"What is this, a firefly?"

Everyone looked at each other, and the flickering green light ahead did look like a firefly. However, during broad daylight, seeing a firefly in this cave felt eerie.

For a moment, no one dared to venture forward recklessly.

"Who wants to go check it out?" Dazhuang said.

Everyone exchanged glances, clearly unwilling to go.

Dazhuang patted Fang Xiyu on the shoulder, "Young Master Fang, didn’t you say you were brave? Here’s a chance to prove yourself."

Everyone immediately looked at Fang Xiyu.

Fang Xiyu’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t want to go; in fact, he wasn’t brave at all. He was quite scared.

But, the girl he admired was also watching him at this moment. He couldn’t lose face in front of his goddess after bragging earlier. If he took the lead this time and figured out what was in front, he could become a hero. Maybe he could win over the heart of his goddess!

This hopeful vision gave Fang Xiyu courage, and he turned on his flashlight, ready to go.

But Dazhuang stopped him with a hand, saying, "Don’t turn on the light yet, or you might scare it away. Turn it on when you get closer."

"Okay." Fang Xiyu had no choice but to turn off the flashlight and carefully moved forward in the darkness. Before long, he was near the green light, but he couldn’t see it clearly.

He turned the flashlight back on.

He then saw a bug the size of a fingernail. The bug looked very peculiar, and Fang Xiyu was sure it wasn’t a firefly, because fireflies glow from their tails, while this strange bug glowed from its back – or more accurately, its wings.

Fang Xiyu was certain he had never heard of such a creature. It felt miraculous, as if he had discovered a new species.

Confirming it was a small bug, Fang Xiyu breathed a sigh of relief. Just a little bug, surely harmless. He didn’t have to worry at all.

Fang Xiyu smiled and turned back to the others, "It’s a little bug, but not a firefly. I don’t know what it is. Come over and take a look yourselves!"

The others, hearing this, curiously gathered around, turning on their flashlights to illuminate the strange bug. Everyone saw the bug and started making noises of amazement; no one knew what it was.

"What is this?"

"It’s not a firefly!"

"Never seen it before!"

Everyone chattered.

The female pondered for a moment and suggested, "It might be a new species. Why don’t we catch it and bring it to a biology teacher for a look?"

Dazhuang laughed, "Good idea. We might become famous! The question is, who will catch this little guy? We don’t know if it bites."

"I’ll go!"

Fang Xiyu volunteered. This time, he took the initiative, which was understandable, since the suggestion to catch the bug came from his goddess. If he could catch the bug, his goddess would surely be more favorably disposed towards him. Besides, it’s just a little bug; the task seemed too simple.

The girl indeed gave Fang Xiyu an approving glance.

This made Fang Xiyu even more enthusiastic, and he immediately stepped forward to catch the bug.

"Wait!" Dazhuang stopped him, pulled a water bottle out of his backpack, quickly poured out the water, and handed the empty bottle to Fang Xiyu, "Catch it and put it in this."

"Okay." Fang Xiyu took the bottle and moved toward the strange bug, reaching out his hand to catch it.

But before he could touch the bug, it flickered, flapped its wings, and took off. Fang Xiyu, afraid it would escape, lunged to grab it. However, he was too nervous and missed, and the strange bug, apparently startled, flew in panic and suddenly hit Fang Xiyu’s eye.

In a moment of inattention from everyone, this peculiar bug opened its mandibles and took a bite out of Fang Xiyu’s eyelid. If you magnified it several times and slowed it down, you could see the bug’s mandibles were full of sharp teeth, which were frightening. As it bit down, a black venom oozed from its teeth.

The venom quickly seeped into Fang Xiyu’s eye.

"Ah!"

Fang Xiyu’s eye immediately felt a sharp pain, and he couldn’t help but let out a scream. The bottle dropped to the ground as he rushed to cover his eye.

The strange bug took the opportunity to flap its wings and fly away.

Fang Xiyu fell to his knees, wailing in agony.

The others were terrified and hurriedly gathered around to look.

"Damn that bug bit me, my eye, my eye hurts so much!" Fang Xiyu shouted.

Dazhuang said, "Don’t panic, let me take a look."

Dazhuang forcibly pulled Fang Xiyu’s hand away, using a flashlight to shine on Fang Xiyu’s eye. One of Fang Xiyu’s eyes was already red and swollen, and the eyeball was visibly reddening.

"Help, it hurts so much!" Fang Xiyu’s voice became shrill.

Dazhuang was equally panicked, cold sweat pouring, and tried to comfort him, "Hang in there, it might be fine in a moment, like an ant bite!"

Fang Xiyu couldn’t hear anything anymore, he was just screaming, and he didn’t even care about losing face in front of his goddess because he was in so much pain.

The girl was also anxious, "What should we do, maybe we should leave quickly?"

Leaving meant the exploration would be interrupted. They had just arrived, and now they had to quit because of a little bug. No one was really willing, and some even thought Fang Xiyu was exaggerating; after all, it was just a bug bite!

But in the end, Dazhuang gritted his teeth and said, "Let’s take Young Master Fang out first!"

Everyone listened to Dazhuang, so they helped Fang Xiyu out of the cave.

They thought Fang Xiyu’s pain would subside once outside, but it didn’t. On the contrary, Fang Xiyu’s condition worsened. One of his eyes was completely red, and the other eye started to redden as well. The pain seemed to spread around his eyes.

Even scarier, under the outside light, their eyeballs had dead black markings.

Even a fool could see this was not just an ordinary insect bite; the situation was terrifying and beyond their control.

Dazhuang was also panicking and finally decided to get Fang Xiyu to the hospital. That strange bug was obviously not simple, likely venomous!

Thus, the exploration was declared a failure, and they supported Fang Xiyu as they retraced their steps. Along the way, Fang Xiyu kept crying out in pain. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Afterwards, they rushed Fang Xiyu to Feng County People’s Hospital for emergency treatment. Under the doctors’ care, Fang Xiyu’s condition seemed to ease, but eventually, the doctors realized it was merely an illusion; Fang Xiyu’s condition was actually deteriorating.

When Boss Fang and his wife learned their son was in trouble, they rushed to the hospital immediately. Boss Fang was a wealthy local with some influence, having friends among the hospital’s higher-ups.

At Boss Fang’s request, the hospital did everything they could, yet they couldn’t improve Fang Xiyu’s situation.

Finally, the hospital could only suggest that Boss Fang transfer hospitals.

At this point, no one yet knew that the strange, unknown bug would cause significant trouble in the future...