Chapter 186: The Insect Mother’s Self-Destruction: The Pregnant Belly Was Fake

Upon hearing this, Hu Yan merely lifted his eyelids and uttered two words, "Fox Jue."

The Insect Mother froze completely. The already ferocious expression on her face stiffened in shock, making her features look even more twisted.

Hu Yan asked in return, "Am I wrong?"

The Insect Mother blurted out, "How could you know?"

Hu Yan said, "Because he has already been captured, and your plan has failed. Do you have anything else to say to me now?"

Hearing Hu Yan’s words, the Insect Mother immediately understood. Her expression turned grim as she said, "You knew I was in contact with him? No, that’s not right... you’ve been waiting, haven’t you? Waiting for me to contact him so you could get the evidence you needed to capture him?"

Hu Yan said calmly, "You can interpret it that way if you like. I was indeed waiting. I guessed you would make a move. My people simply used your communication to confirm his exact location and solidify the evidence of his crimes. But even if you hadn’t made that call, we had already pinpointed him; we just hadn’t moved to arrest him yet. Your timely call simply served as the final end to your relationship."

The Insect Mother’s face was grim, her voice clearly much weaker. "You Beastmen are truly insidious and cunning."

Hu Yan chuckled lightly. "The feeling is mutual."

He continued, "If you have nothing more to say, then we shall begin."

Upon hearing this, the dense swarm of the Insect Clan immediately assumed attack stances.

War was imminent.

The insects at the very back were still digging frantically. As long as they could break through, there was a glimmer of hope for escape.

BANG BANG BANG—

Inside the tunnel, which was far less spacious than the main cavern, the two sides quickly clashed.

Having just been incapacitated by the chili peppers, the Insect Clan’s movements in battle were noticeably slower than before.

The Insect Clan was focused on escaping, so they hadn’t brought many weapons. Furthermore, in this narrow space with the Insect Mother behind them, they feared harming her and were forced to abandon their weapons and engage in close-quarters combat.

Even though the members of the Insect Clan had hard carapaces, their bodies were already far weaker than before. The Beastmen dispatched several thousand of them with almost no effort.

Many insects remained, but most were smaller types. Hundreds of thousands of the combat-class insects had already perished, starting from when the Beastmen began fanning the chili pepper smoke into the nest.

Counting those that had died earlier, the Insect Clan had already lost several million of their kind.

Nearly two million had died in the battle against the giant spiders alone. Adding in the losses from the subsequent clashes, even with the Insect Mother’s rapid reproduction rate, she couldn’t possibly sustain such casualties.

Just then, an injured Insect Servant approached the Insect Mother. "Insect Mother, I’m afraid we can’t hold on. We still have several hundred meters to dig, but our forces won’t last that long."

At these words, the Insect Mother looked up. She watched her subordinates fall one by one until only twenty or thirty remained on the front line, while those behind them dug desperately. Her eyes turned red, and her abdomen began to swell to a frightening degree.

Bai Zhi, who happened to witness this, was deeply alarmed. She tugged on Hu Yan’s sleeve and whispered, "Hu Yan, look at the Insect Mother’s abdomen."

Following her words, Hu Yan’s gaze fell upon the Insect Mother’s abdomen, which was continuously swelling and growing transparent. His expression immediately darkened. He turned to Sang Mo, who was closest to them, and said, "Get her out of here first."

Sang Mo glanced over, his brow furrowing tightly. He proactively took Bai Zhi’s hand and warned in a low voice, "Hu Yan, be careful. It’s going to self-destruct."

Hu Yan nodded slightly. "I know."

As soon as Sang Mo started leading Bai Zhi away, Hu Yan swiftly unfurled his spiritual power.

The Insect Mother stared at their retreating backs and suddenly spoke in a strange tone, "Didn’t you want my Insect Clan to be annihilated? Since you’re here, you might as well stay! None of you are leaving! All of you will stay—and be buried alongside my clan!"

As she said this, her expression twisted into an indescribable mask of hatred.

The Insect Clan only had a few Evolution Species, and the Insect Mother was a super Evolution Species. Her wounds could self-heal, and she possessed a limitless capacity to bear offspring.

Both Sang Mo and Hu Yan sensed something was wrong. Hu Yan immediately threw up a protective barrier around Bai Zhi. At the same instant, sensing the anomaly, Sang Mo transformed into his original form and coiled his body around her.

Before Bai Zhi could react, a deafening "BOOM—" erupted next to her ear.

Sang Mo’s original form was enormous, and Bai Zhi could barely see anything outside. But she could faintly smell blood and hear countless members of the Insect Clan crying out for their Insect Mother.

Then, something seemed to drip onto her face.

Bai Zhi reached up to touch it. The liquid was warm and wet, carrying the thick stench of blood. She called out in a trembling voice, "Sang Mo."

Sang Mo responded with his usual indifferent grunt, but he didn’t stop for a moment, continuing to slither rapidly toward the exit.

Bai Zhi said in a panic, "You’re bleeding? Change back to your human form and put me down! Let me see where you’re hurt."

Sang Mo said, "It’s just a scratch. Not a serious injury."

But as he spoke, his slithering pace gradually slowed, no longer as fast as it was at the beginning.

Bai Zhi guessed he must be seriously injured, but she also knew that he wasn’t stopping because the situation outside was dire, and they couldn’t afford to halt.

Bai Zhi bit her lip and asked the system, ’Do you know what happened outside?’

The System replied, ’The Insect Mother self-destructed. What she was carrying in her abdomen wasn’t larvae at all, but unpurified black gas. She probably intended to use her powerful reproductive ability to forcibly convert the black gas into an Evolution Species born with innate poison. Now, because of her self-destruction, I’m afraid all the Beastmen in that cavern will be affected by the black gas. It will cause their spiritual power to go berserk, leading to the collapse of their spirit seas and ultimately, death. If Hu Yan hadn’t controlled some of the insects to block part of the blast, those Beastmen would be in even worse shape right now.’

’Unpurified black gas!’

’Berserk spiritual power!’

’Collapsed spirit seas!’

’There isn’t a single Advanced Healer here. Without an Advanced Healer, they’re all doomed.’

Panic seized Bai Zhi’s heart, but she forced herself to calm down and think quickly. She asked the system, ’I’m an SSS-level Purification Master now. If I can dispel the black gas before they are fully affected, they’ll be alright, won’t they?’

The System replied, ’Theoretically, that is correct.’

Bai Zhi thought for a moment then asked, ’Sang Mo is injured. Do you have any medicine that can help his wounds recover quickly?’

The System answered, ’There’s a Recovery Pill. It won’t heal him instantly, but it can restore him to about seventy or eighty percent.’

Hearing this, Bai Zhi said without hesitation, ’Give me one.’

Bai Zhi held the Recovery Pill up as high as she could. "Sang Mo, take this pill! It will help your injuries heal. Then, we’re going back!"

Sang Mo didn’t slow down. He only said, "You want to go back to save Hu Yan and the others? I’ll go back for them after I get you to safety."

Bai Zhi explained softly, "Sang Mo, I’m an SSS-level Purification Master. I should be able to dispel the black gas from the Insect Mother’s self-destruction. There are no Advanced Healers here right now. If we don’t go back, there will be nothing anyone can do for them once the black gas takes full effect."

She then added, "Don’t worry, I won’t get too close. The moment anything seems wrong, I’ll have you take me away. Okay?"

Sang Mo replied, "No. My mission is to get you out of here."

Bai Zhi was at a loss for words.

Bai Zhi asked, ’System, do you have any item that can make me invulnerable, so that nothing and no one can hurt me?’

The System replied, ’Not at the moment. There might be one after the system upgrades.’

Bai Zhi then said, "Then have Hu Yan bring everyone over here. That should work, right?"

Sang Mo asked in an unreadable tone, "You want to save them that badly?"

Bai Zhi pressed her lips together and explained her thoughts. "If I didn’t have the ability to help, I certainly wouldn’t try to play the saint. But I *do* have the ability, and they were fighting to protect all of their people. If I can save them but choose not to, I don’t think I could live with myself."

After a long pause, Sang Mo finally said, "Understood."

He snatched the Recovery Pill from Bai Zhi’s hand with his mouth and swallowed it.

Although Sang Mo continued to move, Bai Zhi vaguely sensed that their direction had changed.

After receiving Sang Mo’s message, Hu Yan quickly led everyone to their location.

The members of the Insect Clan, being closest to the Insect Mother, were already showing signs of going berserk.

Meanwhile, thanks to the protective measures Hu Yan had taken and his immediate order to retreat, the Beastmen were not as severely affected by the black gas as the Insect Clan was, despite being tainted by it.

Soon, the two groups converged.

Sang Mo set Bai Zhi down. The massive black snake coiled behind her, head held high as he looked down upon the crowd. His crimson tongue flickered, emanating an intensely oppressive aura.

Bai Zhi wasted no time. She slowly released her superpower from her hands. She could see that everyone was tainted with the black gas; it had already invaded some of their bodies. If it wasn’t cleansed quickly, the situation would become dangerous.

Many of the Beastmen noticed Bai Zhi’s unique power immediately. Some stared in a daze. "She... she’s a Purification Master?!"

"She really is a Purification Master, but... I’ve never felt anything like this before."

Those closest to her felt it most intensely. They had all had black gas cleansed from their bodies by Purification Masters before, and the process was always excruciatingly painful. This was the first time it had ever felt so... pleasant.

Gradually, the others began to feel it too.

"She must be at least an SS-level Purification Master! This is the first time having black gas cleansed felt so comfortable. A moment ago, I was sure I was a goner. I’d even written out my will."

"You’re telling me! When the Insect Mother self-destructed, I thought it was all over."

"This feels amazing. I never imagined a Purification Master could cleanse the black gas from the body so effortlessly."

"No wonder the Third Prince brought her along. If it weren’t for his foresight, our spiritual power would probably be running rampant from the black gas by now."

"An SS-level Purification Master, and a female at that. No wonder the Third Prince is willing to share her. I bet her other partners are no simple characters either."

"I don’t know about the others, but that Snake Beastman is SSS-level! There are only a handful of SSS-level Beastmen in the entire Federation, and this female has two of them as her Beast Husbands! Her other Beast Husbands can’t be simple either. Otherwise, how could they possibly stand on equal footing with those two?"