Chapter 104: The Insect Plague

An Nan recalled the previous life, when cockroaches bigger than two fingers crawled everywhere in dense swarms, sometimes even flying straight onto people’s faces.

She couldn’t help but rub the goosebumps on her arms and quickened her pace toward home.

She wasn’t afraid of bandits or evil spirits—what she truly feared were bugs.

Well, maybe “afraid” wasn’t quite the right word—“disgusted” was more accurate.

Whether it was the hard-shelled cockroaches or the squishy, wriggling caterpillars, they all triggered a deep, visceral revulsion in her.

An Nan, who could grab a venomous snake with her bare hands, would go out of her way to avoid bugs that posed almost no threat at all.

In her previous life, these revolting creatures made it nearly impossible for her to get a good night’s sleep.

She’d often wake up to find huge cockroaches crawling all over her, sometimes even getting bitten awake.

Born and raised in the north, she’d barely seen cockroaches growing up.

And even when she did, they were tiny and couldn’t fly at all.

But these giant cockroaches, so big you could see the hairs on their legs, and able to fly—these were a nightmare for An Nan.

In this life, she’d gone out of her way to seal up the drains with cement, just to keep those disgusting things out.

But the appearance of cockroaches and rats meant the temperature was about to soar to sixty degrees.

An Nan soon reached her building, where she saw quite a few neighbors gathered outside.

“Oh my god! Why are there more rats and cockroaches inside than outside?”

“Don’t tell me they’ve gotten smart! Do they know it’s cooler in the building?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised! That rat is definitely smart—it’s taken over my bamboo mat!”

“Have they mutated or something? How are they still alive in this heat?”

People were chattering and speculating downstairs.

Just then, someone spotted An Nan heading toward the building.

“Shh! The demon woman from the 14th floor is back!”

“What are you scared of? We haven’t messed with her. Are we not even allowed to talk?”

“Keep it down! She’s got a bad temper—she could kill someone on a whim. If she’s in a bad mood from seeing all these bugs, she might take it out on us!”

Ignoring their gossip, An Nan walked straight into the building.

As soon as she stepped inside—squelch—she felt something strange underfoot.

She lifted her foot and saw a huge, squished cockroach stuck to the sole of her shoe.

An Nan: ……

Looking up, she saw at least ten giant cockroaches on the stairs.

She could see every antenna and leg hair in horrifying detail.

Goosebumps erupted all over her body.

She glanced at the neighbors outside, pressed her lips together, and swallowed the scream that was about to escape.

Hold it in.

She couldn’t break character.

If these people ever found out she was afraid of bugs, it would be like handing her weakness to the enemy on a silver platter.

Forcing herself to stay calm, An Nan kept walking forward.

With every step came another sickening “squelch, squelch,” making her stomach churn.

Suddenly, two cockroaches, not content to just crawl, spread their wings.

That’s right—damn it! They took flight, heading straight for An Nan’s face.

Aaaaaahhh!!!

Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest.

But she forced herself to keep a straight face, dodged to the side, and kept walking.

Only when she reached the second floor, out of everyone’s sight, did she finally let out a breath and break into a run.

She clutched her collar, ducked her head, and dashed up the stairs three at a time.

On the way, she even kicked a huge rat out of her path.

Get lost! I might be scared of bugs, but I’m not scared of you.

That kick, fueled by all her pent-up frustration, sent the fat rat—almost as big as a kitten—flying and knocked it out cold.

She finally made it to the 14th floor. Before she could even get through the door, she heard Fugui barking inside.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

She hurriedly unlocked the door and rushed in.

Inside, she found her dog Fugui cowering in the corner, looking utterly pitiful.

Two enormous cockroaches were swaggering around the living room.

How did they get in??

After stomping on so many cockroaches on the way up, An Nan was almost numb to it by now.

She pulled out some insecticide from her space and sprayed the two cockroaches until they were well and truly dead. Only then did Fugui shakily get up and run over to her, whining miserably at her feet.

An Nan laughed, “You’re such a big dog, and you’re scared of bugs too?”

She thought to herself, What’s the point of raising a guard dog if Fugui is just as scared of bugs as I am?

Hearing his owner’s teasing, the dog looked indignant. Suddenly, he shoved open the half-closed door and dashed out.

An Nan jumped in alarm.

Crap, she’d been so busy killing cockroaches she’d forgotten to close the door.

Fugui wasn’t wearing his temperature-regulating vest—if he ran out now, he could get heatstroke. And with all those cockroaches outside, wouldn’t he be scared out of his mind?

An Nan hurried after him.

But Fugui hadn’t gone far—he was on the landing of the 14th floor, ferociously attacking something.

An Nan looked closer—it was a rat. Fugui had it clamped in his jaws, shaking it violently.

Fugui’s mouth was short, not as convenient for biting as some dogs, but he’d bite down, let go, then pin the rat to the ground with his paws and bite again.

After a few rounds, the rat was left bloodied and lifeless.

An Nan’s mouth twitched. “You’re pretty savage, huh!”

So the saying “a dog catching a rat” was true after all. He was terrified of cockroaches, but when it came to rats, he was fearless.

Fugui looked up at his owner, head held high in pride.

Well? Still think I’m a coward?

An Nan smirked and pointed behind him. “Turn around.”

Fugui followed her finger and looked back.

The stairs were crawling with disgusting giant cockroaches, several even flying through the air.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!!!”

Fugui’s fur stood on end, all his earlier bravado gone. He bolted back into the apartment, scrambling and yelping.

Even inside, he kept barking:

“Woof! Woof, woof woof!!”

Sister Nan, close the door!!

An Nan laughed as she went inside and shut the door tight.

She changed into slippers, then sprayed the shoes she’d worn outside with insecticide, just in case.

They said stepping on cockroaches could leave eggs on your soles.

These things reproduced so fast and had no natural enemies—it was terrifying.

She still didn’t know how those two cockroaches had gotten in, since she’d blocked off the drains!

At least her place wasn’t as infested as some of the neighbors’. In her previous life, her home had been just like the stairwell—crawling with cockroaches everywhere.

An Nan disinfected the whole apartment, then gave Fugui a thorough bath and brushed his teeth.

After all, he’d just bitten a rat, and those things were crawling with germs.

By the time she finished, the sun was already up. She finally sat down to rest.

Just then, there was a knock at the door."