Chapter 52 - Chapter 52: Chapter 47 Hard to Persuade a Dead Ghost l (2/2)

He had warned Wang Haikun in front of everyone not to use his manure. If something went wrong, it would be Wang Haikun’s own fault.

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But preparations had to be made early.

Wang Haikun never went easy on those he could bully, always squeezing them to the brink of death.

When he saw that Qin Niu’s maize harvest was good, and he himself had nothing, it was hard to guarantee he wouldn’t come knocking to seize it by force.

Only by obtaining the Insect Master title as quickly as possible could he be worry-free.

After dumping the humus soil, Qin Niu didn’t bother with it anymore and went straight home with the basket on his back.

After a rest, he carried a hoe to the fields.

Wang Haikun saw this and thought that Qin Niu spent the day collecting humus for him and had neglected his own fieldwork. That’s why he went out to the fields so late, with the sky almost dark.

The other villagers also witnessed this and felt sympathy for Qin Niu’s plight.

But no one dared to speak out for justice.

Including his neighbor Wang Furen, who wouldn’t offend Wang Haikun over such a matter either.

After arriving in the field, Qin Niu first carefully inspected the maize seedlings and noticed that some leaves had holes or spots from insects.

But he couldn’t see any Core-Boring Worms.

He released five termites.

“Fourth, look around, see if there are any of these worms!”

Qin Niu gave the order to the Grade Two Lightning Worker Ant.

It led two worker ants and two soldier ants, climbing up from the base of the maize seedling. Their two antennae waved incessantly.

Fourth’s speed was astonishing, reaching the top in the blink of an eye.

It soon made a discovery, dashing into the tip of the maize seedling’s core, and before long, it dragged out a white worm several times larger than its size.

Labor point +0.01.

How come simply by letting it help catch a worm, his labor points as an owner increased by o.oi?

Could it be that a pet’s work also counts as the owner’s achievement?

That must be the case.

He examined the white worm, which indeed was the Core-Boring Worm.

Given its plump body, it must have been feasting on the tender leaves of the maize seedlings for days.

No wonder the young leaves of this maize seedling were growing slowly and had multiple holes. When the Core-Boring Worm was about to pupate, it would wrap itself in a tender leaf, using it like a blanket.

This would prevent the tassel of the maize from emerging, leading to deformity in the maize seedling or a severe decrease in maize yield.

Once it hatched, it would transform into a corn borer, then seek out mates, laying a large number of eggs.

At that point, it would be even more difficult to deal with.

Qin Niu brought the other four worker and soldier ants together to teach them to recognize pests again.

“Remember its scent, and as soon as you find one, bite it to death for me,” Qin Niu ordered the five termites.

To prevent the five termites from being eaten by frogs or wolf spiders in the field, his current method was to take them from plant to plant for inspection.

He didn’t let them fall to the ground.

Instead, he placed them directly onto each maize seedling.

There were fewer wolf spiders, which generally preferred to hunt on the ground and never spun webs.

They only made an egg sac when laying eggs, depositing the eggs inside the sac and then carrying it on their backs. Some would secure the egg sac beneath their abdomen, always keeping a close watch.

After all, it was their offspring inside.

As the five termites became more skilled in catching insects, their efficiency also continually increased.

At this time, Fourth made a new discovery, catching a green caterpillar hidden on the underside of a leaf.

Qin Niu scrutinized it closely, recalling the limited knowledge about pest control he had learned from books.

This insect should be the beet armyworm.

It belongs to the moth family, Noctuidae.

“You have begun to learn insect identification, able to distinguish some common insects through their appearance, color, and habits.”

“You have learned basic pest control techniques, allowing you to eliminate obvious pests during planting, increasing crop yield..”