Chapter 4

The sky was darkened by thick, ink-like clouds that rolled and churned, blocking out the sun. Even though it was only a little past three in the afternoon, the brightness of the world was very low, not quite pitch black, but only slightly better than the early morning.

"Ah, don't come over... don't come over!"

A groundskeeper screamed in agony, his whole body trembling, his legs shaking uncontrollably, and his face as pale as paper!

He was a diligent worker who had spent his entire life tending to the flowers and plants at "Xijiang University" without complaint. His life had been relatively calm, and at sixty-one, he only needed to hold on for another half a year before he could apply for retirement. Then he could spend his days at home, tending to his plants, drinking tea, and playing with his grandchildren, content with his life.

But...

But he never expected that, without any warning, this monster would suddenly appear before his eyes!

It was a beetle with a fiery red body!

Beetles, he had seen many, and he had stepped on countless of them...

However, the one before him was at least as big as a Spanish bull!

Through his glasses, the groundskeeper could clearly see the bizarre patterns on the beetle's fiery red carapace. Its six long, thin legs were as thick as large pipes, each about two meters long. The sharp, horn-like protrusion on its head, gleaming in the light, was terrifying.

The most chilling sight was the beetle's compound eyes!

They had a human-like gaze!

Filled with hatred, disgust, and deep-seated cruelty and bloodlust!

At the same time, the compound eyes glowed with a strange light—those eyes shone as brightly as low-wattage light bulbs!

"Hisss"

The red beetle moved its mouth, emitting a low, piercing cry. Along its sharp fangs, a disgusting green liquid dripped onto the grass, hissing and smoking, turning the green grass yellow. Clearly, the liquid was highly corrosive and toxic!

"Quick... quick, run..."

The groundskeeper muttered to himself, trembling. He desperately wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't obey him, too weak to even stand, let alone run.

After just five seconds of staring at the red beetle, he was drenched in cold sweat, his clothes soaked through!

He watched helplessly as the red beetle approached, and soon he could smell the unique stench of the insect. Then, he felt an excruciating pain in his ankles!

"Ah! My leg!"

The groundskeeper fell to the ground, almost fainting from the pain. Blood gushed from his legs, and he could clearly see his ankles severed at the root, his feet completely bitten off by the giant beetle!

"Crunch, crunch"

The giant beetle, along with the groundskeeper's shoes, chewed on the feet. Even though the feet were old and smelly, the beetle devoured them quickly, swallowing them in just a couple of seconds!

Then... the groundskeeper's body was gradually devoured by the giant beetle, starting with his legs, then his abdomen, and finally his head, which was chewed to pieces...

In the end, on the grass, there was only a pool of dark red blood, shredded flesh and organs, and scattered pieces of fabric...

A living person, in less than half a minute, was completely gone, filling the giant beetle's belly!

Not only the students in Li Jiayu's class, but also the people in other classrooms, were pale and bloodless, many of them convulsing and vomiting on the spot!

However, the old groundskeeper was not the only one cruelly devoured by the giant beetles in the school's open area. There were also students rushing back to their dorms to collect clothes, couples on dates under the trees, and others...

In the history of Xijiang University, more people had died in this one minute than in any other time!

In the first moment, over twenty people in the school were killed, and the giant beetles, for some unknown reason, appeared out of nowhere, as if materializing from the air, increasing in number. In just a few breaths, there were nearly a hundred of them!

Each beetle was as big as a Spanish bull, and its destructive power was far more terrifying than a Spanish bull... With a hundred of them, it was easy to imagine the threat they posed to the students in the school, comparable to an armed force...

All the students in the classrooms, trembling with fear, felt extremely terrible, like citizens about to be massacred!

Moreover, in historical massacres, the worst that could happen was dismemberment or burial alive, but if killed by these giant beetles, one would be chewed and swallowed inch by inch!

This method of death was so horrifying that just thinking about it made one's soul shudder!

"Beetles! Beetles! How can there be so many terrifying beetles!"

"They eat people! They eat people! I know that couple... the boy is from my hometown, the girl is my good friend... how could they be eaten so quickly? Ugh..."

"It's impossible! The largest beetle in the world is the Goliathus, which is only 18 centimeters long... even with genetic mutations or genetic engineering, it's absolutely impossible for beetles to grow that big!"

The students in the class were in an uproar, some screaming in fear, some babbling incoherently, and some making wild guesses based on scientific data. Some girls who had already wet their pants became even wetter, while others who hadn't wet their pants at all now had them half-soaked...

"These beetles are not the kind that can grow in Earth's environment... they come from the Insect Realm..." Li Jiayu, looking at the giant beetles rolling and crawling in the open area, had a deep and sharp gaze, with a barely suppressed killing intent.

"The Insect Realm?"

Gao Xiang thought for a moment and said in shock:

"I remember now, you once said that the Earth's spatial oscillations have created many spatial rifts... your meaning is that these spatial rifts lead to the Insect Realm? Like those red beetles, there are many of them, and they can come to Earth without restraint..."

The more he thought about it, the more Gao Xiang felt a chill run down his spine!

If what Li Jiayu said was true... when humans no longer have electricity or modern weapons, how can they face these cruel and vicious giant beetles?

Is it possible to fight them with flesh and blood?

How could that be... the thought of fighting those giant beetles made Gao Xiang too scared to even consider it. He felt that suicide might be more acceptable!

"You guessed right... yeah, my axe skills haven't declined."

Li Jiayu swung the fire axe a few times. Although not as skilled as swordsmen, he made a loud, swift, and precise sound.

In his previous life, Li Jiayu was often forced into desperate situations, having to pick up weapons and fight. He had used hammers, bricks, steel bars, baseball bats, slings, crossbows, kitchen knives, chairs, even daggers, forks, and belts as weapons!

Later, when Li Jiayu joined a demon-hunting group, he systematically learned some combat techniques and weapon handling skills. Although not very powerful, he was not inferior to well-trained soldiers.

Seemingly satisfied with the fire axe's performance, Li Jiayu smiled and said:

"However, the Insect Realm is not the only one... besides insects, there is also the Abyssal Realm..."