Chapter 45: Both Mother and Daughter (Part 1): You Clearly Enjoyed It Part 1

Mu Qian Tan was stunned for a moment. She lifted her gaze to look at the girl’s expression, then lowered her head to gaze at the hot water.

After a silence, she took the shell and held it in her palm. “Thank you.”

The shell had been warmed over the fire, its bottom nice and toasty. She brought the rim to her lips, and the water temperature was just right—not scalding—with the heat flowing deep into her body, the warmth spreading in an instant.

Some color returned to her face, and the lingering chill from the nightmare was driven away.

Shang Shan asked, “Feeling better?”

Mu Qian Tan handed the empty shell back to her. “Mm.”

Shang Shan did not take the shell. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “Want more?”

Mu Qian Tan shook her head. Shang Shan then handed over half a corn pancake and some beef jerky, placing them in the shell Mu Qian Tan held. “I saw you fall asleep earlier without finishing your meal. I figured you’d want to eat when you woke up, so I warmed it up for you. Eat it.”

She set the food down without waiting for a response and sat back in her spot.

After adding more wood to the fire, she continued watching the frogs perform their tongue-flicking mosquito catches and backflips. Her small face, framed by long curly hair, glowed in the firelight, her eyes sparkling.

Mu Qian Tan lowered her gaze to the food for a moment. She took a handkerchief from her bosom, wiped her fingers clean, and then began to eat.

Warmed once over, the food was softer in texture, and her stomach, fresh from the hot water, accepted it well. She soon finished it all.

Her eyes were fixed on the frogs, but from the corner of her vision, she watched the other side. Seeing that Mu Qian Tan had finished eating, Shang Shan lowered her voice. “You keep sleeping. Qin He and I agreed to take turns keeping watch.”

Mu Qian Tan did not stand on ceremony. She followed the lingering drowsiness and fell asleep again. Perhaps because her stomach was full, she had no dreams this time—a rare, peaceful slumber.

The quiet night passed. The fire dimmed and flared again. The moon gradually hid behind the clouds.

Just as the first light dawned on the horizon, the two were roused.

Shang Shan said urgently, “Quick, look at the spotted cicadas!”

Qin He clutched her sword, still groggy, but those four words snapped her awake. She leaped up and hurried to the slope’s edge, looking toward Candy Banyan Forest.

The hive remained in place, and the Spotted Cicada King had not emerged. However, several little spotted cicadas were using their claws to cut up the hive, transporting the fragments piece by piece into the depths of the forest.

Qin He assessed the situation. “The Spotted Cicada King realized it’s a trap and doesn’t dare come out himself, but he can’t bear to part with the sugar trap, so he sent his minions to fetch it.”

Shang Shan said, “Is he that smart?”

Qin He replied, “Normally no. The book says this method is almost foolproof.”

Mu Qian Tan also stood, smoothed her skirt, and walked unhurriedly to the fire, warming her hands over the embers.

Shang Shan asked, “Why did it fail this time? Did we tip our hand?”

Qin He pondered briefly. “I suspect this Spotted Cicada King was once attacked by someone else using the same method, and that person failed. He learned his lesson, so he won’t come out.”

Mu Qian Tan spread her fingers slightly. The warmth seeped through the gaps, turning her knuckles faintly red.

She listened to their conversation with half an ear, her gaze unfocused. In her mind, she thought: ‘If I remember right, the plot shouldn’t have developed like this. They were supposed to wait for the Spotted Cicada King.’

‘Yes.’ Li Biyuan replied quickly, apparently finding it odd as well. She grumbled, ‘In the second half of the night, the Spotted Cicada King gets drawn out by the sugar trap, tests it, and gets captured by the two. Why is it different?’

A thin morning mist hung in the air. Mu Qian Tan’s gaze swept past their shoulders to the sugar trap. ‘Wait a bit longer. Maybe it’ll come out soon.’

The three waited a moment, but the Spotted Cicada King did not appear. The hive had already been cut in half, and it looked like he had no intention of emerging.

Shang Shan came up with a new idea. “It likes sweets, so it must hate stinks. How about we find a powerful stink fart bug demon to bring over—one so strong that only the Spotted Cicada King himself could drive it away?”

Mu Qian Tan rolled her eyes. Only she could think of something like that.

Qin He chuckled lightly. “Sounds good.”

Praised, Shang Shan perked up instantly. “Then let’s go find one now—the stinkiest kind. Toss it in there. Once its territory is invaded, the Spotted Cicada King will have no choice but to come handle it!”

Qin He said, “It’s a good idea, but stink fart bugs don’t have fixed territories. Finding ones with real power will take time, and our trial has a time limit.”

Shang Shan rubbed her chin. “True. Let me think of something else.”

The mist gradually thinned in the sunlight. Everything in the forest came into sharp focus—the twitching legs of countless insects vivid to the point of eeriness.

Shang Shan watched quietly for a bit, then realized something. She glanced back and subtly shifted her body to block the view behind her.

Mu Qian Tan’s gaze shifted from the distant scene to the girl’s back, trailing down her long hair before withdrawing. She pinched her fingertips one by one, pretending she had just gotten up. “What’s going on?”

Qin He said, “The Spotted Cicada King got smart. He won’t come out himself, so we might need to think of…”

At that moment, all the small spotted cicadas in sight seemed to receive some command. They suddenly swarmed down from the trees in a frenzy, piling onto the sugar trap in a dense, writhing mass.

The sight of the insect horde squirming would disgust even those who did not hate bugs. They did not cluster for long before scattering in a rush. The hive had vanished, not even a trace of honey left behind. The ground was scraped down half an inch.

Shang Shan exclaimed in shock, “What… why did they suddenly grab it all? No more for the Spotted Cicada King?”

Qin He’s voice sank slightly. “It was meant to be given… but it wasn’t. Maybe…”

Shang Shan said, “Maybe the Spotted Cicada King is dead.”

The two exchanged a glance and fell silent.

Candy Banyan Forest was right under their noses. No other demons or people had been seen entering, and even the spotted cicada swarm remained calm. Why had the Spotted Cicada King suddenly died?

Who had done it?

As they pondered, a deafening roar echoed from the distance.

The three turned toward the sound in unison. Tree crowns rustled violently. Clouds of dust exploded skyward in rapid bursts. Vaguely, a massive beast revealed a pink silhouette, darting through the forest at extreme speed amid roars and wanton destruction.

Shang Shan said in surprise, “Did someone provoke a high-tier demon beast? That destructive power! Terrifying.”

A white human figure appeared amid the dust, bobbing up and down as if desperately evading. The distance was too great to make out who it was, but she appeared injured, her white clothes stained red. She kept hurling something from her hand, causing explosions, yet it did nothing to slow the giant beast.

Tall trees snapped in half with crackling sounds one after another. The demon charged straight ahead, pursuing her relentlessly, startling countless flying birds into the air in a frantic chase.

Qin He said, “She’s clearly no match. Why not fire distress fireworks?”

Shang Shan rolled up her sleeves. “Maybe she’s too badly hurt to signal for help. Let’s go check it out—saving people comes first!”

Witnessing the distant battle, Mu Qian Tan thought: ‘What kind of development is this?’

Before Li Biyuan could confirm, the two ahead rushed toward the demon’s location. Mu Qian Tan sighed, fearing they might miss something, and followed. The three spared no effort, crossing a large swath of forest to reach the area.

Up close, they saw the face of the pursued—it was Fu Li, with her head of golden hair!

Shang Shan realized. “No wonder it’s so dangerous, and she still won’t fire a distress firework. She doesn’t want to lose face!”

The young head of the Fu Clan—if she returned empty-handed from the trial and had to send up a distress signal, worse than an ordinary sect disciple—she’d be laughed out of town.

Qin He carefully identified the demon pursuing from behind, while Mu Qian Tan’s expression darkened slightly. She thought: ‘The plot changed again?’

Li Biyuan said: ‘No way… This is weird. See if mantises show up later.’

The situation was urgent. Fu Li did not notice the three pairs of eyes watching and kept fleeing forward. She was injured in multiple places, blood dripping everywhere, looking utterly disheveled. One hand wielded a whip, the other kept tossing pellets backward into the smoke, each one booming deafeningly.

The giant beast shrieked shrilly. From the billowing smoke, it extended pinkish-white claws, slashing through several birch trees that crashed down, parting the smoke to reveal the beast’s true form.

Its body was slender yet robust, fading from pink to white, with large narrow eyes, quivering black antennae—like a gigantic blooming orchid.

Qin He said, “It’s an orchid praying mantis!”

Shang Shan narrowed her eyes and added, “Two of them!”

Breaking through the smoke into the sunlight, the culprits felling the tree sea were clearly two giant orchid praying mantises.

Perhaps out of explosives, Fu Li stopped throwing and swung her snake bone whip instead, trying to drive them back. But her spiritual power was likely depleted; the whip shadows were dense but useless.

Several times, the mantises’ forelegs grazed her body. Qin He reached to her waist, drew two long swords with a flourish of silver light, and said gravely, “Save her first.”

The two charged into the fray. Qin He unleashed two brilliant sword beams, repelling one mantis. As it raised its foreleg to block, the other darted in from the side. Shang Shan swallowed two gold pellets and spat flames directly at it. Sword light flashed through the forest, flames blazed, a dazzling chaos.

Their sudden intervention caught the copper-skinned, iron-bodied mantises off guard, forcing a temporary retreat.

Fu Li clutched her wounds. Relief washed over her at the rescue, but upon seeing who it was, she roared in anger, “I don’t need you meddling!”

Grabbing vines with both hands, Shang Shan swung onto a tree amid the lingering fire, steadied herself on the trunk, and spat, “Ungrateful wretch!”

Qin He retracted her sword stance and dashed forward. “Enough talk. Run!”

The two orchid praying mantises were clever and seemed to realize the newcomers posed little threat. They swung their forelegs again. Four petal-like legs stabbed into the earth, accelerating their pursuit.

Fu Li had more curses ready, but seeing this, she shuddered, swallowed them, turned tail, and ran. “Relentless bastards!”

Qin He fired sword beams backward now and then. “These orchid praying mantises are at least mid-sword grade demon beasts—maybe upper sword. How did you dare provoke two alone?”

Fu Li snapped hatefully, “None of your business!”

Shang Shan spat more fire backward, embers still in her mouth. “Others come to help, and you can’t even say thanks—no manners. They save you, and you’re ungrateful to the extreme—selfish!”

The mantises flicked their foreclaws, batting away sword light and whip shadows. The flames made them wary, slowing their steps slightly despite not dodging.

Fu Li wildly lashed her whip. “Did I ask you to come? I didn’t fire fireworks or call for help. Dealing with these two is no big deal. You’re the ones playing heroes!”

Stunned by her shamelessness, Shang Shan said, “Your face is thicker than mantis shell!”

The mantises kept close behind. Qin He turned and retreated backward, weaving sword light while scrutinizing the two mantises intently.

She noticed black scorch marks on parts of their hard shells, some caved inward—likely from the earlier explosives. Their eyes were bloodshot with rage, refusing to let go, biting down relentlessly.

Qin He shouted, “Quiet down! Fu Li! What did you do? Why are they so furious?”

Fu Li choked briefly. She had not wanted to say, but with four scything blades chasing madly, step by step closing in, hiding it was unwise. Casually, she said, “What else? I caught their babies to lure the big ones. Didn’t expect to get spotted midway.”

Shang Shan took a deep breath. “What mother in the world doesn’t love her children? You used the kids as bait—ugh, that sounds so vile. Fire a distress firework! I don’t want to help someone like you at all!”

Fu Li gritted her teeth. “No way! Absolutely not! Mind your own business!”