Dream Butterfly

Wang Liuyu also held Wang Luojing and questioned her at length. Clearly, she too felt for this well-behaved niece who had lost her father young, and she even slipped her a ten-Qian Gold banknote.

"Aunt, Jing'er can't take this. I heard Cousin Zhuo is currently trying to break through to the third level of the Qi Refining Realm. You should save it for him." Wang Luojing repeatedly waved her hands, refusing to accept it no matter what.

Normally, young clan members' cultivation resources mainly came from the clan's provisions. Beyond that, closer blood relatives, such as parents, would often find ways to support the younger generation.

But Wang Luojing's father, Wang Dingbang, had died five years ago. As a result, Luojing was at a disadvantage in this regard.

"Jing'er, if your aunt tells you to take it, then take it." Wang Liuyu said with slight annoyance. "Your father is gone. Can I, as your actual aunt, not help you a little?"

"Luojing, just accept it." Wang Shouzhe smiled from the side. "Don't let Third Aunt's kindness go to waste."

Naturally, he understood that after Wang Luojing and Wang Shouzhe had both displayed enormous value, their "bargain grandfather," Gongsun Mo, had specifically brought Third Aunt and Third Uncle over to keep them company. He intended to further strengthen the intimacy between the two sides and play the family-affection card again.

Besides, Wang Luojing was a future Spirit Insect Master. If they did not draw her close now, then when would they? Wang Shouzhe was naturally happy to see their relationship grow closer as well. After all, the Gongsun Clan's overall strength far surpassed that of the Ping'an Wang Clan.

"Yes, Fourth Brother. Thank you, Third Aunt." Wang Luojing obediently accepted it.

Afterward, the two families sat down to eat in cheerful harmony.

But this time, the protagonist being fussed over was not Wang Shouzhe, but Wang Luojing.

"Luojing." With a kindly expression, Gongsun Mo personally served her a bowl of White Jade Spirit Rice, then placed a large piece of Spirit-Horn Yak meat and a large piece of Spirit Fish on her plate. "You worked far too hard today. Eat more, and don't stand on ceremony."

Wang Luojing seemed at a loss, timidly glancing toward Wang Shouzhe. Every clan distributed its resources as a whole. As a girl from the Wang Clan's direct line, Wang Luojing ranked low in the clan's cultivation order. The Spirit Food allocated to her each month was extremely limited—when had she ever eaten so lavishly?

She pressed her lips together. She wanted to eat, yet did not dare to.

"Eat. Don't disappoint Grandfather's goodwill." Wang Shouzhe tenderly stroked her head. "Your brother will work harder from now on and strive to give everyone at home a good life."

"Mhm. Thank you, Fourth Brother. Thank you, Grandpa Gongsun." Wang Luojing obediently picked up her chopsticks and began shoveling White Jade Spirit Rice into her mouth in great mouthfuls, looking deeply satisfied.

Seeing how happily she ate, Wang Shouzhe felt comforted, yet also weighed down. He could feel the pressure of being a clan leader.

"Zhe'er, we have you to thank for this as well." Gongsun Mo poured Spirit Wine and said to Wang Shouzhe, "Our people have assessed it. With your support this time, our harvest will be reduced by at most twenty percent compared to last year. We have recovered losses worth over a thousand Qian Gold."

Over a thousand Qian Gold was an enormous sum to either the Gongsun Clan or the Wang Clan. What concerned Gongsun Mo even more was the goodwill Wang Shouzhe had shown toward the Gongsun Clan.

For that very reason, the Gongsun Clan had also shown the utmost sincerity in hosting Wang Shouzhe's group. There was more than enough Spirit Wine and Spirit Food. This one meal alone would cost at least a dozen Qian Gold.

"Grandfather is being too polite with me." Wang Shouzhe took a sip of Spirit Wine and said modestly, "Come to think of it, both our families were lucky. We happened to discover that my younger sister had grasped some insect-controlling arts."

Gongsun Qiang, the Young Clan Leader seated nearby, had bright, animated eyes. "Speaking of which, Shouzhe, you truly are fortunate. You had barely become Clan Leader when you unearthed a Spirit Insect Master from your clan. I wonder whether Luojing has a betrothed yet? Should we consider our Xiao Yan?"

"Huh?"

Wang Luojing had been busy eating rice and meat. At those words, her eyes widened round, as though she had been frightened.

"Eldest Uncle, Luojing is only twelve." Wang Shouzhe's tone carried a faint trace of displeasure. "Besides, Cousin is from the Gongsun Clan's main line, while our Luojing is merely from the direct line. I'm afraid they are not a suitable match."

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter." Gongsun Qiang seemed not to hear the meaning beneath Wang Shouzhe's words and kept talking. "A fine girl like Luojing—our family would never look down on her bloodline."

Wang Shouzhe rubbed his forehead. You may not mind, but our family does.

Fortunately, Gongsun Hui stepped in to block the barrage. "Brother, don't dream too beautifully. Our Luojing is a Spirit Insect Master with boundless future potential. Just look at her ability to control the Nine-Star Insect King. In the future, she will be the prized sweet bun of the entire Changning Guard. Purple Mansion Academy's Pest-Exterminating Powder had such a massive flaw—what clan would want to use it again?"

After a pause, Gongsun Hui continued, "Take the Gongsun Clan's sixteen thousand mu of fertile fields. One application of medicine per season, twice a year, means you spend more than three hundred Qian Gold on Pest-Exterminating Powder annually. If our Wang Clan charged the Gongsun Clan two hundred Qian Gold and sent a Spirit Insect Master personally to eliminate the pests, would you take that deal or not?"

Gongsun Hui's words seemed to awaken everyone at once.

Even Gongsun Mo drew in a sharp breath. The way he looked at Wang Luojing became exceptionally solemn, as though he were looking at a gold mine.

A Spirit Insect Master's ability to make money was simply too terrifying.

Wang Shouzhe had actually considered this business before. But with Luojing alone as a Spirit Insect Master, the number of places she could attend to within a limited time would inevitably be limited. At most, it would be remarkable if she could cover fifty or sixty thousand mu.

But even so, merely helping the various clans eliminate pests would earn at least seven or eight hundred Qian Gold a year—and that would still be a friendship-discount price.

Not to mention that Spirit Insect Masters excelled most at raising spirit insects. Among spirit insects, there were quite a few economically valuable types, such as Spirit Silkworms and Spirit Bees.

Thus, Eldest Aunt Gongsun Hui had voiced Wang Shouzhe's innermost thoughts. Gongsun Qiang, he was dreaming too beautifully. No family that produced such a golden child would be willing to marry her off.

"Shouzhe, you truly are blessed." When Gongsun Qiang looked at Wang Shouzhe again, his eyes were filled with envy and jealousy. He practically wished his own clan could produce a Spirit Insect Master as well.

Unfortunately, Spirit Insect Masters were not so easily produced.

For one thing, those with the talent to become Spirit Insect Masters were exceedingly rare. They had to possess the gift of communicating with insects, an extremely niche talent.

For another, none of the major clans possessed a Spirit Insect Master inheritance. It was difficult to identify Spirit Insect Master talent among their clansmen.

According to the intelligence gathered by the Gongsun Clan, there were only three Spirit Insect Masters in the entire Changning Guard region: one each in the Shanyin Liu Clan and the Changning Xu Clan, while the City Guard Office had one Spirit Insect Master Attendant.

Their intelligence was somewhat more detailed than Wang Shouzhe's, after all. The Shanyang Gongsun Clan was more powerful among the Spirit Platform clans.

Since both the Gongsun Clan and the Wang Clan intended to cultivate friendly ties, the dinner passed in joyful harmony.

The next day.

Having recovered her energy, Wang Luojing continued taming the newly captured Lacewing Insect Kings and Nine-Star Insect Kings. With her many previous experiences, Wang Luojing seemed to have improved considerably. In merely half an hour, she had tamed several Insect Kings.

By the afternoon, she had released all the Insect Kings into the other two farms. Next, the Gongsun Clan's clansmen and household retainers only needed to continue capturing wild Lacewing Insects and Nine-Star Insects, replenishing them in the farms' wheat fields.

With the Insect Kings restraining and leading them, those Lacewing Insects and Nine-Star Insects would not leave.

"Fourth Brother, the Insect Kings have only been tamed too shallowly." After finishing everything, Wang Luojing looked somewhat exhausted. "I'm afraid their wildness will return within a few days, so we will have to come again in a few days. Fourth Brother, let's go to the Yingxiu Lu Clan first."

"Luojing, you look rather tired." Wang Shouzhe said with concern. "How about resting for the night before we go?"

"Fourth Brother, I'm fine." Wang Luojing shook her head. "The signs of the insect plague growing are becoming more and more obvious. If we wait until tomorrow, the Lu Clan will suffer severe losses. Fourth Brother, I know about your relationship with the Yingxiu Lu Clan..."

Yes, their relationship.

In truth, purely in terms of blood ties, the Yingxiu Lu Clan was extremely close to Wang Shouzhe. His mother, who had died young from illness, had been a daughter of the Yingxiu Lu Clan and the younger sister of the Lu Clan's current Clan Leader, Lu Zhengxiong.

Furthermore, Lu Zhengxiong's principal wife came from the Wang Clan's sixth-generation main line. She was Wang Shouzhe's actual aunt, Wang Liuling.

This custom of exchanging marriages was common among Profound Martial Aristocratic Clans. Mutual marriages between the main lines of two clans brought their intimacy to its peak.

The only accident was that Wang Shouzhe's birth mother, Lu Mengxue, had died of illness when he was six, leaving behind a young son and daughter. In Wang Shouzhe's memories, his memories of his birth mother had always been the most tenacious. Even now, thinking of her still caused him deep pain.

Fortunately, his stepmother, Gongsun Hui, had treated him wonderfully since childhood, regarding him as her own. Gradually, he came to accept his stepmother, and much of the hurt in his heart faded away.

As his memories and emotions merged ever more deeply, Wang Shouzhe gradually felt himself becoming more and more integrated into this world, as though he had grown up here from childhood. His memories of Earth, meanwhile, slowly came to resemble a dream.