Chapter 160: Infiltration
Then, Hu Yan led his men to the hidden entrance. He turned and said to them in a low voice, "My adjutant and I will go in first to scout ahead. Take this. It will guide you inside. Don’t come in until I give the signal."
Hu Yan split off a small strand of his spiritual power and handed it to one of the squad leaders.
He then nodded to his adjutant, who understood immediately. The adjutant followed close behind as the two of them slipped quickly and silently into the entrance.
The entrance was unremarkable, the kind you would subconsciously overlook with a single glance.
Hu Yan hadn’t brought many men, but each was a hand-picked elite. Having fought alongside him for years, they worked together in perfect sync. Every soldier was equipped with advanced Battle Armor and fully armed, ready to handle any emergency.
Immediately upon entering, they came across several misleading junctions. Some were choked with thick spiderwebs, while others looked like the correct path. But Hu Yan walked straight into one without a moment’s hesitation.
Inside, they discovered the place was surprisingly vast. It couldn’t have been easy to build such a massive palace underground. If it had been constructed in an inhabited area, it would have surely been discovered. That must be why they chose such a remote location.
What surprised them even more was that the luxury inside far surpassed even that of the Imperial Palace.
The walls were encrusted with all kinds of gems, seemingly sourced from various star systems. Naturally glowing Crystal Stones hung from the ceiling, and the entire space exuded a suffocating aura of opulence.
Just as they rounded a corner, they ran into an Insect Clan patrol.
These guards were elites from the Insect Clan, clad in hard carapaces and wielding sharp weapons.
However, before they could even send an alarm signal, the adjutant dispatched them with swift precision.
Since a large portion of the Insect Clan had gone to the encampment today, not many were left behind—but it wasn’t a small number, either. After all, they still had their nest and the Insect Mother to protect.
Their objective on this mission was to find the Insect Mother.
But the Insect Clan’s nest was not only massive but also incredibly deep, making the Insect Mother’s location difficult to pinpoint. Worse, if the Insect Mother wasn’t even in this nest, a direct assault might tip off the enemy. That was why he and his adjutant had come down first to scout things out.
At that moment, far away on the Main Star, Bai Zhi felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
Lang Qiu was the first to notice something was wrong with Bai Zhi. "What is it?"
Bai Zhi shook her head. "It’s nothing. I just feel a little uneasy. I wonder how Hu Yan is doing."
Hearing this, Lang Qiu reassured her, "Hu Yan is a seasoned veteran, and he has those things you gave him for dealing with the Insect Clan. Nothing will happen to him."
Yue Junxiao said bluntly, "That’s right! You’re overthinking it, Bai Zhi. Hu Yan is so powerful now, what could possibly happen to him? If anything, the Insect Clan should be the ones who are scared."
’He truly believed it. After all, now even an SSS-level opponent was no match for Hu Yan. There was nothing to worry about.’
Yan Yichen added worriedly, "Bai Zhi, did you not sleep well last night? Why don’t you go get some rest?"
Bai Zhi thought they had a point. She had already sent Hu Yan everything she could think of to help. "Maybe I just didn’t sleep well," she said. "But I’m not tired right now."
She hadn’t been able to go out for the past two days, and with the weather turning cooler, she didn’t feel like moving much. She just lazed around the house, either binge-watching shows or just staring at the four of them in boredom. At most, she would take a stroll through the garden.
Since Hu Yan was off at war, she hadn’t contacted him for the past two days, afraid of disturbing him. He was probably very busy; he hadn’t even visited her spirit sea.
’I wonder how the battle is going.’
Bai Zhi thought for a moment, then sat up on the sofa. She looked at them expectantly and said, "Do you guys know how to play cards? How about we play a game?"
Yue Junxiao immediately pulled up a stool. "Let’s do it! I might not be good at much else, but cards are my specialty!"
Bai Zhi looked to Lang Qiu, who nodded. Then she glanced at Sang Mo, who, as expected, completely ignored her.
Yan Yichen, however, spoke up eagerly, "I know a little, but not much."
Once they started playing, Bai Zhi gained a profound understanding of what he meant by "a little, but not much."
He knew how to recognize the cards, but his playing was a fumbling, chaotic mess.
Yue Junxiao exploded in frustration, "Yan Yichen! Do you even know how to play or not?! Is that how you’re supposed to do it? Who plays a card and then takes it back?!"
Yan Yichen: "Sorry, sorry! I won’t do it again."
The very next second, he called ’Pong’ on a discard, only to immediately throw out the very same card he had just claimed.
For a moment, everyone fell silent at the sight of his move. "..."
After several rounds of Yan Yichen’s face getting covered in paper strips and his ears getting blasted by Yue Junxiao, Sang Mo finally couldn’t take it anymore. He told Yan Yichen to step aside and took his place.
The moment Sang Mo joined the table, the entire dynamic of the game changed.
In the beginning, it was mostly Lang Qiu, Bai Zhi, and Yue Junxiao taking turns winning, with Yan Yichen as the sole loser.
Once Sang Mo started playing, only Yue Junxiao managed to scrape by with a few wins. Bai Zhi only won twice, and Lang Qiu didn’t win a single round.
Yue Junxiao’s eyes gleamed with competitive spirit, his muscles tensed with excitement. "Sang Mo, I never knew you were such a pro!"
Sang Mo gave his tiles a casual glance. "Mahjong."
Only then did he lift his eyes to look at Yue Junxiao, saying nonchalantly, "Isn’t this the sort of thing you just get after one look?"
Yue Junxiao: "..."
Yan Yichen, feeling like an arrow had just pierced his heart: "..."
And Lang Qiu, whose face was now almost as covered in paper strips as Yan Yichen’s had been: "..."
"Sang Mo, maybe you should just talk less," Bai Zhi said. Every time Sang Mo spoke, she felt her chest tighten.
A flicker of confusion crossed Sang Mo’s cold face. "I can’t even tell the truth? If you’re bad at it, practice more."
Spurred on by Sang Mo’s words, Bai Zhi and Lang Qiu both managed to win a few hands afterward.
The afternoon passed by quickly.
Meanwhile, Hu Yan had already penetrated deep into the nest. He overheard a conversation: "I’m going to get food for the Insect Mother. You two guard the door. The Mother is on a call with someone from the Capital. Don’t let any of the other insects disturb her, got it?"
"Yes."
Hearing the mention of the Capital, the adjutant instinctively glanced at Hu Yan, but Hu Yan’s face was unreadable.
’If it were just the border garrison that had been bought off, they could just replace everyone at most. But if it’s the Capital... then the problem is much bigger.’
’Most of the officials in the Capital are high-ranking leaders, and many of them are tied to the great families. Investigating them now would be a huge headache.’
But these were clearly the adjutant’s thoughts. Hu Yan, on the other hand, didn’t seem surprised at all.
Hu Yan extended his spiritual power, stretching it into an incredibly fine thread to probe the room.
The Insect Mother was clearly furious. Its voice boomed, "Why didn’t you tell me Hu Yan was still alive? You let me lose one of my best generals for nothing!"