Smells Like A Trap

"Really… you made them do that?" Jasmine asked.

Her small face revealed a look of curiosity.

"Yup, they both were pretty enthusiastic about it at the end." Chen Wentian replied.

"Uh huh… so you like this type of thing?" Her tone turned accusatory.

"I think most men wouldn't mind it if it fell onto their lap."

"Hmph!" She snorted and turned away from him.

He laughed and tackled her, pressing her down. They were camping in the wilderness and it was dark all around. Jasmine was bored so he was narrating the things he was doing at Beast God Sanctum, including with the two naked beauties that had been gifted to him.

"Jasmine, you don't have to be so jealous."

"I am not jealous!" She protested.

But her behavior was wholly unconvincing.

"Don't be jealous. I didn't end up having sex with them." He said. "I left the room after they finished."

"Really? I don't believe you."

He scoffed and pinched her side, "It's true. What reason did I have to sleep with them, just because they were offered to me? If other sects gifted me women in the future, am I obligated to do them too? My reputation across the subcontinent may not be very good but that doesn't mean I don't have standards. Chen Mo was acting as myself so he naturally has to uphold my standards. I am not some kind of sex-crazed maniac that fucks anything in front of him."

"You're not? I really thought… Ow!"

He pinched her again. "Do you want me to show you a real sex-crazed maniac?"

"Haha, you can't do it!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Hahaha, ahhh… help!"

She squealed as he started nibbling her neck, setting off bursts of pleasure as he hit sensitive areas. He left a hot trail of kisses down to her shoulder and back up to her cheeks. All the while, she got more and more frustrated that he was ignoring her lips.

He eventually had to stop. She wanted him to do more but he had sensed something through his network of void bees. 

"Our target is here." Chen Wentian whispered.

"Here already?"

Jasmine sat up and looked around. There was nothing but small critters and insects. All other creatures had been wiped out or chased away. The area was eerily quiet and still compared to the rest of the forest.

"It's still a few hundred kilometers away. We have some time but we should go now."

"Mm." She nodded.

He cleaned up their campsite. Then, the two of them quickly took off toward the north. They were going away from their incoming foe, a Spirit Lord Realm mantis with the name Green Giant.

It was an offspring of the queen mantis and had participated in the siege of Beast God City. It was the big one with a green carapace. Its specialty was brute strength and powerful defense.

As one of the four Spirit Lord mantises under the queen, Green Giant was responsible for the northern borders of their forest territory. From information gathered by He Xingping in Beast God City and from the void bee colonies, this one was the dumbest and the easiest to trick.

Thus, Chen Wentian and Jasmine had caused a great commotion in its territory, wantonly killing everything they encountered. It was all in hopes of luring this big green mantis out.

"Come on, big bug! Don't disappoint me!" Jasmine said.

"Haha, don't worry. It won't be able to ignore the bait!"

---

Several hundred kilometers to the south, a hulking beast with a monstrous body flew low over the forest. From head to tail, it was over ten meters long. With its thick legs and powerful bladed arms, it would be over twenty meters. It was Green Giant, the mantis lord of the northern forest.

A crowd of smaller mantises flew on either side of it. Occasionally, one would leave or rejoin the formation. There were also a few large void bees that were passing information from further up north.

"Kakaka… where nest did these humans pop out of?" Green Giant asked roughly.

His aura was heavy and every breath made the air tremble.

A few mantises flew away in fright. But the strongest ones stayed put. One of them flew ahead and started chattering, making clicks and grinding noises with its mandibles.

Green Giant listened and got angrier and angrier with each passing moment. Apparently, these two human cultivators had entered their territory from the west and cut through fire toad lands to directly attack theirs. Their estimated strengths were at least the third lesser realm of Spiritual Awakening. It was also highly likely that one of them was at the fourth lesser realm of Spiritual Ascendance.

With such might, they were basically unopposed and slaughtered whatever they wanted along the border. This information also took so long to reach back because the humans had some ability to neutralize void bees. The void bee commander reported that over a dozen colonies in that area had been wiped out. This was probably an even bigger loss than all the other beast populations put together.

"Ka! I will kill them slowly." Green Giant snarled, "They must be new to the region. Seeking death! I will make them pay!"

Another mantis flew up and chattered for a long time. The big green mantis listened to it patiently before nodding.

"I understand, I understand. Humans are always full of tricks and this could be a trap. But even if this is somehow a Spirit King's scheme, I have the ability to escape. I am not so easy to kill! And besides… my brothers know I have left my nest. If I do not return in a day, they will come and find me. There is no way this tiny incident can be any threat to Mama. She will be fully recovered soon. Nothing will stop her from coming back stronger than ever. Those humans will pay for what they did to her!"

The mantis minions had no response to that and could only carry out their orders. Some flew ahead to scout the land while others passed messages to the rear, keeping the other mantis lords of their situation.

Green Giant's group soon caught up to the last place Chen Wentian and Jasmine had been. It landed, tearing up nearby trees in the process. It sniffed around the area and the ground to pick up traces of human spiritual energy until it was satisfied.

"One male, one female. Both are probably at the peak of the third lesser realm. I don't sense any other humans, meaning they are here by themselves."

A mantis beside him said a few things.

"Mmm. Mmmhm." Green Giant nodded, "You are right. It does seem like a trap. Why would those two act so brazenly unless they are hiding their strength and fishing for bigger prey."

Another mantis came up and spoke.

"I agree, let's activate that defensive line and test these meat bags, see just how strong they really are!"

---

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