“AAAAHHHH—”
The piercing scream made Qin Sang immediately withdraw her psychic energy. But the mental impact from that moment was deeply etched into her mind.
Simply because she had seen a cockroach the size of a soft-serve ice cream cone from Dairy Queen. Yes, a cockroach. The American variety—the kind that flies.
As a native of Guangdong Province, Qin Sang knew cockroach varieties like the back of her hand. Flying ones, non-flying ones, imported ones, local ones, big ones, small ones, biting ones, non-biting ones, medicinal ones, non-medicinal ones. In short, she was extremely familiar with these creatures. Countless numbers had died beneath her flip-flops.
But the cockroach she had just seen biting someone—its size, its mouthparts—my eyes!
Qin Sang wanted to cover her eyes and see if she was seeing things. But she hadn’t “seen” it with her eyes—she had seen it with her psychic energy. There was no way she had imagined it.
So, she had just seen the largest cockroach of her life. It was definitely over 10 cm long and over 5 cm wide.
Oh my god!
Qin Sang wasn’t the only one who noticed the giant cockroach.
After the scream rang out, the few phone flashlights that were still on immediately shone in that direction.
Then everyone saw the giant cockroach biting someone. The victim was still screaming, and the arm she had exposed now had a gouge bitten out of it. Blood was gushing from the wound.
Probably because the cockroach was so huge, most people’s instinctive reaction was to step back and get away.
But the team leaders and security personnel weren’t pushovers. One by one, they rushed forward to kill the cockroach.
Qin Sang suppressed the deep-seated urge to grab a flip-flop and forced herself to stare intently at the giant cockroach.
She immediately noticed that the creature had pulled its 1 cm-long mouthparts out of the screaming girl’s arm, spread its wings, and flown away.
Others might have thought the giant cockroach was scared off by the team leaders charging at it. But Qin Sang could clearly sense that the creature was actually wary of the light.
Sure enough, realizing something was wrong, the people who had turned off their phone flashlights earlier quickly turned them back on.
As the light intensified, the giant cockroach retreated.
“D-Does leaving mean we’re safe now…?” a rough-voiced man asked weakly.
“Not a chance!” Auntie Er shot back immediately.
Most of the people present were from the southern provinces of China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan) and were very familiar with cockroach behavior. The brother who asked the question sounded like he was from the north—he clearly had no idea how terrifying these creatures could be.
Instantly, many people turned to the team leaders and asked if they could access the supplies the residents had stored. There would definitely be insecticide in there. They needed bug spray to kill the bugs. A single cockroach that big could bite someone until they screamed bloody murder. Eight or ten of them would make someone piss their pants. A hundred or a thousand? Then there was no hope—they would probably be shredded alive.
“Exactly! How could it be safe? If one of these things appears, it means countless more are hiding in the dark.”
Qin Sang had just voiced everyone’s deepest fear, sending chills through the crowd.
Then, everyone felt as if rustling sounds were coming from the dark places they couldn’t see. The sounds were dense but faint, as if brushing past their ears. The sensation was absolutely terrifying.
By then, the team leaders had already started working. One was checking and bandaging the injured girl’s wound. Another was organizing everyone, shining flashlights into the dark areas.
When someone asked about accessing the residents’ supplies, a team leader said, “We’re not at that point yet. But if it really becomes necessary, we’ll notify everyone immediately.”
The main issue was that all the residents’ supplies had been packed and labeled when stored. This kind of storage went into spatial spaces—who knew what was inside each bag? If they really had to go through those supplies, just searching would take a lot of time. With that kind of effort, running was more realistic.
——
They talked about running, but in such a large group, everyone felt the safest place was in the middle. Leading the way or bringing up the rear were both very dangerous.
Because of this, the big, strong men assigned to lead and guard the rear were unhappy.
“If you’re not happy, go on your own. I guarantee no one will stop you.”
With that, all their complaints disappeared.
By then, while organizing everyone to move, the team leaders had already heard distinct cockroach sounds. No one dared to waste time, and no one dared to act alone. Sticking together was the only way to survive.
Qin Sang and Auntie Er, who looked physically weak, were placed in the middle.
The whole organization process took less than five minutes. But the cockroach swarm was already in sight.
The only reason they hadn’t approached was that everyone’s phone flashlights had been arranged properly. In groups of three, they raised their phones to shine light in all directions.
Fortunately, phone flashlights these days were quite bright. This way, everyone was bathed in light, and the cockroach swarm didn’t dare come near.
As for why these creatures had become so afraid of light—no one had time to think about that except Qin Sang.
…
“Good heavens, so many giant cockroaches. If Old Lü from our village saw this, his eyes would probably light up.”
On the run, Auntie Er listened to the sound of the cockroaches behind them and suddenly said this.
“If all the cockroaches at Old Uncle Lü’s workplace turned this big, it wouldn’t be a pleasant surprise—it would be a nightmare,” Qin Sang replied, keeping an eye on their surroundings while talking to Auntie Er.
Old Uncle Lü was from the same village as them. He worked as a security guard at a cockroach farm on the outskirts of the city.
Yes, it was a farm specifically for raising American cockroaches. The number of cockroaches there was terrifying. They were raised specifically for pharmaceutical factories to produce Kangfu Xinji Solution—a medicine whose main ingredient is extract from American cockroach bodies.
It sounded horrifying, but the medicine worked well. It could treat gastrointestinal mucosal issues and external wounds. Rumor had it that the effectiveness was related to the cockroach’s strong vitality. Qin Sang had stocked up on a lot of this medicine when she was hoarding supplies. It was cheap and powerful.
Yes, the cockroaches at that place were already frightening enough. And those were normal cockroaches. The giant ones rustling behind them now were truly terrifying.
Just then, someone guarding the rear shouted, “Faster, up ahead!”
“Someone up ahead, take my phone—mine’s about to die!”
“Ah… I can’t… don’t bite me… damn it… help!”
Qin Sang had been using her psychic energy to monitor the rear. She saw that the cockroach swarm was now less than 10 cm away from the last person. And that distance was shrinking as the light dimmed.
They couldn’t wait any longer.
——
Sure enough, the next second, Lin Feng, who was guarding the rear, pulled out a high-powered flashlight and aimed it directly at the cockroach swarm.
It was an ultra-high-power flashlight with 6500 lumens. The moment the light hit them, the cockroaches retreated like the ebbing tide.
Instantly, the people guarding the rear broke into smiles of relief, as if they had narrowly escaped death.
Qin Sang sighed in relief too. She had secretly given this flashlight to Lin Feng after they split into groups. She had pulled it out of her bag at the time, and he hadn’t been suspicious. You could buy this kind of high-powered flashlight online. Spend a little more money, and you could get one that was small, portable, and effective.
She hadn’t taken it out earlier because she was afraid of raising suspicion.
The main issue was that everyone on this trip to Hainan Island had emptied their spatial storage to carry out the mission. If she produced too many supplies, or if the volume or weight was too large, it would look fake.
She had only brought out the flashlight after careful thought. She trusted Lin Feng’s character. He was upright but tactful, and wouldn’t dig too deeply into where the flashlight came from.
But before the good news could reach the leading group, there was a sudden chorus of expletives from up ahead. Then came the familiar rustling of cockroaches.
Great. These things were now fighting a guerrilla war against them.
So the high-powered flashlight immediately swung around to shine on the front.
Fortunately, it was a long-range spotlight. Otherwise, with such a long line of people, there would have been places it couldn’t reach.
But once the light moved to the front, the giant cockroaches at the rear surged back.
So Lin Feng became an emotionless tool, swinging the flashlight back and forth.
Qin Sang: …
This escape was really working the team leader hard.
But with this flashlight, everyone was less afraid. Especially those with leg injuries. They had been terrified that with so many people running, they would fall behind and get caught by the giant cockroaches.
With that, the group entered a period of relative calm and safety.
The team leaders took turns with Lin Feng, shining the flashlight forward and backward. The walls and ceiling were covered by everyone holding up their phone flashlights.
The cockroach army had no way to get close. In the end, they ran for nearly 20 minutes and confirmed that the cockroach army was no longer following.
But no one dared to rest. At this point, they were only about ten minutes from the station. Everyone agreed to keep running—run even if they couldn’t. They had to reach the station so they could call for help.
By then, Qin Sang slowed her pace. Others didn’t know, but she was certain that within the range of her psychic energy, there were no more giant cockroaches.
These things had somehow become so huge. There had to be a reason. Unfortunately, the cockroaches had been too far away earlier, otherwise she could have gotten some samples to study. Maybe she could have uncovered some secret.
And their crisis wasn’t over. The bomber who had planted the explosives still hadn’t been found.
Just as she was thinking this, Qin Sang noticed that some people around her were also slowing down. Either they were too tired or needed water. Water had been distributed to everyone earlier—one bottle each, and once it was gone, it was gone.
“Push harder, everyone! The station is almost here!”
Seeing everyone slow down, the team leaders started encouraging them again. It was only then that Qin Sang had the chance to observe the people around her.
Earlier, as mentioned, among the people on their train, two teams weren’t official transport teams. During the cockroach escape, some of these people had been assigned to the front and the rear. Now that the cockroach threat was gone, those two teams had gathered together again.
Qin Sang felt that if there were any problems among the group, they would most likely be within these people. So she focused her observation on these two teams. But after nearly ten minutes of watching, they didn’t seem to have any issues.
She did, however, spot the pale-faced middle-aged man and the young people he had brought along. When he noticed her looking, he nodded in greeting.
Surprisingly, nothing else happened. They reached the station very smoothly.
Qin Sang didn’t quite understand this turn of events. Had the person behind the scenes decided to stop?
The station was deserted but spacious. Everyone re-formed their teams and headed straight for the service building, where there was a landline phone they could use to call out.
But Qin Sang wasn’t that optimistic. She noticed that even at the station, there was still no cell phone signal. Not even emergency calls would go through. It was very strange.
Yet, Qin Sang found herself wrong again. The landline worked perfectly. The authorities had already noticed something was wrong. As soon as they called, the voice on the other end said help would be dispatched immediately. They just needed to wait half an hour on-site.
Watching everyone cheer around her, Qin Sang couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren’t that simple.
Leave a Reply