“Aaah…!”
“Don’t run!”
Qin Sang watched as the carefully arranged formation fell into chaos and immediately shouted.
But the fleeing people couldn’t control themselves. Seeing the giant mutant moth in mid-air, only one thought filled their minds: “Flee!”
Qin Sang was utterly frustrated with these people. She yelled directly to Brother Fa, “Brother Fa, if they won’t cooperate, I can’t continue teaching.”
Brother Fa was also furious about the villagers’ cowardice. He had finally managed to invite Sang Sang to help teach the villagers how to hunt mutant insects. But this bunch of spineless people, even after forming an attack formation, ran away screaming and crying the moment the mutant moth appeared.
He wasn’t trying to force these people to face danger. But after last night, everyone knew this world was full of peril. If they didn’t work hard to learn how to deal with mutant insects, Brother Fa truly feared that more than half the villagers would be dead within days.
Qin Sang could see Brother Fa’s helplessness and didn’t say much more to him. The situation was clear to everyone.
The insect tide last night had been terrifying. Despite the air defense siren warnings, nearly 20 million people had died nationwide during that first wave of the insect tide. That was still a rough estimate made during the daytime after the insect tide receded. The actual death toll would have to wait until after the mutant insects were completely eliminated before there would be time for a proper count.
As for why so many died so suddenly? It was because when the insect tide appeared, it wasn’t just various enlarged ordinary insects; there were also many mutant insects that hadn’t appeared much before.
These mutant insects were far more terrifying than the ordinary enlarged insects.
Most mutant insects were two to three meters long. Their bodies were reinforced to varying degrees. Either their mouthparts were extremely long, or their limbs were razor-sharp, or their carapaces were incredibly hard.
In short, in just one night, Qin Sang had seen over twenty species of insects, including more than a dozen mutant insects. It completely refreshed her understanding of insects. If there were an entomology exam now, Qin Sang felt she would score high marks.
After all, with the enlarged mutant insects, she could see every detail of their limbs clearly.
Take the mutant moth in front of her, for example. Its wings were gray-black with white patterns. Its body was two meters long, its abdomen bulging and heaving. It had two long antennae on its head, and beneath them were black eyes larger than a human fist.
Those black eyes looked utterly chilling, as if humans were nothing more than its prey.
The reason she was here with the villagers was to help them learn how to fight mutant insects. After last night’s overwhelming insect tide, a fifth of the villagers had died. If they didn’t work harder, they would truly be wiped out.
But clearly, the villagers lacked the courage to fight. So Qin Sang, after handing the problem back to Brother Fa, pulled out her water gun from her spatial space and directly sprayed the mutant moth.
The mutant moth, probably not expecting Qin Sang to be so bold, was a beat slower. Its entire body reeked of insecticide. But this mutant moth was clearly more powerful than the few mutant insects she had encountered before.
No matter how much Qin Sang sprayed insecticide, it only slowed the thing’s flight speed.
“Impressive!” Qin Sang grumbled inwardly, but her expression remained stern. Without another word, she pulled an electric net launcher from her spatial space, hoisted it onto her shoulder, and fired at the mutant moth charging towards her.
With a crackle, the electric net enveloped the mutant moth, and the current discharged.
Crackle, crackle…
As the electric net took effect, Qin Sang immediately ran far away. The reason: the mutant moth, struck by electricity, was shedding its scales in all directions.
Even the scales of an ordinary moth can cause skin allergies. Needless to say, a mutant moth’s scales were far worse. Contact with them would cause a person’s skin to rot.
Last night, many villagers had come into contact with these scales. They didn’t die, but they wished they had.
After dealing with this mutant moth, Qin Sang shouldered her electric net launcher again and went to help Brother Fa and his group.
They were locked in a struggle with a mutant spider.
Seven or eight strong adult men, facing a mutant spider that kept spraying webs, were completely helpless. They could only retreat clumsily, covering for each other.
“Duck!”
Qin Sang assessed the situation, shouted, and saw Brother Fa and the others swiftly crouch down. She immediately fired an electric net at the charging mutant spider.
The crackle of electricity sounded again.
“This electric net launcher is amazing! If only each of us had one,” a young man squatting on the ground said, his eyes wide.
Brother Fa stood up from the ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Hearing this, he chuckled, “The official teams don’t even have enough of these things.”
Last night, the authorities had sent people to clear out mutant insects. But they were severely understaffed. Their village was lucky to have Qin Sang; that’s why their death toll wasn’t higher. He’d heard that in the two neighboring villages, nearly a quarter of the villagers had died.
“We still need to figure something out. Tonight’s insect tide isn’t as fierce as last night’s. We still have a chance to hold our ground.”
As she spoke, Qin Sang used an ordinary electric net gun to shoot at the various bugs that kept appearing on the ground and in the air around her.
The air was thick with the strong smell of pesticide and the acrid stench of electrocuted bugs. The surrounding buildings were marked with signs of attack.
This urban village was beginning to take on a desolate, wasteland feel.
——
“How’s the situation in the village now?”
After dealing with several waves of the insect tide and killing a few mutant insects, Qin Sang dragged her heavy feet home to rest.
As soon as she entered, her father asked about the situation outside. Her mother said, “Stop with the questions. Go take a shower in the space, eat something, and get some sleep. You barely slept during the day; you were clearing bugs the whole time.”
Qin Sang looked at the sky, which was growing darker outside, and shook her head. “The moment the sun went down, the number of mutant insects increased. I’ll eat something and rest right here. Mom and Dad, keep an eye on the house’s condition.”
Her main fear was that the mutant insects would keep coming in wave after wave.
During last night’s insect tide, the glass in their living room balcony and kitchen had been shattered. Clearly, even tempered glass couldn’t withstand a tidal wave of insect swarms.
They’d had no choice but to retreat to the basement to rest.
As for Qu Meijing, her glass was also broken. But she wasn’t in her room. When the first wave of the insect tide hit, she had followed the village chief and gone to the village office. Her sister, Qu Mei’an, had been gnawed down to just bones by the insect tide.
When Qin Sang discovered this, she mused that life really wasn’t like a novel. Someone who seemed like a villain had died just a couple of scenes after appearing.
“Alright, alright, alright. Your father and I will watch the house. You go shower, eat, and sleep.”
Qin Sang didn’t stand on ceremony with her parents. After showering and eating, she lay down. She was truly exhausted.
——
When she woke up again, it was because her mother was calling her.
“The village chief posted a warning in the group chat: the insect tide is coming.”
Qin Sang checked her phone. Sure enough, a sky-blanketing swarm of insects was surging in like a tidal wave.
But what was slightly better than last night was that they had experience now. Although they still didn’t dare to confront the mutant insects, many families had moved into the same basement, cooperating to block the entrance and exit doors. This way, they could withstand attacks from many bugs.
Of course, there were also bugs that burrowed in the soil. But with the concrete barrier, the scent of humans was greatly reduced.
Still, for Qin Sang, this wasn’t very effective. Because she was brimming with energy. Like a bright lamp in the night, she would immediately attract the attention of mutant insects.
“I’m going out to take a look. You two go into the space first.”
Qin’s father and mother didn’t hesitate. They knew their daughter was sensible.
After sending her parents into the space, Qin Sang put on her gear. She opened the basement door and headed up to the first floor.
The first-floor door was being battered with a booming sound. It was a good thing there was no glass on the first floor.
She pulled a pressurized water gun from her spatial space, opened the front door, and sprayed the oncoming insect swarm.
Honestly, she really wanted to just use a flamethrower. But this was her own home. If she used fire, it might be hard to control the aftermath.
Taking advantage of the insects being momentarily suppressed, Qin Sang ran straight out of the village. Once outside the village, she intended to use the flamethrower.
The village lanes were empty. Everyone was hiding in their homes.
Along the way, spraying insecticide, ignoring the insects to her left, right, front, and back, Qin Sang ran straight to the road outside the village.
Some official personnel were clearing insects on this stretch of road. Seeing Qin Sang so fierce, they were all startled. Qin Sang quickly shouted, “It’s me, Qin Sang from Xinling Village.”
Hearing it was Qin Sang, the official personnel weren’t surprised. She was known as a little bug-cleaning expert.
After greeting them, Qin Sang found a good spot, pulled out her flamethrower, and started burning the oncoming insect swarm. The smell was choking, but the effect was quite satisfying.
Seeing this, the official personnel gave her thumbs up.
Qin Sang smiled beneath her helmet as she continued burning bugs. She even had the leisure to think about those people who loved eating insects. She wondered if they’d still have an appetite seeing such a massive swarm.
But as they say, pride comes before a fall.
Just then, a convoy of large off-road vehicles sped directly towards her from a distance. The vehicles bore the logo of the Administration Bureau. These kinds of vehicles could carry quite a few people; Qin Sang had seen one at Xu Lin’s place.
At first, Qin Sang thought it was an official reinforcement team. But upon closer inspection, she sensed something was wrong and immediately dodged out of the way.
The driver, as if reading Qin Sang’s mind, started to slow down. But as the vehicle approached her, the rear door suddenly swung open, and a capture net shot directly at her.
Qin Sang wasn’t stupid. She jumped back. At the same time, she extended her mental energy and sensed eight fully armed people inside the vehicle. Besides them, there was a haggard familiar face.
“Fang Ming…”
Qin Sang looked at the malice-filled eyes of that man, and her heart sank.
After he was arrested last time, she’d heard he was being interrogated about the mastermind behind him. After that, no news came out. Then, just a couple of days later, the insect tide hit, and she’d paid no more attention to him. Qin Sang never expected that he had escaped from custody and was still determined to capture her.
It seemed she really was a hot commodity.
“Qin Sang, be smart and get in the car quietly. While you’re still somewhat useful. Mutant insects are everywhere now. Your ability to attract them isn’t as valuable anymore.”
As Fang Ming spoke, he had his men get out of the vehicle and surround Qin Sang.
The official personnel nearby saw this and rushed over. But they were hindered by the insect swarms and blocked by Fang Ming’s people. They couldn’t provide support anytime soon.
Fang Ming was clearly counting on this, looking at Qin Sang with impunity.
Qin Sang noticed that Fang Ming and his men seemed to have something on them that the mutant insects disliked. Although the bugs drew near them, they didn’t pounce like starving wolves. It was as if they were wary of something.
“Who’s backing you?”
Seeing this, Qin Sang had an idea and decided to engage him in conversation for a bit.
“You’re not qualified to know. Come to your senses and get in the car. I’m sure you don’t want to experience being bitten to death by bugs.”
Qin Sang chuckled. Seeing how stubborn he was, she suddenly lost interest in bantering further.
He was so hostile towards her and had caused so much trouble. If she let him go now, her household would never have peace.
Having reached this conclusion, Qin Sang directly pulled a pistol from her spatial space. With lightning speed, she fired three shots at Fang Ming.
After the three shots, Fang Ming only stumbled back a few steps, but he wasn’t dead.
Qin Sang raised an eyebrow. “I should have aimed for your head.”
Fang Ming was furious and humiliated. He hadn’t expected Qin Sang to act so unpredictably, nor that she would even have a gun.
“Capture him for me immediately!”
The fully armed men each used their skills and lunged at Qin Sang.
Qin Sang dodged them and saw that Fang Ming had already retreated back into the vehicle, while the others continued to pursue her.
Oh, well.
Qin Sang thought to herself. In her hand, the pistol instantly transformed into a silver longbow. A white arrow was nocked, aimed, and released. The whole sequence was fluid and took less than twenty seconds.
Fang Ming, watching from inside the vehicle, sneered. He thought the car he was riding in was bulletproof and crashproof. That decorative bow and arrow of Qin Sang’s dared to be aimed at him?
The next moment, before the smile on Fang Ming’s face could fade, his entire body was pierced by a white arrow, pinning him to the back seat of the vehicle.
“Impossible!” Fang Ming looked down at his bleeding chest. Never mind the car; he was also wearing a high-grade bulletproof vest. And yet, it was penetrated.
“Qin Sang, who exactly are…?”
He could only ask the King of Hell the rest of his question.
Qin Sang’s mental energy had been enveloping the area the whole time. Seeing Fang Ming die, she flicked her longbow and recalled the arrow.
The whole process of taking him out took less than a minute.
The men who had been surrounding Qin Sang were terrified by the scene. They started to retreat.
Qin Sang said, “Since you came, you might as well all stay.”
With that, she nocked another arrow. But this time, she was stopped by the official personnel.
Qin Sang looked at the person leading the team and raised an eyebrow. “Fine, I’ll leave them to you then.”
As for why Fang Ming and his men could deter the bugs, she was sure the Academy of Sciences would be very interested in that secret.
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