Chapter 437: Chapter 437 : Off To The Desert (2)

"Ugh!!!"

Qiao Wei bit into his lower lip from pain. He groaned from pain when his knees buckled and he fell to the sandy ground.

Through eyes blurred by tears, he saw a black scorpion loitering around his ankle.

"GET AWAY FROM MY SHIZUN!!!" Huang Taichen howled.

He expected the black scorpion to back off, but it marched toward him instead, both stingers raised in an aggressive pose.

"WHAT THE??? I SAID, BACK OFF!"

"Huang Taichen, stop. Just because you can talk to them, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will listen to you."

Qiao Wei took out a talisman from his sleeve and threw it at the scorpion. It transformed into a ball of fire mid-air, startling the scorpion and sending it on a hasty flight.

"Ugh..."

Qiao Wei groaned from pain.

"SHIZUN!"

Huang Taichen put one of his arms around his neck and helped Qiao Wei up.

"Careful... Can you move? Let me help you..."

Beneath the merciless desert sun, they found no shelter, so they took refuge under the shade cast by the horses.

Qiao Wei winced from pain when Huang Taichen took off his shoes to inspect the bite wound.

"The black scorpions are venomous," he said. "Shizun, I will suck out the venom for you..."

"No need," Qiao Wei interjected. "Let me meditate for a while. I will dispel the venom from my body by using spiritual power."

"... Oh."

Qiao Wei drew in a deep breath, his shoulders straightening as he crossed his legs into a graceful lotus position. His eyelids fluttered closed, his brow furrowing in concentration as he sank into meditation.

As the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the desert landscape, Qiao Wei remained motionless. By the time the first stars began peppering the darkening sky, it was evident that they could not resume their journey.

Qiao Wei was both injured and poisoned. It was best to set up a camp for now, and rest throughout the night.

With practiced ease, Huang Taichen retrieved their tents and unfurled them.

He then set up a bonfire some distance away from Qiao Wei in order to not disturb his concentration.

Accustomed to the darkness on the hill, with no oil lamps to illuminate his surroundings, Huang Taichen’s ears were very sharp.

The noise was but faint at first, a mere whisper against the backdrop of the night. But as he strained to listen, it grew clearer, a rhythmic clicking that sent shivers down his spine. It wasn’t the wind, nor the rustle of nocturnal creatures. It was the unmistakable sound of chitinous claws scraping against sand.

The scorpions had come to find them!

"Shizun!!!"

There was no time for meditation now.

Huang Taichen merely hoped that Qiao Wei managed to dispel most of the venom from his body, if not all.

Whatever the case, Qiao Wei too noticed the approaching scorpions.

"Huang Taichen," he called out. "Come."

Huang Taichen did not waste any more time. He quickly rushed to Qiao Wei’s side.

With a swift flick of his wrist, Qiao Wei drew his sword, the metal gleaming blue in the moonlight.

Spirits swirled around the blade, their ethereal luminescence pooling at its tip.

Then, with a powerful thrust, Qiao Wei plunged the sword into the sand.

A wave of bluish spiritual power erupted from the ground, rippling outwards like a shockwave.

It rose up, forming a shimmering dome that encased both men within its protective barrier.

Intrigued by the shimmering barrier that stood before them, the scorpions charged towards them in a frenzied horde.

Pulsing with power, the dome sent out a powerful blast that flung the creatures back with sickening thuds against the sand.

After the first group failed, the other scorpions refrained from attacking the dome.

Huang Taichen swallowed hard. His shizun was simply too awesome!

"Shizun, you are so strong!" He praised Qiao Wei loudly. "I can’t believe it! If you were not here, I don’t know what I will do!"

He had not even finished praising Qiao Wei when the latter’s face suddenly contorted in distress.

A violent shudder wracked Qiao Wei’s body, and he spat out a mouthful of blackish blood.

Just as most of the venom flushed from his system, the world around Qiao Wei dissolved into an inky blur. He hit the ground with a soft thud, unconsciousness claiming him in an instant.

At the same time, the barrier around them dissolved into thin air.

"ARGHHHHH!!! SHIZUN!!! PLEASE WAKE UP!" Huang Taichen cried out like a lamb about to be slaughtered.

The clicking sounds around them increased exponentially. Even without looking at the scorpions directly, Huang Taichen knew that they were coming.

He threw himself on top of Qiao Wei, squeezed his eyes shut, and screamed, "Take me! Eat me first! Don’t you dare touch my shizun!"

Before the scorpions could even sink their venomous daggers into Huang Taichen’s flesh, they were flung backward by a sudden, searing gust.

Huang Taichen slowly opened his eyes and blinked several times to allow his eyes to adjust to the inferno that now consumed his surroundings.

Vivid orange and crimson flames danced across the sand, their brilliance momentarily eclipsing the stars above.

The air thrummed with the tortured screech of the scorpions, their hisses a counterpoint to the crackling symphony of the flames. As they writhed and contorted in their fiery demise, their forms cast grotesque shadows that writhed and danced on the dunes.

Huang Taichen watched the fiery performance with open mouth, Qiao Wei still safely tucked under his body.

As the scorpions writhed in their fiery demise, a voice, cold and unforgiving as the arctic night, sliced through the air and sent shivers down Huang Taichen’s spine.

"How much longer do you want to lie on top of him?"

---------

Author’s note :

Continuation of last mini theater about husband miniaturization.

Xie Jianyu’s husband was undergoing treatment to recover his adult body. Meanwhile, Xie Jianyu decided to save Huang Taichen’s life and took him on a journey across the continent.

Huang Taichen : I will protect my shizun with my life!

Zhang Fengxi : Get off my wife now or I will burn you along with the scorpions! (⁠ノ⁠ಠ⁠益⁠ಠ⁠)⁠ノ⁠彡⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay