Chapter 115 - 108: Bug Swarm
After taking his pulse and examining him, Qian Muzhen said, "Sir, you’re full of vim and vigor. Your vital energy is strong, and the slight ailment has already completely healed."
"Are you sure I’m okay?"
"You’re fine."
Hearing this confirmation, Qin Ziwen breathed a quiet sigh of relief. ’It’s good that I’ve recovered.’
𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
After learning he was sick, he had been worried about accidentally passing it on to the others at Home.
Even though he felt his symptoms had improved significantly, he hadn’t dared to risk it.
Now, with an answer from a professional, he could finally relax.
"If you’re still worried, Sir, you can take two more doses of an anti-inflammatory, detoxifying formula just to be safe."
Qin Ziwen nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Dr. Qian, do you remember where you came from?"
Qian Muzhen frowned, then shook his head. "Sir, I can’t recall the specifics. I only remember that I used to run a medical clinic in Pingjiang Square in Suzhou."
"Suzhou..." Qin Ziwen mused. ’Li Tieshan is from Yangzhou, and Qian Muzhen is from Suzhou. Both are in the Jiangnan Region.’
Qian Muzhen asked, "Sir, is there a clinic in the Home?"
"No, but there is an apothecary."
Qian Muzhen smiled. "An apothecary will do just fine. At least there’ll be a place to store the herbs we gather."
As he came out of the master bedroom, Qin Ziwu, who was cooking breakfast, heard the noise. "Brother, you’re up?"
"Yeah, I’m feeling better, so I came out to take a look around."
Qin Ziwu’s gaze fell on Qian Muzhen, who was standing behind his brother. "And this is?"
"This is Dr. Qian. From now on, he’ll be the doctor for our Home."
"Great! Dr. Qian, do you eat spicy food? Since you just joined today, I’ll add a ladle of chili oil for you."
Qian Muzhen hurriedly replied, "Something plain would be fine, thank you. I’m mindful of my health."
Yawning as he emerged from the guest bedroom, Li Tieshan snapped to attention upon seeing Qin Ziwen. "Sir!"
Qin Ziwen nodded. "Hm? You forged another Beast Trap?"
"How did you know, Sir?" Li Tieshan asked in surprise. "I copied the previous one and made another Beast Trap. I used a stronger spring this time, so its clamping force should be greater than before."
"Excellent. Keep up the good work. Thank you for your efforts, Master Li," Qin Ziwen said in approval.
When he checked the settlement report this morning, he had noticed an extra Beast Trap.
The daily settlement report showed a summary of the Home’s various outputs. It usually only listed the most important events, but you could click on an ellipsis to expand it and see the full details.
Arriving at the main entrance, he took out the [Building Card] Level 1 Steel Door.
The card’s usage requirements were very simple: it could be attached to any "door-type" structure.
After use, an additional steel door would be installed in that location.
There were quite a few doors in the house: the bedroom doors, the bathroom door, the kitchen door, and the main door to the living room.
Naturally, Qin Ziwen unhesitatingly chose the location of the living room’s main door.
As a glow covered the door, a second layer of light appeared.
When the light dissipated, a set of entirely blue-gray double doors, looking extremely thick and heavy, had appeared in its place.
The doors extended from left to right, their surfaces a matte finish, with no extraneous patterns whatsoever.
His first impression was of sturdiness; he felt it had to be much tougher than his home’s original door.
(Image: Door)
He originally thought the Building Card’s door would be like other classical structures—an ancient-style door—but he didn’t expect it to have such a modern design.
[Level 1 Steel Door: Level 1 Hardness, Level 1 Shock Resistance]
「Meanwhile, inside the apothecary.」
Qian Muzhen walked into the apothecary, inhaling the faint medicinal fragrance in the air. He carefully examined the room’s layout, nodding from time to time.
Qian Muzhen muttered to himself, "This apothecary isn’t bad."
He walked over to the medicine cabinet and looked at the small, labeled wooden drawers, thinking it was a thoughtful touch.
’This way, I won’t have to worry about grabbing the wrong herbs.’
He gently pulled open a drawer labeled "ginseng."
"Huh?" The drawer wasn’t empty.
Qian Muzhen was surprised at first, but when he got a clear look, his expression immediately darkened.
What was in this drawer labeled "ginseng" wasn’t ginseng at all—it was clearly cogon grass root.
’How could anyone confuse the two!’
’Although they both have rootlets, they look nothing alike. How could someone make such a mistake!’
’If this were one of my apprentices, I’d make them copy the herbology manuals a hundred times!’
Another drawer next to it was labeled "Reishi Mushroom."
Qian Muzhen pulled open the drawer.
It was filled to the brim with plantain leaves.
He was silent for two seconds.
Qian Muzhen lost all hope for the herbs in the remaining drawers. And sure enough, aside from the dandelion, honeysuckle, and licorice, which were in their correct places, everything else was wrong.
Driven by professional compulsion, he began emptying the herbs from the drawers and slowly, meticulously sorting them.
Qin Ziwu came over and called out, "Dr. Qian, breakfast is ready."
Qian Muzhen put down his work and went to the living room.
After sitting down, he started venting his frustrations to Qin Ziwen.
"Sir, these herbs can’t be stored so haphazardly. When herbs are misplaced, their medicinal properties can leech into the wood of the drawer. If you later store a different herb in there, their properties could cross-contaminate."
Hearing Qian Muzhen’s complaint, Qin Ziwen gave a slight cough. "Dr. Qian, you don’t actually need to go to all that trouble. If the herbs are in the wrong drawers, you can just peel off the labels and stick them on the correct ones."
Qian Muzhen froze.
’That’s right... I could just do that.’
’Then what was all that back-breaking work I just did for nothing?’
Qin Ziwen looked at everyone present and said, "Alright, our main task for today is to continue hunting and stockpiling cured meat. That’s the priority. Beyond that, if anyone has run into difficulties with their work recently, or has any ideas, now’s the time to speak up."
Liu San was the first to complain, "Sir, the Salt Well’s brine output isn’t high enough! The six of us are working as hard as we can to produce salt, but the well can’t produce brine as fast as we can process it. Sixty catties of coarse salt a day is our absolute limit."
"The Salt Well can’t keep up?" Qin Ziwen said, surprised. ’It seems six people is too many. Unless the Salt Well is upgraded to Level 2, there’s no need to support all six refugees.’
Li Tieshan’s eyes widened. ’You can complain like that?’
He glanced around before timidly raising his hand. "Sir, I’d like to take on two apprentices. They could handle the menial tasks, and I could double our daily iron output!"
Qin Ziwen looked at Liu San. "Then transfer two of your refugees to assist Li Tieshan. They’ll get all the food they can eat, but they have to be hardworking. No slackers."
Liu San nodded hurriedly. "Yes, Sir."
Qian Muzhen was just about to open his mouth,
when suddenly, screams and shouts of alarm erupted from the open ground outside the building.
Qin Ziwen looked outside.
Opening both sets of doors, he and the others went up to the rooftop.
There, they witnessed an utterly spectacular scene.
The sky above the Gated Community was a dense, swirling mass of countless flying insects.
These insects were over a meter long, and they swirled through the sky, mating.
In the morning sunlight, their transparent wings refracted a golden glow.
On the surface of the river below, Forest Giant Mayflies emerged one after another. Their crystalline wings struggled free from their old husks, caught the wind, and carried them into the sky to join the massive, dancing swarm.
"They’ve finally emerged."
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