Chapter 602: Pests Together with the Mice
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
He looked at the stone quietly and reached out his hand to press on it. He held his breath in deep concentration.
Ah?
w.a.n.g Yao felt that the stone seemed to be shaking and slightly vibrating.
How is that happening?
He felt it for a while.
There is something inside! What is it? What about breaking it to see?
At this point, he could even break open a piece of steel in front of him. This was just a stone.
Woof! Woof! The dog behind him was barking with uneasiness.
Wait! What might be in the stone? Hibernating frogs, snakes, mice, or pests? If the stone was broken open, what should I do if they rush out?
w.a.n.g Yao decided to leave. The dog stayed behind him. Before long, he returned with a large bucket of alcohol.
“San Xian, go back,” he said.
The dog saw w.a.n.g Yao’s gesture and stepped back.
w.a.n.g Yao reached out his hand to press the stone, slightly exerting his power. Crack! The stone made a crisp sound. It then broke open and fell to the ground. Nothing happened. He continued to use his force. The stone slowly broke.
He suddenly stopped. He saw a worm about the size of a locust. Its body was dark with black carapace and sharp limbs. It had a pair of big claws that were out of proportion with the body and some type of spike, similar to a bee’s stinger. He had no idea what it was.
w.a.n.g Yao was shocked. He lived in this small mountain village many years and had almost been to every corner of the mountains. He had never seen such insects.
This worm seemed to feel the changes in the external environment and strange creature nearby. It quickly climbed toward w.a.n.g Yao fiercely, trying to sting him.
“Interesting!” w.a.n.g Yao pinched it. The worm became mud.
He continued to break the stone. The interior of the stone was like a honeycomb. A large number of bugs climbed out.
Woof! Woof! The dog kept barking and rushed forward.
“Go back, San Xian!” w.a.n.g Yao shouted.
He shook his hand and got a few of the bugs into a porcelain bottle. He then opened the barrel of alcohol with him, drenched the honeycomb-like object, and ignited it.
Bang! The flame instantly burned and made a squeaky sound, like a fried egg. It gave off a pungent smell.
What kind of bugs were they? Why were they in the stone, and where did they come from?
At this time, there were many questions in w.a.n.g Yao’s mind. He could only confirm that these worms were likely to have an inseparable relations.h.i.+p with the sudden outbreak of infectious diseases. He had to eliminate these seemingly terrible bugs.
Break!
w.a.n.g Yao punched the stone still burning with flames. Crack! The stone broke like a sugar crispy. More insects fell out from inside. The flame was still burning. He quickly poured out more alcohol. The squeaky sound went on.
Suddenly, he saw a mouse running out. He quickly reached out his hand to grab the mouse. He held it in his hand. The hair on its whole body was black. It was struggling trying to bite w.a.n.g Yao but broke two teeth.
Lay off! w.a.n.g Yao bent his finger to flip.
Crack! Crack! Both of its legs were broken.
“San Xian, watch it. If it wants to run, kill it!” w.a.n.g Yao threw the mouse on the ground and turned to continue dealing with the worms.
Alcohol didn’t seem to be enough. He found dry wood from all around and even pulled out a pine tree. In the end, he broke the whole stone and killed a large numbers of insects in it.
Behind the stone there were dense wormholes and mice holes. w.a.n.g Yao did not understand how the mice lived with the bugs. He would think about it later. For now, he had to determine how many bugs there were and the size of their cave. He continued to dig along the wormhole. He did it slowly, though he could have done it faster.
After digging a depth of about three feet, he could determine size of the caves. Although these worms were wiped out, he did not relax. His worry was even heavier.
What about any other places?
He did not hesitate and went to the nearest place of death and dug several pits. There were no wormholes but there were mice holes. He went to another place and found the same thing.
Mouse? Plague? Variant! What about those bugs? What do they eat?
w.a.n.g Yao left Xishan Hill with heavy doubts.
“San Xian, go back on your own. Be careful on the road,” he said.
The dog returned to Nanshan Hill.
“Is there something to worry about?” Zhang Xiuying noticed that her son seemed preoccupied during dinner..
“Yes, there is something I don’t understand,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“Just eat for now,” she said.
When eating, w.a.n.g Yao was still thinking about the matter. He ate very quickly. After the meal, he hurried up the mountain.
“What happened to our son? He seems to be so concerned,” Zhang Xiuying said.
“No worries, let him go,” w.a.n.g Fenghua said.
“Hey, you didn’t even ask him,” she replied.
w.a.n.g Yao hurriedly went to Nanshan Hill. The bugs he caught from Xishan were poured into a transparent can bottle and observed. These bugs were very disturbing and manic.
“What do they eat?” He first threw some plant leaves in the bottle. The bugs did not react at all. They just crawled up and down.
He then threw in a small piece of meat. The bugs rushed over and ate.
w.a.n.g Yao frowned. Eating meat? Why didn’t I find any signs in the cave?
They feed fast. In a short amount of time, the small pieces of meat were gone.
w.a.n.g Yao thought for a while. He took a piece of sedge from the system grid and placed it in the mouth of the bottle. The bugs immediately became extraordinarily fl.u.s.tered. It was as if they saw their natural enemies.
Sure enough, they are afraid of this!
Later, w.a.n.g Yao found a piece of bone and threw it in. These insects actually ate it, and the speed of foraging was not slow.
Finally, he threw the dying mouse into it and a strange thing happened. The insects didn’t eat it.
Why is that? w.a.n.g Yao was surprised. They don’t eat live things? That’s not right. There must be something on it that these bugs don’t eat!
In order to verify this, he hurried down the mountain and returned home.
“What? A rabbit?!” After hearing her son’s request, Zhang Xiuying was somewhat confused. “Why do you want one?
“I’m doing an experiment,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“Experiment?” Although she didn’t know what this experiment was, Zhang Xiuying absolutely supported his son. “Wait, I’ll ask.”
“A rabbit or a chicken is fine,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“At this point, many people in the village have killed their livestock,” Zhang Xiuying said.
“Then, you don’t have to rush into this. I’ll go out for it,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
He drove to the town and bought some chicken and rabbits. He then returned home.
“Mom, can you raise them for now?” he asked.
“Boy, why did you buy so many of them. See? It is sick, and so is this one. You did not take a close look when buying. They cannot live for long,” Zhang Xiuying complained.
w.a.n.g Yao had just bought them with checking them out. But, he had bought them an experiment, not for eggs or eating.
Not long after, he went back to Nanshan Hill. He put a chicken in with the insects, which became very excited. It was as if they saw a new friend. the rushed forward, which was completely different from when they saw the dying mice.
Sure enough, there is something on that mice!
Next, he had to determine whether the bugs and mice carried the pathogens. w.a.n.g Yao could not do that just anywhere since it could be a considerable risk.