You've Been Exposed, Beast!

He had Huang Qingyi's contact information, so he sent him a message directly.

128 Longshan Road. Name: Tang Shengchun. He used locust eggs combined with Filth Worm black threadworms to feed people, which would trigger a "Locust-Human Nest."

After sending it, he swiftly deleted the message, put away his phone, and went upstairs.

When they reached the first-floor living room, Tang Shengchun invited Li Ye to sit down.

"Water or cola?"

"Cola."

Tang Shengchun took a can of cola from the refrigerator and handed it to Li Ye. Then he naturally sat down beside him, smiling at him with narrowed eyes.

"At your pace, you'll step into the Dragon Gate in about a month."

"Martial arts training is very grueling. I came up through the traditional way too, but after studying Western high technology, I felt that people of Divine Land really didn't need to suffer so much to practice martial arts."

"Mm, you're right."

Li Ye drank his cola and casually humored him for a couple of lines. But in the next second, every hair on his body stood on end.

A hand touched his thigh. Somehow, Tang Shengchun had pressed himself right up beside him, one hand resting on his knee and beginning to grope upward toward his thigh.

"Xiao Ye, I can call you that, right? I've always felt sorry for people like you, whose physical tests are rated 'Excellent' but who can't enter the martial path. That's why I returned to Divine Land to establish high-tech martial arts training.

"Divine Land only values those so-called geniuses who enter the martial path through the Guiding Method, while neglecting people like you. But in the West, martial arts progress step by step. Martial arts entered through accumulated training and tempering are certainly stronger than those in Divine Land."

He discreetly swept his gaze over Li Ye's thigh beneath his shorts and smiled. "Look at this thigh of yours. You've trained it just right. The muscles cling tightly to the bones, the contours are distinct, powerful without being bulky."

"The muscle grain is clear too, and this feel... Firm and springy. You can tell at once that it contains tremendous supporting strength and twisting force. Like a cheetah—what beautiful lines."

Fuck, he was still squeezing!

Li Ye's pupils contracted, his entire body taut as a sculpture.

He wasn't afraid of demons or ghosts, nor was he afraid of the dangers of battle. After all, if he truly ran into them, there was nothing he could do about it.

He was just afraid of this kind of thing!

This felt worse than killing him!

Fuck, he wasn't just a terrorist—he was an old gay too!

Li Ye practically sprang to his feet, getting as far away from Tang Shengchun as possible, then hurriedly changed the subject.

"Coach, this Nutrient Solution is pretty amazing. It feels like I have endless strength in my body, but apart from the Nutrient Solution, are there no other methods? I saw some strange medical pods in the basement."

"You don't need those yet."

Tang Shengchun smiled. "It isn't that easy for Preparatory Students to Break Through Dragon Gate. Once your assessment reaches Level 9 here, you'll enter that place every day. Like the medicinal baths in martial arts academies, it can strengthen the Nutrient Solution you drink and help you Break Through Dragon Gate faster."

Some sort of thing that accelerated the hatching of locust eggs.

Li Ye narrowed his eyes, thinking of the Filth Worm black threadworm material contained in the liquid.

Locust eggs alone, even ones tainted with demonic aura, would make the human body uncomfortable.

But once Filth Worm black threadworms were added, their characteristics would conceal the parasitism. It was equivalent to suppressing the discomfort inside the body, allowing the insect eggs to hide deeper. Most likely, they could only be detected when they finally erupted.

Combined with the medical pods, by the time someone was Breaking Through Dragon Gate, even if they had methods, they would be powerless to turn the tide.

"Am I the only one you've recruited so far? My parents said you had quite a few successful cases over in Yang City," Li Ye asked.

"Xiao Ye, I know it's difficult to earn your trust at first. After all, you have the traditional Divine Land way of thinking. But in the West, high-tech martial arts training is the mainstream."

Tang Shengchun merely took it as a young man's vigilance and chuckled. "I came to Ningjiang first to expand the market. You aren't the only one. I recruited ten students in total, and they'll come this afternoon. After all, 'materials' are limited. There isn't enough for any more. Only once we have more materials can we 'benefit' more students."

He deliberately stressed the words "materials" and "benefit." As he spoke, his eyes narrowed slightly. Like a crafty old wolf that had entered a flock of sheep, he said smugly,

"No rush. There's plenty of time. As we slowly get to know each other, I'll learn your depth, and you'll learn my strengths."

Depth my ass! Strengths your father!

Li Ye forced out a smile. Just as he was about to probe for more information, a piercing sound suddenly came from outside.

Vrooom!!

It sounded as though someone was revving through the streets. The engine startup was deafening.

Hearing it, Tang Shengchun frowned, but he said nothing, assuming someone was merely showing off on the street.

Li Ye casually took out his phone and glanced at it. There was a message from an unfamiliar number, containing only three words.

Five minutes!

And the time it had been sent was exactly five minutes ago.

He put down his phone, his expression relaxing. He opened the backpack he had brought, pulled out a golden cigarette case, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

Tang Shengchun frowned more deeply. "How can you smoke at your age? It's bad for your health."

"It's fine. After all, no matter how bad it is for my health—"

Listening to the engine roar growing louder and closer, Li Ye bared his teeth in a grin at Tang Shengchun. "—it can't be as harmful as what you've done."

"What do you mean?"

Boom!!

The moment Tang Shengchun finished speaking, the wall was smashed open. Amid flying rubble, a motorcycle with an enormous rear wheel burst in, its rapidly spinning tire brutally crushing down onto him!

Pfft!

The stone floor was forcibly pressed into a depression. Tang Shengchun lay embedded in it, opening his mouth to spew a huge mouthful of blood.

"Hoo..."

Li Ye exhaled smoke, which spread before him. Grinning, he said, "Also, these are specially supplied by the Pest Control Bureau. You should understand what that means. You've been exposed, beast!"

"Hahahaha!"

Pan Zhengyang's booming laughter rang out from atop the motorcycle. "I finally found you bastards!"

"Impossible!" Tang Shengchun's face was filled with disbelief.

He had investigated every student he recruited beforehand. Starting with their parents, he observed their words and actions and investigated their backgrounds.

He had made sure that every one of them was merely an ordinary Preparatory Student, the sort who would grasp at straws in desperation. None of them could possibly possess even the slightest background that might endanger him.

Rich people might have connections, but wealthy Preparatory Students would never think highly of so-called "high-tech martial arts training." They had reliable channels for practicing martial arts.

Much less connections like the Pest Control Bureau.

Only ordinary families who knew nothing and had no money, but happened to produce a child capable of practicing martial arts yet unable to break through the Dragon Gate, would panic and seek every possible path.

Li Ye couldn't possibly have discovered it!

Had he been watching this place for a long time? Even more impossible!

Before Li Ye arrived, he hadn't revealed any details to anyone. Anyone who came to inspect would only see ordinary "high-tech martial arts training," at most treating it as an industry brushing against the edge of illegality.

Could it be that Li Ye had drunk the incubation fluid, learned the ingredients inside, happened to have ties to the Pest Control Bureau, and reported him?

"You escaped us in Yang City last time. Let's see how you run this time!"

Pan Zhengyang got off the motorcycle and reached down to grab Tang Shengchun beneath it.

"You wish!"

Tang Shengchun let out a tiger's roar. Black lines erupted across his face, and his entire body suddenly swelled by a full size.

Thud!

The floor beneath him cracked another layer. Tang Shengchun pulled himself free from under the motorcycle and sprang up. As he broke away, Li Ye's eyes widened.

This man's legs had completely mutated. Like the legs of a locust, they had bent backward and become covered in jointed spikes.

But the instant he escaped from beneath the motorcycle, Pan Zhengyang casually pulled out the black cloth bundle attached to the bike. With a shake of his hand, he revealed a ghost-head broadsword.

Pfft!

The broadsword flashed into an afterimage, sweeping through Tang Shengchun's body and severing him at the waist, sending his upper body crashing to the ground.

Pan Zhengyang clicked his tongue. "Just a small fry. But if I let a Dragon Gate Realm runt like you get away, could I still call myself anything?"

He shook the blood from his broadsword, slung it over his shoulder, and looked at Li Ye. "Kid, you did well."

Li Ye was somewhat stunned. "You charged in and attacked right away. What if I had identified the wrong person?"

"First, normal people wouldn't casually talk to me about insect eggs, much less demons like a 'Locust-Human Nest.' Second, you yourself have the ability to identify demons. And this outcome proves that you're more reliable than our Data Clerks."

Pan Zhengyang patted the motorcycle beside him. "Besides, who do you think I am? If I got it wrong, I could stop the moment I burst in. At worst, I'd pay repair fees. What's the big deal? Besides, I wouldn't get it wrong. After killing demons for so many years, I have that instinct."

"The instinct born of old experience."

Li Ye laughed, then lowered his head to look at Tang Shengchun, who had been cut in two. The man was still breathing. "What is this? A human turning into a demon? There are things like that in this world?"

Hearing this, Pan Zhengyang shot Tang Shengchun a hateful glare before speaking to Li Ye.

"It has nothing to do with a student like you. Knowing too much won't do you any good. Just report it if you encounter one—you definitely won't be wrong. But how did you discover him?"

Li Ye briefly explained that he had drunk the insect egg liquid and that his parents had signed him up for the program. Pan Zhengyang's expression immediately turned strange.

It wasn't high-tech martial arts training, but something else.

"You mean that after drinking that so-called Nutrient Solution, you immediately discovered something abnormal inside it, sensed that your blood and qi were wrong, recognized the ingredients based on experience, and then deduced the specific demon?"

Li Ye remained calm and composed. "What's wrong?"

Pan Zhengyang stared hard at him. "You can really sense your blood and qi precisely? Are you sure?"

Li Ye nodded.

Pan Zhengyang asked, "Based on your senses, when can you Break Through Dragon Gate?"

"At my current pace, the afternoon three days from now. I should break through around three or four."

The rice would arrive three days later.

"You can even narrow it down to a time? Good. Forget three days from now—if you break through on the fourth or fifth day, come find me. You must come find me!"

Pan Zhengyang's gaze blazed. "It'll be good for you."

"Fine, but this report... it counts as a merit, right?"

After saying that, Li Ye stared directly at Pan Zhengyang.

The meaning could not have been clearer.

There was a reward for reporting it. Time to pay up!

Pan Zhengyang laughed. "Do you know how much the number I texted you from is worth? A favor from a Pest Control Bureau director—countless people couldn't get one even if they begged."

Li Ye smiled too. "I'm just a student."

Pan Zhengyang grinned. "Good kid. I like people like you. You really are suited for our Pest Control Bureau! Hmm, thirty thousand yuan, then."

"I thought it would be five hundred thousand," Li Ye said.

"If you can make him reveal the intelligence I want, forget five hundred thousand—you can ask for anything, and I'll give it to you."

Pan Zhengyang shook his head and looked at Tang Shengchun. "But he's just a small fry. He isn't even worth keeping alive."

Li Ye followed his gaze and saw that Tang Shengchun's head had already mutated into half a locust's head. His mouth had completely become locust mouthparts, and he could no longer speak human words.

"While we were chatting, he said the materials were limited, so he only recruited ten students. This material... isn't the material I'm thinking of, is it?"

"It isn't a Locust-Human Nest."

Pan Zhengyang shook his head. "It's something higher up."

Li Ye thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "The Calamity Locust Ghost?"

The demons of the world came in countless bizarre forms and were born in every conceivable way. Some evolved in stages, some formed naturally, some mutated, and some required prerequisites.

The Locust-Human Nest was a prerequisite for a great demon.

Just as a single locust could not cause harm, while locusts in massive swarms became a plague.

Once too many Locust-Human Nests appeared, another demon would be born.

The Calamity Locust Ghost.

Like the Chaff Hungry Ghost, it was one of the great demons listed in high school textbooks, one that humanity had to recognize.

If the Chaff Hungry Ghost was a man-made calamity, born when disasters were allowed to breed through improper handling until a great demon eventually emerged,

then the Calamity Nightmare Locust was a natural disaster. Once it appeared in clouds that blotted out the sky and covered the earth, the locusts would become a true plague, devouring every living thing.

"Don't think so much. What does it matter if you know? You aren't even in the Dragon Gate Realm. Great demons like these have nothing to do with you. Practice martial arts properly. If you want to contribute, become stronger first."

Pan Zhengyang waved a hand. "Go back. First go to the hospital and take some deworming medicine, or your body will be full of bugs. You discovered it early, at least. A few days later, and even immortals couldn't save you."

It was only the early stage, with insect eggs entering the body. Modern methods could handle it.

And Li Ye did not even need to take medicine. He had completely absorbed and refined it into blood and qi.

"He cheated my family out of three hundred thousand. That money needs to be recovered."

"It'll be returned to your family today," Pan Zhengyang said.

"Alright, then I'll be leaving."

Li Ye turned to leave, but before he had taken two steps, Pan Zhengyang's voice rang out again.

"Wait."

He turned around just in time to see an object being tossed toward him. He caught it, and it felt remarkably heavy in his hand.

Then he looked at it.

A Desert Eagle?

What he held was a silver-white Desert Eagle, though it had a larger caliber and a thicker, longer barrel.

"This is for you. Come by my place later and pick up some bullets. You've encountered two demons in the past few days. You're quite a trouble magnet, so keep it for self-defense. The Pest Control Bureau can't always respond in time. With a gun, you can handle problems yourself."

Pan Zhengyang smacked his lips. "Sometimes this thing works better than martial arts."

Li Ye twitched the corner of his mouth.

The bullet's trajectory was also the Dao, and marksmanship was also a method, was that it?

But it really was a good thing.

Blood and qi warded off evil. Gunpowder drove off evil. Besides evil, it could kill people too.

Against a Three Dragon Gate like Tang Shengchun, if he had a gun like this, he really could handle it himself.

After leaving the villa, Li Ye saw a group of police cars approaching ahead, preparing to cordon off the area.

Thinking of the timing from earlier, he gave a silent laugh.

Five minutes.

The Pest Control Bureau was thirty kilometers away. Pan Zhengyang must have driven that motorcycle at two hundred kilometers per hour, until the tires were smoking.

"They don't want ordinary people to know about the cult? Or is it some kind of five-hundred-thousand-yuan case?"

Thinking of Pan Zhengyang's words, he shook his head again.

Beneath these seemingly calm waters, there were things hidden that he could not yet reach.

But all of that truly had nothing to do with him. His most urgent task was to Break Through Dragon Gate!

Only by becoming a martial artist could he more effectively take hold of his own fate and future, rather than grasping blindly at everything and relying only on guesses.

He casually touched the spot in his backpack where the gun was stored and muttered,

"Otherwise, I'll be like you—only passively handed out. I'd rather take it myself."