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Chapter 196: 191 Zhong Si_i

Qin Niu’s eyebrows slightly furrowed.

After the accidental discovery of Old Master Huang’s true identity, he had already sensed from various signs that the Nine Insect Gang might be the mastermind behind the scenes.

If these locusts were really created by the Nine Insect Gang, he, as a low-rank Insect Master, must not be too conspicuous.

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

The heroes who jump the highest often die the earliest.

For now, he could only act according to the situation.

After arriving at the Yan Family, Yan Family’s eldest son personally came down to greet him.

This also reflected Qin Niu’s higher status than before.

After all, it was all about interests.

The Yan Family now needed the help of an Insect Master to defend against the terrible locust disaster. Qin Niu, with his powerful pest control abilities that even surpassed Master Mo and Master Shi while helping the Yan Family clear pests, naturally made the Yan Family value him greatly.

“Master Qin, we have been waiting for you. Just this morning, a new species suddenly appeared among the locusts. Look, I even caught two specifically to study them.”

Master Mo Sang saw Qin Niu and immediately stood up to greet him.

There was no longer the arrogance he had before.

Are there many of these new species of locusts?”

“Not many. But their abilities are very powerful, fearless against my many layers of defense lines. Under their leadership, the ordinary locusts now have the ability to breach the defense line. Although only fifty or sixty of these dark golden locusts with black spots on their heads were discovered today, they nearly broke through my defenses.”

Master Mo Sang, still shaken, recounted his encounter of the day.

“Fortunately, I still had some tricks up my sleeve, otherwise the defense would have definitely been breached today.”

Every Insect Master has some tricks up their sleeve.

The fact that Master Mo Sang had to resort to his last resort is enough to show how formidable these locusts were.

The new locust was a size larger than the ordinary locust, dark golden in color, and its two hind legs were not thick but appeared slender and elongated.

They were somewhat like the legs of a katydid.

In terms of combat ability, locusts are relatively inferior within the Orthoptera. Besides strong endurance and decent defense, they probably only had strong reproductive capacities.

Katydids are mostly solitary.

Locusts, on the other hand, like to move in swarms, whether it’s desert locusts, migratory locusts, or smaller wart locusts, all enjoy moving in groups.

When their numbers swell to a certain extent, they are like an overwhelming force, more terrifying than invaders entering a village.

Katydids too, belong to the Orthoptera order-how strong is their combat ability?

The ‘swordsman’ mantis is almost an invincible existence in the insect world.

Even the formidable insects like centipedes and scorpions are within the mantis’s diet range.

When a mantis becomes ruthless, it can even kill the ‘husband’ on its back.

Occasionally, one might find a smaller mantis lying on the back of a female, but that male mantis’s head would be missing.

This sight often sends shivers down one’s spine.

Yet even such fierce creatures sometimes fail in hunting katydids and are counter killed instead.

Beyond that, katydids sometimes can also counter kill formidable opponents such as spiders and hornets.

It’s hard to imagine that katydids, with their delicate, slender bodies, could unleash such ferocious combat abilities.

Some Insect Masters believe that katydids have inherited the combat talent of crickets and are much larger in size.

This is the reason they can defeat strong opponents.

Qin Niu picked up the cage holding the locusts and looked closely at it.

“This should be a new species bred from a cross between locusts and katydids. Their combat abilities are far superior to ordinary locusts, and their flying capabilities should also be strong. Additionally, they possess powerful stridulating skills.”

After examining, Qin Niu made a preliminary identification of this new species of locust.

“Exactly, exactly! When they charge, they are like fierce warriors on the battlefield, not only taking the lead but also emitting a sharp and high-pitched stridulating sound. The other locusts, hearing this, will follow suit and charge. Each one is fearlessly valiant, and their combat abilities are much stronger than under normal circumstances.”

Master Mo Sang nodded vigorously in agreement.

‘The defense line I’m guarding has not yet encountered this new type of locust, and if it does, I may not be able to hold it.”

Master Shi’s abilities were much weaker than Master Mo Sang’s.

With the emergence of this new species of locust, even Master Shi was not in the mood today to embrace the maidservants and seek pleasure.

Instead, he was suffused with a faint worry.

If his defense line was breached, his comfortable life in the Yan Family would come to an end.

“Master Qin, I’m afraid we’ll need you to think of a solution for this matter.”

Seeing that the two Insect Masters invited from the city were somewhat at their limits, Yan Family’s eldest son could only put his hope in Qin Niu.

“Difficult!”

Qin Niu shook his head and sighed.

Of course, this was just a facade.

With Qin Niu’s current strength, not to mention insects of this level, even stronger ones would be within his capabilities.

After all, even the Corpse Bee so powerful from Old Master Huang had been captured by him.

“Master Qin only said it’s difficult, and didn’t say it’s impossible to deal with – that means there is a way. I also know that asking Master Qin to deal with such powerful insects, it wouldn’t be right to calculate the labor costs by the old standards. As long as Master Qin agrees, the price is negotiable.”

Yan Family’s eldest son was shrewd enough to hear an opportunity to negotiate and immediately expressed his willingness to pay more Silver Money.

“Hmm… These locusts possess formidable combat capabilities and can even emit piercing shrieks to attack. They’re quite tricky to handle. A slight misstep and my insects might be counter-killed, resulting in significant casualties. Such a loss is almost fatal for us Insect Masters,”

Qin Niu did not mention a price at all.

He only discussed how challenging the task was.

If the other party understood what was implied, they would certainly offer a price that could tempt Qin Niu.

“I understand the difficulty Master Qin faces! How about this: we set up another defense line in front of Master Mo’s and your job is only to handle these special locusts. For every one you eradicate, the Yan Family will pay ten Wen Money.”

This price was already quite high.

Given the current situation, if a hundred special locusts appeared per day and

Qin Niu took care of all of them, the Yan Family would have to pay one thousand Wen.

Which is to say, One Tael of Silver.

The Yan Family was very shrewd.

The several hundred acres of land behind had already been cleared of pests once over with Qin Niu’s efforts.

As for the few scattered locusts that strayed onto their fields afterward, they could no longer pose a threat.

By having Qin Niu guard the front line against the special locusts and with Masters Mo and Shi defending the second line, the safety of the fields would be absolutely assured.

“This…”

Qin Niu was weighing the risks involved.

He was mainly afraid of attracting the attention of the Nine Insect Gang’s experts.

“If Master Qin still feels the amount is inadequate, I can add one more Wen. For every one eradicated, the Yan Family will pay eleven Wen Money,”

The young master of the Yan Family clenched his teeth and raised the offer again.

“There’s no need. I’ve known the Yan Family for more than a day or two and I don’t engage in kicking someone when they’re down or extortionate price hiking. We’ll go with the price you’ve stated, Young Master Yan, ten Wen Money each. I can only try my best and if I cannot hold the line, then you’ll simply have to find someone more skillful,”

Qin Niu agreed to the deal.

He thought taking advantage of this opportunity to train his troops would be beneficial.

Calculating the time, the first batch of thousand eggs laid by the Ant Queen would become adult ants in a day or two.

Afterward, there would be an additional one thousand termites each day.

With such a strong force at his disposal, it would be a waste not to make some money when the opportunity arose.

Taking on this job had a deeper meaning as well.

If the Nine Insect Gang did set their sights on him, they’d see him working for the Yan Family for a mere One Tael of Silver a day, which wouldn’t make them suspect he had killed Old Master Huang.

“I knew Master Qin was a man of principle. I’ll drink to that, and if Master Qin ever faces any difficulties, as long as the Yan Family can help, we won’t just stand by,”

Upon hearing Qin Niu’s agreement without any need for an increased price, the young master of the Yan Family joyfully raised his glass in a toast.

“Since you’re putting me on the very front line, then I will be the one to set it

I will also need the Yan Family to dispatch some strong laborers to build a new defense line according to my specifications, as quickly as possible,”

“That’s not a problem at all. After we finish dinner, I’ll accompany Master Qin to the front line. Just tell me your requirements, and I’ll have people work through the night to complete the defense line,”

Young Master Yan readily agreed.

After finishing the banquet, Qin Niu, accompanied by the young master of the Yan Family and Steward Yan Qi among others, headed to the front line.

“Build the defense line right in front of this pond! About ten meters or so should be enough,”

Qin Niu voiced his general requirements.

Trouble Young Master Yan to arrange for a straw hut to be built here; I can

stay in it at night. Even if I am not here during the day, I will have my insects guarding this place. So make sure no one enters this defense line, to avoid my insects accidentally injuring them,”

Locusts are afraid of water; having a pond behind them can effectively force the locusts to stop at the shore and then take off again to fly over the pond.

Because locusts can’t fly far in one go.

They need to land after flying a dozen meters or so to rest before taking off with a leap again.

“No problem! I’ll have someone build it overnight,”

Right there and then, Young Master Yan instructed Steward Yan Qi to gather people to construct a new defense line.

Qin Niu remained on-site to observe the terrain and the locust situation.

In the short time since, even though it was dusk, he could still see locusts migrating from afar in groups of three or pairs.

They were very clever; they either circumvented the pond completely or flew straight from the shore, crossing over the pond.

“Chirp, chirp!”

The high-pitched cry of insects carried over from a distance.

A large swarm of locusts, at least two to three hundred strong, approached from far away.

Qin Niu saw a special locust captured by Master Mo leading the way at the front.

It constantly vibrated its wings, emitting a piercing shrill that beckoned a massive following of locusts.

This special locust was like a valiant general on the battlefield, leading a troop of soldiers in a charge, its momentum incredibly formidable.

No wonder Master Mo said these locusts might be few in number but were extremely fearsome.

“Fourth, can you take care of it?”

“Yes.”

The answer from Fourth was absurdly relaxed and casual.

Only its single horn was directed at the insect, and it didn’t even need to deploy the power of the ant swarm. As soon as that special locust entered its range of spiritual power attack, the insect trembled and then froze.

In front of Fourth, it couldn’t muster any resistance at all and was immediately controlled.

“Come on in!”

Qin Niu took out an Insect Jar, and the special locust flew in obediently.