In the dim dungeon, Su Mo, dressed in thin clothing, had mice scurrying past him from time to time. They would let out annoying “squeaks” while rubbing against him, seemingly unafraid of humans.
Even when annoyed by the noise, Su Mo would only shove them away rather than kill them outright.
Over time, all the mice in the dungeon realized he was an easy target and gathered around him.
One day, a rat as large as a basketball showed up, seemingly the king of this mouse colony.
It strutted over to Su Mo and let out a sharp squeak, as if calling out to him. When it got no response, the rat king felt deeply insulted. Enraged, it lunged at Su Mo’s thigh, intending to teach this clueless human a lesson.
But things didn’t go as the smaller mice had reported—that this human was easy to push around.
A powerful hand grabbed its neck with precision, leaving it completely immobilized. “Oh? You’re this big—you must be the rat king, huh?”
The rat king bared its terrifying fangs, its foul stench nearly making Su Mo gag. The rest of the mouse colony surrounded him, seemingly demanding the return of their leader.
Su Mo grinned, his eyes gleaming like stars in the night. “Rat king, I’ve finally been waiting for you. Do you have any idea how tough it’s been enduring all this humiliation these past days?”
With one hand gripping the rat king’s neck, he used the other to feel around its body, eventually stopping at its head.
“Found you.”
Suddenly applying pressure, he squeezed a black bead from the rat’s head, though it wasn’t particularly noticeable in the darkness.
Su Mo secretly slipped the black bead into his jade hairpin before releasing the rat king.
After having the bead extracted, the rat king remained alive and active, as if nothing had happened.
A week ago, after threatening Madame Uesugi, Su Mo had been thrown into the dungeon by Uesugi Fumikazu.
Nishimura Koishi had remained silent on the matter, and Su Mo’s daily food and water were never cut short. This led him to suspect that Uesugi Fumikazu’s actions were just for show, likely staged for certain observers.
As for who the audience was, Su Mo didn’t dwell on it.
Regardless, he figured he’d be released before long anyway. He might as well treat this as a vacation for secluded cultivation.
During this time, however, Su Mo noticed something strange: the mice in the dungeon seemed completely unafraid of humans, even deliberately drawing close to them.
At first, he chalked it up to spiritual energy recovery making them mutate and bolder. But over time, he grew increasingly suspicious.
He realized their behavior followed a distinct pattern, as if something was controlling them from behind the scenes.
This instantly reminded him of the army ants he encountered on Insect Island. Back then, they moved with similar precision and order.
Yang Jie had explained that the direct cause of mass mutation on Insect Island was the “Insect Source”—a parasitic organism residing within the ant queen. It made future offspring incredibly powerful, far beyond what natural mutation from spiritual energy recovery could achieve.
Su Mo began to wonder: could the rat king also contain something similar, which he’d temporarily call an “Insect Source”?
After days of enduring humiliation, the answer was finally revealed—yes, it did!
But unlike ants, rats didn’t possess such terrifying reproductive abilities. So how did this thing cause rapid mutation in other mice?
As he pondered this, more and more mice gathered, their incessant squeaking sending chills down his spine.
Su Mo raised an eyebrow. “No little creature has ever dared to act wild in front of me.”
He fought the swarm barehanded and easily recaptured the rat king. “Tell your underlings to back off, or I’ll kill you.”
The rat king struggled wildly as blood began to drip from where the bead had been extracted.
Upon smelling blood, the surrounding mice swarmed over and quickly licked it clean.
A thought struck Su Mo. He squeezed out another drop of blood.
The same thing happened.
Some mice even fought each other fiercely over the blood.
“Ah, I get it now.” Su Mo suddenly understood.
The Insect Source caused rapid mutation in the rat king. Other mice grew stronger by regularly drinking its blood—less effective than with insects like ants, but still significant.
Besides, rats weren’t exactly poor breeders; they just couldn’t compete with insects.
To test his theory, he cut himself and let a drop of his own blood fall. Not a single mouse showed interest until half a day later, when one accidentally licked it.
That confirmed it.
Su Mo narrowed his eyes, pondering the origin of the Insect Source.
He had two theories:
One, it was man-made, given that Insect Island—where the source was first discovered—was also the location of the Immortal Master’s laboratory.
Two, it was an otherworldly organism—a parasite from another realm.
Neither theory was for Su Mo to handle directly. That responsibility fell to the Supernatural Biology Research Institute—an international organization established around the same time as the Genius Camp.
With this in mind, he tightened his grip, ending the rat king’s life. He then selected a few representative mice, killed them too, and stored them in his jade hairpin. He could hand them over to the institute later; maybe they’d prove useful.
With their king dead, the mouse colony scattered, leaderless.
Finally free from their disturbance, Su Mo was about to meditate when he heard footsteps approaching.
“Onee-san!” Su Mo exclaimed with feigned delight.
Sakurai Mie instructed her attendants to open the cell door. Just as she was about to enter, she covered her nose and stepped back. “Ugh, it stinks in here!”
Su Mo smiled faintly. Of course it stinks—I just killed a few big rats.
“Hurry up, you can leave now.” Frowning, Sakurai Mie gestured for him to follow but didn’t enter herself.
Probably because Su Mo reeked of mice, she kept her distance the entire way. Only after he bathed and was forcefully doused with perfume did she finally approach him.
“You’ve had a tough time. Reverend Nishimura said that, as compensation, you’re allowed to study our Warrior Sect’s techniques.”
Su Mo’s eyes lit up. This was great—he’d long coveted the Warrior Sect’s ninja techniques.
He cheered, “Long live Reverend Nishimura!”
Sakurai Mie pulled him to sit on her sofa, a curious expression on her face. “Oh, and there’s something I haven’t told you yet.”
“What is it?” Seeing her mysterious demeanor, Su Mo couldn’t help but wonder. “Why do I feel like this isn’t good news?”
Sakurai Mie chuckled. “The person you’ve been thinking about nonstop came looking for you.”
“Huh?” Su Mo froze, immediately realizing she must mean Ye Qingyi.
But why would she come here? And how did Sakurai Mie know?
Noticing his confusion, Sakurai Mie smiled slyly. “Guess who came with him?”
“Who?”
“His ex-girlfriend—your romantic rival—Ye Qingyi!” Sakurai Mie said, clearly relishing the gossip.
Huh?
Su Mo stood there, completely dumbfounded…