Chapter 273: Shen Que, What's Wrong with the Eagle?
"Ah! Why are there so many bugs outside too?"
In the distance, Zheng Yan opened the door and stepped out. Seeing the dense swarm of bugs on the ground, he was so frightened that he jumped onto Lin Jun's back.
"Lin Jun, Lin Jun, what should we do!" Zheng Yan shouted desperately.
Lin Jun, however, remained expressionless. He held Zheng Yan with one hand and used his powers with the other to drive away the bugs around them.
Upon seeing Meng Ci and the others, Zheng Yan waved from afar.
"Bro, bro!"
"There are so many bugs, what should we do?"
Lin Jun continued using his powers as he walked over to Meng Ci and the others.
On Meng Ci's side, Shen Que had also been using his fire powers to burn the bugs, preventing them from climbing onto their house.
These bugs were quite clever. Sensing the danger from Meng Ci's side, they circled around.
Seeing their master come out, both Eggplant and the eagle ran to their side.
"Bro, why have so many bugs suddenly appeared?"
Zheng Yan was carried by Lin Jun to Meng Ci's door before he got off his back.
Meng Ci shook his head. "I'm not sure."
The story had only updated to the point where they found the herbs, so he didn't know what happened next.
Seeing that even his big brother didn't know, Zheng Yan tightly grabbed Lin Jun's arm.
If the bugs didn't go away, would he always need Lin Jun to carry him whenever he went outside?
"Oh no! Bro, you don't know, this morning when I woke up, there were many bugs crawling on me."
"Oh my God!"
Zheng Yan and Lin Jun's place was relatively basic, and their doors and windows weren't nearly as secure as Meng Ci's. They had forgotten to close two windows last night, which gave the bugs an opportunity to slip into the house through the gaps in the windows and doors.
Zheng Yan was sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt something crawling across his face.
At first, he thought Lin Jun was playing a prank on him, so without hesitation, he slapped out with his hand.
However, when his palm came down, he didn't feel Lin Jun's hand but instead a slimy and wet sensation.
It was only then that Zheng Yan realized something was wrong. He opened his eyes wide and saw his hand covered in bright red blood.
In an instant, his mind jolted awake. At that very moment, he felt something crawling on other parts of his body.
He hurriedly sat up and looked around.
The sight before him was horrifying—all kinds of strange-shaped bugs were crawling everywhere in the room.
"Ah!"
Zheng Yan screamed, jolting Lin Jun awake. He quickly threw on some clothes and carried Zheng Yan downstairs.
The two of them thought there might be food in the house that had attracted the bugs, but when they stepped outside, they saw even more of them.
"After you go back, you can spread some wood ash around. It can help repel the bugs," Meng Ci suggested.
At that time, most households used wood-burning stoves, and only a few used electricity for cooking, so there was plenty of wood ash to go around.
"Okay," Lin Jun agreed.
Zheng Yan and Lin Jun had a lot of things at home, most of which were meant for reselling.
If they didn't return to deal with it promptly, the bugs might eat everything, leading to significant losses.
Therefore, Zheng Yan had no choice but to bid farewell to Meng Ci and the others and rush back home.
At that moment, not only West Mountain Wilderness Base but also various places around the globe were suffering from a severe insect infestation.
The bugs swarmed like an army of ants, crawling densely across the ground.
Some even burrowed into humans through their ears, nose, and other body parts, ruthlessly devouring their brains and internal organs.
Others invaded grain storage facilities, and wherever they went, all the food was wiped out.
Fortunately, the grain storage at West Mountain Wilderness Base was exceptionally well-built, with a solid internal structure, so the bugs couldn't get inside.
However, crops that had been carefully cultivated for half a year were already destroyed, and a third of the herbs used for vaccine development were damaged.
The residents of West Mountain Wilderness Base had always been full of hope for the future.
But upon hearing this news, they became extremely despondent, feeling they had lost the hope of survival. The residents grew demoralized and stopped working, falling into despair.
Facing this situation, the authorities did not give up but quickly took action, organizing all the residents to kill the bugs and protect the remaining herbs with all their effort.
At the same time, they actively started replanting to restore agricultural production.
With no effective pesticides available and an overwhelming number of bugs, only psionic users could eliminate them.
Fire and lightning psionics were the main forces in this effort.
It took ten days to almost completely eliminate the bugs.
Perhaps because they had endured too many false hopes only to face even greater disasters, the residents initially became demoralized and stopped working, but one by one, they rallied, thinking that things couldn't possibly get any worse from here.
Meng Ci and Shen Que had been staying at home, killing various bugs for several days without going out, and they even discovered several nests of insect eggs.
They couldn't imagine what their house would look like if those eggs hatched.
Fearing that there might still be bugs in the house, Meng Ci thought long and hard and suddenly remembered that as long as he wasn't inside, his space would eject any living beings.
Thus, Meng Ci placed the sofa, dining table, and other items into his space, and in no time, a large number of live bugs appeared out of thin air.
Meng Ci and Shen Que, armed with insecticide, quickly sprayed the bugs.
"Hiss!"
A cloud of white mist shot from the nozzle, filling the room with a sharp, acrid odor.
The insects convulsed and dropped to the ground as the insecticide mist enveloped them.
The two continued spraying insecticide until every last bug was dead.
Soon, a thick carpet of dead insects covered the floor.
Meng Ci opened the door, and Eggplant and Eagle walked in from outside.
Meng Ci quickly shut the door behind them and then took Shen Que, Eggplant, and Eagle into the space.
He carefully checked Eggplant and Eagle from head to tail, and sure enough, he found two more insects hiding on them.
After getting rid of the insects and disinfecting everything with alcohol, they left the space with the wolf and dog in tow.
Once the furniture was back in place, the house looked normal again.
For lunch, they grabbed some ready-made food from the space. Eggplant's appetite was as strong as ever, and he finished a whole bowl of chicken leg rice in no time.
But Eagle barely touched his food and just lay there listlessly beside the sofa.
Seeing this, Meng Ci got really worried.
"Shen Que, could Eagle be sick?"
Neither of them had ever raised pets before, and their knowledge about pet care was extremely limited, so they naturally didn't know what was wrong with Eagle.
Seeing that Eagle wasn't eating or drinking, Meng Ci began to ponder the reason.
Thinking maybe Eagle didn't like the food, Meng Ci went back into the space and brought out some pig trotters, chicken feet, and other treats.
However, even after changing the food, Eagle remained unmoved, not even willing to look at it.