81: Mo Li, who is afraid of insects

At this moment, Ye Rui and Mo Li were awakened by the noise she made. "Sister, what's wrong?"

A dazed and not quite awake Ye Rui asked softly.

"Get up quickly, we're leaving. We're going back to the Safety Tower," Ai Yue said with unusual calmness.

"Ah? Back to the Safety Tower?" the two of them exclaimed in surprise simultaneously.

Hearing about returning to the Safety Tower, Mo Li was no longer sleepy. "Why are we leaving in the middle of the night? Is someone going to rob us?"

Ai Yue was in no mood to answer him and just quickly packed her things.

Ye Rui had also woken up. Seeing that Ai Yue didn't seem to be joking, she hurriedly got up, not forgetting to pull Mo Li up as well.

Just then, that disgusting-looking, fast-moving bug crawled right in front of them.

"Ah! What is this thing? Help! I'm most afraid of bugs! Get it away!" Mo Li jumped up in fright as he saw a large, fat bug crawling toward him by the moonlight.

As Ye Rui turned on the flashlight, Mo Li discovered that half of the living room was already covered with these bugs.

"Don't dawdle, let's go! These are Bloodthirsty Worms. Just ten of them can drink all the blood in your body."

"Quick, quick, let's go, go, go!" Seeing the scene before him and hearing Ai Yue's words, Mo Li's lips trembled. Driven by a sudden burst of strength, he grabbed Ye Rui tightly and ran outside, ignoring his painful wounds.

By this time, Ai Yue had finished packing and ran toward the door behind Mo Li and Ye Rui.

When they reached the door, they found the entire yard was densely packed with bugs; there was nowhere even to step.

"Aaaah! What do we do? What do we do?" Mo Li screamed in terror.

"Shut up! Look at you acting like a coward—are you even a man?" Ai Yue couldn't help but scold him.

"This... this... you can't blame me! It's innate, I was born with it! Aaaah! I'm not afraid of anything else, just bugs!" Mo Li was on the verge of tears.

Ye Rui was no better. Seeing so many bugs swarming together for the first time, her whole body went numb. Cold sweat poured down, and her eyes were filled with terror as she gripped Mo Li tightly.

Ai Yue stopped talking, her lips pressed into a thin line and her nerves taut. Her internal shock was far greater than her calm exterior suggested.

She knew that the Plague of Insects, following the acid rain, had also arrived early. She needed to get back to the Safety Tower quickly to prepare for the true outbreak.

If they were truly trapped on the road, they could only wait for death.

Ai Yue pulled a bottle of insecticide from her backpack—in reality, she had taken it from her space.

She sprayed it in front of her. Sensing the smell of the insecticide, the bugs on the ground quickly cleared a space. This maneuver left Mo Li and Ye Rui dumbfounded.

The insecticide could no longer kill these mutated bugs, but it could still disperse them; they still very much disliked the smell.

In the early stages of the Plague of Insects, insecticide was very effective.

"What are you still standing there for? Get behind me!" Ai Yue shouted sharply.

The two of them hurriedly followed Ai Yue, moving toward the car.

When they reached the car, Mo Li nearly fainted; the entire vehicle was covered in Bloodthirsty Worms.

Ai Yue didn't panic at all. To her, this scene was child's play; she had seen sights far more terrifying and disgusting than this. This was nothing.

She sprayed the insecticide onto the car, and the bugs fell off with a pitter-patter. Soon, one side of the car was cleared.

Ai Yue pulled open the car door and shouted to the two of them, "Get in, quick!"

Mo Li pulled Ye Rui and dove inside without hesitation.

With a "thud," Ai Yue, who remained outside, slammed the door shut.

"Sister!" Seeing that Ai Yue hadn't followed them in, Ye Rui turned pale with fright and hurriedly tried to open the door.

"Don't open it! She's fine! Can't you see she's clearing the bugs outside? Don't go down and cause trouble," Mo Li said, holding back Ye Rui as she tried to rush out.

Ye Rui looked and saw it was true; furthermore, Ai Yue gestured for her not to come out.

Ye Rui could only press against the car window, carefully watching to see if any bugs were trying to ambush Ai Yue.

Ai Yue sprayed the entire car, including the chassis, using up two full bottles of insecticide.

She didn't try to kill the bugs because she knew they couldn't be wiped out in a short time.

These bugs crawled out from deep underground, and they were endless.

In her previous life, humans had no effective way to get rid of them and could only endure until their natural enemies appeared, at which point the endless Bloodthirsty Worms retreated underground.

Ai Yue got into the car and drove off immediately.

As the car started moving, the three inside felt a series of "thump-thump-thump" sounds from beneath the car—the sound of Bloodthirsty Worms being crushed.

The sound was particularly grating.

This sound accompanied the three of them until they drove out of the city.

Ai Yue and Ye Rui eventually got used to it and didn't mind, but Mo Li's face turned green. He could hardly bear the grating noise and felt like his head was about to explode.

Ye Rui was the considerate one. Seeing how miserable Mo Li was, she tore a long strip from her clothes, rolled it into small balls to plug his ears, and used the remaining cloth to wrap around them.

Only then did Mo Li feel like he had come back to life. He then looked at Ye Rui with watery, affectionate eyes. Ye Rui, baffled by his gaze, unconsciously scratched the back of her head.

Ai Yue saw this clearly and couldn't help but ask, "Ye Rui, how old are you?"

Ye Rui was momentarily dazed and thought for a long while. "I should be... sixteen years old."

"You're not an adult yet?"

"Yeah."

Ai Yue said earnestly, "Then stay away from Mo Li from now on. Wait until you're an adult to think about such things, okay?"

Ye Rui didn't quite understand why Ai Yue would give her such advice; Brother Mo Li had been very good to her over the past six months. But if her sister told her to stay away, then she would—after all, her sister's word was law!

Ye Rui chirped, "I know, I'll listen to you, Sister."

Then she gave Ai Yue a sweet smile.

Beside them, Mo Li, immersed in Ye Rui's gentleness, started grinning when he saw her sweet smile. He couldn't hear their muffled conversation clearly and just stared at Ye Rui with a silly grin.

Ai Yue rolled her eyes at Mo Li, thinking to herself that this man was truly a dog, not even sparing a minor.

Unaware of anything, Mo Li was still smiling happily. He was thinking that when they returned to the Safety Tower and met his uncle's family, he would definitely bring Ye Rui for them to see what a sweet girl he had found.

At this moment, Mo Li had no idea that what awaited him was Miss Ye keeping her distance.

Once out of the city, the number of Bloodthirsty Worms on the road decreased significantly. It seemed they had a target: places with many people!

Realizing this, Ai Yue stopped the car, took out her satellite phone, and immediately called her parents.

At this time, Ai Guosheng and his wife were fast asleep. Not just them, but the entire Safety Tower was deep in slumber.