It was almost the end of the year. Under normal circumstances, it was already autumn and the temperature should have dropped. However, the Fearsome Beast Forest was still active. There was no sign of autumn. In fact, the weather was even hotter.
"This time last year, it was the same." The old shaman sat on a rock and looked at the forest in the distance. He sighed. "No, this year is hotter than last year."
The unusual changes in the weather made people uneasy.
Fortunately, they were much calmer this year because of last year's experience. Plus, the two divisions of the Yanjiao tribe had reunited this year. It could calm people down and boost their morale. If there were any problems, they could solve it together.
After experiencing the unusually cold winter on the other side of the sea, Zheng Luo and the others felt uncomfortable. But it was better to be warm than to be frozen, right?
The warm weather also had its disadvantages. The animals in the forest, which should have started to wilt, were all unusually active. These flying insects were only one of them. When hunters entered the forest to hunt, they could clearly feel that these ferocious beasts had no intention of staying through the winter. They were quite energetic. Poisonous snakes and insects were also a problem.
"What's going on over there?" The old shaman walked over with a taut face. She looked at a group of people rushing out of the forest not far away.
"Keke, what's going on over there?" The old shaman stopped Keke who was running away.
Hearing the shaman call him, Keke rushed over to explain. "Shaman, I heard there are a lot of insects eating the cabbages in the fields outside. The chief is so angry that he wants us to help."
"A lot of insects?" The two shamans were shocked. The first thing they thought of was the Veins of the Sky planted in the forest. They hurried to the fields to check, afraid that there would be insects there.
The good thing was that there was not a single flying insect in the area where the Veins of the Sky were planted. Even underground, there were very few insects. These Veins of the Sky seemed to be naturally resistant to insects. Of course, this was only limited to the unbroken Veins of the Sky.
Seeing this, the two shamans calmed down. They waved Keke to go outside to help kill the insects. There were many things planted in the fields. Some had not sprouted, some had just sprouted. The ones that suffered the most were the cabbages.
"If it was in the past, those bugs wouldn't be so active." Worry appeared in the Shaman's eyes.
Excluding last year's situation, at this time of the year, under normal circumstances, many of the insects in the forest would be preparing for winter and would not fly around in groups. Ever since the people of Yanjiao came here, they had never encountered such an insect disaster. Perhaps it was because of the weather, but these insects that had no intention of staying through the winter all came out to move around, as if they were welcoming another spring.
In addition, Yanjiao's expansion of farmland outside the forest attracted a lot of flying insects.
Previously, they had only seen a small wave of flying insects occasionally. The people guarding the fields could still handle it, but now that there were so many of them, they could not handle it. They could only rely on the help of more soldiers.
When Shao Xuan arrived, the farm was in chaos.
Swords, sabers, sticks, hammers, and so on were all huddled together noisily.
Those flying insects were more than 20 centimeters long. Shao Xuan swatted one down with his sword and pinched it to take a look.
It was a light green flying insect with a slight tinge of yellow. It had two large compound eyes, a slightly wide chest, a slender abdomen, and two pairs of almost transparent wings with crisscrossing net-like patterns. It had five pairs of slender legs with sharp claws. The front pair of legs were used for catching. When it landed on a leaf, these slender claws could firmly hold on to the leaf, preventing it from falling.
These flying insects also had chewing mouthparts, so they could chew leaves very quickly.
It was these flying insects that made the soldiers in the tribe so anxious that they wanted to fly into flames. They could handle large ferocious beasts, but when faced with so many small flying insects, they could not handle them all at once. Moreover, when these flying insects flew high, it became harder for them to kill them. Using arrows? That was not suitable either.
These flying insects could not fly too high, but after all, the soldiers could not fly. Even if they could jump a little higher, it would be difficult for them to kill the insects. Sometimes, when there were too many insects, there would be too many people. When killing the insects, some people would jump into the air and crash into them. Not only did they not kill the insects, but they also made their own people dizzy.
Someone thought of pulling a net, but the area of the farmland was too big. It was impossible to cover all the land in one go. Moreover, unless the seams of the net were made smaller, it would be useless against these flying insects. They could squeeze through the seams of the net.
It was not easy to get rid of this wave of insects, and the busy people finally took a break.
"Someone went to weave a net. We can cover another batch today, but it's not a good idea to keep doing this." Mai looked at the gnawed leaves and said angrily.
Shao Xuan also thought about it.
Farming had to let the crops see Yang Guang. A net that was too dense could block some flying insects, but it would also block Yang Guang. It was not a safe method.
Spraying pesticides?
Not to mention that they had not developed it yet, even if they did, no one could guarantee that the descendants of the dead insects would be healthy. The conditions were limited, and there was no way to study the ratio more precisely.
"It's up to us." Keke, who was sitting at the side and panting, was sweating profusely. He had never felt that killing insects was so tiring. They had to kill the flying insects and pay attention not to step on the things planted in the ground. It was really difficult.
Some people used a thick wooden board to hit the insects, but the effect was limited.
"You can make some small holes on the board, and then cut the bottom of the board to make a handle. That way, it's easier to hold," Shao Xuan said.
The eyes of the warrior holding the board lit up. He felt that this method was feasible, and then he took out his tools and started to cut the board.
Some people were cleaning up the mess, picking up the dead insects on the ground and putting them together. Because the stupid birds they raised did not eat these insects, and the other animals they raised were mostly vegetarians, they made the dead insects into fertilizer to fertilize the land. This also made the people in the tribe feel relieved. Little bug, come on. In the end, didn't you become fertilizer for the land?
Shao Xuan looked around and walked back into the forest. He wanted to go to the casting room.
It was nighttime.
Because the cabbage in the field was no longer a secret, the surrounding area was not too tightly guarded. After experiencing the insect disaster during the day, the warriors guarding the farmland were a little tired.
A figure sneaked in with the night, like a thin leaf blown by the wind. It lightly flipped over the wooden fence around the cabbage field and landed on the ground with a slight sound.
After the black shadow landed on the ground, it listened carefully to make sure that it did not attract the attention of the people guarding the farmland. Then, it "floated" up again and landed on a cabbage like a butterfly. It left as soon as it touched the cabbage. There was only a short "chi" sound, which sounded like an inconspicuous insect.
Still, no one paid attention to it.
Hiding in the shadow of a cabbage taller than a person, the man took a cut leaf to his nose and sniffed it. This small leaf was cut from a cabbage ball near the middle. He had heard from the people in Yanjiao that the leaves near the middle of the cabbage ball were crisper and tasted better. He had been watching for a few days, and wanted to come and try the newly discovered vegetables in Yanjiao. Today, he finally had the chance.
He was a vegetarian and did not like meat. He put the small leaf in his mouth and tasted it. After chewing it carefully, he felt that it was quite good. It was crispy and fresh.
After hiding for so long, he finally got something he was satisfied with.
The two moons in the sky cast moonlight that was not very bright. From time to time, there were clouds blocking the light. The guards who glanced inside did not notice that under a cabbage leaf taller than a person, there was a person hiding in the shadow that was darker than the night.
After eating the leaf, the man looked around. When he jumped up, he quickly glanced around. Even though it was very dark, he could still see his surroundings clearly. He remembered that there was a bigger cabbage not far away, much bigger than the other cabbages around it. When he jumped up, he saw it from the corner of his eye. He decided to start with the biggest cabbage.
He wondered how the people in Yanjiao would react when they found out that the biggest cabbage in the field was missing a cabbage ball in the middle. Thinking about it, he was looking forward to it.
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