Chapter 215 - 210: The Strong Enters the Village l
This battle had yielded many insect corpses, including the body of a Grade Six Black Crowned Bow Coat, as well as a Sword Technique Manual and nearly two thousand taels of Silver Money, a bountiful harvest indeed.
Two thousand taels of Silver Money would take him a long time to earn with his abilities.
“Unexpected wealth does not make one rich.”
This kind of fortune from the deceased came without much effort.
When Qin Niu returned home, Xiao Qing was already preparing dinner.
There were no signs that anyone had broken into the house.
“It’s also time to retrieve the treasure of the Green Demon.”
Lately, crises abounded, and Qin Niu pondered inwardly.
He urgently needed to possess an incredibly powerful insect to ensure his own safety.
The number of Termites had surged dramatically after some time of cultivation.
The quantity of Grade Three ants was estimated to soon exceed ten thousand.
However, the later cultivated Termites, due to the limited supply of Thousand Eyes Tree Blood, could no longer be mass-produced with mental attack abilities like the Puppet Ants or Ghost Ants as before.
Taking seven to eight thousand Termites with him should pose no problem.
The number of bees was also increasing.
This included both the War Bees and the honey-making bees whose numbers had also grown substantially.
He planned to bring a few War Bees with him when the time came.
As for the ordinary Grade Two Green Ring Worker Bees, a small number would suffice. They had weaker combat capabilities, and against stronger bee species, bringing them would be like serving up an easy meal.
At night, he was practicing the Everlasting Spring Technique in the backyard.
Each herb was growing cheerfully, the veins on the leaves of the Dogtail Grass turning a deep purple.
Yet it had not bloomed.
Qin Niu thought to himself, even if a Dogtail Grass benefits from some fate, it’s still just a Dogtail Grass.
It couldn’t possibly turn into Spiritual Medicine or an Immortal Herb, could it?
As long as it didn’t wither, Qin Niu planned to continue nurturing it.
If there ever came a day when it underwent metamorphosis and breakthrough, that would be its own good fortune.
Deep in the night, he heard the sound of hooves on the road outside.
Listening carefully, it was very different from the sound of ordinary hooves.
The noise outside was much lighter, and the speed was extremely fast.
In the blink of an eye, it was gone.
Even a black steed at full gallop probably couldn’t match that speed. And he had heard the sound of a black steed’s hooves before—it was very heavy.
When it hit the ground, it was like the beating of war drums.
A thought flickered in Qin Niu’s mind—it was either a formidable wild beast that had come down from the mountains in search of food in the village, or a master had entered the village.
Formidable wild beasts from the mountains usually had a sense of spirit and would not easily enter human villages.
So as to avoid bringing disaster upon themselves.
It was likely that some powerhouse had ridden a high-grade mount into the village.
If it were an expert from the Black Tiger Gang, there would be no problem.
But if it were a master from the Nine Insect Gang investigating the murder of Wu Hao, that could be dangerous.
Qin Niu sat in the backyard, not daring to move.
The wisest course of action at this moment was to lower his presence and not attract attention.
He did not rashly run to the front yard or the roof to check.
Instead, after the sound of the hooves had faded, he immediately went back into the house and took the Ink Blade that had been soaked in Banyan Tree Blood.
He put on the King Pig Leather Armor and was ready to flee with Xiao Qing or confront a strong enemy at any moment.
Though his number of Termites was not small, and they were strong in combat, they were currently only suited for fighting against other insects. They had virtually no advantage against human opponents.
Unless used to deal with a common person like Xie Laizi.
But such an enemy could be killed by Qin Niu with a flick of his finger. Did he need the Termites to step in?
This was why he was so eager to obtain the treasure of the Green Demon.
Because the war records created by the Green Demon Bee were extremely impressive.
It had killed off the head of the Seven-Star Sect and, with its own strength, single-handedly challenged the entire sect, ultimately forcing the Seven-Star Sect to ask the Immortal Sect to intervene and slay it. This showed just how strong the Green Demon Bee was.
Why do many Insect Masters like to raise poisonous insects?
Centipedes, spiders, scorpions, and the like.
Because poisonous insects are more practical, they can pose a lethal threat to enemies during combat.
Qin Niu’s termites had also evolved into two species of poisonous ants.
However, due to the short evolution time, their toxicity and abilities were very limited.
Moreover, termites are better at defense rather than attack.
Normally, ordinary termites would seal off their ant nest, either inside a tree or underground.
Only when a large number of breeder ants were ready for their nuptial flight would they dig an exit and emerge from the nest.
After he took the Ink Blade and put on the King Pig Leather Armor, he felt a bit more at ease.
He sat quietly in the house, waiting.
The sound of hooves outside had already become distant, heading towards the mountains.
It could almost certainly be concluded that the expert outside was without doubt a strong member of the Nine Insect Gang.
It was very likely they had come to investigate upon discovering Wu Hao’s unexplained absence.
The fact that the person could head straight in the direction of the mountain indicated they knew the location Wu Hao had been in.
If it wasn’t a prearranged signal, then it was quite terrifying.
It was very possible they had special pets or insects that could track by scent.
Some insects’ sense of smell is much stronger than that of hunting dogs.
After returning home, Qin Niu took a bath and changed his clothes. It was unknown whether the enemy could still track him.
He felt somewhat nervous inside.
All he could do now was to wait patiently.
Running away was unnecessary and would not make much difference.
On the contrary, it could lead to a direct encounter with the enemy.
As time passed bit by bit, Qin Niu’s heart remained in suspense.
Because he had yet to hear the sound of hooves passing by the door.
The terrain of Shuangfeng Village was relatively enclosed, with only one road for entering and exiting the village.
The person had been inside for a considerable time without coming out, which made Qin Niu grow increasingly restless.
He hoped the nest of termites he kept in the mountains wouldn’t be discovered by anyone.
Otherwise, they would surely destroy his entire colony and the termites with it.
Fortunately, the Ant Queen possessed moderate intelligence, and the termites were naturally good at hiding.
They wouldn’t easily emerge from their nest.
Especially now that their strength had increased, they had become even more low-key.
The chances of being discovered by that person should not be high.
But he still needed to be cautious.
Qin Niu had long been considering buying that mountain area and turning it into his private territory. The time was not yet ripe, and he needed to patiently wait for a suitable opportunity.
If he suddenly spent a large sum of silver money to buy land and mountains, he would certainly attract attention.
His plan was to wait for the situation with the Nine Insect Gang to calm down before seizing the moment to buy the land and mountains.
The current price for buying mountain lands was also quite expensive.
The locust plague had been going on for so long, and its negative impacts were becoming evident little by little. As grain prices rose, land prices were expected to fall.
Moreover, the locust plague hadn’t stopped yet.
With everyone in a state of panic, whether landlord or tenant, the enthusiasm for farming was very low.
Seeds, fertilizers, labor—all required money.
If you planted crops only for locusts to consume them, the loss would be tangible and actual.
Therefore, it wouldn’t be long before there would be land being sold off.
Once it turned into a trend, land prices would instantly plummet.
The market has always been like this.
When food is scarce, people hold back on selling, driving up the grain prices even further.
With the risk of farming too high and not even being able to recover the cost, people sell off their land, and soon there is a rush as everyone fears suffering losses by selling too late.
It’s better to sell early for a decent price, hold on to the money, wait for land prices to bottom out, then buy back in and naturally make a good profit.
It’s actually quite similar to the logic of buying stocks in modern times.