Chapter 65: Termites

“Ahhh—wolves!”

The prisoners turned and fled in terror, but the ferocious pack of wolves surged forward like a violent wind, tearing into them with bite after vicious bite.

Screams of agony echoed continuously as the stench of blood filled the air. Jiang Si shouted to Shen Baoying and the others, “Run!”

These were clearly mutated wolves—massive in size, with bristling fur like steel needles, fast and extremely aggressive.

If a bullet didn’t hit a vital point, the wolf would counterattack with relentless ferocity, not stopping until it shredded its prey to pieces.

Fortunately, the prisoners provided a momentary distraction—buying the group time to escape.

After finishing off the prisoners, the wolves’ glowing green eyes locked onto Jiang Si, who stood guarding the others with a gun.

The wolf leader suddenly lunged forward, baring its fangs. Jiang Si stuffed a grenade into Qin Shen’s hand, raised her gun, and took aim.
“Bang—!”

She fired. The wolf leader swiftly dodged and closed the distance with a powerful leap—so fast that even the grenade wouldn’t explode in time.

Jiang Si’s heart dropped. She pulled a dagger from her boot, ready to stab it in the throat if it came closer.

But in the very next second—the imminent danger abruptly vanished.

The wolf leader’s pupils widened as if it had seen something horrifying. It twisted mid-air, crashed to the ground in a tangled heap, scrambled up, and fled in panic.

With the leader bolting, the rest of the pack froze in confusion. Some were knocked aside by their leader in its escape. Whatever signal they’d received clearly screamed “run!”—and they did, stumbling and tripping as they fled in every direction.

Jiang Si stared blankly at the dagger in her hand. Did they run because they sensed some kind of pressure from me?

That didn’t seem right.

She turned to look at Qin Shen and remembered how Dahei and Xiaohei had also been terrified of him. Narrowing her eyes, she asked,
“These wolves seemed to be afraid of you.”

Qin Shen nodded calmly, “Seems like it.”

His casual honesty caught Jiang Si off guard. She didn’t know what to say next.

Just as she was about to ask why the wolves feared him, Jiang Linhai ran over, still shaken.
“Si Si, are you okay?”

Jiang Si shook her head. Jiang Linhai asked again, “Are we still staying here tonight?”

The cave was full of dismembered bodies—it was terrifying.

Jiang Si nodded.
“It’s not safe outside. Now that the wolves are gone, we’ll just pitch our tents here for the night.”

“Corpses are less scary than people.”

Everyone set up their tents. Jiang Si lay inside her sleeping bag, her expression growing darker as she thought about Qin Shen. She wanted to confront him—but then remembered she was hiding her own secrets too.

As long as he wasn’t a threat and continued helping them, maybe it was best not to dig too deeply. No point in turning an ally into an enemy.

She drifted off to sleep. The next morning, after a simple breakfast of compressed biscuits, the group continued on their way.

The food and water in their backpacks would last about two more days.

After that, Jiang Si would need to find a way to secretly take supplies out from her spatial storage without raising suspicion.

Lu Zhifeng, unaware of Jiang Si’s secret stash, was the most anxious. He kept looking for food along the way and even regretted not managing to catch one of the wolves the night before.

Along the roadside, food was scarce. When they stopped to rest, Jiang Si spotted a fallen ancient tree.

The tree was decaying and riddled with insect holes. Jiang Si walked over and stared at it carefully.

Lu Zhifeng came up and asked curiously, “Is something unusual?”

Jiang Si put on gloves, pulled out her dagger, and peeled away the rotting bark.

Suddenly—dozens of thumb-sized white insects squirmed into view.

Niuniu shrieked loudly,
“Bugs! There are so many bugs!”

But Lu Zhifeng’s eyes lit up. He said to Niuniu,
“These are termites. They’re edible—delicious, nutritious, and have high medicinal value.”

In Longquan Village, which bordered a forest, termites were common, and some villagers still ate them.

Jiang Chengwu, who grew up poor, had eaten them as a child too. Seeing so many plump white termites, he even looked a little nostalgic.
“Fried in oil or grilled over charcoal, they’re super crispy and juicy—delicious! Raw ones even taste a bit like white radish.”

Niuniu stared at the creepy, squirming insects, looking like she was questioning life itself.

Jiang Si calmly began collecting termites using chopsticks, dropping them into plastic bags.

In her past life, getting to eat termites had been considered a luxury meal.

There were many ways to catch termites. At night, you could set up a tent with a kerosene lamp to lure them out and catch them en masse.

But with this many big termites and an exposed rotting tree, there was no need for that method today.

Everyone joined in. In no time, they filled several plastic bags with termites.

“These worker termites are huge,” Jiang Linhai laughed. “The queen must be the size of a potato!”

In her last life, Jiang Si had caught termite queens bigger than potatoes—some were the size of small shoes.

It was creatures like these mutated insects that had allowed her to survive ten years in the apocalypse.

The thought of that termite flavor made Jiang Si’s mouth water.

They built a fire nearby and began skewering termites on sticks to roast.

Shen Baoying pulled spices from her backpack and sprinkled them over the insects. The termites sizzled, turned golden brown, and released an appetizing aroma.

Niuniu sniffed the air—it smelled just like fried meat. Her eyes sparkled.

Jiang Si handed her a roasted termite. Its head was tiny, and after roasting, only the round, golden body remained. Niuniu hesitated for a moment—then took a bite.

It was crispy, savory, rich in collagen, and coated in Shen Baoying’s secret spice blend.

Absolutely delicious.

Everyone had a full meal, and they even cooked extra to save for dinner.

As the sun neared the horizon, they entered the outskirts of South City. Houses began to appear more frequently.

Most buildings had collapsed due to the torrential rain and flooding.

Moving forward, they entered the city’s most luxurious villa district.

Each villa stood atop its own hill. Because of the terrain and high-quality construction, most remained intact.

But signs of forced entry and looting were everywhere.

The wealthy always had more ways to survive than ordinary folks. There could still be survivors inside—ones who might see them as invaders and shoot on sight.

Jiang Si urged caution. They needed to find an empty house to stay the night.

Just as they entered the villa area, seven or eight scrawny men armed with various blades suddenly charged toward them.

Their sunken cheeks and sallow complexions stood in stark contrast to Jiang Si’s well-fed group.

Clearly, these men had been starving while Jiang Si’s crew looked well-nourished and carried visible supplies.

The men eyed their backpacks with greed and snarled,
“Drop your stuff and get lost!”

Jiang Si’s gaze turned cold. She was just about to teach these fools a lesson when—

Three more men suddenly emerged behind the attackers.

The leader, eyes bloodshot and a sinister smirk on his face, stepped forward pretending to scold the others:
“Who told you to rob them? These are our brothers and sisters—don’t you know the rules?”