This day was the second day after Bai Jie attacked Zheng Yueling with urticating hairs.
That witch Zheng Yueling was apparently still angry — she hadn't come to check on Bai Jie today, nor had she tossed in any "little snacks" like mealworms or silkworm pupae.
During the day she didn't go to school, but instead stayed in her rental, scouring through cabinets and rearranging her exotic pets. Bai Jie had no idea what she was preparing.
She wasn't going to cook me, was she... Bai Jie shuddered.
Would I taste like chicken, nice and crispy? Could high heat neutralize his poison?
Bai Jie's imagination went wild... and amid the pink-toed laser venom spider's anticipation, time soon came to evening.
Bai Jie stared blankly at the five venomous creatures in the boxes beside him. Zheng Yueling's voice rang in his ears, and every bit of his anticipation evaporated.
"Everyone, what do you think — can Nyx survive under a simultaneous assault from all five venomous creatures?"
Bai Jie: ???
Zheng Yueling! Are you just a sore loser?!
Bai Jie roared inside his heart.
"Wow! Thank you 'Love Eating Rice Noodles with Shrimp Paste' for the Luxury Amusement Park gift."
"Thanks to 'Wuhu Tower Requests Takeoff' for the membership card!"
The livestream viewer count had shockingly broken 100,000, many of whom had been drawn in organically after fans edited and distributed past broadcast clips across various short-video platforms.
The danmaku comments at this moment were all buzzing about tonight's main-event battle:
[So what's the call today — Five Venoms Besieging Bright Peak?]
[Yueling is way too ruthless. But ever since Nyx debuted, she's never tasted defeat — she'll definitely win tonight too]
[Streamer, what do you think Nyx's odds are against all five? Who has the edge?]
"Hmm... I'd say about fifty-fifty," Zheng Yueling bit her lip and replied.
Upon hearing this, countless viewers watching the broadcast shot to their feet in front of their screens.
The witch began setting up the battlefield.
The first to intrude into Bai Jie's territory was a strange snake with broad horns growing from its neck. Its body was smaller than the krait's, but its vitality reached 1.2!
Right after, Zheng Yueling used tongs to toss in an emerald-green lizard. This lizard was under 20 centimeters, but its vitality was actually 0.1 higher than the horned snake's, which slightly surprised Bai Jie.
Following closely were an ink-black toad and a thick, red-and-green centipede. Both had even higher vitality — a full 1.5!
The last to take the stage was a scorpion, golden throughout, with a body length of about 30 centimeters and a vitality indicator of 2 — conspicuously the highest among all five venomous creatures.
This golden scorpion's shape was bizarre in the extreme. Its head and stinger were tiny, barely thumb-sized, yet its torso was as broad as a human face. Even more terrifying were its pincers, wider than its own body. One glance and you knew they could easily crush walnuts.
They were all mutant venomous creatures.
"That witch has gone insane!"
The thought flashed through Bai Jie's mind.
But he couldn't die — at least not before he got his revenge!
Under Zheng Yueling's mysterious commands, the five venomous creatures closed in on Bai Jie in an orderly fashion.
"It looks like they all consider Nyx their biggest threat," Zheng Yueling commented, smiling.
Amid the rustling, skittering sounds of crawling, under the watch of tens of thousands of eyes, Bai Jie's pink-and-black spider legs moved.
Invisible to the naked eye, countless venom-laden urticating hairs shot into the air.
It was the newly awakened skill — Urticating Venom Needle.
At the same time, Bai Jie's mouthparts opened and shut — he fired off five poison arrows in rapid succession, one aimed at each of the five venomous creatures.
The next instant, the pink-toed laser venom spider's form vanished from its original spot, appearing directly before the largest opponent — the horned snake.
So fast!
A trace of surprise flashed through Zheng Yueling's eyes.
The horned snake had just had one eye burned by a poison arrow. Amid its hissing agony, Bai Jie seized the chance and scrambled onto its back.
The other venomous creatures, corroded by the poison arrows, charged madly at Bai Jie, all earlier caution abandoned.
The lizard seemed least affected by the poison arrow and recovered fastest. Wriggling and twisting, it sped toward Bai Jie, opening a wide mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
Then came the toad's tongue, like a long whip, and the red-green shadow of the centipede — one from the left, one from the right, pincer formation.
But because the horned snake was comparatively large, it became Bai Jie's perfect cover.
Bai Jie dodged and shifted, leaving bite marks on the snake's back, barely evading the barrage of attacks.
The lizard's fangs and the centipede's mandibles bit into the snake's body instead — flesh tore open instantly, poisonous blood mixing freely.
But the danger was far from over. A sharp whistle split the air. A massive golden pincer, exploiting the moment Bai Jie landed, suddenly clamped down on the right side of Bai Jie's spider legs.
This damned scorpion — were its ancestors crabs or what?
Feeling the sharp, piercing pain radiating from his leg, Bai Jie burned with fury but couldn't break free.
So when the golden scorpion then drove its tail stinger vertically into Bai Jie's back, he could only let it have its way.
As unknown toxins were injected into Bai Jie's body from the scorpion's stinger, a familiar notification chimed:
Due to Talent [Poison-Refining Gu], poison damage has been nullified.
Zzt! Zzt! Zzt!
Three consecutive poison arrows struck the golden scorpion square in the face. After a bout of agonized convulsions, the scorpion still refused to pull out its stinger or release its pincer.
What?!
The golden scorpion could withstand the poison arrows head-on — this struck Bai Jie as unbelievable. That krait was indeed not comparable to these mutant venomous creatures.
He was about to fire more poison arrows,
but by now the other venomous creatures had regrouped, unleashing all manner of attacks upon Bai Jie.
Bai Jie clenched his jaw and yanked his body to the left with all his strength!
Crack crack crack!
Fine, crisp snapping sounds rang out. Bai Jie had no choice but to tear off three of his spider legs as the price of breaking free from the scorpion pincer's grip.
Urticating Venom Needle!
At Bai Jie's mental command, countless urticating hairs filled the air once more, drifting into the bodies of the venomous creatures.
The creatures' movements instantly faltered. Combined with the first wave of needles already embedded in them, their speed was now drastically reduced.
Even their vitality had begun to decline.
However, Bai Jie wasn't unscathed either. Having lost three legs plus a gaping hole in his back, his vitality had dropped from 3 to 2.5!
This meant his speed was now far below what it had been.
Slap!
The red-green centipede bit down on his pitch-black rear (abdomen).
Pervert! Bai Jie cursed inwardly, his heart full of both indignation and urgency.
At this rate, was he going to die here?
In the livestream room, Nyx's fans had their hearts in their throats.
A flash of hatred and ferocity shot through the pink-toed laser venom spider's pitch-black eyes. Ignoring the centipede still latched onto him, the spider mustered all its strength and charged headlong at the horned snake coming to bite him.
The speed exceeded anything the spider had shown before, and managed to dodge both the toad's tongue-hook and the lizard's bite.
It even caused the golden scorpion's pincer to miss — unintentionally clamping down on the centipede dragging behind the spider's rear.
Crack!
The power of that golden pincer surpassed Bai Jie's imagination — it cleanly snipped the centipede in two!
Jet-black ichor splattered across the crimson soil, adding a touch of cruelty and eldritch horror.
Bai Jie didn't spare a single glance at what was happening behind him. He suddenly tucked in his legs and squeezed into the horned snake's gaping maw, bulging out a large lump at its head, leaving half the centipede's body still dangling at the snake's mouth.
Seeing Bai Jie disappear, the toad, lizard, and golden scorpion showed not a shred of hesitation — all three turned their attacks on the snake that had swallowed Bai Jie.
"A beautiful move — diverting disaster elsewhere," Zheng Yueling murmured.