Chapter 114: The Lair

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Xiao Jingzi gave Duan Mengrou a knowing look, her meaning unmistakably clear: the young, strong men you’ve been longing for have arrived. If you’re interested, why not visit the council hall and take a look?

Duan Mengrou rolled her eyes at Xiao Jingzi and continued struggling with her food. The members of the caravan inside the private room began to murmur among themselves.

“This doesn’t look like a business visit.”

“But we’re just merchants.”

“It’s not that simple. Three years ago, the caravan owed Mayor Lu a favor.”

“What happened three years ago?”

“Ahem!” Lao Li, the only wagon leader, interrupted their conversation with a cough. “If you’re done eating, go back to your rooms or wagons and rest. Wait for the leader’s orders. Don’t gossip about this behind their backs.”

Lao Li’s words successfully quelled the conversation, though no one seemed eager to leave the private room.

...

As soon as they entered the council hall, Mayor Lu, the captain of the guards, and a group of town experts bowed deeply to Leader Jing. Mayor Lu said, “Leader Jing, we come with a request.”

“Such formalities are unnecessary, Mayor Lu. Given our friendship, please speak plainly. I will do my utmost to help.” The leader already suspected their visit was related to the mosquitoes.

Mayor Lu bowed again and began to explain.

It turned out the mosquitoes had mutated sometime after the last dark night. The townsfolk only recently discovered this when several villages reported strange deaths. A thorough investigation identified the mosquitoes as the culprits.

The investigation revealed the mosquitoes’ nest, which could only be accessed at night.

Just yesterday, the town sent two innate martial artists and a dozen or so postnatal warriors to the nest, but none returned.

They sought Leader Jing’s caravan to provide some experts to help rescue the missing and investigate the nest, hoping to eliminate the poisonous mosquitoes plaguing Rizhao Town.

After discussing with several wagon leaders, Leader Jing agreed to send a team since the caravan owed a debt to the town. Wei Yi and Fang Rui were initially exempt, but Wei Yi insisted on joining, and Fang Rui decided to go along.

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No one knew what was said between the leader and the mayor, but within a cup of tea’s time, the leader returned to the private room, summoned a dozen level-39 guards for a mission, leaving only Xiao Jingzi’s elder brother and about ten caravan members at the inn. Everyone was instructed to return to their rooms and rest, awaiting Lao Li’s arrangements.

After the leader and his team left, the others wanted to discuss further, but Lao Li urged everyone to rest.

Inside her room, Yun Qing first retreated to her cave dwelling and rested on a simple wooden bed. The day’s travel and shopping had left her fatigued, and she needed to restore her energy quickly to handle any sudden challenges.

Half asleep, she heard the forging machine finish crafting the mosquito swatter. Awakening fully, her energy had replenished completely—unsurprising, as she had only used half before resting.

Mosquito Swatter: usable at combat level 31, attack power 1, durability 35/35.

The swatter had two buttons: the stickiness button, which could trap animals under level 40 that touched the netting—press once to activate, press again to deactivate; and the internal energy button, allowing input of internal energy to add up to 200 damage.

“Liu Liu, this weapon is pretty good! The net’s strong adhesive can trap animals that touch it. Since postnatal warriors have 200 health, it means it can kill them in one hit.”

“But it needs the right internal energy. The opponent must have no defense.”

Putting away the swatter, Yun Qing stepped out of her cave to test its use in the room. The swatter was twice the size and length of a modern mosquito swatter, giving it a much larger attack range.

Activating the stickiness button, she touched the netting with her hand. Her skin felt as if glued with super-strong adhesive, difficult to pull away. Since martial artists often win or lose in a split second, she felt confident in the swatter’s adhesive power.

As for its attack strength, she refrained from testing the internal energy input—if it killed herself instantly, she feared she might not return through time.

Pressing the stickiness button again, the net lost its adhesive quality, and she easily removed her hand.

Seems quite practical. She’d test the internal energy further once facing mosquitoes.

After playing with the stickiness button for a while, she noticed the durability had dropped to 34/35.

“Liu Liu, what’s going on? Durability is dropping too fast.”

“The net’s adhesive is too strong, trapping lots of dust and impurities from your hand.”

“Can the dust and impurities be cleaned off?”

“Water washing won’t work. Before durability hits zero, you need to find a powerful cleaner; otherwise, the swatter will lose its stickiness.”

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Since the adhesive was so delicate, she didn’t dare test further. Yun Qing put away the mosquito swatter and sat down to meditate, cultivating the Qian Kun Yun Qi technique.

...

Leader Jing of the caravan, together with experts from Rizhao Town, traveled under the town’s guard captain’s lead directly to the mosquito nest. Along the way, they encountered many mosquitoes. They stopped in a meadow about ten miles from town.

“The mosquito nest lies below. Everyone, be alert and take precautions.”

Fang Rui frowned. “There seems to be an underground river below. It appears to connect throughout Rizhao Town.”

“Good ears, Young Master Fang. Indeed, there is an underground river below. The mosquito larvae grow in this river. It’s thanks to this underground river flowing through the villages that the mosquitoes can appear and vanish mysteriously, making them hard to eradicate.”

“How does the town handle drinking water then?”

“Alas!” The mayor sighed deeply. “Previously, villagers drank boiled water at home, so they had no problems. But laborers working outside, unable to boil water, drank raw water and were parasitized by poisonous mosquitoes. The weaker ones died after drinking it. Since then, the mosquitoes mutated further, becoming even more dangerous. Fortunately, the problem was discovered in time, preventing a larger tragedy. Now, villagers drink water purified by the cleansing formation.”

“Oh? When we arrived, we saw many villagers queuing at a water station. Does the cleansing formation provide enough water for all residents?”

“That’s the town’s challenge. Many villagers can’t access water purified by the formation. They have to boil water and have postnatal warriors sense if any organisms remain before drinking. Previously, almost no insect eggs survived boiling water. But recently, eggs have been found to survive, which is why we’re desperate to solve the mosquito problem.”

Fang Rui frowned deeply. Villagers dying from drinking raw water and mosquitoes becoming more powerful—though the mayor spoke lightly, the reality was terribly grim.

If villagers ingested water containing insect eggs that survived in their bodies, the eggs would hatch into larvae, which would feed inside them, pupate, and eventually emerge as mosquitoes. The true cause of death was horrifying.

Wei Yi said, “From what I know, female mosquitoes can reproduce at any time. What about this mosquito nest?”

“After some investigation, we found that since the last dark night, the mosquitoes mutated. Ordinary female mosquitoes lost their ability to lay eggs. All eggs now come from this nest. But it’s too hidden—no trace during the day and inaccessible except at night.”

Remember this in 1 second: 114 Chinese characters.