Fan Debiao yelled a warning, swinging his entrenching tool, but how could one man handle this swarm of insects? In moments, the disgusting things surged to their feet. Young Master Liu thought, running in circles only to end up facing these bugs again; the realization brought tears to his eyes from sheer distress.

Fan Debiao was driven to madness. He roared toward the sky, "Jackson, Huang Maozi, Big-Tailed Jesus, give me a few bursts! I’d rather be shot dead than be eaten alive by these bugs! Young Master, what the hell are you crying about? Maybe I should just give you a quick one."

The moment Fan Debiao finished speaking, the group was swallowed by the insect tide. Their bodies instantly became covered, making it impossible to tell a touch from a searing burn. Fan Debiao thrashed amidst the swarm, letting out screams like a pig being slaughtered.

Everyone was submerged in the sea of insects. Fan Debiao was already shrieking from the bites, while the others remained silent, perhaps because the bugs had crawled into their mouths. Young Master Liu now truly prepared himself to meet Marx. Whether from fear or some anesthetic property of the insects, the gnawing and tearing on his body felt strangely painless.

Reflecting on his past—family, friendship—tears streamed down his face, a wrenching pain in his heart. Suddenly, his mind cleared: he could not die. He had to fight back. Without thinking, he flipped himself over and began slapping wildly at his body.

Suddenly, Young Master Liu sensed something was deeply wrong. The insects were so aggressive; simply standing up after being completely covered should have been difficult enough. Yet, here he was, standing as if unaffected. His mind raced, and he scrutinized his body repeatedly. Good heavens! There wasn't a single wound. A dangling antenna was still attached to his cuff, and upon hitting the ground, it immediately scuttled toward the Serpent.

Witnessing this, Young Master Liu was utterly bewildered. Did these bugs not bite people? If so, how could he explain the two skeletons in the river? Besides, Jackson had seen it with his own eyes!

“What in the blazes is going on?” Great Cricket scrambled up from the ground, dusting off his clothes. Simultaneously, the Cabbage Worm rose and muttered, "Damn it, what kind of situation is this?" Both looked at Young Master Liu with utter confusion. Young Master Liu waved his hand, signaling he had no idea.

Seeing that everyone else was unharmed, Young Master Liu concluded that the bugs genuinely weren't attacking humans. Fan Debiao had just been screaming like he was being butchered, so did these bugs only bite Fan Debiao? Damn it, what special quality did Fan Debiao possess that only they would target him? The thought brought a wave of melancholy.

Young Master Liu immediately looked to the ground. All the insects there had already charged toward the Serpent.

Fan Debiao, Su Yougui, and Jackson were still rolling around on the ground, issuing drawn-out cries of "Aaaah... Ohhh..." Young Master Liu checked his own body; he wasn't injured. Watching the three of them was a truly comical sight.

Young Master Liu walked over to Fan Debiao and said, "Brother, calm down. Everything’s fine now, what are you shouting about?"

Hearing this, Fan Debiao and the others immediately stopped, scrambling to their feet. They inspected themselves from head to toe. Fan Debiao asked, "What happened? Are the bugs full? Have they decided they're done eating people?"

Young Master Liu pondered for a moment and then suggested, "Oh, is this because of the bug repellent effect of Cabbage Worm's solution? Are we all effectively invisible to them?"

Fan Debiao scratched the back of his head, then froze. "Holy hell, a miracle!" Jackson echoed in English, "Oh my god!"

Startled by the exclamations from Fan Debiao and Jackson, everyone turned back and felt a collective jolt of shock. The Serpent was entirely covered by the insects. The creature was struggling violently; it seemed the bugs were locked in a battle with it.

Fan Debiao declared, "So the bugs' target was that giant python all along! Damn it all, they completely ignored us—I guess they look down on us!"

Young Master Liu said to Fan Debiao, "The bugs were simply desperate to save their master. Didn't you see the Serpent swallow Zhang Jiao just now? These bugs must be Zhang Jiao's subordinates; naturally, they're fighting for him without hesitation."

Fan Debiao countered, "Back in the day, Zhang Jiao fed his own men to this python. Now the python turns around and swallows him—looks like Zhang Jiao wasn't exactly honorable." Saying this, Fan Debiao's eyes widened as he stared intently at the Serpent.

Young Master Liu turned back. Most of the insects had already receded from the Serpent’s body. A purple tongue was constantly flicking out, sucking the remaining bugs off the Serpent's skin. That tongue was impossibly long; it could move freely over the snake’s body. However, the strength of the insects could not be ignored; thousands upon thousands of them had already left the Serpent scarred and wounded. Many scales had fallen off, and dark purple ichor oozed uncontrollably.

Seeing that the Serpent was about to eliminate the bugs, making them the next target, Fan Debiao pulled explosives from his pocket. "We don't have much time; let's use these bombs to finish them all off quickly."

In his previous panic, Young Master Liu's mind had gone blank. Hearing Fan Debiao now reminded him that he still had a large quantity of explosives in his bag. He quickly snatched some out and threw them into the center of the stone slab. The Serpent opened its mouth and swallowed the explosives whole. Young Master Liu inwardly rejoiced; success!

But after waiting a long time, nothing exploded. Fan Debiao rushed to Young Master Liu’s side. "Are you an idiot? What are you rushing for if you haven't even lit them?"

Fan Debiao’s words brought Young Master Liu back to his senses. He had been so excited that he forgot to light the fuse before throwing the explosives.

Suddenly, a dark shadow lunged forward. Fan Debiao instinctively used the explosives packet to block it. Young Master Liu saw that the Serpent had managed to tear itself a bit further out of the cave entrance. With that powerful thrust, the Serpent knocked Fan Debiao's explosives away.

Then, a streak of fire flashed past Young Master Liu’s eyes. He focused and saw the light came from a tinder stick flying straight toward the Serpent, which instantly swallowed it.

Great Cricket shouted, "Get down!"

Before Great Cricket’s cry finished, everyone on the scene dropped flat. A deafening BOOM echoed as the explosives detonated inside the Serpent's mouth. Because Young Master Liu was too close to the blast center, his ears rang violently.

He stood up and looked at the Serpent. Its head was blown clean off, leaving only a segment of its body dangling mid-air, swaying gently. Suddenly, Young Master Liu saw a thing wriggling in the middle of the severed body. Before he could process what it was, a human head suddenly poked out of the wriggling area. Upon closer inspection, it was the basketball-headed figure of that wrapped ‘Zongzi’ (mummy-like creature).

Young Master Liu cried out a warning, "It’s not dead yet; the Zongzi is almost out!"

Hearing this, Jackson grabbed the entire cloth wrapping and threw it over the creature’s head. He urged quickly, "Lighter! Hurry, hurry!"

No one moved after Jackson spoke. It seemed the tinder stick had been their last source of fire. Everyone was speechless in the face of this disaster. At that moment, Fan Debiao exclaimed gleefully, "Haha, I’ve got a glorious round right here!"

With that, Fan Debiao deftly loaded the bullet into the chamber, pulled back the bolt, aimed at the remaining explosive bag, and squeezed the trigger. A thwack sounded, followed immediately by a massive BOOM. A wave of heat washed over them—the remaining charge must have been significant.

After the explosion subsided, smoke lingered, and the surroundings became deathly quiet, broken only by the faint sound of trickling water, like a small waterfall. Though Young Master Liu hadn't examined the environment closely, he was certain there was no waterfall here. What was that running water sound?

As he pondered, the sound grew louder. Before he could react, a giant wave surged out of the smoke in front of him, slamming Young Master Liu against the back wall. His senses cleared for a moment, only for another huge wave to strike.

The waves grew larger and taller with each surge, leaving Young Master Liu dizzy and disoriented. He managed to clutch a protruding piece of the rock face, but another wave hit, making his grip slip, plunging him back into the water. After struggling like this for over a minute, things slowly began to stabilize. Taking advantage of the momentary lull, Young Master Liu grabbed a projection nearby, leaped upwards, and cleared the water surface. Once out, he still worried about subsequent waves, so he climbed several meters higher before finally letting out a sigh of relief.