I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 382 You're really good at this

The others crowded around and carefully pried open the lid of the black jar a crack, squinting as they peered inside.

The insects were all black, the jar was all black, so naturally nothing could be seen, but that didn't stop everyone's curiosity.

Siyue pointed to the jar and asked, "Dr. Feng, did you raise this?"

"No." Feng Jing shook his head at the group, then closed the lid as if afraid the Shadow Chaser would escape.

"This little thing is delicate. Before it is raised, it will die if it is even slightly cold, hot, hungry, full, noisy, quiet, or otherwise displeased."

“I’ve tried raising them a few times, but the longest they’ve lived is only half a month. They’re really hard to raise. I originally wanted to buy some on the black market, but they’re not available there.”

"Why isn't it for sale?" Chu Liuzheng asked in confusion. "Since it's so rare, it should fetch a good price."

“That’s not quite right,” Feng Jing explained. “The Shadow Chaser is only used for finding people. It generally doesn’t attack people on its own, and it’s easy for it to die while searching for someone.”

"The poison on this one was specially raised. Although its sting is powerful, it was still almost slapped to death by Lord Lü just now, wasn't it?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Lü Fei.

Lü Fei: "..."

He just slapped it on the spot without thinking. Who told this thing to be such a dark little shadow bug, which looked like a fly at first glance?

“Although the Shadow Chaser is useful, there are countless ways to find people. Unless there is absolutely no other way, who would be willing to spend a lot of money to buy a worm?” Feng Jing continued to explain while holding the black jar. “Therefore, if you sell it for too high a price, no one will buy it; if you sell it for too low a price, you will lose money, and fewer people will buy it. Gradually, no one will sell it anymore.”

It's still better to catch someone else's well-raised pet!
I'm absolutely thrilled!

Chu Liuzheng asked, "Since it's specifically looking for people, where did you catch it?"

“In the military camp.” Feng Jing stuffed the black jar into his cloth bag. “This morning I went to deliver food to Ji An, and this little thing was flying around him, so I caught it.”

Everyone: "..."

You're really good at this.

Everyone present knew that Ji An was Yin Lan Ci's drug user, so it was likely that the Shadow Chasing Insect had some connection with Yin Lan Ci.

Mitsuki said, "If we just catch them like this, won't the owner of the Shadow Chaser Bug find out?"

Such a difficult animal to raise must be a valuable possession; if it gets lost, it will definitely need to be looked for.

“No,” Feng Jing said. “The Shadow Chaser has no special connection with its master. Unless it dies, its master will not know. Therefore, the master is usually nearby where the Shadow Chaser appears.”

Upon hearing this, everyone wondered if Yin Lanci's men had already reached the vicinity of the military camp, or even infiltrated it.

Lu Fei immediately became alert and was about to tell General Huang to send men to search the area around the military camp to see if there were any suspicious people.

“Hey, no need to rush.” Feng Jing called out to him, “I’ve checked, the owner of this Shadow Chaser is not nearby. I also asked Ji An, and according to Ji An, the person who released this Shadow Chaser should be Ping Xuan.”

As he spoke, he took out a folded square from his pocket and unfolded it for everyone to see.

Having learned from his previous experience of recognizing the scribbles, Chu Liuzheng quickly identified the two characters on the paper as "Pingxuan" this time.

[Alas! What a pity that Ji An's hard-earned beautiful handwriting has been ruined by Yin Lan Ci.]

"So, we can find Pingxuan just by following this Shadow Chaser?" Chen Xing stroked his chin, his eyes shining, quite eager to try.

Feng Jing had no experience either, and after thinking for a moment, he nodded: "It should be possible."

Chen Xing immediately urged everyone, "Why don't we try it now? Let's capture Ping Xuan. He definitely knows more than Hong Ying."

“Pingxuan’s status is special, and he must not act without authorization.” Lü Fei said sternly, “Everything must be reported to His Majesty first.”

Chen Xing pursed her lips but didn't refute. Although she was a bit playful, she knew what was important.

Chu Liuzheng looked up at the sun and said, "His Majesty should still be taking a nap. Anyway, this matter is not urgent. We can report it after His Majesty wakes up." No one had any objections. They wanted to take another look at the Shadow Chaser Insect, but Feng Jing treasured it so much that they had to give up and go about their business.

Chu Liuzheng continued making pastries, while Feng Jing brewed his own loquat syrup.

I was so busy catching bugs that no one stirred it, and now the bottom is all burnt.

He took another clay pot, heated it up, poured out the unburnt parts, and continued to boil them. In the end, he only managed to get a small porcelain jar from about ten pounds of loquats.

Since Chu Liuzheng was going to treat him to grilled fish, Feng Jing casually handed her a loquat syrup.

"His Majesty has a cough. Dilute this with water and give it to him to drink, once in the morning and once in the evening. He should be better after two days."

After saying that, he winked at Chu Liuzheng, as if to say, "This is all I can do to help you."

Chu Liuzheng knew that he had completely misunderstood. He wanted to explain, but he was worried that he would only make things worse. So he simply didn't bother to explain and decided to let the facts speak for themselves.

Feng Jing took out another bottle and gave it to her: "Here's the one you wanted. Keep it safe. If you lose it, there won't be any medicine to make a second one."

"Thank you." Chu Liuzheng quickly put it into his pouch and asked, "When will we test the poison?"

“It’s not appropriate now,” Feng Jing thought for a moment and said, “You can eat on the way back. Even if you fall asleep, it won’t interfere with anything.”

"Okay." Chu Liuzheng readily agreed, lifted the lid of the steamer to take a look, and said to Feng Jing, "It will probably take about half an incense stick's time to steam. You keep an eye on the fire for me, and I'll go check on things by the stream."

"There are cattails by the stream. Could you pick some for me? I want to weave a cage for the shadow-chasing insects." Feng Jing wanted to give his newly acquired treasure a new home.

After asking how much cattail he wanted, Chu Liuzheng took a wooden basin and went to the stream.

When she arrived, Ge Laosi had just finished cleaning the fish: three grass carp, four crucian carp, and two common carp.

Upon seeing her, the two men immediately noticed the plaster on her neck and inquired about it with concern.

"I got bitten by a little bug, it's nothing." If they didn't mention it, Chu Liuzheng would almost forget that he still had a plaster on his neck.

Upon hearing that they had only been bitten by small insects, the two were no longer worried.

"You caught so many fish! Brother Ge, you're really skilled." Chu Liuzheng gave Ge Laosi a thumbs up, smiled, and put the cleaned fish into a basin. He then said to the two of them, "When it's ready, please try my cooking."

The two hurriedly waved their hands, saying it wasn't necessary, whether they were afraid of troubling Chu Liuzheng or had been traumatized by Old Wu into having a phobia of eating fish.

Chu Liuzheng didn't try to persuade them further, thinking he would deliver the food to the two of them once it was cooked.

She first folded the cattails that Feng Jing wanted, tied them into a bundle with the leaves, and tucked it under her armpit. Just as she was about to go back to get the fish, she saw that Tang Laosan had already walked away with the wooden basin.

"With us two brothers here, how can we let the girl do rough work?" Ge Laosi smiled, holding a vegetable basket, and beckoned Chu Liuzheng to follow.

Chu Liuzheng quickly thanked him, inwardly thinking, "What a kind person!"

When she returned, the pastries were already steamed. She handed the cattail to Feng Jing, and calculating that it was about time for the emperor to wake up, she didn't have time to deal with the fish. She quickly packed the pastries, brewed a cup of black tea, and carried it to the main tent.

The curtain of the main tent had been lifted, and faint voices could be heard coming from inside.

[She woke up as expected.]

Chu Liuzheng carried the things in and bowed slightly to the person sitting by the bed, saying, "Your Majesty, may you be well."

"Flat body."

Xiao Jingfan had just woken up, and his voice was lower and hoarse than usual.

He lifted his eyelids and immediately noticed the large black plaster on Chu Liuzheng's neck, then paused in surprise: "What happened to your neck?"

(End of this chapter)