# Chapter 267: District 013 Specialty - Skin-Retaining Worm
The two players exchanged glances, and the female player let out a laugh, touching her companion's shoulder. "Brother Xue, this little girl is quite interesting. Leave her to me."
She lifted her chin toward Yan Jiayu. "Just because of this, you say we're cannibal players?"
But Yan Jiayu didn't waste words with her. She swung her stone staff and struck directly.
The female player didn't take the thin-armed, thin-legged girl seriously. Not only did she not retreat, but she met the attack head-on, reaching out to catch the stone staff with her bare hand.
However, when the stone staff landed in her palm, she realized her judgment was wrong. Forcing herself to block the staff, she concealed her involuntarily trembling right hand as she leaped backward, while Yan Jiayu shot out from her original position like a cannonball, closing in within the blink of an eye and smashing down with the stone staff three times in succession!
Seeing his companion being forced back step by step, the male player called "Brother Xue" immediately moved to help, but at that moment, a thin wire with a metal hook at its tip flew over and wrapped around his wrist, while the other end of the wire was in Xu Huo's hand.
This was a prop he had obtained from killing the wire-controlling player earlier. Its toughness was decent, so Xu Huo decided to test the prop's effectiveness in actual combat. Seeing the other party trying to pull the wire off, he flicked his hand, and the wire looped around the male player's other wrist. However, controlling the wire from a distance wasn't as easy to use as he had imagined. It wasn't easy to entangle either, being quite slippery and easily pulled free.
Brother Xue watched his clumsy movements, then forcefully pulled the wire to shorten the distance between them.
Xu Huo pushed off the ground and charged forward while simultaneously coiling the wire around his left hand, then clenching his right hand's fingers and throwing a full-force punch.
Brother Xue met his fist with his own. Under the impact, his expression changed drastically, and he immediately released the wire and distanced himself.
"You are cannibal players!" Brother Xue exclaimed in shock and uncertainty. As he spoke, he took out a paper children's pinwheel and stuck it into the ground—dense yellow sand surged from the spinning pinwheel, instantly sweeping through this forest!
Almost at the same moment the yellow sand emerged, Xu Huo swung his sword at the pinwheel on the ground, but the sword energy couldn't damage the prop. However, a massive amount of sand was already blotting out the sky and covering the sun.
The yellow sand rushing toward them blocked not only their vision but also entered every opening—ears, mouth, nostrils—making even breathing difficult!
Xu Huo immediately took out the Twisted Mask to block the sand, but this was only a temporary measure. He couldn't open his eyes now, and his ears were filled with the rustling sound of sand, making it impossible to track the players' movements. When he vaguely sensed someone approaching from the left, he used the Ox Shield to block, and the force of the impact sent him flying backward.
However, the other party didn't press the advantage. He immediately realized that Brother Xue was also restricted by the prop. Grabbing the string, he quickly rose higher, then flew from high altitude toward the direction of the pinwheel.
All props have a usage range. As long as the pinwheel's coverage area didn't extend across the entire instance, getting out wouldn't be difficult.
With no one obstructing him, Xu Huo took less than half a minute to escape the yellow sand zone. In fact, the range of this yellow sand wasn't large—at most a little more than a football field—and the starting point was the pinwheel itself. So the usage method of this prop was to leave the holder.
He stomped the pinwheel into the mud with one foot, and the sky-filling yellow sand immediately ceased. Brother Xue, still wearing his mask, was facing away from him, pouring potion onto the ground. The agricultural green liquid mixed with the weeds, becoming extremely sticky. Two small animals that had rolled out from somewhere were stuck to the ground, struggling continuously.
"You... how is this possible!" Brother Xue turned around and saw Xu Huo holding the pinwheel. Unable to hide his shock, the words slipped out, and then his face twisted. "I underestimated you!"
Xu Huo tucked the pinwheel behind his waist, then advanced with his sword. Brother Xue also produced a pair of heavy hammers and met the Crimson Sword head-on. Sword and hammers clashed, sending sparks flying. Brother Xue was forced back, turning and jumping onto a nearby tree!
Xu Huo followed closely, using the string to gain the upper hand. He kicked the man off the tree and stood on a branch, simultaneously delivering another sword strike!
But this strike failed to hit its target. Brother Xue rolled sideways as he landed, dodging the slash before turning and throwing two sharp spikes.
"Clang, clang!" Xu Huo raised his sword to deflect the spikes. As his gaze shifted, he saw the other player leap up, three white objects pinched between his fingers, stabbing toward him!
Seeing that the things seemed to be wriggling, Xu Huo instinctively leaned back and used his other hand to push Brother Xue's arm aside. The white objects shot toward a tree on the side, and the wriggling things immediately burrowed into the tree bark upon contact, leaving only three holes on the surface!
"District 013's specialty—Skin-Retaining Worms. Enjoy them!" Brother Xue laughed at this moment, retreating while throwing a handful of worms!
In the blink of an eye, Xu Huo tore off his clothes and threw them forward. As he retreated, he took out a lighter and set them on fire. The plump worms, wrapped in the clothing, burned as they fell to the ground. However, the fabric of the clothes wasn't enough to burn the worms to death. Two of them hissed and burrowed into the soil.
Xu Huo only glanced at them before accelerating to catch up with Brother Xue, swinging the thin wire wildly through the air, seemingly trying to trap the other player.
Repeatedly having his hands and feet entangled by the wire, Brother Xue looked at the lines hanging from the branches and leaves and changed direction, trying to escape from the wire enclosure. But Xu Huo repeatedly blocked his path, as if trying to trap him within the wire net.
"You know this prop can't kill anyone, right!" Brother Xue, unable to escape several times, felt the humiliation of being toyed with like a cat with a mouse.
"I know," Xu Huo said, seeing that it was about time. As he released the wire again, he brought out the string.
Brother Xue, who had been angrily preparing to charge forward, suddenly found the wire wrapped around his throat. He pulled at it twice and realized this wire was different from the previous ones—or rather, the prop effect was different. He immediately produced two sharp spikes, forcibly pried the string open, and escaped from within. Then he used the spikes to tangle the string into a ball, holding it in his hand as he looked at Xu Huo. "You took one of my props, I took one of yours. How about we be fair and exchange them back?"
Xu Huo didn't speak from his distance. Instead, he pointed at the ground. Brother Xue instinctively looked down and found himself standing beside the ashes of the clothes. A blackened, fleshy worm had crawled onto his shoe!
He reflexively shook off the shoe, but it was too late. The Skin-Retaining Worm had already burrowed in through his heel, traveling rapidly up his calf toward his thigh!
Brother Xue produced a short dagger and slashed at his own leg, but at that moment, a flying arrow pierced his wrist. The short dagger clattered to the ground, and the Skin-Retaining Worm passed his waist in that interval.
"No... no!" Brother Xue tore at his clothes in terror, directly clawing at his own flesh with his bare hands, trying to pull the worm out. But the worm touched his hand and burrowed into the wound again, quickly traveling up his arm to his shoulder, then bulging at his neck before disappearing beneath his jaw!
"Urgh... urgh..." The man half-kneeling on the ground made strange sounds, then fell to the ground in agony, convulsing violently.