Li Keyi took Xu Xing to the southern mountains to relax. Chang Jianyi and Chu Zhaoyan were aware of this. Given Li Keyi's unique situation, Chang Jianyi and Chu Zhaoyan had to care for the children when they were free. However, after more than five years, Li Keyi had shown no signs of pregnancy. This confirmed the scientists' judgment that the more powerful the animal, the weaker its reproductive capacity. Therefore, unable to have her own children, she could only go out to relax.
However, neither Chang Jianyi nor Chu Zhaoyan expected that Li Keyi and Xu Xing would depart that day and return to Yuzhou by nightfall. Their speed was astonishingly fast.
Upon seeing Li Keyi return home, Chang Jianyi couldn't help but ask, "Did you come back so quickly because there wasn't much to do in the mountains?"
Chu Zhaoyan also inquired at the same time, "Did you forget to bring something important? If you forgot something, couldn't you just call and have someone send it to you? Why did you have to come back yourself?"
Li Keyi quickly explained, "It's not for those reasons. The reason I returned so quickly is that I heard important news on the way, and I had to rush back at the fastest possible speed."
"What important news?" Chang Jianyi and Chu Zhaoyan immediately became interested upon hearing Li Keyi's words, eager to know what significant news could have prompted such urgency.
"I heard that locusts have appeared in the north, and they have also appeared in Hanzhong. You know, Hanzhong and Yuzhou are separated only by the Daba Mountains. Once the locusts appear, Yuzhou's grain will be finished. In such a situation, how can we stand idly by?"
Hearing Li Keyi say this, Chang Jianyi reassured her, "It's alright, don't worry. Lin Yue has already reported this to me. These locusts mainly ravage the northern regions and will not appear in southern areas like Yuzhou. This is because the southern regions have more rainfall, and locusts cannot survive in the south. After discussion, everyone concluded that these locusts will have no impact on Yuzhou."
"Are you sure?" Li Keyi couldn't help but question. "The locusts have mutated. Their behavior will surely be vastly different from before. To assume that these locusts are harmless would be too hasty. Yuzhou should pay attention to this matter now."
Li Keyi was utterly surprised by the logic of Chang Jianyi and the others. Despite the locusts having mutated, they were still judging their behavior based on old experiences. If locusts were to cross the Daba Mountains, the grain production in Yuzhou's northern plains would be completely ruined.
Li Keyi's words made Chang Jianyi and Chu Zhaoyan realize the truth. Indeed, if locusts were to cross the Daba Mountains, Yuzhou's grain production would suffer a blow.
Although Yuzhou had stored a considerable amount of grain in recent years, if the winter wheat were to be eaten by locusts, Yuzhou would face a grain shortage. In the apocalypse, grain was the most crucial commodity. If a place lacked grain, chaos was inevitable.
Chang Jianyi then said, "But we can't stop the locusts' advance now. Even spraying pesticides with helicopters along the route is not an easy task."
"Pesticides might not be effective. These locusts have mutated, and their size has surely increased. The effectiveness of insecticides will likely be reduced. But don't forget, sister, Chang Haojie is an ability user who controls clouds and fog. With him around, he can definitely use the mist to block the locusts' path. If no locusts pass, that's fine, but if any locusts try to cross the mountains, Chang Haojie can stop their southward advance," Li Keyi quickly offered her suggestion.
Chang Jianyi frowned upon hearing this suggestion and then said, "But we are currently preparing for Chang Haojie's wedding. If he goes out at this time, won't it interfere with the wedding?"
"Weddings can always be held at another time. I believe Chang Haojie will understand your good intentions. However, Yuzhou truly cannot take this risk. The areas capable of producing grain are already few. If they suffer a locust plague, then everything will be finished," Li Keyi said earnestly.
Chu Zhaoyan also understood the importance of the matter. Chang Haojie's wedding indeed needed to be grand, ideally inviting celebrities from all over to attend and witness this happy occasion. This would also serve as compensation for Chang Haojie's five years of living in the mountains.
But now, Yuzhou might be facing the danger of locusts, which had to be treated as the most important matter.
"Sister, please consider Yuzhou. Xiao Jie's wedding can be postponed. Let's focus on the locust issue first," Chu Zhaoyan also urged Chang Jianyi to prioritize the bigger picture.
Chang Jianyi was finally persuaded. She went to find Chang Jianyi and explained the situation in Yuzhou, asking Chang Haojie to postpone the wedding preparations and instead guard the Daba Mountains.
Chang Haojie said nothing and immediately packed his belongings and headed to the Daba Mountains. Hua Jingran, however, showed a look of disappointment.
When Chang Haojie departed, he also brought five or six ability users with him. If they encountered locusts moving south, these individuals could fight at critical moments. Several of them were disciples of Shen Feng. Sending them out to fight now was like their debut, and it was uncertain if they could achieve anything.
While the people of Yuzhou arrived at the Daba Mountains, Chengdu was also guarding against the locusts from Hanzhong entering the basin. Therefore, they dispatched a large number of drones to spray pesticides. After countless pesticides were sprayed from the air, the people of Chengdu felt somewhat relieved.
Recently, the market in Chengdu had seen a lot of honey. This was wild bee honey. Dozens of kilometers south of Chengdu, many mutated wild bees had suddenly appeared. These wild bees did not build nests in trees but underground, hence the name "earth bees." Many people in Chengdu, eager to make money, often went south with hoes to dig for honey.
After the honey appeared, it was quickly favored by many people, especially the wealthy. Commoners couldn't afford this precious honey, but the rich didn't care about the cost. If the honey was delicious, the rich wouldn't mind how much it cost.
That afternoon, a group of people drove from Chengdu, preparing to dig for earth bees in the southern area. This had become one of the ways for many people to earn extra money. As long as one was daring enough and skilled enough to dig out the earth bee nests, they could make money easily!
Upon arriving in the southern area, this group discovered that the ground was already riddled with holes. This was supposed to be a suburban area, but it had been dug up everywhere by the people of Chengdu. As for the underground earth bee nests, they had basically all been taken.
It was now the bright spring season, with flowers blooming everywhere in the wild. Many bees were also flying freely in the sky, including a considerable number of earth bees. Many of them were much larger in size, with some earth bees even as large as duck eggs. A sting from one of these would surely subject one to the torment of bee venom.
Seeing this scene, the group was not afraid because they had already witnessed the handiwork of those who had come before. Countless earth bee nests here had already been taken. The people before must have made a lot of money. If others could make this money, then they certainly could too.
"Quick, quick, get the equipment out. No dawdling now. Hurry up and find the equipment, get the job done, and then go home," someone impatiently said to those around him.
For beekeepers, to avoid danger, they must bring enough equipment. Beekeepers have professional equipment. Once people wear thick clothing, no matter what kind of bees they are, they cannot breach the defenses of this special clothing.
The group then put on specialized beekeeper suits made of asbestos, which not only prevented bees from stinging but also had other functions, such as fire resistance.
Next, the group found a hole that had not been excavated and immediately began to work. Earth bees the size of eggs were still entering and exiting this hole, indicating that this was definitely the entrance to an earth bee nest. After a brief discussion, the group immediately swung their hoes to dig the hole.
The vibration of the ground directly alerted the earth bees underground. Many earth bees flew out from underground and circled the group, as if trying to kill these uninvited guests. However, they couldn't find any place to sting. Earth bees only had one chance to attack because their stingers were connected to their hearts. After using their stingers, the earth bees would die within a short period.
"There are too many of these earth bees. Should we stop digging?" someone said with a trembling voice.
It wasn't that these people were too timid. It was just that they had never seen such a terrifying scene. Countless giant earth bees were flying in the sky. If they launched an attack, they themselves would be in great danger.
However, the leader directly said, "Stop talking nonsense. We've come this far. Wouldn't it be a waste of effort to give up now? Stop the chatter. We have protective suits, so these earth bees can't harm us. Think about the rewards we'll get after bringing the honey back. We'll be able to buy whatever we want and improve our families' living conditions."
The few timid ones were persuaded by the leader. Indeed, if others could make money by digging for honey, why couldn't they?
Thus, the group dug with even greater effort. The deeper they dug, the happier they felt, because the space below was getting larger, indicating that the underground bee nest was also very large. A large bee nest meant a lot of honey. Even if there was no honey, bee pupae were also a rare delicacy. They could also be sold at a high price.