He Qing dove underwater, but the camera couldn’t follow him, and the audience grew anxious:

[What’s going on?]

[Did the camera malfunction?]

[Why now?]

The director couldn’t sit still any longer. He immediately messaged Duan Chenhui and ordered others, “Send someone to find him.”

“Yes.” The guards thought to themselves, Director, your reaction is a bit too slow!

The director wiped his face and glanced down at his terminal, seeing Duan Chenhui’s reply:

[Maybe He Qing discovered something. I’m nearby, I’ll check it out.]

Feeling somewhat guilty, the director looked at the livestream again. The screen flickered, and He Qing’s situation became visible again. He let out a sigh of relief and messaged Duan Chenhui:

[You better hurry… He Qing’s gone down into a deep cave, and who knows what’s in there.]

[It’s fine, don’t worry,] Duan Chenhui reassured the director, [I’ll be there soon.]

—-

On He Qing’s side, he found that the camera was blocked by something underwater. He pulled the animal aside, tapped the camera, and seeing that it wasn’t broken, continued forward.

At this point, almost the entire audience was focused on He Qing’s situation:

[Help! Don’t hit it like that! What if you break the camera?]

He Qing was unaware of the audience’s concerns. He looked ahead, walked for a bit, then suddenly stopped. He hugged the camera and hid. Peeking out, he saw a few insectoids, winged and scorpion-like, patrolling the area. They had fangs, and drool dripped from their mouths, making them look far from appetizing.

The audience was shocked:

[!! Scorpion Wasps! Why are they here?]

[I have a bad feeling… Maybe… this planet has become their breeding ground.]

[Oh crap! What do we do?]

[I heard there’s a queen. You have to kill the queen to deal with them.]

The director, seeing this, immediately called for a meeting with the higher-ups. Moments later, they decided to recall all the participants:

“End the competition early. We’ll resume it later!”

“I agree,” an octopus person waved their tentacles, “I always said they look terrifying, all pitch black like that.”

A dragonfly person glanced at them, “Are you really in any position to say that?”

Octopus person: “That’s just discrimination based on looks. We’re a very gentle species.”

A merfolk leader said, “Let’s bring the students back first. We can discuss the rest later.”

The director nodded and sent out the command.

Meanwhile, He Qing waited for the insectoids to pass before continuing forward with the camera. The audience was barely able to watch.

He Qing patted the camera and avoided a few more patrolling insectoids, continuing along the tunnel. After a long walk, he stopped in front of a cave. Looking inside, he saw that it was massive, filled with countless insect eggs, surrounded by sticky mucus.

The audience:

[This is giving me chills! If these hatch, it’ll be an army! They’ll eat all the life on this planet!]

He Qing withdrew his gaze and sighed. He reached for his communicator to notify the director, but suddenly, he heard voices from a side path.

“Just our luck, falling into this place.”

“What even is this place?”

“No idea, let’s keep looking.”

He Qing turned to see an octopus alien and a starfish alien. When they spotted him, they drew their weapons.

He Qing glanced back at the cave, “We should leave here for now.”

“Why?” The octopus alien chuckled, “Are you from the Empire?”

“Because there are insectoids. You’re being too loud,” He Qing pointed to the cave behind him.

The octopus and starfish aliens looked over, saw an insectoid head, and immediately turned to run:

“Run!”

He Qing ran with them, “Didn’t you bring weapons?”

“We’re students! You think we’re going to fistfight them?” The octopus alien, with eight legs, was the fastest runner.

He Qing shook his head, but suddenly noticed a group of people approaching from the front. He ran toward them, “General, there are insectoids!”

Duan Chenhui hadn’t expected He Qing to end up in the insectoids’ nest. He raised his gun, “Next time, don’t wander into weird places.”

“Understood.” He Qing hid behind Duan Chenhui, waving his hand as Duan and his men shot down the insectoids one by one.

“General! They seem pretty weak!” a subordinate shouted, “Should we head straight for their base?”

Duan Chenhui was silent for a moment before turning to look at He Qing. He Qing straightened up and met his gaze, “Amitabha, General, I suggest we take our time.”

Duan Chenhui put away his gun, “Take the students and retreat. I’ll handle the queen.”

Duan rushed ahead, and He Qing followed him.

A subordinate shouted, “Hey! Student! Come back!”

He Qing waved at them, and Duan Chenhui could only turn back and say, “I’ll take care of him. You guys go ahead.”

“Yes.” The subordinates led the octopus and starfish aliens away.

Duan Chenhui reached the cave entrance and glanced inside. The worker wasps had already noticed them, and the queen was shrieking, summoning more.

He Qing asked, “General, these eggs are about to hatch. Shouldn’t we destroy them all?”

“Yes.” Duan Chenhui narrowed his eyes and charged in, with He Qing close behind.

The audience:

[Wait… Can two people really handle a whole swarm of insectoids?]

[Oh my god, someone save them! At least get a few more people!]

The audience watched nervously for a moment before realizing it was possible. Duan Chenhui had activated a laser sword, and with every swing, he sliced through the insectoids, cutting them into pieces. Meanwhile, the person next to him was no less efficient.

The two of them were cutting through the insectoids like they were chopping vegetables. The insectoids seemed slow to react and were easy prey.

Someone realized:

[Oh crap, it’s mental power! Together, the two of them can control the situation!!]

Octopus alien: [Seriously…]

This alien was left with a toothache, and soon after, he became the target of online trolling by Imperial citizens.

He Qing finished off another insectoid and looked ahead, “General, I’ll go deal with the queen!”

“He Qing! If the queen dies, the workers will go berserk!” Duan Chenhui shouted, but he couldn’t stop He Qing. He watched as He Qing stepped on the worker wasps, and in just a few leaps, he reached the queen.

The queen shrieked and attacked.

He Qing drew a flying sword and, with a light swing, sent a powerful sword energy slicing through the air. The queen didn’t dodge, but she had overestimated her own defense. In the next second, she was sliced into pieces.

The livestream fell silent for a moment:

[…!!!]

[A queen so strong in mental power and body… just died like that?!!]

[Unbelievable… I couldn’t even see how he attacked.]

[Wait! What did the general just call him??]

[Oh my god!! I just realized!!] The internet exploded in chaos.

Duan Chenhui rubbed his forehead, deployed his mech, flew over, and scooped He Qing up. The worker wasps had already started swarming, clinging to his mech.

He Qing stood on the mech’s hand and summoned a staff. A fire arrow shot out.

Duan Chenhui didn’t know what He Qing was doing. When he was finished, Duan put him inside the mech’s cockpit. Only then did Duan see the flames from He Qing’s arrow growing stronger. It wasn’t ordinary fire.

He Qing clasped his hands together and said, “Amitabha, this fire won’t go out anytime soon.”

Duan Chenhui now understood what He Qing had done. He glanced at the insect eggs below and swatted away the wasps crawling on his mech.

“Alright, let’s head up.”

“Sure.” He Qing nodded and fiddled with his prayer beads, “I need to go back and hit my wooden fish.”

“…” Duan Chenhui recalled He Qing’s cultivation techniques, “You’re not allowed to kill?”

“I killed quite a bit this time.” He Qing paused, “But roasted wasp eggs should taste pretty good.”

Duan Chenhui chuckled. Roasted wasp eggs were indeed tasty. After they surfaced, the director and others were waiting for them.

Duan Chenhui opened the hatch, “There may still be some worker wasps escaping. Have the rest clean them up.”

“Yes!” The guards and soldiers obeyed and set off.

The director looked up at them, “Glad you’re alright.”

The octopus alien sniffed, “What smells so good?”

He Qing jumped out of the mech, pulling out a roasted egg and placing it on the ground, “It’s an insectoid egg. We can have a feast tonight.”

The director cautiously walked over and cracked the egg open, revealing something that looked like a hairy egg.

Everyone was stunned, “How do you eat that?! It looks even scarier than a balut!”

The audience:

[That’s too gross to eat!]

Duan Chenhui sighed, stored his mech, and pulled He Qing away, “If you’re not eating, get on the ship. It’s not safe here.”

The aliens looked at the insect egg, “Well, it’s not like we can’t try. It does smell good.”

He Qing chuckled and followed Duan Chenhui, leaving the aliens to feast on the insectoid eggs. Only a few humans dared to take a bite.

Back in the room on the ship, He Qing asked Duan Chenhui, “Why did the general come here?”

Duan Chenhui handed him a cup of tea, “I was nearby, but you going down there alone was too reckless.”

“I heard some noises.” He Qing took off his mask and helmet, took a sip of water, “How’s the general’s investigation going?”

Duan Chenhui sat down, “I expect there will be a large-scale insectoid attack soon. You should head back.”

He Qing was a bit worried, but he trusted the military to handle it, “I wish the general a triumphant return.”

“Mm.” Duan Chenhui took a sip of water, then fell silent for a moment, “Your abilities are quite special.”

“It’s a hometown specialty.” He Qing didn’t really know how to explain. Could he really say that he could live for a very, very long time, and even if he remarried Duan Chenhui, what would it change?

Duan Chenhui saw that He Qing didn’t want to continue the conversation, so he didn’t press further. He nodded, stood up, “I’ll go check on the cleanup. You should rest here.”

Duan Chenhui walked out, glancing at the lights in the corridor. He Qing’s unusual abilities made people a little uneasy.

Duan Chenhui touched the prayer beads on his wrist, raising his hand to inspect them. He noticed one of the beads had the words “Ten Thousand Year Lotus” inscribed on it.

Ten Thousand Year Lotus? Was that referring to that lotus seed?