenery but also dug away a layer of soil, making everything a mess. It's truly infuriating!
Liu Ting looked at it for a while, but still couldn't figure out what this hornless three-horned dragon was doing. Just as he was about to leave in boredom, his eyes suddenly lit up and he discovered that the three-horned dragon had something wrapped around its body. This discovery made Old Liu excited, "So it's a fight! I thought one side was just playing with itself, committing suicide here. Wow, I say big guy, your opponent is so small, looks like it's not even as big as your tail. You're actually being beaten up like this, what a waste of your large body."
That wrapped around the Tri-Horned Dragon's body was a slender, iron-colored python. Because its color was similar to the Tri-Horned Dragon's skin, Old Liu hadn't noticed it at first. However, this python was indeed tenacious and could wrap itself around a giant creature dozens of times larger than itself for so long, seemingly having the upper hand. It was truly unknown where it got such great strength from.
But what really surprised Liu Ting was not this, but the electric light that flashed on the body of the python from time to time. Although it was fleeting, the iron-colored body of the python became brighter and brighter, as if gathering energy, constantly accumulating, until it suddenly burst out in a flash of lightning!
The Tri-Horned Dragon let out a terrified howl, and was immediately covered in lightning, its thick skin carbonizing instantly into a blackened layer. However, the dragon's vitality was truly astonishing, and even this couldn't deal it mortal damage. Having endured such intense pain, the massive creature began to struggle with all its might, letting out a deafening roar as its four hooves dug into the earth like a powerful electric motor, performing an incredible feat akin to a bulldozer. In an instant, the surrounding area was thrown into chaos, trees shattering and birds taking flight as if a massive force had erupted from beneath the ground, uprooting everything in its path.
Roar~~~~ Perhaps it was a desperate attempt to escape, or perhaps it knew that there was no way to survive, the Tri-Horned Dragon suddenly exerted its strength and charged towards a certain place. With a loud crash, even the ground shook slightly.
The ancient tree that was hit by the Triangular Dragon was about 10 meters high, which is relatively small compared to the tall trees in the tropical rainforest that can grow up to 20-30 meters. However, this tree had a trunk circumference of around 5-6 meters and its crown was bare, but it was covered with countless vines full of sharp thorns. The soil around the ancient tree looked very fertile, and there was a small stream flowing from somewhere, forming a shallow creek that resembled a crescent moon shape around the tree. However, what's strange is that despite the excellent environment, there were no other plants growing except for this ancient tree that gave off an eerie and ominous feeling. The shallow creek also revealed some animal skeletons that had died and decayed, leaving behind a ghastly white color. It made people feel a chill down their spine just by looking at it, knowing that the ancient tree was not something good. In fact, this special ancient tree was the infamous "Devil's Vines" in the Gaya Tropical Rainforest, known for being a man-eating plant that strikes fear into people's hearts.
