Signs of the Insect Plague

Just the Fenggu Farm alone has so much fertile land, and two hundred tenant households?

Wang Shouzhe looked at the crisscrossing paths between the fields, with irrigation ditches of varying sizes weaving through them, and felt a wave of emotion. This was the foundation of a clan with a century of heritage.

"Our Fenggu Farm utilizes the traditional rotation of winter wheat and summer millet, and we are currently in the busy season where the winter wheat is nearing maturity while the summer millet seedlings are being cultivated," Wang Shounuo said, a hint of joy appearing on his face. "This spring, the rainfall has been plentiful without flooding, and the sunlight has been abundant without being scorching, which is extremely favorable for the growth of the winter wheat. It looks like it will be a bumper harvest season."

At this, even Wang Shouzhe felt a glimmer of satisfaction. The difference between a bumper harvest and a poor one was immense; a larger grain yield meant more development capital for the clan.

"Wrong, wrong." Wang Luojing, who was like a little tail following them, pouted and said, "Third Brother, you're wrong. If things go poorly, the winter wheat might have a poor harvest this year."

What?

Wang Shounuo's smiling face stiffened, and he said sternly, "Luojing, you little girl, you mustn't talk nonsense. Even Grandfather and some of the experienced tenant farmers say that nine times out of ten, it will be a bumper harvest. You're just a child, what do you know? If Grandfather hears you cursing us with a poor harvest, he'll likely scold you again."

Frightened by his tone, Wang Luojing immediately hid behind Wang Shouzhe.

"Third Brother, Fifth Sister is still young. Children speak without malice; why are you bickering with her?" Wang Shouzhe smiled and patted her head to soothe her.

"Fourth Brother, you don't know the situation." Wang Shounuo gave a helpless, bitter smile. "You don't know, but our Fifth Sister, young as she is, is quite the eccentric. She loves playing with all sorts of insects from morning till night. When she was two or three, she could squat in the courtyard for days just watching ants. A while back, she pestered me to help her catch some sort of Lacewing Insect King. She cried and threw a tantrum until I went, and it took me four or five days of searching all over the mountains to catch two—I ended up covered in mosquito bites."

"It's the Lacewing Insect King, it's recorded in the ancient Insect Classic." Wang Luojing poked half her head out from behind Wang Shouzhe again, earnestly correcting Wang Shounuo. "Brother, you're so embarrassing; your handsome head is completely empty. Although the Profound Martial Aristocratic Clan was founded on martial arts, culture and knowledge are the roots of a clan's heritage."

The latter half of that sentence was her mimicking Wang Shouzhe's way of scolding them, used now to belittle Wang Shounuo.

Sure enough, Wang Shounuo's face turned dark, and he could only mumble dejectedly, "Yes, yes, I'm ignorant. Next time you ask me, I won't go catch insects for you."

"I'll ask Fourth Brother to help; Fourth Brother is ten thousand times more capable than you." Wang Luojing tugged at Wang Shouzhe's lapel, feeling emboldened as if she had found a backer.

This made Wang Shouzhe chuckle. It seemed she really was quite eccentric; she was only reserved in front of him. Look at how she had nearly made Wang Shounuo faint with anger.

"Alright, alright. Luojing, tell me, why would there be a poor harvest when the weather has been so favorable?" Wang Shouzhe asked casually. "Don't be afraid, it doesn't matter if you're wrong."

With Wang Shouzhe backing her, Wang Luojing's courage grew. "Last winter was too warm; there was only one light snowfall."

Wang Shounuo immediately rolled his eyes. "While they say a timely snow promises a good harvest, that's just a saying. Does a lack of snow mean a poor harvest this year?"

"It's different." Wang Luojing said very seriously, "It was a warm winter last year, and while the spring rains this year were indeed good, it hasn't rained for over ten days now. The weather is dry and hot."

"Luojing." Wang Shounuo said dismissively, "We have already opened the sluice gates on the Fenggu tributary to release water; the winter wheat won't lack for water. Besides, the good sunlight helps the wheat grains grow plump."

"But it also helps the honey-insects grow." Wang Luojing rolled her eyes.

Honey-insects?

Wang Shounuo shivered, hesitating as he said, "Honey-insects are unavoidable. They appear every year, and it's normal for them to cause some reduction in yield... Besides, last winter, we applied Pest-Exterminating Powder to the fields."

However, his voice lacked conviction as he said this. Honey-insects were the natural enemy of winter wheat. A small-scale outbreak was fine—at most, it meant a slight reduction in grain—but a large-scale outbreak would be a catastrophe.

In the records of the Wang Clan, the most severe honey-insect disaster occurred seventy-three years ago. The infestation spread across the entire Longzuo Prefecture, causing an eighty percent reduction in the winter wheat harvest that year. Grain prices skyrocketed in a short time; some clans could survive on their stored grain, but many commoners with weak assets suffered terribly, with many forced to sell their children.

Even more terrifying was that the infestation dragged on for three years, to the point where even some noble clans could no longer hold out. Had the Purple Mansion Academy not intervened by shipping massive quantities of grain into Longzuo Prefecture and refining vast amounts of the ancient-formula Pest-Exterminating Powder, the entire prefecture would likely have been reduced to a wasteland of corpses, devoid of all human life.

For a moment, Wang Shouzhe frowned. "Luojing, do you have any way to prove what you're saying?"

Fenggu Farm and Xingsheng Farm were the two major grain-producing bases for the Wang Clan. If an aphid outbreak were truly occurring, it would be a disaster on top of disaster for the current Wang Clan.

"Brother, try checking a few more filling wheat ears." Wang Luojing's expression was also quite grave.

Wang Shounuo felt a sense of unease. He walked into the field, grabbed a wheat ear at random, and flipped it over. He saw tiny green specks on the ears that had just begun to fill.

He flipped through several more; some had more, some had fewer, but there was no doubt they were honey-insects.

Wang Shouzhe was at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm; his physical fitness and eyesight were far beyond that of an ordinary person. At a glance, he saw that those green specks were plump little insects. He was slightly stunned—weren't these aphids?

Wang Shouzhe had very little knowledge in this area and could only barely guess that they were some kind of aphid. He had no interest in agriculture, and the apps with powerful algorithms naturally wouldn't push such content to him.

"There are indeed more honey-insects this year than in previous years." Wang Shounuo said, filled with doubt. "But that doesn't necessarily mean there will be a plague, right? We can treat it by mixing wood ash water with some Pest-Exterminating Powder. At most, it will just be a slightly lower yield than last year."

"Brother!" Wang Luojing stomped her foot. "I already said there's a big problem with the climate. Too many insect eggs from last year were left in the soil. In two days at the soonest, or three or four at the latest, a massive number of honey-insects will hatch, and there's a high probability of a second wave in seven or eight days."

"You few, come here." Wang Shouzhe beckoned to a few tenant farmers working not far away. "Pull up this small patch of wheat and turn over the soil."

"This... Young Master Shounuo..." The tenant farmers shrank their heads, looking at Wang Shounuo with hesitation. They didn't dare, and they were reluctant to do it. This wheat could be harvested in ten days; it was all white, precious grain.

"Listen to the Clan Leader." Wang Shounuo didn't dare offend Wang Shouzhe and stepped forward himself to pull up the wheat.

The tenant farmers also shouldered their hoes and began to turn the soil.

Before long, that small patch of wheat was pulled up, and the land had been turned over.

"This..." Wang Shounuo carefully inspected the roots of the pulled wheat, his expression shifting from grave to utter shock. "How can it be like this? How can it be like this?"

There were many tiny white specks on the roots, a shocking sight. Most of the wheat roots had them, just in varying quantities.

And in the turned soil, if one looked closely, one could see a large number of those white specks.

Wang Shounuo's heart sank, and a sense of foreboding welled up. "Quick, quick, go call Grandfather here."

"Quick, notify Grandfather, and notify all the tenant farmers to immediately start soaking the stored wood ash." Wang Shounuo had studied agriculture under his grandfather for two years and had at least some basic skills.

The tenant farmers began to busy themselves.

Before long, Fourth Grand-Uncle Wang Xiaozhi arrived. His expression was ugly to the extreme. "How can it be like this? How could so many honey-insect eggs grow in the soil? After last year's autumn harvest, we clearly deep-plowed the fields and spread the Pest-Exterminating Powder just like always. Could there be a problem with that powder?"

"Grandfather, it was a warm winter last year..." Wang Luojing reminded him cautiously from the side.

"You little girl, I've been farming for a lifetime; do you think I know less than you?" Wang Xiaozhi snapped, as if his tail had been stepped on. "Ten years ago was also a warm winter, the climate was exactly the same as this year, and the result was a bumper harvest in Longzuo with granaries full! In my opinion, the problem lies with the Pest-Exterminating Powder. That damned Qian Clan Trading Firm must have sold us fake powder! And to think I even hoarded a large batch of it while the price was low!"

As they traded words back and forth, Wang Shouzhe recalled some scattered knowledge and couldn't help but frown. "The Qian Clan Trading Firm has branches all over Longzuo and has always valued its commercial reputation. If they were to sell fake Pest-Exterminating Powder and cause a plague of insects in Longzuo, I fear they could not bear the consequences. Could there be a possibility that the aphids—no, the honey-bugs—have survived repeated encounters with the Pest-Exterminating Powder, and those with strong resistance have gradually formed a widespread immunity?"

Although Wang Shouzhe had not been involved in agriculture in his previous life, he knew that whether it was bacteria, viruses, or living organisms, they would constantly undergo genetic mutation and evolution. This evolution was almost entirely irregular, yet most of it would be eliminated by nature.

It was entirely reasonable that some honey-bugs, having evolved in the direction of drug resistance, had survived the repeated confrontations with the Pest-Exterminating Powder and gradually proliferated.

However, Wang Xiaozhi could not comprehend what biological evolution meant at all. He simply frowned and said, "Shouzhe, stop spouting nonsense here. The Pest-Exterminating Powder worked perfectly fine before; why would it suddenly stop working this year?"

"Grandfather, I actually think Fourth Brother makes sense," Wang Luojing said. "Grandfather, have you forgotten? For the past few years, I've always heard you complaining that the Pest-Exterminating Powder seems to be working less and less effectively. Why are there honey-bugs every year?"

Wang Xiaozhi's expression stiffened, and his face grew increasingly ugly. In recent years, especially since that bumper harvest ten years ago, there had been a trend of honey-bugs gradually increasing. However, because the overall situation remained within a tolerable range, he had merely felt annoyed by it.

Wang Shouzhe was now almost certain that aphids with strong drug resistance had already multiplied and spread. The warm winter of the previous season had allowed most of the insect eggs to survive, and when combined with this year's climate, which was suitable for aphid growth, the scene before them had unfolded.

This wave of trouble was massive. Even Wang Shouzhe couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle; he had no ability to formulate a new "pesticide"...

It truly was a case of a leaky roof happening to coincide with a rainy night! Under this disaster, would life for the Wang Clan become even more difficult?

"Fourth Brother." Wang Luojing pulled Wang Shouzhe to one side and whispered, "I have a way to solve the honey-bug problem, but I'm afraid of Grandfather, so I dare not say it!"

What?

Wang Shouzhe was stunned, looking at her in disbelief.