Chapter 169 - Chapter 169: Chapter 164: Obtaining the Insect Egg and the Jade Slipi

Chapter 169: Chapter 164: Obtaining the Insect Egg and the Jade Slipi

Translator: 549690339

Based on his experience and knowledge in controlling insects, Qin Niu knew that if the master died, the insects that had recognized him as their owner were likely to die or be seriously injured as well.

That person had entered the Ancient Banyan Tree Maze some time ago and had never been seen escaping.

It was feared that the chances of misfortune were much greater than those of fortune.

Being killed by the Ancient Banyan Tree was probably just a matter of time.

If that person was Old Master Huang, why send two Corpse Bees to follow him? The person who just went in might not be Old Master Huang.” After considering this possibility, Qin Niu stayed motionless in the tree where he was hiding.

One of the Corpse Bees had just been hit by a mental attack from the Termite Army and had plummeted to the ground, but Qin Niu did not climb down the tree to help.

Because he worried that the real Old Master Huang had not died and was instead hiding somewhere close by.

The person who had entered the Ancient Banyan Tree just now was probably just one of Old Master Huang’s subordinates.

Watching that person resolutely follow the insect queen into the maze, looking like a fool, Qin Niu even suspected that the person might be Mu Kuai, who was guarding the gate for Old Master Huang.

Unfortunately, there was no way to go in and check.

He couldn’t take that risk.

What he needed to do now was to continue waiting to see if anyone else would come.

“Master, it seems there is a problem with that strange insect,” Fourth alerted Qin Niu.

Due to the distance, the strange insect was as thin as a hair and completely invisible in the night.

Only the agonized cries of a rooster could be heard.

It seems to have died,” Fourth reported again after a while.

“Never mind it. Have the ant colony stay hidden and wait for the next wave of enemies to appear,” Qin Niu comforted the ant colony and stayed still on the tree.

Time slipped away bit by bit.

Until dawn, there was still no sign of any new enemies.

Qin Niu had lurked in this Chou tree all night.

After dawn, he carefully checked the surroundings and found nothing unusual. Still feeling uneasy, he sent out fifty Grade Two bees to patrol the mountain area. Only after finding nothing did he dare to climb down from the Chou tree. First, he used a pottery jar to collect the body of the dead Corpse Bee.

Besides being somewhat heavy, it was also particularly foul-smelling.

Its head had been gnawed off by the Termite Army.

First came the mental attack, then the physical attack; even a strong Grade Four insect like the Corpse Bee could not withstand it.

The Termite Army had managed to capture two Grade Four insects with zero casualties.

This was the true strength of Qin Niu, the Insect Master.

He believed that once the Ant Queen completed her evolution, his Insect Master strength would increase several times and might even leap an entire level.

After securing the Corpse Bee’s body, he went to check on the rooster.

The rooster’s neck was stretched out straight, and its body had already become stiff.

On its back was found a small puddle of black, stinky water.

Using a small stick to push away the black water, Qin Niu unexpectedly discovered an insect egg while examining the wounds on the rooster’s body. It was very small, only about half the size of a sesame seed.

Black.

If his Insect Trace Identification and insect identification skills were not at a high level, he would not have noticed this egg.

Even if seen, it might have been mistaken for a tiny clot of blood.

The wound on the rooster’s back was not large, just a little bigger than a pinhole. However, the skin around the wound, taking it as the center, was a dark purple color.

It looked quite frightening.

Qin Niu subconsciously touched the back of his own head.

Yesterday, the now-dead strange insect had attached itself to the back of his head, mingling with his hair.

This rooster could not have died for no reason.

I wonder if that strange insect had deadly poison?

He still felt somewhat scared when he thought about it.

If Fourth hadn’t discovered the strange insect hidden on him, would he be the one dead now?

After checking the back of his own head, he didn’t find any problems.

Only the place where it had attached itself felt a little itchy when touched.

He was somewhat relieved.

When had that insect been placed on him?

When it was attached to his head, he hadn’t felt anything at all.

It was truly impossible to guard against.

‘The rooster crowed in alarm before the strange insect showed abnormal behavior, indicating that the insect might have released some toxins into the rooster’s body right before it died.”

Qin Niu speculated to himself.

He carefully collected the insect egg and then searched the area thoroughly again, finding nothing.

Why had the strange insect suddenly died when it had been fine before?

There were only two possibilities.

One, the female insect that had entered the Ancient Banyan Tree Maze was killed, causing the strange insect to die as well. The second, the person who entered the Ancient Banyan Tree was the master of the strange insect, and when he died, the insect he had tamed died with him.

It was hard to determine which situation it was.

He carried the dead rooster and walked directly towards the maze beneath the Ancient Banyan Tree.

He deliberately chose a farther spot to avoid running into the person who had entered the day before, in case they hadn’t died.

Upon entering beneath the Ancient Banyan Tree, he could see its branches and leaves were only three meters from the ground, slowly rising.

This Ancient Banyan Tree was particularly magical; its branches would only droop down during the night.

During the daytime, the branches would rise on schedule.

Qin Niu looked around wide-eyed, sweeping his gaze several times, but still didn’t find anyone else.

It seemed the person had been ‘eaten’ by the Ancient Banyan Tree.

Qin Niu was still somewhat uneasy and began to search around beneath the Ancient Banyan Tree.

Now, the area beneath the Ancient Banyan Tree was as familiar to him as his own backyard.

In fact, it had become Qin Niu’s ‘backyard’.

He could come and go as he pleased, practice his skills there, and continually harvest the Banyan Tree Blood and “Thousand Eyes Tree” Blood.

What exactly that “Thousand Eyes Tree” was, he still didn’t fully understand.

It resembled the legendary bodhi with a thousand eyes, so he named this extremely special small tree the “Thousand Eyes Tree.”

Its tree blood was also very interesting; it could help termites evolve abilities like Spirit Control or Mental Attacks.

This was somewhat similar to the Divine Skills of the Buddhist tradition.

Had he known how magical these “Thousand Eyes Tree” were, he wouldn’t have cut any down at the beginning.

Fortunately, he hadn’t cut them all down.

Otherwise, the loss would have been too great.

After much effort in searching, he finally made a discovery.

There were several garments and personal belongings on the ground, but the person was gone.

“Indeed, it’s the Mu Kuai from Old Master Huang’s house.”

Qin Niu vaguely remembered the clothes Mu Kuai wore and recognized them at a glance.

No wonder that dummy blindly followed the strange insect’s mother right into the maze.

Using the Ink Blade, he pried open the clothes and found a few Silver Pieces and two Silver Ingots. There was no silver note.

He also found a small, very ancient jade slip.

This gave Qin Niu an immense surprise and was unexpected.

Jade slips were absolutely high-level books, used only to record extremely important information, made from expensive jade.

Moreover, as of now, jade slips and bamboo slips had been long phased out.

Paper was the most commonly used.

A little higher-end might use fabric or animal skins as ‘paper’.