“Sang Sang, I heard you were attacked outside the village yesterday. Is that true?”
After the sun rose that day, Qin Sang put on her high-temperature protective gear and went out to clear insects. As it happened, she ran into Brother Fa leading the patrol team, also clearing insects. Since the insect tide descended, this was the daily work for patrol teams like Brother Fa’s.
The authorities would give them a certain number of credits as a reward. These credits allowed them to buy high-temperature protective gear on the survival app. As for weapons, they could also buy some that weren’t in high demand.
“Yes,” Qin Sang replied, waving her hand as she looked at the village, where few insects were visible under the sun. She felt that this terrifyingly high temperature wasn’t entirely unacceptable.
After nearly two months of scorching heat, combined with everyone’s efforts to exercise and absorb the free-floating energy in the air, many people had grown accustomed to the temperature. Except for the frail elderly, children, and pregnant women. Particularly those with spatial abilities could even walk outdoors for short periods without wearing thermal gear.
“So, are you really okay? I heard about it from a friend at the Administration Bureau. Does Da Linzi know about this?”
Qin Sang said, “Not bad, Brother Fa. You have connections at the Administration Bureau now. Does that mean you’ll be able to get your hands on an electric net launcher sooner?”
Brother Fa smiled wryly. “How could it be that easy? The whole country is dealing with insect plagues. My friend told me that it’s a good thing they relocated everyone to the five major safe zones beforehand. Otherwise, protecting such a scattered population would be even more difficult.”
This remark made Qin Sang think of the residents who stayed behind on the Southern Island. When she went there as a volunteer to help with the evacuation, she’d heard that over a million residents were still there at the very end.
Most of them were elderly people unwilling to leave their homeland, along with some single individuals.
The insect tide had struck so ferociously. Qin Sang wondered how many people on the Southern Island would ultimately survive.
“How’s the situation in the village?” Qin Sang sighed, then asked about the village’s condition. She had spent the past few days hunting mutant insects around the village and didn’t really know how the village was doing.
“Not bad. Some people died at the beginning. But after that, everyone got used to it and started cooperating. As long as no mutant insects suddenly pop up, people can basically stay alive.” Brother Fa sighed a little at this, but there was nothing he could do.
“But Sang Sang, let me tell you. Second Aunt is incredibly fierce! These past few days, she’s been holding down the basement of the village office with those stray cats and dogs.”
Second Aunt is really amazing!
Qin Sang had heard her mother mention it, but she’d been too busy before to pay attention. She never expected the stray cats and dogs would end up playing such a big role. As for her own little tabby cat, when the insect tide hit, she had stuffed it into her space. Being busy these past few days, she had forgotten to let the cat out to acclimate to this cruel world.
As they talked, Qin Sang started patrolling with Brother Fa and his team. Since they were killing bugs anyway, teaming up was fine.
The sun was blazing hot, severely suppressing the insects’ abilities.
In this way, Qin Sang dug out seven or eight mutant insects from various shaded corners one after another. Under the sun, their lethality was greatly reduced.
She took advantage of their weakness and ended their lives. By the end, Brother Fa and the patrol team members were exclaiming in amazement.
Besides Qin Sang, Brother Fa’s patrol team was also very impressive. They cleared out many bug-infested hiding spots throughout the village in one go.
By the time the group headed back, the sun was already directly overhead.
“When Da Linzi gets back from his vacation someday, we’ll have a meal together. These past few days have been too hectic. And the weather’s too hot; I haven’t had much of an appetite.”
As soon as Brother Fa said this, the other team members started howling. Most of them complained that the bugs were too numerous, too smelly, and too disgusting, ruining their desire to eat, and so on.
Listening to their joking and banter, Qin Sang felt much lighter.
As they passed by the village office, they happened to see Second Aunt leading a bunch of cats and dogs, killing bugs. The patrol team members immediately howled and rushed over to help.
But Qin Sang noticed that no bugs were getting close to Second Aunt. This phenomenon looked familiar. Hadn’t she just seen it a few hours ago?
“Second Aunt, why aren’t any bugs getting close to you?” Thinking it, she asked, moving closer while also helping to drive away the various bugs. The insects appearing during the daytime were mostly cockroaches, mosquitoes, and flies – particularly disgusting ones.
Hearing Qin Sang’s question, Second Aunt was taken aback. Then she shook her head. “I have no idea! Now that you mention it, it really does seem like no bugs are coming near me.”
Seeing that Second Aunt herself looked completely bewildered, Qin Sang thought for a moment. She opened the sun visor on her helmet and took off the gas mask she was wearing.
Mm, the smell was intense. Sure enough, she couldn’t smell anything other than the stench of bugs.
Qin Sang grimaced, put the gas mask back on, and lowered her helmet’s sun visor.
Seeing her actions, Second Aunt said loudly, “Don’t take off your mask! It stinks to high heaven out here. Your Eighth Aunt came out without a mask last night, and today her nose is already bothering her.”
Qin Sang asked, “Has she seen a doctor?”
Second Aunt shook her head. “She rinsed it herself with some saline solution.”
Qin Sang said, “She should still see a doctor.” Her main concern was whether the nasal discomfort was due to inhaling insect dust, eggs, or something similar. Regular readers of apocalypse novels know that parasitic infections are a common disease in such settings.
Given how formidable the mutant insects were now, if parasites inside the human body were to mutate as well, it would be truly terrifying.
Just thinking about it made Qin Sang shiver. She shook her head and simply asked Second Aunt to come inside the office, treating her to lunch. She also asked her to recall everywhere she had been that day.
Second Aunt was an elderly woman living alone. She hadn’t stockpiled many supplies in her space initially because she hadn’t had much money. Later, she rented out her space in exchange for some supplies. But she couldn’t just eat whatever she wanted.
So, after the apocalypse, she had been living in the basement of the village office, doing chores for people in exchange for food.
Thus, she ate Qin Sang’s food without any hesitation. After finishing, she very responsibly recounted her movements from the previous night until now.
After listening, Qin Sang felt there were no clues.
Just then, her phone rang. Her mother was calling her home for lunch. Qin Sang had to say goodbye to Second Aunt for the time being and return home.
——
“Why are you so late? Did you encounter many mutant insects?”
Qin Sang shook her head. “Let’s go into the space to eat.”
With that, she waved her hand, and the whole family entered the space.
Compared to before the insect tide, the energy concentration in the space had increased significantly again. After coming out of the shower, Qin Sang felt incredibly comfortable. Even more comfortable than being outside. It wasn’t just the pleasant air or the right temperature. It was the energy slowly seeping into every part of her body with each breath.
It felt so good!
Qin Sang exclaimed. Drying her damp hair, she walked to the dining table and asked her parents if they felt the same way.
“Of course! I feel like just from practicing the cultivation techniques these past few days, the energy within my body has increased by a good margin.”
Qin’s father and mother simultaneously described their feelings after practicing. Both felt more comfortable in the space.
“Good, good. It looks like we should spend more time in the space from now on.”
Busy killing bugs these past few days, they hadn’t really spent much time feeling the space. Otherwise, Qin Sang wouldn’t have only discovered this today.
As the family ate, Qin Sang told them about Second Aunt.
“Similar to that Fang Ming and his group you mentioned?” Qin’s mother asked directly. Qin’s father slapped his thigh and said, “Did they spray insect repellent?”
Hmm…
The words “insect repellent” made Qin Sang pause. It was mainly because she had collected quite a bit of the stuff. However, the arrival of the insect plague had confirmed that insect repellent, body lotion, mosquito coils, and ordinary insecticides had limited effectiveness against these enlarged bugs, let alone the fully evolved mutant insects.
So, Qin Sang felt there must be something she had overlooked.
If it were only Fang Ming and his group, Qin Sang could chalk it up to something produced by that shady underground lab. But Second Aunt didn’t have access to many things. So there must be something magical in the village that was keeping bugs away from Second Aunt.
“You three blockheads!”
Just as the family of three was guessing back and forth, Grandpa Goose descended from above and landed directly on Qin Sang’s head.
Qin Sang felt her head suddenly grow heavy and had the urge to grab Grandpa Goose and fling him away.
“Grandpa Goose, do you know what it is that bugs are afraid of?”
Mm, direct enough. But Grandpa Goose loved dealing with direct humans. He hated those who beat around the bush and were full of schemes.
“Go out for a walk after you eat. Carefully observe the plants in your village.”
Hmm, plants?
This was the first time since the apocalypse began that someone had mentioned plants. Everyone knew that after the high temperatures arrived, there were no living plants left outside. Only indoor plantings, greenhouses, laboratories, and glass rooms could possibly have any greenery.
Plants elsewhere had dried up, turned yellow, or even caught fire, leaving not even ashes.
But Grandpa Goose didn’t say much more. Instead, he directly asked Qin Sang for a few energy cores.
Qin Sang said, “For the little dragon egg to absorb again?”
Grandpa Goose fluttered his wings.
Qin Sang understood. She wasn’t stingy. She directly told Grandpa Goose to pick from the plastic basin where she kept her energy cores. The cores inside were all white, varying slightly in size. Naturally, the larger ones had higher energy concentrations. Telling Grandpa Goose to pick meant he could take whatever he wanted.
Grandpa Goose didn’t stand on ceremony with Qin Sang. He specifically picked the large ones, arranging the energy cores in a circle. In the middle, he placed the dragon egg, which had now grown to one and a half times the size of a sago pearl.
“Grandpa Goose, do you have any weapons suitable for my parents?”
Qin Sang ran over to look at the little dragon egg. Then she tugged on Grandpa Goose and started acting cute.
Grandpa Goose said, “I have a pair of mandarin duck blades. But I don’t know if your parents can use them. Because I don’t have the Dao technique.”
Hmm, hearing the name “mandarin duck blades,” Qin Sang could only think of the heroes in martial arts movies.
Grandpa Goose said, “These mandarin duck blades of mine aren’t made of ordinary stuff.”
Well, Grandpa Goose wouldn’t say what they were made of, but Qin Sang knew they had to be good. Without a second thought, she took out all the energy cores from the plastic basin.
“Here, Grandpa Goose. There will be energy cores. There will be plenty in the future. This is all I have for now. I’m giving them all to you.”
Grandpa Goose: … That’s a pretty big promise.
Qin Sang chuckled, then went to take a half-hour nap. When she woke up, she left the space first.
The temperature difference between the two places was still significant. After coming out, sweat quickly beaded on Qin Sang’s forehead.
She put aside everything else and, taking advantage of the sun still being out, hurried to walk through the entire village, focusing on the various plants.
Although plants had nearly gone extinct on the day the high temperatures arrived, there were still remnants like grass roots. Qin Sang’s target was these.
But just as she stepped out, Qin Sang inexplicably stopped.
Right, she remembered the dried-up aloe plant at her courtyard gate.
It seemed that after watering it with energy water once, she hadn’t paid much attention to it since.
That wouldn’t do!
She didn’t even need to go outside. She sat down on the first floor and extended her mental energy to scan. This time, Qin Sang had plenty of time to slowly, inch by inch, search the entire village.
This morning, she had been too fixated on appearances and had completely forgotten that her mental energy could be used as a radar.
And this inch-by-inch scan indeed yielded results. Significant results, at that.
Suppressing the joy rising in her heart, Qin Sang once again used her thin mental threads to reach toward the dried-up aloe plant at her own courtyard gate.
The next second, Qin Sang felt the root of the dried-up aloe plant seem to shrink back slightly.
If she were using her eyes, Qin Sang might have doubted what she saw. But using her mental energy, there was absolutely no chance of her eyes playing tricks on her.
Oh my god!
Qin Sang couldn’t help but click her tongue in amazement. Could this mutant aloe plant be the infamous mutant plant that often appeared in novels?
And such a treasure was right at her own doorstep.
Had she somehow gotten the female lead’s script?
After her initial amazement, Qin Sang started to have some doubts.
If this dried-up aloe plant really had mutated, why weren’t its roots, as in apocalypse novels, pierced through countless bugs?
Qin Sang’s doubt lasted only a second. Soon after, she saw something unbelievable.
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