bookrandom Chapter 66: Deciding Whether to Stay or Leave
Chapter 66: Deciding Whether to Stay or Leave
After nearly a year of getting along, Ye Zhi had become quite familiar with this clever little brown bee-mantis warrior, and she was naturally reluctant to send him away.
But for Huo Yun herself, compared to the perilous and constantly warring Dragon Bamboo Continent, the harmonious, stable Cloud Continent where all races coexisted, where she could live with her own kind, was the best place to be.
On the back of the Azure Cypress, Ye Zhi and Huo Yun remained silent, watching the worker ants on either side carry large and small spider silk bags and move along the earthen path.
During the period of Ye Zhi's rapid evolution, Huo Yun also successfully evolved into a three-year-old novice brown bee mantis warrior, with a body length of over ten centimeters, and its well-developed wing wings were already approaching Ye Zhi's current body length.
The blood orange seed, nurtured in its second year, has already emerged. At this moment, it is carefully wrapped together with the small yunmu seed, nurtured in its first year, by ant silk woven from leaves, and sandwiched between a pair of capturing feet.
This year's transaction was handled entirely by Zuo Wang Qingyuan. Ye Zhi was not originally required to attend, but he couldn't bear to part with Huo Yun, so he came as a farewell.
Huo Yun stood on all fours, her compound eyes flashing with a complex light, a mixture of worry and...reluctance.
......
"Where's the Green Citron King? And the Black Citron Ant King?"
"Lord Red Wheat, King Black Cypress is in trouble. I will be in charge of this year's transaction." King Green Cypress shook his antennae and directed the worker ants beside him to put down the spider silk bag.
Opposite, behind the giant spider whose body shimmered with brilliant structural colors, spider silk nimbly emerged, skillfully opening the bag under the control of mental power to count the amount of primal food.
Huo Yun shrank back nervously behind Ye Zhi, retracting her antennae, seemingly still unaccustomed to the unfamiliar aura of a Lord-level Force life form, and somewhat fearful.
"what?"
On the opposite side, the Lord-level Illusionary Flame Spider, known as Red Wheat, sensed Huo Yun's aura and simultaneously cast its gaze upon Ye Zhi and Huo Yun behind her.
"A brown wasp mantis warrior? Born in your tree ant kingdom?" Lord Red Wheat rubbed his pincers together, emitting a somewhat excited mental force.
"Planning to raise them for reconnaissance and communications? I have some Force food suitable for these little warriors." As he spoke, several spider silk ropes deftly untied a package from the carapace and took out a few grains of Force food.
"No, Lord Red Wheat, this is not its home; the Cloud Continent is."
Zuo Wang Qingyuan's spiritual power transmitted: "The Wuyuan Ant King hopes that it can stay away from the strife of the Dragon Bamboo Continent and live with its own kind in a place that truly belongs to it."
Ye Zhi silently lowered her antennae without saying a word, while Huo Yun quietly poked her head out, looking at the huge, multicolored spider in front of her with a reluctant yet hopeful expression.
"Then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed," Lord Chimai said with regret. "On the Cloud Continent, all races coexist, but... there isn't a large-scale Mantis tribe willing to redeem their own kind from the Dragon Bamboo Continent."
No tribe is willing to accept it! Upon hearing this, Ye Zhi and Huo Yun both had complicated expressions, unsure whether to be happy or sad.
Zuo Wang Qingyuan continued to count the quantity of Force food sold and purchased with the Red Wheat Lord opposite him, while Ye Zhi silently lowered his antennae, waiting for the transaction to be completed.
......
"...That's the situation, King Cinnabar Ant."
Inside the main nest chamber, Ye Zhi lowered her antennae, glanced at Huo Yun behind her, and then looked at the Wu Yuan Ant King in front of her, slowly transmitting her mental power.
"Then it can stay in the Tree Ant Kingdom. I will provide shelter and support it until it reaches the intermediate warrior stage. Once its life seed can flower and bear fruit, its subsequent growth and evolution will depend on itself."
Ye Zhi twitched her antennae; for Huo Yun, this was the best solution at the moment.
"Ant King, where should we plant the life seed of Little Fire Cloud?" Zuo Wang Qingyuan, who was in charge of logistics, asked from the side.
"Let's plant it in the place originally prepared for Xiaoyezhi's life seed for now." Wuyuan shook its tentacles and transmitted its mental power.
......
"We have gained wisdom; we are no longer ignorant ordinary insects. We must learn to look forward."
After flapping its wings and flying out of the nest, Ye Zhi looked at Huo Yun, who was still somewhat listless, and sent a mental message: "Go and plant your life seed first, so that you can reap the harvest as soon as possible."
Fire Cloud's short, thick antennae tapped lightly; its life seed was still wrapped in soft ant silk, nestled between its catching legs, ready to be sown at any moment.
The target was a gentle slope where "Chimera" was to be planted. A large area had already been cleared by the worker ants under the command of Zowang Qingyuan, and it was originally prepared for the life-giving plant of Yezhi.
However, Ye Zhi's current situation is special. She has only nurtured one life seed, "Chimera," and a large area of land has been abandoned until now. It is the perfect time to plant Huo Yun's life seed.
"Ye Zhi, you're here. Oh? That praying mantis is back too?"
Upon seeing Ye Zhi and Huo Yun arrive, "Chimera" emitted a joyful spiritual energy.
The tree spirit, a special insectivorous plant gifted by God, no longer rejected the little guy who occasionally fed it, and its interactions with Ye Zhi were exceptionally friendly.
However, the divinely bestowed seed had grown so large that it covered almost half of the hillside. Huoyun's seed could only be planted on the other side of the hillside, as far away from the "Chimera" as possible.
The first seed planted was a small rue tree. This plant belongs to the same rue family as citrus and is not very picky about the environment. The leaves were planted in a small area on the other side of the hillside.
The brown mantis's catching feet are not good at digging in the soil, so it weaves claws from leaves and injects its primal force into the forelimbs' tarsi, carefully turning over the already disturbed, soft soil in the area.
With its forelimbs digging, Ye Zhi dug a hole in the soft soil. Ye Zhi called out, and Huo Yun, who was beside her, unwrapped the ant silk and planted the stored Xiao Yun Wood Life Seed.
Ye Zhi continued to use its claws, supporting its body with its hind limbs and digging with its forelimbs, filling the hole with loose soil, pressing it down slightly, and then slowly flapping its wings to take flight.
There were bamboo tubes left over from before. Ye Zhi picked one up with some effort, wrapped it with a thick ant silk rope, drew water from the nearby stream, and watered the soil, thoroughly soaking the surrounding soil.
At this point, sowing is roughly complete, but ordinary plants are relatively fragile. Their early growth rate is only slightly better than that of ordinary plants. During the fragile seedling stage, even passing birds and beasts can easily destroy them.
With the protection of the Black Ant King, ordinary beasts were not a concern. However, Ye Zhi feared that a bold bird might land and damage her fragile life form. After a moment's thought, she came up with a plan.
They found several branches of suitable thickness and inserted them obliquely into the soil. They wove leaves onto the branches and used ant silk to weave a sunshade. They also cut thin branches with leaves to use as a "camouflage net" to cover it.
Firstly, to prevent damage from birds, and secondly, to shield the fragile seedlings from the harsh sunlight. Once the seedlings have grown to a certain stage, the shade structure will be removed to allow the plants to fully photosynthesize.