Mountains and giant beasts, cabins in the woods

After a series of interrogations.

The three are a father and son, from the Golden Silkworm Sect, a gang in the south. Due to an unexpected massacre of their entire clan, they traveled north and hid in the Xing'an Mountains to escape pursuit.

The leader of the king crabs is named Jin Jieyuan, a master of the Golden Silkworm Sect.

Liu Xingmo and Liu Yizhu managed to treat the three people, leaving them barely alive.

As darkness fell, the valley became gloomy, with weeds and vines swaying in the miasma.

In the shadows, there seemed to be unknown, terrifying monsters lurking... but in reality, they were just some insects.

Liu Xingmo kicked the naked king crab: "Show me all your bugs, don't try any tricks!"

"Yes, sir." The king crab's fine, intricate mouthparts opened and closed repeatedly, blowing out a gust of fishy wind.

Immediately afterwards, a dense swarm of insects crawled out from the shadows, completely surrounding the entrance to the valley.

Liu Yizhu scoffed: "Hmph! I don't think I have some kind of magical ability. It's just that I can use scent to confuse insects."

Liu Xingmo then explained, "Insects don't have proper brains; they rely entirely on hormones and pheromones for instinctive actions. This old crab is quite capable of controlling so many scent molecules."

The approaching army of insects was diverse, with the most numerous being a strange moth, and there were also quite a few beetles of various kinds.

Liu Yizhu, however, immediately took a liking to a dragonfly.

Its thin, membranous wings are over ten meters long, and its torso is encased in a metallic carapace. A pair of large, bright black eyes on its head are divided into tens of thousands of tiny crystals. Two spikes at the tip of its tail combine to form a pair of pincers. More importantly, a rich aura of blood energy is hidden within, reaching the second-tier level.

Liu Yizhu said firmly, "Very well, this dragonfly is mine."

"Young master, that's my natal Gu... I need it to control a large swarm of insects." The immobile king crab pleaded in a pitiful voice.

Liu Yizhu remained unmoved: "You, release it from its control."

Liu Xingmo's eyes lit up: "You guys even have the concept of natal Gu? What about those two brats' natal Gu?"

The king crab's eyes darted around, still trying to play dead. But after meeting two pairs of malicious gazes, it had no choice but to behave itself.

From the sea of ​​insects, a centipede and a golden beetle crawled out, both of them being first-tier acquired mythical beasts.

Liu Xingmo laughed and said, "Haha! That's great, it's mine!"

The king crab felt a sudden darkness before his eyes. It turned out that Liu Yizhu had dragged the dragonfly over and forced him to remove the soul seal.

Liu Xingmo, holding the centipede and beetle on his left and right, found the two attackers who were tightly bound.

Tonight, we'll spend the night in the valley.

the next day.

They tied the king crab to the old turtle's back, and led over thirty old insects that caught their eye from the insect sea towards Black Dragon Village.

The commotion along the way was quite significant, even attracting a pack of gray wolves. No conflict ensued; after a brief standoff, they passed each other.

On the evening of the third day, Tiegu Pass could be seen in the distance under the setting sun, its iron-clad city gate gleaming with a rusty red light.

Exhausted and with its tongue lolling out, Baohei suddenly became excited. It pawed at the ground with its four claws and sprinted with all its might. When it reached the bottom of the city wall, it shook violently, throwing the king crab and the two prisoners off its back.

The turtle shook itself, no longer wanting to do physical labor.

Liu Xingmo and Liu Yizhu, leading a large swarm of insects, also chased after them.

At the city gate, a brown bear led several gray wolves and red foxes, quickly surrounding the area.

The brown bear stood upright, scratching the fur on its chest with its paw: "You little rascal, why did you bring an outsider back again this time?"

The gray wolf sniffed the king crab intently: "These guys don't look like good people. We can't let them in easily this time."

The red fox noticed what was happening behind it, its fluffy tail wagging incessantly: "Wait, those bugs... are they your catch from running through the mountains?"

Liu Xingmo pointed at the king crab: "These three heretics from out of town happen to have the skill to catch insects."

Liu Yizhu said angrily, "My Dahuang is dead! These bastards must pay for it, and I will keep a close eye on them."

The brown bear shook its head and pointed its paw at the city gate: "Go in."

"Wait a minute!" Red Fox urged, "These insects are of good quality. I'd like to buy a few for my juniors. Is that alright?"

Liu Xingmo replied, "No problem, Hu Shulu will be the instructor."

Each of these insects can probably be sold for two or three thousand yuan, which adds up to a considerable income.

Liu Xingmo accepted two first-tier rare beasts, and gave the rest to Liu Yizhu.

When the yellow-throated marten died, its soul imprint shattered and dissipated, which actually had a significant impact on its master.

In this situation, one's strength will be unable to improve for at least several years until the damage to the soul is repaired and the next soul imprint is formed.

For someone with Liu Yizhu's innate talent, advancing to the third rank at the age of 20 and wasting several years of his life is a huge loss.

Only certain expensive elixirs can repair the damage; the income from selling the insects should be enough.

If Jin Jieyuan and his two sons can reliably capture and cultivate high-quality insects, then Liu Yizhu will take them under his command, thus solving his employment problem.

Although the trip was thrilling, it was extremely rewarding.

Liu Xingmo and Liu Yizhu bid farewell.

Riding the old turtle, I embarked on my journey home. It wasn't until midnight that I entered my house.

Inside the stable, Baohei stood up straight, allowing its master to untie the reins and saddle.

A centipede and a beetle burrowed directly into the haystack. They used two soul imprints, named Crimson Black and Green Black respectively.

Three rhinoceros beetles and a scorpion ran to the corner of the enclosure, warily staring at their new neighbors.

"You guys, get along well and don't fight."

The insects seemed to understand, but at least they received the basic instruction to stay put.

"Baohei, Fuhei, you two keep an eye on things for me, make sure these bugs don't cause any trouble."

The turtle and the crow nodded simultaneously; their intelligence had already enabled them to understand human speech. If they advanced to the fourth rank, they would be able to communicate telepathically.

"Huh, that's strange? Qinghei, come here and let me take a look."

A large scorpion with a bluish-green exoskeleton scurried over. Unlike last year, it didn't look old; instead, it was quite energetic. Upon closer inspection, a wisp of blood energy was hidden deep within it.

"You've transformed into a magical beast? Just in the last few days?"

A pair of scorpion pincers waved triumphantly, and eight eyes gleamed.

"Are you acting like me? You never transformed before, but now that you've finally caught two strange beasts, you've transformed?" Liu Xingmo could only smile wryly. "Is this the influence of luck? Nothing in life is ever smooth sailing; you only reap rewards after overcoming calamities..."

The blue-black creature couldn't understand complicated words; it simply turned around and warily stared at the red-black and green-black creatures.

"You three, get ready! I'm going to give you a good beating."

Liu Xingmo plans to spend two months consolidating his foundation and further enhancing his contracted insects before advancing to the second tier.

He is 19 years old this year and is a well-known genius in Heilongzhai.