Taking the corpse of the male beetle with him wasn't going to be easy.
Touching it directly with his hands was too risky—one careless move, and he'd be poisoned.
What should he do?
Han Feng pondered for a moment, then his eyes landed on a small tree nearby. Without hesitation, he quickly snapped off two branches.
"Ah... that hurts! I didn't even provoke you! Why the hell are you hurting me?"
The small tree let out a cry of agony.
"Shut up!" Han Feng barked coldly. "I am the master of this island. Everything here belongs to me—including you! Snapping off a couple of branches is nothing. If you piss me off, I'll uproot you entirely."
Terrified, the small tree immediately fell silent.
Han Feng cast a side glance at it before plucking a leaf from one of its branches.
"Ouch! You just yanked my hair! That's too much!"
The tree howled again in protest.
Han Feng ignored it, casually swinging his entrenching tool in front of the tree.
Seeing the sharp metal glint in the sunlight, the small tree shuddered and instantly shut up, not daring to utter another word.
"Annoying thing."
With a snort, Han Feng used the two branches like chopsticks, carefully picking up the male beetle's corpse and placing it onto the leaf. Then, he wrapped it tightly and stuffed it into his pocket.
With that settled, he made his way toward the dense patch of thatch grass he had spotted earlier.
Just as he arrived, voices suddenly erupted from within the grass.
"Brothers, someone's coming to harvest us!"
"Really? Finally!"
"I've been waiting for this moment for a hundred thousand years! Hurry up and cut me down!"
"Cut me first! I have long, straight, slender leaves, and my body is in perfect shape. I'm totally your type!"
"You shameless flirt! Do you even hear yourself? You're a blade of grass, not a person! Get a grip!"
"You're embarrassing our entire thatch grass clan!"
"Honestly, being the same species as you is the greatest humiliation of my life!"
"Mind your own business! Hmph!"
Han Feng was momentarily baffled.
He had come here to cut the thatch grass. Once harvested, wouldn't they die? Then why were they begging him to do it?
Seeing him hesitate, the grass became restless.
"Hurry up and cut us already!"
"So many excellent thatch blades are standing right in front of you—how can you resist?"
"Swing your blade with passion, young man!"
"Are you blind? That's not a blade; it's a shovel!"
"Details, details!"
Shaking off his doubts, Han Feng raised his entrenching tool and began swinging furiously.
Chop! Chop! Chop!
After just a dozen strikes, a large patch of thatch grass collapsed, at least a hundred stalks strong.
He gathered them up and quickly tied them together into a bundle.
Just as he was about to continue cutting, the entrenching tool suddenly spoke.
"Enough already! I'm a shovel, meant for digging—not a sickle for cutting grass. Show me some respect, will you?"
"You're just a tool. What do you need respect for?" Han Feng scoffed and swung again.
With a loud chop, another seven or eight blades of grass fell.
Just then, a warning rang out in his mind.
"Human, watch out! The great locust horde is coming!"
Han Feng froze for a second, then quickly looked into the grass.
The once-still thatch began shaking violently, producing a chorus of rustling sounds.
In an instant, hundreds of large locusts burst out from the grass, forming a dense, writhing swarm.
Each locust was massive—at least ten centimeters long—its body either green or yellow-brown.
They crowded together like a surging green tide, an unsettling sight.
One particularly loud locust raised its voice.
"Brothers! This human is destroying our home! Can we let this slide?"
"No!"
"And what do we do when we can't let something slide?"
"We kill him!"
"That's right! Take him down!"
A hundred locust eyes locked onto Han Feng, filled with ruthless intent.
Han Feng smirked, his expression laced with disdain.
"You little insects think you can take me on? You seriously overestimate yourselves."
The locusts were furious.
"Brothers! This human is too arrogant!"
"Swarm him! Rip him apart!"
"Destroy anyone who dares harm our home!"
With a deafening roar, the locust horde charged at him like a torrential downpour.
Han Feng didn't panic.
Instead, he gripped his entrenching tool tightly and swung it with all his might.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Seven or eight locusts were sent flying, crashing to the ground. Motionless.
"Haha!"
Han Feng let out a wild laugh and swung again.
Another dozen locusts fell.
Just as he was about to swing once more, a sudden sharp pain shot through his leg.
"Huh?"
Frowning, he looked down and saw a particularly large locust clinging to his shin, its powerful mandibles sinking into his flesh.
With a sickening rip, his pants tore open, and a bloody wound appeared on his skin. Fresh blood gushed out, staining his pant leg red.
A wave of intense pain surged through his nerves.
"Sh*t!"
Han Feng gasped in shock and rage.
He hadn't expected the locusts' bite force to be this terrifying.
If he let them keep going, he'd be in serious trouble!
"Get off me!"
He stomped hard, sending the biting locust flying.
Just as he was about to finish it off, another locust suddenly leaped onto his crotch.
His eyes twitched violently.
If that thing bit down there...
The consequences were unimaginable!
Without hesitation, Han Feng snatched the locust and crushed it in his grip.
At the same time, it bit down on his finger, slicing open a bloody gash a centimeter long.
"Hiss—!"
Han Feng s*ck*d in a sharp breath, enduring the pain as he hurled the locust to the ground.
But before he could stomp it to death, the rest of the locust swarm surged forward.
Considering their horrifying bite force, he knew better than to stay put.
Turning on his heel, he bolted!
No matter how strong a tiger was, it couldn't fight off a pack of wolves.
Better to retreat for now.
The locusts didn't let up, chasing him relentlessly.
They pursued him for over twenty meters before finally giving up.
"Brothers! We did it!"
"We drove that filthy human away!"
"As long as we stand united, we have nothing to fear!"
Victorious, the locust army triumphantly marched back into the grass.
Meanwhile, Han Feng stood at a distance, panting heavily.
His forehead was damp with sweat, his heart still pounding in his chest.
"That was close..."
He sighed in relief, still shaken.
If he had been completely surrounded by those monsters, he wouldn't have just been injured—he might have lost his life.
But he wasn't leaving empty-handed.
His mission was to collect thatch.
If he didn't get what he came for, how could he call himself the ruler of this island?
So, after waiting for a while, ensuring the locusts had all returned to their hiding spots...
Han Feng stealthily crept back toward the grass.
Just as he reached it, a sharp voice cried out in alarm.
"Brothers! That d*mn human is back again!"