Monster Hunting High School

The sun was hiding behind thick clouds, not shining a trace of golden sunlight.

The weather is a bit cold.

Through the tall floor-to-ceiling windows of the study room, one can see a small piece of blank sky.

The color of the sky is almost the same as the silver-gray curtains rolled up high on both sides of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

They all give people a solemn feeling.

A small cold wind came from nowhere, blowing lightly on the back of Zheng Qing's neck.

This made Zheng Qing, who was observing the 'beautiful bone' skull, shudder.

He thinks this is not a psychological factor.

Because he didn't feel too scared, just a little uncomfortable.

So, Zheng Qing shrank his neck and looked around.

Sure enough, he saw the culprit behind him.

The wooden door to the study seemed to be in disrepair and not closed tightly.

The cold wind outside the room came through the crack in the door, teasing the young wizard's uneasy thoughts in the room.

"I'm sorry, for laymen - I mean people who are not related professionals, these cuties are somewhat taboo." Dr. Duzem rubbed his palms uneasily and gave Zheng Qing an inquiring look.

He seemed to think that the skull or the group of bugs caused Zheng Qing's uneasy behavior.

Zheng Qing forced a smile and said it didn't matter.

"Are they imported from outside the island?" Jiang Yu walked up to the two of them, looked at the little bugs in the cabinet, and asked with interest: "Which country are they imported from?"

"No, this is a specialty of the depths of the Silent Forest." The doctor shook his head: "Compared to the Qinling Corpse Beetle and the Pyramid Scarab, these corpse-eating beetles in the depths of the Silent Forest are more adaptable."

"What's the difference?" Jiang Yu seemed to be very interested in these little bugs: "I mean, what's the difference between corpse-eating bugs from different places?"

"Compared with similar species in the outside world, the corpse-eating beetles in the depths of the Silent Forest evolve at a slower rate because they live in a closed environment all year round. They have maintained some characteristics of the original corpse-eating beetles." Obviously, Dr. Duzem is very happy to Show off in front of your big benefactor.

He pulled out a pair of long-handled tweezers from the tool box next to his desk, reached into the fish tank, and picked out a corpse-eating beetle.

When the bug was actually exposed to the faint light, Zheng Qing was surprised to find that it was not really white.

To be precise, the skin of the corpse-eating beetle is black and gray, but there is a layer of fine white hair on the shell.

Although they are called beetles, those black and gray leather shells are severely deformed when pinched with tweezers.

Zheng Qing was very worried that if the doctor's hand was a little stronger, the insect would explode into a ball of meat paste.

Dr. Duzem lit the clamp slightly towards the light-transmitting side of the window, and the clamped bug twisted wildly and made a harsh sizzling sound.

"As you can see, these corpse-eating beetles in the depths of the Silent Forest have retained the photophobia of their ancestors." The doctor moved the clip back to the dark place, and the poor bug made two final chirps before slumping. gave up the struggle.

"Because they live in the dark, their cortex lacks calcium synthesized by sunlight, so the cortex is soft."

"Years of scavenging and not seeing the sun have caused the cortex to become moldy and grow villi; and excess phosphorus in their bodies will volatilize through these villi."

"You see it appear white in dark places, just those volatile phosphorescences."

Zheng Qing looked at the delicate little insect on the clip and sighed.

"Where are the corpse-eating beetles outside the island?" Jiang Yu asked persistently.

"The insects outside the island are much more complicated." Dr. Duzem carefully put the beetle back into the fish tank, then wiped the clip carefully with a flannel soaked in kerosene, and warned: "The corpse-eating beetles in the Silent Forest It is naturally highly poisonous and is the favorite thing of fallen lichs. If it is accidentally contaminated, wiping it with kerosene can disinfect it to a certain extent. Of course, the best way is to bathe in the sun - this poison will die in the presence of light. ”

The two young wizards nodded repeatedly.

"As for the bugs outside the island." The doctor squinted his eyes, pondered for a moment, and concluded: "Actually, I have just mentioned it, and there are two main types left. One is the corpse bug of the Qin Mausoleum in China; the other is the Egyptian pyramid. Scarab. There was once a species of feathered corpse beetle in the South American rainforest, but no wild population has been found for a long time - it is equivalent to extinction. "

"The Qinling corpse cricket likes moisture and darkness. It is an enhanced version of the original corpse-eating insect. It is usually kept in the body of zombies by wizards. The larvae feed on the internal organs of the corpse. The adult insect has a strong reproductive ability and can see blood in the flesh, making it difficult to eradicate."

"The Pyramid Scarab, on the other hand, likes sunlight and dryness. It is completely different from other corpse-eating beetles of the same species, and can be called a variant."

"According to the generally accepted view, after the ancient corpse-eating beetles were buried in the pyramids that never saw the light of day together with the old Egyptian priests, they slowly changed their habits and gradually gave rise to the modern scarab beetles."

"Scarab beetles usually lay their eggs in the blood vessels of a living body, and then the larvae swim along the blood vessels and finally enter the heart of the living body. When they break out of the body, they are considered true adults."

"Pyramid scarabs also have a unique skill that they developed over time. They can dehydrate."

"Dehydrated?" Jiang Yu raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"I happen to have the dehydrated slough of a scarab beetle here." Dr. Duzem snapped his fingers, quickly got behind the desk, and dug out a small transparent glass bottle in the cabinet.

Zheng Qing noticed a pile of tissue-like things stacked in the bottle.

The doctor opened the bottle, used tweezers to take out a piece of paper towel, threw it into a sea bowl, then quickly sealed the small glass bottle and stuffed it back into the depths of the desk cabinet.

In just a few seconds, the thin paper towel that was thrown into the ocean bowl began to slowly change color and turn yellow.

"This is what scarabs look like after dehydration." Dr. Duzem poked the paper towel with a glass rod and explained to the two guests: "If no one stops them, in an hour, the adult insect will Absorb enough moisture from the air to restore its original appearance and become a terrifying killer again. "

"Of course, if we add a little help to them, we can shorten the recovery time." As he said, the doctor picked up the ink on the desk and poured it into the bowl: "Any liquid, I mean any...including but not limited to Venom, grease, boiling water, etc., any liquid can help these dehydrated people recover. "

Zheng Qing held his breath.

The ink in the bowl disappears at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The paper towels that have absorbed enough water inflated like balloons.

The head, horns, beards, eyes, mouth, and feet, all the tiny parts on the insect's body stretched out like air, gradually forming a ferocious-looking, palm-sized insect.

"The normal color of scarabs is golden yellow, which is as dazzling as the sun. But if they absorb liquid with impurities when recovering from dehydration, it may have a certain impact on their body color." The doctor tapped the bowl with a glass rod of bugs.

The scarab, which had just returned to normal, shook the tentacles on its forehead impatiently and tried to inflate its armor sheath.

Zheng Qing nodded.

Indeed, the insect in the bowl that was slowly moving its limbs looked yellow and a little black, with some faint spots on its back.

Just as he was anticipating further manifestations of the bug, Dr. Duzem dropped a spark into the bowl.

It's like dry wood meeting fire, or, rather, like sparks falling into explosives.

The scarab, which had just returned to life, turned into a fireball in the blink of an eye. Accompanied by a harsh scream, it quickly turned into a ball of ashes.

There was a pungent smell in the air, like burnt plastic.