"Buzz buzz..." The compound eyes of the giant wasp were fixed on the flower of the Panax notoginseng sticking out of Shen Xingkong's waist bag.

"Don't be rash, I won't harm you... and you don't harm me, let's just stay out of each other's way," Shen Xingkong quickly calmed down, knowing that the wasp couldn't understand him. He just wanted to use a gentle voice to soothe it.

In his memory, birds didn't have cosmetic surgery and shouldn't look like this.

This wasn't a bird at all; it was clearly a gigantic wasp.

"Buzz..." The giant wasp slowly approached Shen Xingkong.

"Help!" Shen Xingkong had no choice but to run for his life. He wished he had four legs as he sprinted away, shouting for help.

Today was Tuesday, so there weren't many people around for an outing, and Shen Xingkong was deep in the forest. Even if he shouted himself hoarse, no one would come to his rescue.

The giant wasp seemed angered by Shen Xingkong. Its golden hairs stood on end like a low-flying fighter jet, chasing him with incredible speed, faster than lightning.

Although Shen Xingkong wished he had four legs, unfortunately, he only had two. Even if he had four, he couldn't outrun a flying wasp with wings.

He had only run ten meters before the wasp caught up with him.

The wasp suddenly grabbed Shen Xingkong from behind, its six legs wrapping around his upper body, with two legs even hugging his head. Then, the wasp's abdomen lifted high, as if gathering strength, and in the sunlight, its ten-centimeter-long stinger glinted coldly.

"Thud!"

Shen Xingkong had no strength to resist, his hands flailing in the air. With his head held by the wasp, he couldn't see anything. The wasp's stinger then pierced into his back, sliding along his spine into the bone marrow, injecting a dose of venom.

"Ah..." Shen Xingkong screamed in agony.

It's imaginable; in modern medicine, when harvesting bone marrow for stem cell transplants, a long needle is inserted into the spine, but this requires heavy anesthesia. Otherwise, the pain could cause a healthy person to have a heart attack and die.

Shen Xingkong only managed half a scream before collapsing heavily into the forest, losing consciousness from the immense pain. Years later, when he recalled the pain of being stung by the giant wasp, he still broke out in a cold sweat.

After defeating its "enemy," the giant wasp released Shen Xingkong. It then tried to retract its stinger to continue its nectar-gathering duties.

This is a sad fact, much like a virgin only understanding the bliss of intimacy after the experience. A wasp can only sting once in its life, and the process of stinging is also a suicidal act.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

The giant wasp's stinger was stuck between Shen Xingkong's vertebrae. When it tried to pull it out, it couldn't. Furious, the wasp thought, "How dare this human trouble me even in death?" Using all its strength, it flapped its half-meter-long wings, trying to lift off and pull out the stinger.

At this moment, the wasp's body trembled violently. It did lift off, but the barbed end of the stinger dragged out all its internal organs.

Realizing its grave mistake, the wasp, like a broken kite, wobbled up into the sky, flew a few kilometers away with the wind, and finally fell into another forest, hanging on a thick branch, becoming a feast for the birds.

Time passed, the light in the dense forest gradually dimmed, and night fell.

It wasn't until after eleven at night that Shen Xingkong slowly regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and grimaced in pain. He still hurt all over, unable to move a finger. Seeing the darkness around him, he almost thought he was in hell. Feeling the grass and leaves under him, he confirmed he was still alive.

"Is... anyone there..." Shen Xingkong's voice was hoarse. After calling out twice, he shut his mouth. Not knowing the wasp was dead, he feared his calls for help might attract it back.

After a long time, the pain subsided a bit. Gritting his teeth, he managed to stand up, cursing the teacher who had sent him to collect the Panax notoginseng. If he hadn't been forced to find it, he wouldn't have encountered the giant wasp, nor be stuck in the forest at night.

If Shen Xingkong ever made it big and got rich, he vowed to buy the medical vocational school and make that teacher clean toilets.

Dragging his exhausted body, Shen Xingkong half-walked and half-crawled down the mountain. He couldn't move fast, partly due to the pain and partly to avoid startling another giant wasp.

He also noticed something sticky on his body, with a strange smell, which disgusted him. He had no idea it was the remains of the wasp's internal organs.

It took Shen Xingkong two hours to get down the mountain. Luckily, as soon as he reached the bottom, he saw two headlights speeding toward him in the distance.

"Hey... hey hey..." Shen Xingkong didn't want to walk back to school; it would take him until morning. Enduring the pain, he ran to the middle of the road, waving frantically at the approaching vehicle.

Risking his life, he knew that night drivers, for safety reasons, wouldn't stop for anything on the road.

"Screech..." The small truck came to a screeching halt, stopping just half a meter in front of Shen Xingkong.

"Are you crazy?" The truck driver yelled at Shen Xingkong after lowering the window.

"Oh... bro, wait... help me out. I'm a student at the medical vocational school. I got hurt during a field practice. Can you give me a ride back to the city?" Shen Xingkong grimaced in pain but forced a smile as he explained through the window.

"What? You're a student?" The driver's anger subsided as he looked Shen Xingkong up and down.

"Of course. Look, I have a student ID." Shen Xingkong pulled out his student ID from his waist bag and handed it to the driver.

After checking the ID, the driver waved his hand generously, "Alright, get in. I'll take you home."

"Thank you, thank you!" Shen Xingkong sighed in relief. It seemed there were still good people in the world!

"Haven't had dinner, have you? There's bread and water in the truck. Help yourself."

"I won't be polite then!" Shen Xingkong was starving. He hadn't eaten lunch. He quickly opened the back door of the truck but felt something fall from his body as he climbed in.

"Hmm?"

Instinctively, Shen Xingkong stepped back and looked around. In the dim light of the truck's headlights, he saw a needle on the ground. It was about ten centimeters long, slightly curved at one end, and had a faint golden hue.

As a traditional Chinese medicine major, Shen Xingkong had acupuncture classes, and almost every student had their own set of needles. Shen Xingkong had a set too, in a sheepskin roll. Seeing the needle, he thought it had fallen from his set.

He quickly picked it up, unrolled his sheepskin case, and without looking, inserted the needle, then put the case back in his waist bag and climbed into the truck.