Chapter 553: Chapter 553

Once they disembarked the transport ship, the villagers started shouting things like, "Monster, kill it!" "Help, there’s a monster!" and "It’s eating people, eating people!" Wang Dan rushed forward, yelling for everyone to back away and asking where the monster was. Meanwhile, Jing Shu saw from a distance a gigantic silhouette busily rending corpses to pieces with a RUSTLING sound.

Weren’t those the five bodies of the people who had died yesterday? Right now, they were being devoured so voraciously by the huge insect that only two remained, sending the villagers into an even greater panic. It was a given what the insect would do once it finished off the bodies.

"The village head met such a terrible end. A chicken cracked his skull open, and now this monster is eating him."

"Who was it that said yesterday they envied Ergazi for snatching some Compressed Biscuits? Do you still envy him now? Today he’s being eaten as food; his body isn’t even left intact."

In the dim light, fear and unease were clearly etched on the villagers’ faces. Someone even threw a torch from a distance, fully illuminating the huge insect creature, and fear spread even more.

How could these villagers, born and raised in the deep mountains, have ever seen such a huge and terrifying insect?

This insect didn’t seem to fear anything; neither stones nor torches thrown at it did any good. Even when Liu Dali hit it with a shovel just moments ago, the insect’s mighty pincers casually brushed it aside. If it hadn’t had food in its mouth and couldn’t be bothered with Liu Dali, he probably would have suffered more than just an injury.

"Where did this monster come from? We have such a limited area to move around in now. If we don’t kill this monster, we’re all doomed. Hiding in our houses won’t help. Seeing it finishing off these bodies, it will definitely go after us next!"

"Shouldn’t we just hide on the ship? It’s high up; the monster might not be able to get up there."

"Are you dumb? This monster wasn’t even crushed by the narrow passage it must have come through, and it still made it here—that just shows what it’s capable of. We can only pray that it gets full after eating the bodies and won’t come after us."

"You’re even dumber. Have you ever seen a tiger not eat meat? We’ve used our doors for fuel; nowhere is safe to hide."

"We can only depend on the people above now; they have rifles."

"Is a pistol useful? Even if you shoot through the insect and it doesn’t die, there’s nothing we can do."

"Here comes Manager Wang Dan."

Immediately, everyone made way, watching Wang Dan with trembling anticipation. At this moment, they couldn’t help but think that in perilous times, the first things that came to mind were the government and the police.

Wang Dan frowned at the sight of the giant insect. He picked up his pistol, aimed, and prepared to fire.

"Wait!" Jing Shu grabbed Wang Dan and asked, "What are you doing?"

Wang Dan, perplexed, replied, "That insect is eating the bodies! It might come over here any moment. We should deliver a fatal blow while it’s eating, to prevent it from causing trouble. What if it comes for us later?"

Jing Shu sighed. She didn’t quite know how to explain. This insect isn’t a monster—it’s Little Red, the War General Xiao Wei sent to guide me. Although I don’t know how Little Red managed to descend from such a high altitude, thankfully it’s unharmed. Now that Little Red is safely before me, how can I let anyone harm it?

These adorable insects are my future source of immense wealth... Ahem, no, they’re the cute little things I’ll exchange for resources!

Besides, all Little Red did was eat a corpse, which is such a normal activity. Why are these people so frightened? Erm... If I didn’t know the truth, I probably would have killed the insect immediately and used it as feed too.

So, asking Wang Dan to stop now, telling everyone to disperse and ignore this monster... I can’t bring myself to say something so irrational and hard to explain. Besides, too much explanation would leak information, and that wouldn’t do either. Read full story at 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝗇𝗲𝘵

"Sigh." Jing Shu sighed again. It really is hard to explain things to ordinary people. Waving her hand dismissively, not wanting to elaborate further, she said, "Come on, follow me. And you two, come help carry something." I’ll use my actions to show these simple villagers: Don’t be afraid. This is your future food supply; you should treat it with plenty of love and care.

The individuals she had pointed to trembled and asked, "Carry... what do we carry? Are we carrying corpses?"

Everyone in Ga Mountain Valley who had survived thus far knew Jing Shu; those five corpses were the most potent shock. Li Dayou was a reasonable man. Jing Shu, however, was seen as a remorseless devil woman—not to be trifled with.

Jing Shu, perplexed, asked, "Didn’t you say you were tired of eating clay cakes and wanted some meat instead? Aren’t we going to fetch meat for you now?"

The other person she had pointed to put on a mournful face and said, "I don’t want it anymore! I’ve lost my appetite for meat. I’ll just eat clay. I don’t want to eat corpses! I was wrong. Please, be magnanimous and spare me! I’ll never eat human flesh again."

Jing Shu frowned. Did I just hear something very informative?

At that moment, Liu Dali, carrying a shovel and limping, stepped forward from the crowd and said, "What do we need to carry? I’ll go with you."

"Let’s go," said Jing Shu, leading Liu Dali towards Little Red. She knew words were useless now, so she wouldn’t waste her breath. Wang Dan, carrying his rifle, ran over to her side. He urgently said, "Jing Shu, where are you going? That insect eats people—it’s too dangerous! You can’t go over there!"

"Follow me, stay silent, and don’t fire your rifle, or you’ll miss your lunch," Jing Shu said.

Wang Dan indeed didn’t dare say more. He jogged close to Jing Shu, rifle at the ready, insisting on staying in front to shield her with his body. He looked as if, should the insect attack, it would have to eat him first. This made Jing Shu unsure whether to laugh or cry.

The villagers behind started to murmur among themselves, curious about what exactly Jing Shu was planning to do. Is she truly so bold?

Little Red came to a halt, its thirty-six large legs dangling in mid-air. It raised its head to look at Jing Shu, who had a leg hair from Xiao Wei’s abdomen stuck in her hair.

Wang Dan was very nervous, and so were the villagers behind him. They were afraid that the insect might suddenly lash out and start a massacre—not concerned for Jing Shu’s safety, but for their own.

Jing Shu also stopped, five meters in front of it. She thought for a moment. Little Red is connected to Xiao Wei. This insect has no intelligence of its own, but I wonder if information can be transmitted to Xiao Wei through it.

Jing Shu tentatively asked, "Hey, tear off a few of your legs for me."

Wang Dan was dumbfounded.

The villagers behind were speechless. Is she a fool, talking to an insect like that? Just watch, it’s about to give her a hard smack!

Little Red cocked its head, watching Jing Shu quietly, and remained still.

Jing Shu scratched her head. She had indeed overthought things.

"Then I’ll have to get it myself," Jing Shu said, approaching the Abdominal Foot Worm. Its massive abdomen, resting on the mud, was over two meters tall. The creature seemed somewhat bewildered; Little Red trembled slightly, reacting to the leg hair from Xiao Wei that Jing Shu wore.