Being in the dark felt terrible, and the suggestion to light the torches again quickly gained the support of many people. The four of them lit the torches as fast as they could and immediately headed toward the path they had already decided on.

The path led back to the place where the four had come from, and the air was filled with a stench, clearly emanating from those giant insects, which was extremely nauseating.

Along the way, the four could even see the slime left by the giant insects as they crawled on the ground, as well as a few drops of dark, indescribable stuff.

This path was much shorter than any of the other paths the four had taken before. After climbing for only a short while, the four began to notice that the path ahead gradually widened, and they could also hear a lot of very clear, chaotic sounds coming from ahead.

Li swallowed hard and said, "It seems that the Queen Insect has quite a few giant insects protecting it."

Li Qing nodded, knowing that the real test was about to begin. "It's alright, our goal is not to kill the Queen Insect King, we only need a drop of blood from her body!"

Li Qing took a small leaf from the grass skirt at his waist and said, "All we need to do is use our stone axes to hit the Queen Insect, then stick the leaves from me and you on her wounds. Once the blood has soaked through the leaf, we can return. It will be quick."

This leaf was picked up on the road after leaving the strange bird. According to Li, this kind of leaf can absorb water very well. In this environment, it is very suitable to use it to "hold" blood. All you need to do is stick the leaf that has absorbed the blood of the mother insect king to the wound of the strange bird, and the blood will automatically seep into the leaf and be applied to the wound of the strange bird. Then the matter will be considered a success.

Li smiled wryly and said, "It's easier said than done."

Li Qing pretended to be relaxed and said, "At least the route back and forth is not too complicated, so there's no need to worry about getting lost. Most of the roads are straight, and as long as we return the way we came, we will definitely be able to find the exit and meet up with Dahei. These giant insects live underground all year round, and once they are on land, they definitely can't outrun us."

Li knew that Li Qing was saying this on purpose to ease the tension at the moment, so she laughed along with Li Qing a few times.

“Alright, we’ve arrived here. You three can blow out your torches for now,” Li Qing said. “There are too many giant insects ahead. Flames will only attract their attention. Just leave my torch for lighting.”

After saying that, he looked at the three of them seriously and told them to do as he was told immediately.

Li acted decisively, blowing out the torch in one gulp and throwing it on the ground, saying, "Let's do as you say."

After Atuna and the other man extinguished their torches, Li Qing waved his hand and said, "Let's go, follow me, let's see what's going on ahead."

Only Li Qing's torchlight remained in the passage, and its brightness quickly diminished. Relying on this small amount of light, the four of them struggled to walk a little further. Soon, the torch in Li Qing's hand illuminated the terrain ahead of them.

It was a spacious, flat area.

However, the presence of the Queen Insect and the Giant Insect made this flat area seem very crowded.

The Queen Insect was almost an enlarged version of these giant insects, but even uglier and fatter. By the light of the fire in Li Qing's hand, Li Qing could almost see every part of the Queen Insect "shining," which was the oil inside the Queen Insect's body, which was disgusting.

Countless smaller insects crawled all over its body, whether out of affection for their mother or simply to clean the queen insect from its grime—but clearly, the latter was more likely.

The queen insect was filthy, covered in black mud and feces in some places. Where the little insects crawled, the feces and mud disappeared. Clearly, these little insects were acting as cleaners for the queen insect.

The queen insect appeared very clumsy, far less agile than the other giant insects. Even a slight movement seemed extremely difficult for her. However, she was the queen of these giant insects. Li Qing could clearly see several giant insects ahead bringing the food they had just obtained to the queen insect's mouth for her to enjoy.

What disgusted Li Qing the most was that on the back of the mother insect king's body, there was a part surrounded by gray hairs and in the middle was a black hole.

This hole is constantly contracting rhythmically, and every time the queen insect eats a bite of food, this part will expel some yellowish-black excrement.

Even their excrement becomes a feast for these giant insects. Whenever the excrement is discharged, many medium-sized giant insects will swarm up and eat it.

"This place is so filthy! And all these bugs! They even eat poop!"

Li couldn't hold back and swore.

"In their eyes, she's their queen. What's wrong with her eating a few mouthfuls of shit?" Li Qing said dismissively. "The important thing is how we're going to break in."

The Queen Insect's lair was even more dangerous than Li Qing had imagined. These insects were all poisonous, and even slight physical contact could lead to poisoning. Moreover, the Queen Insect's minions were everywhere, some hovering around her, others patrolling far away. Li Qing thought that if he rushed over, he might be surrounded and killed by these insects. The best way was to lure away the giant guarding insects first. That way, one Queen Insect wouldn't be a threat. Although it looked huge, it was actually very clumsy. It would be easy to scratch a wound on it and take some blood.

This problem clearly stumped the other three as well. The terrain was very unfavorable to them, and their numerical disadvantage meant they couldn't afford to be careless.

After thinking for a moment, recalling his recent experience, Atuna asked, "Why don't we extinguish the torches, cover our mouths and noses, and see if we can sneak over?"

Li Qing shook his head and said, "It won't work. These giant insects aren't stupid. We succeeded last time because they didn't even notice us. But this time there are too many of them. Even if we sneak over, we're very likely to be discovered by them."

"oh."

A-Tu-Na sighed regretfully and said with remorse.

From Atuna's perspective, his thinking was indeed correct, but he was still too young. He thought about some things too simply and made assumptions. Li, on the other hand, was different. He said firmly, "I will lure these giant insects. You go and collect the blood of the mother insect queen. There are too many of these giant insects. No matter how careful we are, we will definitely be discovered in the end. If we want to succeed, we can only do as I say!"