Chapter 154

Su Jian put Su Jin on the ground and began tearing at the skin glued tightly to his face. Rip, rip—it wouldn’t come off.

He pulled harder; the skin came loose, but so did a good chunk of his scalp.

Sigh, I shouldn’t have glued this skin on so tightly in the first place.

Ugh, I used too much of the adhesive!

But at least my own face is finally exposed to the open air again.

Su Jian deliberately made a grotesque face at Su Jin.

“How’s that? Seeing your big brother—surprised? Shocked?”

“Nope. I smelled you from miles away,” Su Jin replied honestly.

“What smell?”

“Su Jian’s smell,” Su Jin said.

Su Jian sniffed himself all over, confused. “Besides the stink from that bug-man skin, I don’t smell anything else.”

“That’s because you can’t smell it.”

“To me, every person has a unique scent,” Su Jin said, then called out, “Big brother, don’t rush to pull off your horns—untie me first! I’m still bound, my hands and feet are numb.”

Su Jian immediately dropped his horn-pulling hand and untied the ropes binding Su Jin.

While Su Jian was still untying Su Jin, several brats nearby had just figured out the truth!!

Who was it that beat them senseless and tied them up like dumplings?

Turns out it was their own dad (mom, grandpa, grandma).

Even for a disguise, this is too cruel! You went that hard on us!!

We actually thought it was the bugs doing it.

We didn’t even dare breathe loudly.

And now it turns out it was you guys! Waaah—some kids burst into tears.

So unfair! I got beaten for nothing!

Meanwhile, some kids had just been freed and immediately launched into a fierce fight with their own relatives.

Especially one boy from the Martial Class—he kicked his own father straight into a black eye, drawing cheers from all the uncles and aunts around.

Hearing the cheers, the boy got even more fired up.

He tried to kick his father again—only to be pinned down and thoroughly beaten, howling in pain.

Sure enough, your dad is still your dad!

Su Jian watched from the side, grinning nonstop.

Of course, where there was fighting, there were also tearful reunions, hugs that wouldn’t let go.

Like Su Lan—she hadn’t seen her father in over two years. And now, here they were, reunited.

She flung herself into his arms, clung to his neck, and wailed uncontrollably. She’d thought she was going to die. Who could’ve imagined the next second would bring salvation—and the father she’d longed for?

Then there were those who, despite being beaten, still rushed to hug and cling to their loved ones.

Like Su Cheng!

Even though he was furious his father had beaten him again, after months apart, he still wanted to hug him.

Of course, while some rejoiced at escaping death, others wept silently—because their children were gone.

When the Su Clan Chief agreed to cooperate with Xu Yunrui in this deception, everyone had already prepared themselves mentally.

A queen nest. This was a queen nest.

The Su Clan would receive thirty percent of its resources.

Even without those thirty percent, if the Neijian Office demanded their cooperation, what choice did they have?

Even the decoys were children.

Of the seventy-nine children surrounded, four had died—that was already better than expected.

As for the others who were deliberately released to watch, then secretly captured by traitors—no one knew what had become of them!

The operation on the other side had already begun, but no one knew how far it had progressed.

In short, no one on Mount Woniu would sleep tonight.

As night deepened, massive bonfires were lit.

The two thousand cultivators of the Su Clan remained, silently guarding the entrance to the queen nest.

Waves of Neijian Office troops surged inside—thousands in total.

The underground battle raged fiercely; explosions boomed at intervals.

The neighboring Mount Woniu was also brightly lit—no one knew what they were doing!

Su Jian was still peeling off the bug-carapace.

The worst part of playing bug-men was having to wear a full layer of bug-carapace.

It was stinking and sticky.

You had to tear hard just to get it off.

When the second-to-last wave of troops rushed in, Su Hanlin didn’t follow Su Huchen into the queen nest—he stayed outside.

He found Su Jian and Su Jin, and even helped Su Jian pull off two pieces of carapace stuck to his lower back.

Man, this was harder than pulling radishes.

Su Jian gasped for breath, using every last ounce of strength.

“I was so happy when I smeared all that adhesive on myself to make sure the carapace wouldn’t fall off—now I’m so regretful. That stuff was way too sticky. Once it’s on, you can’t pull it off!”

Su Hanlin burst out laughing.

Everyone around—whether they’d finished peeling off their carapace or were still struggling—laughed loudly.

True enough: Xu Yunrui had insisted everyone glue their carapace tightly, absolutely no loose pieces—otherwise all two thousand of them would be exposed to the enemy.

To avoid revealing themselves or their comrades, they’d all smeared the adhesive like crazy.

Now, peeling it off was a nightmare.

Su Jin tossed all the peeled-off carapace pieces into Xiao Wu Tian. Xiao Wu Tian crunched them happily.

“Su Jin, those carapace pieces are useless—why are you collecting them?” Su Jian, seeing her odd behavior, couldn’t help asking.

“I’ll dig a hole in the backyard later. They’ll make good compost.”

Su Jian: “...”

After collecting all her own family’s carapace, Su Jin went over to ask uncles, aunts, and cousins if they had any spare pieces she could take.

Because she was so open and polite, and always thanked them after taking the pieces,

the Su Clan cultivators just handed her their peeled-off carapace without being asked.

Su Jin walked around collecting, then spotted someone—she froze in surprise, then deliberately walked past him to ask someone else.

Qi Yi looked at Su Jin, then at her father Su Zhang, whose gaze was dark and silent—she didn’t know what to say.

Su Zhang himself hadn’t expected to reunite with his daughter this way, after three years—he watched his daughter picking up trash!

And right in front of the entire school of children.

Before their divorce, Su Zhang had once asked Su Jin: “Would you come with me?”

“I’ll treat you better than anyone. Your stepmother already has three children of her own—she’s gentle and patient. She’ll take excellent care of you.”

“I’m not going. I don’t trust your character. And I don’t believe in stepmothers. Just leave. If you delay any longer, I’ll have Grandpa break your legs.”

Since then, for over three years, Su Zhang knew Su Jin had never asked anyone about him.

She acted as if her own biological father didn’t exist!

She was better at cutting ties than he was.