Jing Shu randomly picked one of the giant bug's thick legs, snapped it clean in half with a sharp crack, then tossed it over her shoulder. The leg landed in front of Liu Dali, who stood there dumbfounded. Under the wide-eyed stares of the villagers, she broke off a few more, tossed them to Wang Dan, and after making sure the bug's remaining legs looked perfectly symmetrical, she clapped her hands in satisfaction and walked away.
The villagers: "???"
She really had OCD, huh? Even a bug had to look symmetrical. The bug itself didn't care about missing a few legs anyway—it had plenty to spare.
Jing Shu had only taken six legs off a thirty-six-legged bug, and she hadn't even broken them from the base. She'd snapped them halfway, which meant they'd probably grow back after some time. When that happened, she could just snap them off again—just like lotus roots.
But the villagers didn't see it that way. Their eyes were wide as if they couldn't quite process what had just happened. What the hell was that? That massive bug had just stood there like an idiot, letting her break its legs? No resistance at all? Was that even real? Monsters were that docile now? That was nothing like the ferocious thing they'd seen earlier!
"What're you all standing there for? Didn't you say you wanted meat? Is this enough? If not, I'll break a few more." Jing Shu turned to the stunned Liu Dali. Wasn't she considerate? These people said they wanted to eat, and she'd gotten them meat. People as easygoing as her were rare, honestly.
It took Liu Dali a while to react. He hugged three of the bug legs but could barely hold them—they each weighed more than ten kilos. His mind still felt dreamlike, his legs weak. He couldn't believe what he'd seen. That woman had just torn the legs off a monster, and it hadn't even fought back.
Wang Dan wasn't doing any better. When he looked at Jing Shu now, his expression was pure awe. No, not awe—worship. To her, Jing Shu wasn't a person anymore, she was a total freak of nature.
"She really broke a monster's leg off, and it didn't even resist."
"Look, she's walking away... the monster's back to eating the corpses!"
"Guess it's not that scary after all. Should we, uh, go grab a few legs for ourselves and grill them?"
"Those legs look like crab legs, right? You've eaten crab before? It's delicious!"
A few people actually started getting ideas, eyeing the bug like it was dinner.
Jing Shu waved to Wang Dan and Liu Dali as they walked back. "That bug's mine. It only listens to me, so don't mess with it. If it eats you, I'm not helping. Take these legs and share them around, consider it extra food. Everyone should work hard and stock up on rations, so you won't starve on the road."
After saying that, she left with the two of them. Whether the others would listen wasn't her problem. Right now, things were the same everywhere—authorities were struggling just to feed people. Having anything to eat at all was already lucky.
Jing Shu had Liu Dali help Aunt Wang clean and process the meat. They stripped off the shells, dug out the stinky flesh, chopped it up, and Aunt Wang mixed it into coarse flatbread dough before baking it dry.
The fuel they used filled the air with a harsh, acrid smell, but there wasn't much choice. Aunt Wang knew they had to cook as much as possible before rescue arrived. The journey ahead was long, and even if the government came to help, they wouldn't send private vehicles—that'd waste too much fuel. In the end, they'd probably have to walk out themselves.
Sure enough, later on, someone tried copying Jing Shu. But the moment they approached the bug, its massive pincers snapped down and crushed the man's arm clean off. Blood gushed everywhere. The villagers finally realized how dangerous the creature was and didn't dare go near it again.
Jing Shu wasn't nearly as relaxed as she looked. Li Dayou had been watching over the seed stockpile too closely, recording everything in detail, so it was hard for her to sneak any into her Cube Space. She'd have to wait for a better chance. Now that rescue seemed certain, she wasn't in a hurry anymore.
Still, she had another reason for sneaking off alone. Her Rubik's Cube Space had finally found that strange black liquid needed for upgrading, and she wasn't about to give up so easily. Yesterday, when she'd observed that chaotic "giant wave" that devoured everything at the boundary, she'd noticed something suspicious.
After finishing up her chores, Jing Shu quietly made her way to where the two lands collided. The closer she got, the more the ground trembled. A deep rumble echoed constantly, like the grinding of massive treads crushing and carrying everything forward until it was pulverized and dragged underground.
It looked like a black hole, swallowing everything in sight. Just standing there watching it made her dizzy.
She didn't understand the science behind it, but that didn't matter anymore—not after the apocalypse. Still, the dizziness made her wary, so she only stayed near the edge of the ravine, afraid to go too close.
But there was definitely something off here, and she intended to find out what.
Jing Shu was cautious by nature—she'd died once before, after all—so she wasn't about to take risks. She sent a small snake to investigate first. The moment it slithered onto that ground, it was caught in the surging flow and dragged away like debris.
Through the snake, she caught a glimpse of what lay ahead—but only for a moment before it was crushed, like being fed into a meat grinder.
Jing Shu frowned. Snakes were the most agile creatures she could control, but it seemed even that wasn't enough. Her only option now was to use insects.
She split the bugs into several groups and sent them toward the raging currents. They were pushed along to where the two forces collided.
"Good. They're slow, but small enough not to get smashed by the waves!" She grinned a little. Even an elephant couldn't stomp an ant to death.
She focused on the faint signals coming back through her link. The bugs were swept along with the debris, crushed and transported all the way to the end—into that black, hole-like space.
The moment they fell in, she sensed only darkness and liquid all around before the connection vanished completely. The bugs were gone—devoured by that black liquid. She couldn't tell if it had consumed their bodies or their minds.
Her heart started pounding. The thought wouldn't leave her mind—if she could get her hands on that black liquid, she'd strike gold.
But right now, everything she sent in was wiped out. So, how was she supposed to collect something that deadly?