Insect Eggs

It took Zhao Sanqi and five others working together to subdue Wang Fei, their fifth brother, who seemed to have gone mad.

"Aaaah-!"

Dongfang Wanyu knocked him unconscious with a swift chop of her hand.

"What on earth happened to Fifth Brother?" Mu Qing, their sixth sister, held him and sobbed.

"His wound is infected."

Dongfang Minghui woke in a daze to find everyone gathered around the same person. She went over, and one look at his wound jolted her fully awake.

There was a gaping hole in Wang Fei's thigh. The flesh inside had already rotted, giving off waves of foul stench, and a section of white bone was clearly visible. It looked as though some sharp weapon had gouged the flesh right out.

They held down his arms and legs. Everyone saw something bulge beneath the skin of his thigh, wriggling just under the surface.

Even unconscious, Wang Fei's brows were tightly knitted and his breathing labored.

"All we had time to do was dig the Ironclad Beetles out of his flesh. We never imagined it would turn out like this." Zhao Sanqi was wracked with guilt.

"Then what do we do? Fifth Brother will die if this goes on." Tears streamed down Mu Qing's face, and before long, her eyes were red from crying.

"Big Brother, why don't we leave the Purple Demon Mountains now? We might still be able to save Fifth Brother."

Dongfang Wanyu stepped forward and gently pressed his wound with her fingers. Immediately, two or three clusters of larvae darted away through the upper and lower parts of his leg at remarkable speed. "The larvae have already taken up residence in his body. Even if you leave the Purple Demon Mountains now, I'm afraid it will be too late to save him."

Those words were as good as a death sentence.

Dongfang Minghui nodded in agreement. "Once the larvae enter his internal organs and the vessels around his heart, no power will be able to turn back the heavens and save him."

Ever since arriving here, she had been preoccupied with staying alive and winning the heroine's favor. She had actually forgotten that she had once been a doctor.

"Then what do we do? Are we supposed to just watch Fifth Brother die like this?" Mu Qing's tears began flowing uncontrollably again.

"Your most urgent task is to capture a female Ironclad Beetle." Dongfang Wanyu produced a porcelain bottle from somewhere. "This is a Life-Protecting Pill. It can keep him alive for one day. If you still haven't caught an Ironclad Beetle by then, I won't be able to save him either."

Mu Qing reached out, took the medicine, poured out the pill, and pushed it straight into her fifth brother's mouth.

Zhao Sanqi cupped his hands in gratitude. "Miss, if you have any requests, please tell us. If it's within our power, we'll spare no effort."

Dongfang Wanyu couldn't help scoffing. "Rather than wasting time saying all this, you should hurry up and catch a female Ironclad Beetle. If you miss the deadline, you can prepare a coffin for him."

Zhao Sanqi nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, you're right, miss. Could you tell us why we specifically need to catch a female Ironclad Beetle?"

"Newly hatched larvae will come out to search if they smell the distinctive scent of a female Ironclad Beetle's urine. This is one of the simplest ways to draw all the larvae out of your brother's body," Dongfang Wanyu explained slowly. Then she pointed at the girl beside her who had been looking after her. "You had better get rid of that smell on you. Corpse-Scent Grass is the Ironclad Beetles' natural enemy, so their larvae naturally fear its scent too."

Hearing that, Dongfang Minghui suddenly felt as though she had lifted a brick only to smash her own foot.

Once everyone understood Dongfang Wanyu's explanation, they gathered to discuss a plan for returning to the Ironclad Beetles' cave and capturing a female.

Dongfang Minghui sat to one side, bored and staring into space. The heroine really never forgets to do good without seeking repayment, wherever she goes.

A rustling sound suddenly came from behind a tree.

Dongfang Minghui turned and saw a pair of shifty eyes fixed on her. No, they were fixed on the food in her arms.

Apparently, even the stench on her couldn't mask the aroma of roasted meat.

She had heard that Lightning Mice moved as fast as lightning. More importantly, if she accidentally got scratched by one of those claws, her life would be over.

Dongfang Minghui grew wary. Her face stern with displeasure, she nevertheless kept her voice low. "Were you the one who took my bundle?"

The Lightning Mouse tilted its head and looked at her with adorably innocent eyes.

Before, Dongfang Minghui might have fallen for it, but one bite taught one lesson. Now she clutched the things in her arms tightly and gestured at the Lightning Mouse, outlining the shape of her bundle.

Her meaning was simple: no bundle, no food. Not a chance.

The Lightning Mouse stuck out its little pink tongue and licked away. Dongfang Minghui turned her head, pretending not to see, though she still glanced at it now and then to find out what it intended to do.

Apparently deciding that Dongfang Minghui was firm in her resolve, the Lightning Mouse flicked its tail and left.

Dongfang Minghui looked over at the others. They were still discussing their plan, and clearly none of them had noticed anything unusual over here. She couldn't help sighing in relief.

A little while later, another rustling sound came, louder than before.

There was still a long night ahead. Dongfang Minghui was just about to fall asleep when the noise the Lightning Mouse made startled her. She watched it emerge from the darkness, dragging a large bundle.

With a gentle flick of its long, thick, furry tail, the bundle landed in Dongfang Minghui's arms.

The Lightning Mouse bared its teeth and made a whole series of gestures.

"You're giving this back to me?" She could hardly believe her luck. She had thought her things were gone for good, never expecting to get them back.

The Lightning Mouse rested its front paws before itself and began licking its lips and paws and flicking its tongue at Dongfang Minghui again. Its bright eyes fairly screamed, "Food, food, food."

"All right." Dongfang Minghui took out the food wrapped in her arms and fed it one piece at a time. "Since you've been so good, you can have all of it."

Human and beast stayed quietly together like that, one doing the feeding, the other acting cute and rolling around to beg for food. Surprisingly enough, they got along wonderfully.

After feeding it the last piece, Dongfang Minghui spread her hands. "That's all."

The Lightning Mouse licked its paws, still wanting more, and watched Dongfang Minghui as it did so. Once its fur was apparently groomed to its satisfaction, it flicked its tail and silently disappeared into the darkness.

"Did you let everything I said earlier blow past your ears?" Dongfang Wanyu had actually noticed what was happening here long ago, but since the Lightning Mouse was behaving itself, she had stayed out of sight.

Dongfang Wanyu was distinctly displeased that Dongfang Minghui kept approaching this Lightning Mouse again and again, as though she had no fear of death.

Dongfang Minghui, on the other hand, happily held up the bundle. "I didn't go looking for it. It brought the bundle back itself. Look, our bundle."

She opened it and checked through everything. Finding nothing missing made her mood even brighter.

Seeing that innocent, carefree expression, Dongfang Wanyu sank into inscrutable thought. When had the arrogant, domineering Ninth Miss back at the estate, who had targeted her at every turn, become like this?

"Seventh Sister, you should have your wound treated." Dongfang Minghui took a bottle of medicinal powder from the bundle and sniffed it. It was indeed medicine to stop bleeding.

She had the heroine uncover her earlier injury and found that the wound was rather deep. She cleaned the area around it with water boiled while making dinner, then applied the medicine. With a dagger, she cut a clean strip of cloth from a clean garment, bandaged the wound, and tied a bow over it.

"All done." Dongfang Minghui smiled.

Dongfang Wanyu glanced at it and pulled down her sleeve. "Thank you."

"Seventh Sister, I'll keep watch for the second half of the night. Go get some rest." Dongfang Minghui figured that since she couldn't sleep anyway, she might as well find something to do.

As for tomorrow... there might be another hard battle ahead.

Dongfang Wanyu didn't refuse. She walked over to the tree where she had been earlier and closed her eyes.

In only a short while, just the four of them remained. The heroine was sleeping, while Mu Qing refused to rest and continued tending to the gravely injured man.

"What am I going to do tomorrow?" Dongfang Minghui found a spot among some grass and trees and murmured to herself.

Although those mercenaries had set out to catch a female Ironclad Beetle, once they reached the beetles' cave, one of them would grow greedy and try to steal the Ironclad Beetle King's eggs as well. As luck would have it, they would succeed. But with the eggs stolen, the entire Ironclad Beetle colony would pour out of its nest. That was absolutely not something the scent of Corpse-Scent Grass could hold back.

She knew only that the heroine would turn calamity into good fortune. But what was someone as helpless as her supposed to do? The book had never said that Ninth Miss would end up in this godforsaken place...

"Tell me, what should I do?" Dongfang Minghui sat on the ground, tugging and tugging, nearly pulling the little blade of grass in front of her out by its roots.

"Boo-hoo, stop pulling, stop pulling! You're stripping me bare!"

"What natural enemies do Ironclad Beetles have besides Corpse-Scent Grass? Tell me. Tell me, and I'll stop pulling at you." Dongfang Minghui poked relentlessly, prodding the blade of grass until it collapsed flat on the ground.

"Boo-hoo, dunno! If you keep poking me, I'll still dunno!"

Dongfang Minghui immediately propped it upright. "I was wrong. Come on, tell me. Otherwise, when the Ironclad Beetles pour out of their nest tomorrow, you'll all suffer too."

They would be trampled to bits.

The little blade of grass swayed, feeling dizzy. "I dunno, but I can ask my little friends for you."

Dongfang Minghui slumped in dejection. "All right."

Dongfang Minghui had no idea that a pair of eyes behind her had suddenly opened and were watching her.

"Your ninth sister is rather adorable, talking to herself among the flowers and grass. Aren't you afraid she has some ulterior motive for getting close to you?" That cool voice sounded again.

Dongfang Wanyu closed her eyes and continued feigning sleep.

Early the next morning, Dongfang Minghui was woken by a furry tail sweeping over her. She grabbed and grabbed, but after all that effort, she still couldn't catch it. Instead, something heavy suddenly sat on her chest, pressing down until she could barely breathe.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak."

Dongfang Minghui opened her eyes and found herself looking straight into a pair of round, bulging eyes. The little creature sat firmly on her chest, swishing its tail back and forth, even brushing her face.

She turned her head and looked around. Apart from Mu Qing, who was still tending to her unconscious fifth brother, the heroine was nowhere to be seen.

"Little fellow, get up." Dongfang Minghui picked up the little creature and set it beside her, then straightened her clothes and sat up.

The Lightning Mouse copied Dongfang Minghui, using its tail to smooth its fur. Then it curled its tail around her wrist and tugged.

"Huh? What do you want?"

The Lightning Mouse took a step forward and tugged her wrist with its tail, then took another step and turned back to give Dongfang Minghui an adorably innocent look.

"You want me to follow you?"

The Lightning Mouse flicked its tail, took another two steps forward, and looked back at her again.

With little choice, Dongfang Minghui followed it, having no idea where it wanted to take her.

"Little fellow, I won't know the way back later. What exactly are you trying to do?"

The Lightning Mouse squeaked for ages, but the two of them were like a chicken talking to a duck. Dongfang Minghui talked until her mouth went dry, then simply decided to smash the already broken pot. "Fine, let's go. I'll follow you."