The black, viscous creatures writhed on the ground, slowly beginning to coalesce into something vaguely humanoid, crawling on four limbs.

None of us knew what these things were, so we could only back away silently.

But after only a few steps, we realized there was nowhere left to retreat; we were surrounded on all sides by identical entities.

Daxiong raised his foot, intending to kick one of them, but I stopped him.

I had noticed that the soft-bodied creatures were not focused on us, but rather on the giant insect pinned to the ground.

These soft creatures moved agonizingly slowly, inching their way toward the colossal bug.

At that moment, the insect seemed to sense something, letting out a thin, miserable squeak.

I felt no pity for the insect; instead, the entire scene struck me as profoundly bizarre.

Next, we watched as the soft creatures, like pools of black jelly, slowly flowed over the giant insect’s body, gradually merging its torso and all its legs into their own mass.

In reality, only about three of these soft bodies seemed necessary to fully assimilate the insect, yet the remaining creatures still surged forward as if drawn by an inescapable flame.

As they converged, the black masses piled upon one another, growing larger and larger, developing toward the shape of a colossal sphere.

At first, we could still see the immense body of the insect writhing beneath the growing sphere, but once the mass surpassed three meters in height, it had solidified into an absolute, impenetrable black.

“What in the world are they trying to do?” The three of us stared at the unfolding event, completely baffled.

As confusion gripped us, another transformation began.

The immense black sphere, having swelled past three meters and absorbed all the soft creatures, ceased its expansion.

More astonishingly, a faint white silhouette slowly began to manifest in the center of the black orb before our eyes.

“Hey! Look!” Daxiong pointed toward the white shadow at the sphere’s core. “It looks like a woman! And she’s naked!”

As soon as he spoke, the other two of us could see exactly what Daxiong meant—a woman had indeed appeared within the sphere.

Her skin was impossibly pale, framed by long, raven hair that cascaded past her waist. She possessed red lips and large eyes with delicately upturned lashes; she appeared barely twenty, radiating profound tranquility.

Moreover, the woman wore no clothing whatsoever, and her beautifully contoured figure caused our faces to flush hot.

However, we knew this woman inside the sphere could not be human; no person could survive within such an airless container.

“That yokai is so damn beautiful,” Daxiong muttered, gazing fixedly at her, completely engrossed.

Seeing the Muramasa sword still impaled in her chest, we instantly realized this woman was the insect transformed.

“That’s the Bug Princess from the portrait upstairs!” Nie Chuan gasped in horror.

I nodded, feeling a bead of cold sweat trace down my temple, and stammered out, “Yes… this is the Pestilence God-level Great Yokai, rumored to control all insects and unleash plagues and insect swarms.”

As we spoke, we continued backing away, fully aware of this entity’s terrifying power.

But luck was not on our side. Just as we prepared to slip away unnoticed, the Bug Princess suddenly opened a pair of pitch-black eyes.

In reality, her eyes differed little from a human’s, except that her pupils were vast and the whites of her eyes were minimal, lending her an air of extreme seductiveness.

The Bug Princess’s gaze fixed upon us, yet her expression held none of the typical murderous intent of a monster; it was utterly flat, as if we were mere ants.

Even under her direct gaze, we hadn’t lost the ability to flee, so we continued running forward without looking back.

But after only a few steps, there was a sudden crack behind us, and countless black shadows shot past in every direction.

I turned to look and saw that the massive black sphere which had enveloped the Bug Princess had exploded sometime during our retreat.

Those soft creatures, neither fully human nor fully insect, scattered wildly, many falling directly in front of us, blocking our path.

We had intended to vault over them, but these entities were different from before; though they still clung to the ground, this time sharp spikes sprouted from their backs, completely barring our way.

We knew this must be the Bug Princess’s command; we had no choice but to halt.

Even if we could dispatch the few creatures before us, there were easily over two hundred of these shape-shifting soft bodies; engaging them would only lead to our defeat.

Helplessly, I turned back toward the Bug Princess. She was lying limply on the ground, her alabaster body still pierced by the Muramasa belonging to that boy in the hood.

Though the woman’s form was beautiful, the sight made all three of us’s skin crawl; none of us dared to look for long.

Yet, the Bug Princess slowly rose to her feet. Her skin, still glowing with an unnatural sheen, magnetically drew the eyes of us three men.

She lowered her head weakly, gazing at the sword lodged in her chest, then threw her head back and emitted a long, agonizing cry toward the heavens.

Her entire body began to tremble slightly, as if she were straining to hold back a great pressure.

Then, we watched as a layer of multi-colored fuzz slowly began to sprout from her smooth skin.

This fuzz was not the glossy beauty of animal hair; rather, it resembled the bristles on a caterpillar—an unsettling, almost repulsive luminescence.

Soon, these multicolored hairs covered her body like a pelt, obscuring her most private areas. At a quick glance, it truly looked as though she were wearing a leopard-print bodysuit.

Even draped in fuzz, the Bug Princess’s curves remained breathtakingly pronounced, holding our gazes captive.

At this point, the Bug Princess opened her large eyes and looked at us, a hint of shyness in her expression.

It was almost as if she were asking, “Well? Am I beautiful?”

I couldn't begin to describe the sudden turmoil in my gut; I merely swallowed hard, thinking, Is there truly such an enchantingly demonic creature in this world?

After the transformation was complete, only the sword in her chest looked out of place.

With a gesture, she summoned several of the soft creatures. They approached her, and strange, tentacle-like appendages grew from their backs, wrapping around the hilt, attempting to draw the sword for her.

But every time these soft monsters’ tentacles brushed the hilt, a sharp hiss sounded, and they recoiled instantly, as if burned.

Seeing this, the Bug Princess’s expression contorted in mounting agony.

Finally, we understood why she had allowed us to live.

When she saw her minions could not extract the weapon, she turned her gaze toward us in supplication.

We were human; we would not be harmed by the sword's malevolent aura, which was why the Bug Princess needed our help.

But there was absolutely no way we would assist a yokai, no matter how alluring her appearance; she was still an evil entity that had caused immense harm.

The Bug Princess could not speak, yet her eyes pleaded with us.

We simply looked away.

“It looks like she’s about to use force,” Daxiong whispered to me. “Get ready to fight.”

I understood what Daxiong meant: since pleading failed, she would surely command her minions to beat us into submission and then coerce us into drawing the sword.

But having grown up watching films about revolutionary martyrs, we would never yield to threats or temptations from the enemy.

I nodded to Daxiong and replied, “We’d rather die than pull that blade for that woman.”

Perhaps sensing our resolve, or perhaps because the Bug Princess truly held no intention of threatening us.

When we approached the blockade of soft creatures again, they unexpectedly parted ways.

We looked back in surprise; the Bug Princess was still standing where she was, watching us, making no other move.

Seeing her like that, a flicker of softness crossed my heart for a moment, and I muttered to myself, “Could this yokai actually be good? Is that why the boy in the hood didn’t kill her?”

I had been pondering this since the beginning: if the boy in the hood could pin her down with the Muramasa, it meant the Bug Princess had lost their battle. But humans usually deliver a killing blow to a defeated yokai; why had he shown mercy? What was the logic there?

“How can a yokai be good?” I shook my head, dismissing the bizarre, distracting thoughts.