Chapter 49: Black Blood Moth

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Black Blood Moth

"Qing Lan, Qing Yue, look at how out of breath you two are! Did you skip your cultivation to sneak out and play again?"

Yun Wan slammed down the infested Jade Long Grass in her hand and scolded them with a stern face.

Hearing this, the two little girls instantly lost their excitement. They hung their heads and twiddled their thumbs, not daring to speak.

Yun Wan sighed inwardly. She knew full well that seven-year-olds were at a playful age. Making them sit still and cultivate was harder than training monkeys. But she had no choice. She understood the true nature of this world far too well. For the sake of their future, Yun Wan had to harden her heart.

However, seeing her daughters on the verge of tears softened her resolve. She sighed. "If you want to play from now on, you can only do so in the courtyard for a little while. No more than four hours a day, understood?"

At this, Qing Lan and Qing Yue’s gloomy expressions instantly cleared up. They rushed over, each planting a big kiss on one of Yun Wan’s cheeks.

"We know! You’re the best, Mother!"

Yun Wan rubbed their heads and chuckled, "You two sure know how to sweet-talk."

"Are you hungry?"

"Uh-huh!"

"So hungry... so, so hungry!" Qing Lan and Qing Yue rubbed their bellies and chimed with giggles.

Yun Wan picked up the Jade Long Grass. "Let’s go. We’ll head back, and I’ll make you some rice balls."

"Hehe, yay!"

On the way back, the two little girls chattered endlessly about Li Changsheng’s courtyard. They babbled about some giant weirdo and a massive, massive beast.

Yun Wan nodded along absently, occasionally glancing at the Jade Long Grass in her hand, a worried look in her eyes.

Ever since Dong Xing brought people to inspect for insect infestations yesterday, this was already the second wave of pests she had exterminated. Up to a hundred Spirit Plants had been damaged. She only had a thousand stalks of Jade Long Grass planted in her one acre of Spirit Field, meaning she had just lost a tenth of her crop in one fell swoop. She had tended to them meticulously for a year. Just when they were about to be harvested, an insect plague had broken out.

"Sigh... I hope the Steward can find the Insect Mother as soon as possible," Yun Wan murmured, shaking her head. The anxiety never left her eyes.

Oblivious to their mother’s worries, Qing Lan and Qing Yue giggled as they chased each other in circles.

In the Spirit Field Hall, Steward Ma listened to Wu Sheng’s report, his face growing increasingly gloomy.

"Are you saying that more than half of the Low-grade Spirit Fields have been struck by the insect plague?"

Wu Sheng replied respectfully, "Yes, my lord. Furthermore, if the Black Blood Moth Mother Insect advances into a demonic insect, even the Mid-grade Spirit Fields might suffer from the plague."

Steward Ma toyed with the Jade Ruyi in his hands, his expression shifting constantly. A moment later, he ordered Wu Sheng, "Go find disciples who practice Insect Control Techniques and bring them to the Spirit Field Hall."

"Yes, my lord," Wu Sheng replied respectfully, turning to head for the door.

"Wait." Steward Ma thought for a moment before adding, "Issue an announcement under my personal name: anyone who eradicates the insect plague will be heavily rewarded!"

"Yes, my lord." Wu Sheng paused, bowed in acknowledgment, and turned to leave the room.

Inside the room, Steward Ma flipped his hand to take out a glowing white jade stone. He whispered a few words into it, then closed his eyes to rest. The runes carved into the Jade Ruyi in his hand flashed with spiritual light, emitting powerful fluctuations of Spiritual Power.

After receiving his orders, Wu Sheng first posted the quest in the Spirit Field Hall. Then, he leveraged his various connections to seek out Cultivators who practiced Spirit Worm Manipulation Skills. However, those who practiced this type of Magic were exceedingly rare. Even after searching high and low, he could only find three people.

As for the quest posted in the Spirit Field Hall, not a single person had accepted it.

By the time Wu Sheng returned with the three individuals, Steward Ma’s expression had already returned to normal.

"Greetings, Steward!" the three greeted respectfully in unison.

Steward Ma swept a glance over them. Two were at Late-Stage Qi Cultivation, and one was at Mid-Qi Cultivation.

"Rise. I assume Wu Sheng has already told you what you need to do this time?"

The three nodded. While in the hall, Wu Sheng had explained that they were needed to manipulate spirit insects to track down an Insect Mother. Over the past two days, they had also heard rumors of an insect plague breaking out in the Spirit Fields. They figured their task was to locate the Insect Mother at the root of the disaster.

Steward Ma stood up and said, "Let’s go."

"Yes, Steward," the three complied respectfully.

Stepping out of the Spirit Field Hall, a burst of azure light erupted, enveloping the four of them as they soared into the sky and vanished over the horizon.

In a small courtyard at the edge of the Spirit Fields, Li Changsheng was busy building beast enclosures.

Since he already had the first enclosure as a reference, he quickly finished framing the second and third ones. Then, he began filling them with ironwood logs of various sizes. Grooves were carved into both sides of every ironwood log, allowing them to interlock perfectly when stacked.

As the logs piled up, it took him no more than four hours to finish building the two crude enclosures. To ensure they wouldn’t fall apart, Li Changsheng leaped onto the roof and hammered numerous wooden pegs into the center and four corners of the structures. At this point, all that was left was to slather a layer of mud over the roofs to complete the job.

Without hesitation, he got to work. Li Changsheng cut down some weeds, dug up some dirt, added water, and started mixing it all together.

Before long, two crude yet brand-new beast enclosures took shape. Li Changsheng washed his hands, stepped up to the structures, and pulled open the doors of the newly built enclosures.

With a flicker of his thoughts, two Red Foxes—each half a meter long and sporting entirely fiery-red coats—appeared inside. The two Red Foxes stared at their unfamiliar surroundings in momentary confusion before huddling in the corner in terror, letting out a series of WHIMPERS.

"Hurry up and birth me a litter of pups, or I’ll skin you, pull out your tendons, and eat you!"

Not caring whether they understood him or not, Li Changsheng intimidated them before turning around and leaving the enclosure.

The Little Tusked Pigs were still a bit too young. He had to wait a few more days for them to be weaned before moving them to another enclosure. As for the Little White Jade Fox? He planned to keep it as a pet. After all, who wouldn’t love a fluffy, sweet-smelling little cub?

Back in the courtyard, Li Changsheng looked at the leftover scraps of wood, a thought stirring in his mind.

The wooden cabin didn’t even have a single chair. It was far too shabby. If he had guests over in the future, he couldn’t just make them sit on the floor, could he? Pondering this, Li Changsheng picked up his Rune Hoe and started chiseling away again.

Compared to building beast enclosures, making tables and chairs was undoubtedly much simpler. He didn’t bother with intricate patterns or fancy shapes. The table was just a few tree stumps joined together with mortise and tenon joints. The chairs were made from a few thinner branches attached to a tree stump. However, due to his limited materials, the final products ended up as simple stools.

Looking at the rough table and stools before him, Li Changsheng actually felt quite satisfied. They fully embraced a rugged, unpolished aesthetic.

After washing them off, he moved them into the wooden cabin.

Li Changsheng stepped outside, walked to the courtyard gate, and threw his leg over Xiaohua’s back. "Let’s go, Xiaohua! Time to earn some Spirit Stones!"

OINK OINK...

Xiaohua grunted twice, stood up, and trotted out the courtyard gate. Under Li Changsheng’s direction, the beast followed the small path heading toward Dong Xing’s Spirit Field.

In midair, Big Bro led a squad of twenty Red-winged Blood Bamboos, hovering unsteadily. Meanwhile, Little Bro led another squad of twenty Red-winged Blood Bamboos, sweeping through the surrounding weeds to hunt down other insects.

Watching this scene unfold, Li Changsheng couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. The Spirit Worm Manipulation Skill was simply too useful. He didn’t have to do anything himself; the insects would take care of everything for him.

Just as he was leisurely making his way toward Dong Xing’s Spirit Field, the three Cultivators trained in Insect Control Techniques brought by Steward Ma began to deploy their respective methods.