Chapter 704: I’m Also a Bug That Wants Face!
Upon hearing the bragging tone of the scarab, Sun Mo immediately knew that this fellow must have found a great discovery.
“Let’s go!”
Sun Mo stood up.
“Master, could it be you have never done something bad before? Don’t you know how to put on a pretense? This is the first time I saw someone so openly looking for trouble.”
The scarab spoke in disdain.
“After killing everyone, there are no more witnesses. Why is there still a need for pretense?”
Sun Mo counter-asked.
“...”
The scarab started. After that, the scarab felt incomparably impressed. As expected of humans, they were the most shameless. (Even someone so evil like me has to admit my inferiority before you guys.)
“Seems like I have to prepare a nocturnal suit along with a mask. Speaking of which, is a red-colored suit nice?”
It wasn’t that Sun Mo wanted to pretend. Rather, he basically didn’t know how to.
By borrowing the concealment of the night, Sun Mo executed the Wind King Divine Steps. His body traveled past the rooftops of houses in Jinling as he moved as light as a swallow. He felt as though he was a martial arts expert that could leap onto roofs and vault over walls.
However, the sounds from those houses spoiled the mood a little.
There were people scolding their kids, couples quarreling, and even people meeting secret lovers. Honestly speaking, when he heard the moaning noises, Sun Mo almost stopped to listen to them.
Speaking of which, one of the greatest annoyances he had when he came to Jinling was that he was no longer able to watch any adult videos.
“My 80G!”
Sun Mo hesitated like a salted fish that was dried in the sun. He had already lost his dreams.
“Dalang, time to eat your medicine!”
All of a sudden, a sentence entered Sun Mo’s ears, almost causing him to be so shocked that he fell from the roof.
“What the hell?”
Sun Mo slowed his steps and found the house where the voice originated from. After that, he became like spiderman and peered inside through the screen windows.
Pea-sized Lamp!
A woman with a gentle face was taking care of a sick man by feeding him medicine.
No matter how he looked at it, this didn’t seem like murder.
“Damn, my nerves are too sensitive.”
Sun Mo kneaded his glabella. After all, women like Pan Jinlian were considered a minority.
Very soon, Sun Mo exited Jinling and sped toward the eastern suburbs. A moment later, he suddenly felt depressed.
“How much further?”
(Although my physical capability is good, I can’t possibly waste my stamina like that.)
“Maybe slightly more than ten miles.”
The scarab estimated.
Sun Mo suddenly stopped.
The scarab didn’t understand. “Given your body constitution, there’s no difference between a run and a warm-up if you were to run this distance, right?”
“The main point is since I’ve a mount, why do I need to run?”
Sun Mo counter-asked.
“...”
The scarab was speechless. (How lazy can you be? Can’t you treat it as a night run?)
(You spoke about a mount?)
(Could it be that cloud?)
“Little Silver, come here quickly. Master is tired and he wants to sit on you!”
The scarab used telepathy to speak with the Eight-Gate Cloud. Its desire not to be a mount was extremely exuberant.
“Stop calling, aren’t you here?”
Sun Mo smiled.
“As expected...”
The scarab’s lips twitched. It tried a last-ditch struggle. “No matter what, I’m a divine protector of Egypt. Even members of the royal clan have to worship me when they see me. I’ve never done something like being a mount before, and I’m not familiar with how to do it. I’m afraid I might cause Master to fall down. That would really be a sin if that happens.”
“It’s fine, you will eventually get used to things!”
Sun Mo didn’t mind.
“...”
The scarab cursed silently in its heart. It really wanted to curse out loud. (You want to ride on me forever instead of just once, right?)
(How can someone be so shameless and despicable?)
“Master, given my identity, it wouldn’t be good if other people saw me as a mount.”
The scarab pleaded. “I’m also a bug that wants face!”
“Don’t worry, there’s no one from Egypt here and they won’t know you are a scarab. Even if we were seen by people, the one losing face would be me.”
Sun Mo shrugged. “After all, I’m mounted on a dung beetle. Even if I was a prince, the commoners would surely roll their eyes at me.”
(Then you shouldn’t ride on me!)
The scarab howled in its heart, but it didn’t dare to say such a thing out because it discovered that Sun Mo’s patience was about to be exhausted.
“Quickly, stop talking nonsense.”
Sun Mo urged.
“How am I talking nonsense?”
The scarab wanted to lash itself.
“Stop being depressed. Have you discovered the enemy’s nest? After we destroy that place, I will permit you to eat your fill.”
Sun Mo also wasn’t someone emotionless.
He was doing this to tame the scarab with the stick and carrot method.
“Master, look at how broad my back is. It’s very suitable for someone to sit on. It’s guaranteed to be extremely stable.”
The scarab immediately changed its stance and smiled as it recommended itself.
The contract mark on the back of Sun Mo’s hands suddenly emitted a bright purple light. After that, the scarab grew to the size of an all-terrain vehicle.
Under the night, it was clad in purple mist and looked beautiful and mysterious.
“Master, sit tight!”
After Sun Mo sat on its back, the scarab immediately broke into a run. “Let’s do this!”
Was this what was called ‘going for a spin’?
The scarab climbed mountains, traversing it as though it was flat land. Maybe it was for the sake of eating those brain matter, but it actually started to act fancy and didn’t slow down during a turn, directly doing a drift.
In any case, it just wanted to make its master happy.
“...”
Seeing the scarab forcefully moving its legs and kicking up large clouds of dust, Sun Mo was dumbfounded. (Are you not afraid of becoming lame?)
A scholar heading to the capital for an examination wiped the sweat on his forehead as he leaned against a tree to catch his breath.
It was summer now and it was cooler to travel during the night. Besides, bandits would be lazier at this time and would be sleeping in their nests. Hence, it was relatively safe.
The only troublesome thing was that there were many ferocious beasts like jackals, wolves, tigers, and panthers. But as long as he traversed the main path, there shouldn’t be any problems.
“After I pass the examination and become an official, I will definitely purchase a fine steed!”
The scholar massaged his numb lower leg, but all of a sudden, there was a shocked look on his face as he peered at something not far away.
It was a gigantic crawling bug moving like lightning through the main path.
“There seems to be a person sitting on top of that bug?”
The scholar was shocked and rubbed his eyes.
“Speaking of which, that looks like a dung beetle, right? But why does it look so handsome?”
All of a sudden, the scholar no longer wanted to buy a fine steed. However, where could he find such a bug for sale?
(I really want one like it!)
(If I had such a beautiful bug as my steed...I would definitely be the most dazzling existence among the candidates in the imperial civil service examination.)
“Master, there’s a human there!”
The scarab turned its head and licked its mandibles. “Can I have a snack? After all, I feel tired after running for such a long distance.”
“Scram!”
Sun Mo’s words were concise and comprehensive.
...
After the scarab slowed down, it started to avoid the main path and head into the wilderness at the side. Sun Mo knew that they were about to arrive at the enemy’s nest.
As expected, slightly ten minutes later, a manor resembling the fangs of a ferocious beast could be seen at the foot of a mountain.
“Master, those black-robed men who sought to assassinate you all ran inside here.”
The scarab wanted to claim some credit. “I did a little probing. This place seems to be the dwelling of a prince.”
“Prince?”
Sun Mo frowned. He wanted to move nearer to observe but was worried he might be exposed.
“Master, you don’t know the spiritual bug vision?”
The scarab was surprised.
“What’s that?”
Sun Mo was curious.
“A skill for spiritual controllers to view the world with the vision of their spiritual beasts.”
After the scarab introduced it, it started to guide Sun Mo on what to do.
For the sake of its supper – the brain matter inside this manor – it decided to go all out.
Ten minutes later.
“Understood!”
Sun Mo sat cross-legged and focused his mind, calming his heart. He then released a strand of his consciousness, channeling it into the mind of the scarab.
BOOM!
Sun Mo’s mind shook, and his vision entered darkness. Roughly about 6 to 7 seconds later, his entire vision lit up again.
However, the scene before his eyes had changed.
Firstly, his field of view became higher and the things in the surroundings became much more colorful, even abnormally conspicuous. Also, he was able to see things very far away.
Sun Mo soon understood that he was sharing the scarab’s vision. This also meant that he could see whatever it saw.
“Master, your learning speed is really fast!”
The scarab praised.
“Stop kissing my ass. You won’t be able to get a second supper.”
Sun Mo’s lips curled.
“Eh, Master, am I that type of bug?”
The scarab complained due to the injustice, but it was cursing in its heart. (You stingy bastard, you don’t even want to give me supper.)
“Stop bullshitting. Quickly settle the important thing!”
Sun Mo urged.
The body of the scarab emitted purple mist. A few seconds later, it was no longer here when the mist dissipated.
If one looked closely, one would see that it had turned into the size of a fingernail and was flying toward the manor. When it flew past the main gate, Sun Mo saw the signboard above with the words ‘Prince Manor’!
As expected, Li Zixing was the mastermind.
Usually speaking, if assassins failed an assassination, they would definitely wait for a few days before returning to their nest. This was to prevent others from following them.
However, these black-robed men had no leader to guide them and they didn’t know what to do, hence, they chose to return. Secondly, they felt that this place was Li Zixing’s Prince Manor and even if their opponent was the Governor of Jinling, the governor wouldn’t dare to barge in.
However, they had no idea they were being tailed by a bug.
Through the scarab’s eyes, Sun Mo saw that everything was normal here. There were servants and maids, but because it was already very late, other than the guards patrolling, the majority of people were already asleep.
“These people probably don’t know the identity of the black-robed men.”
The scarab explained. It flew half a round above the manor and retreated. After that, it stopped at a slope roughly 60 meters away from the west courtyard wall.
Over there, there was a huge forest with densely packed trees. This was a place that clearly provided very good concealment.
“I’m going to enter.”
After the scarab finished speaking, it entered through a gap. After that, there was a narrow but sturdily built tunnel.
From the looks of things, this tunnel had at least existed for over twenty years.
“Li Zixing probably raised those black-robed men to do vile jobs for him.”
Sun Mo guessed. Through these many years, it was unknown how many evil things Li Zixing had done. But very soon, Sun Mo suddenly felt some suspicions.
After exiting the tunnel, there was a gigantic lounge with candles as thick as arms. These candles were illuminating everything in the surrounding.
As the scarab continued advancing, Sun Mo saw some people by virtue of the candlelight. These people wore white robes and had a piece of white cloth masking their noses and mouths.
“Are they using them as a mask?”
Very soon, Sun Mo saw these white-robed people carrying metal boxes with many things placed within.
There were bloodied clothes, remnants of medical dregs, and also bottles as well as jars.
All of a sudden, Sun Mo’s eyes widened.
The last three people in the group were carrying inner organs that were still dripping with fresh blood.
“Damn, what the hell is this place?”
Just when Sun Mo wanted the scarab to follow them closely behind so he could see everything clearly, a whistle suddenly rang out in the nest. A moment later, those white-robed men started to run as every one of them entered a combat state.
“I got discovered?’
Sun Mo frowned.
[1] Dalang: A character from the novel Water Margins whose wife (Pan Jinlian) cheated on him.