Pain—scalp-numbing pain.

Zhou Heng lay curled up on his side, dagger in hand, his blurry gaze fixed on the doorway.

The bug still hadn’t appeared.

“Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.”

Zhou Heng shouted weakly.

He thought the bug that had called him an Insect Mother was unbelievably stupid. From the moment it saw him, it had excitedly declared that he was qualified to become an Insect Mother. Then it had abandoned Zhou Heng to deal with Su Xi. Every move it made showed that it was just taking things as they came instead of considering the environment, the enemy, and all the possibilities several steps ahead.

Was that bug’s brain made of muscle too?

And yet he’d bet his chances of survival on a bug that barely had a brain.

Could anything be more tragic?

A huge crash suddenly rang out beyond the door.

Zhou Heng’s attention snapped toward it, but the noise lasted less than three seconds before everything fell completely silent again—so fast it seemed like an illusion.

Zhou Heng furrowed his brow.

What had happened outside?

Had something happened to the bug that went to fetch his phone...?

Zhou Heng inhaled slowly, then exhaled slowly. As the breathing technique spread warmth through his body, the weakened Zhou Heng forced himself to his feet, holding on to one last breath of strength.

The blood loss left him dizzy and his vision blurred. The instant Zhou Heng stood, both his knees buckled.

But halfway down, Zhou Heng managed to stop himself from collapsing.

Once he got through that first wave of weakness, things got much easier.

Weakly, Zhou Heng took a step toward the door.

Walking was easier than he’d expected. Two seconds after his first step, Zhou Heng took a third.

Then came the fourth step, the fifth, and finally the eighth. Zhou Heng reached the half-open door.

He placed his palm on the doorknob.

Zhou Heng let out the breath he’d been forcing himself to hold.

His body grew weaker still.

But it didn’t matter.

Once he opened the door, he’d know whether he lived or died.

The door slowly swung open.

Zhou Heng smelled dust.

Beyond the door, dust hung in the air as thick as fog.

“C-can a place like this even get a sandstorm?”

Zhou Heng couldn’t help clicking his tongue in amazement.

“Why not? If the need arises, it can even snow indoors.”

At the sound of the voice, Zhou Heng turned and stared blankly as a foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes, so handsome it was almost unbelievable, walked through the dust-filled corridor and stopped in front of him.

The man even smiled and raised an eyebrow at him.

He raised an eyebrow at a man with half his body covered in blood and a dagger sticking out of his chest.

Normally, Zhou Heng would never have wanted anything to do with someone this strange. But right now...

“Call 911! Please call 911 for me!”

Zhou Heng pointed at his chest and looked at the foreigner in front of him pleadingly.

The foreigner’s eyes swept over the dagger in Zhou Heng’s chest. He chuckled softly.

“Relax. It didn’t hit a major artery or damage your heart. You’ve just lost a bit too much blood. You’re not going to die.”

As he spoke, the foreigner pulled out his phone and winked at Zhou Heng.

“Hey, you don’t get many chances to have a knife sticking out of your chest. I’d take a few pictures and post them to your feed, your group chats, every social app you can think of. Who knows? You might go viral tomorrow.”

What the hell—who has a knife sticking out of their chest and still feels like showing it off online?!

If Zhou Heng had been in peak condition, he would’ve beaten this idiot foreigner into the ground. But he could barely stand right now, so all he could do was grimace and beg.

“Bro, cut the chatter. Just do a good deed and call an ambulance for me.”

The foreigner ignored Zhou Heng’s plea. He turned and slung an arm around Zhou Heng’s neck, made a V sign with one hand, and raised his phone with the other. Then he tapped the button for the timer.

“All right, say cheese.”

Cheese my ass.

Click! A flash of light flickered before Zhou Heng’s eyes.

Then endless darkness swept over him.

Zhou Heng had been barely managing to stay upright, but now he quickly collapsed. The foreigner caught him before he hit the ground.

The smile vanished from the foreigner’s face.

His inscrutable gaze settled on Zhou Heng’s deathly pale face.

“An Insect Mother?”

“An Upper-Tier Taboo Species, born in a kid this young...”