Junxi never expected his elder brothers to be so devious. He rubbed his nose. "It's nothing serious. I've just been expending a lot of spiritual energy lately."
Yaohua didn't believe him at all.
To what extent must one expend spiritual energy to drain these elder brothers to such a state?
"What on earth happened?" Yaohua's suspicious gaze swept across their faces one by one. "If you lie to me, I won't talk to you guys anymore."
Her elder brothers were so stupid. What could they possibly hide from her? She could just ask someone later and find out.
Junxi was at his wit's end. His handsome eyebrows knitted together. "Actually, it's really not a big deal. It's just that the flat - peach trees have been infested with insects lately, and we can't get rid of them no matter what we do."
Yaohua was taken aback. "You guys didn't get so thin just from trying to get rid of the insects, did you?"
This was really quite frightening.
What kind of insects could make her elder brothers so worried?
"Take me to have a look." A sense of curiosity welled up in her.
The Phoenix Clan had specially set aside a large area of land for the flat - peach trees and surrounded it with a fence. There was also a small plaque hanging on it - Flat - Peach Garden.
When Yaohua left last time, the Flat - Peach Garden was full of vitality, with lush trees everywhere, brimming with life and energy. However, at this moment, those once - vibrant fruit trees were withered and yellow, and there were many small flying insects flitting about from time to time.
There were also several clan members inside, using fine nets to catch these small flying insects.
Just then, a swarm of small flying insects passed by a fruit leaf that was a mixture of green and yellow. In the blink of an eye, the fruit leaf was completely devoured.
"The insects are getting more and more ferocious!" Junxi let out a miserable cry as he walked into the orchard. He used his spiritual energy to drive away the small flying insects, but soon he was drenched in sweat.
"What should we do?" A clan member frowned. "The flat peaches are our main source of food for survival. If we lose the flat peaches, how can we get through this winter?"
"Yeah, these insects keep coming and are getting stronger and stronger. They're leaving us no way out!"
The small flying insects had actually become so powerful.
Yaohua's heart sank. "I read in ancient books that garlic water and plant ash can kill insects. Big Brother, have you guys tried them all?"
"We've tried them all." Yan Ling looked solemn. "They had some effect at first, but unexpectedly, just a few days later, the insects came back again. We wouldn't have used our spiritual energy to drive them away if it wasn't absolutely necessary."
They even resorted to the rather silly method of using nets to catch the insects.
Yaohua wriggled out of his embrace and walked towards the peach orchard.
She had only taken two steps when she heard Junxi let out another miserable cry. "What's wrong with these insects! Why are they biting people!" As he spoke, he released more spiritual energy and urged the clan members to leave quickly.
Yan Ling and Feng Jing also rushed up to help. Mo Qing, the youngest elder brother, was left to watch over Yaohua. He grabbed Yaohua and wouldn't let her go in.
"This is really strange." A clan member kept looking back as he walked, worried. "These insects never bit people before. Why are they biting now?"
"Yeah, if these insects run out of things to eat, will they start eating people?"
The more Yaohua listened, the more her heart sank. What the clan member said was not entirely impossible. If that were really the case...
"I want to go in and have a look." She opened her big watery eyes and looked at Mo Qing with an innocent and pitiful expression. Mo Qing was most susceptible to this. In just a moment, he gave in.
"Okay, okay, but you mustn't leave my side for a single step!" Mo Qing looked at her seriously.
Yaohua nodded vigorously. "Don't worry, Sixth Brother. I definitely won't."
She was no longer a child. She had some cultivation now and didn't have to rely on her elder brothers for everything. Moreover, with the magic treasure her master gave her, no one could hurt her!
So, under the careful gazes of her elder brothers, Yaohua slowly walked around the orchard. The flying insects didn't even touch a single hair on her head.
It was only when she was about to leave the orchard that she reached out and caught several of them.
Mo Qing was puzzled and looked at the insects with disgust. "Sister, what are you catching these for?"
"I just want to see what these little insects look like." Yaohua carefully fixed the small flying insects with her spiritual energy. She just noticed that some of the small flying insects only ate leaves, while others bit people. Although they looked the same on the outside, upon closer inspection, they didn't seem to be the same kind.
She stared intently at the small insects. "Upon closer inspection, the ones that bite actually have sharp mouthparts. Sixth Brother, look. Doesn't the mouthpart of this other one not protrude?"
Mo Qing leaned over. It was quite a feat for his narrow phoenix eyes to be widened into round ones.
"Indeed." He scratched his head. "If I hadn't looked closely, I wouldn't have noticed. Sister, you're really amazing."
"Thank you for the compliment, Sixth Brother."
Yaohua tried to use her hand to poke the mouthpart, but Mo Qing grabbed her wrist as if facing a great enemy. "Sister, don't use your hand!"
Yaohua withdrew her hand awkwardly. She casually pulled out a dry grass and poked the mouthpart.
It turned out that there were two rows of teeth like those of humans under the mouthpart of the small flying insect.
How disgusting!
Yaohua shook the goosebumps on her arm. "Why do they look like this?"
Was this still a normal insect?
She remembered the plants she saw in Jincheng. There seemed to be some similarities between the two.
A flash of inspiration crossed her mind. Yaohua suddenly stood up and looked at Mo Qing with bright eyes.
She seemed to understand!
Her sudden expression startled Mo Qing.
"Sister, you... What's wrong?" He stammered, his expression extremely tense. "You weren't bitten, were you?"
As he spoke, he was about to come and check where she was injured. His anxious look made Yaohua couldn't help but laugh.
"Sixth Brother, don't worry. I wasn't bitten by the insects. I just thought of a possibility." Yaohua pulled him to find the other elder brothers and told them what happened in Jincheng.
Sure enough, as the eldest brother, Yan Ling quickly figured out the key. "Sister means that it's very likely that the resentful spirits of humans are inhabiting these flying insects?"
If that was the case, then this matter might be a bit complicated. Yan Ling couldn't help but look deep in thought.
"It's not necessarily the resentful spirits of humans. It could also be from other races." Yaohua shook her head. "How to distinguish them specifically depends on you elder brothers."
With her current cultivation, she couldn't tell exactly what it was. She could only rely on her elder brothers.
Without hesitation, Yan Ling extracted the spiritual soul from the flying insect.
A white light suddenly fell to the ground and turned into a man wrapped in white mist.
Before Yaohua could see the man's appearance clearly, Feng Jing covered her eyes with his hand.
"Second Brother, why are you covering my eyes?"
Feng Jing said seriously, "It's improper to look!"