Protect Our Patriarch

Nine-Star Insect King!

Wang Shoujie's mouth twitched several times. This fifth sister usually didn't show off, but privately, she was quite... hair-raising.

"Buzz!"

The fist-sized Nine-Star Insect King's shell opened, and its wings flapped rapidly in response to her.

At the same time, Wang Luojing took out an emerald bamboo flute from her waist and began to play a unique melody. The sound was sharp and high-pitched, quite piercing to the ears.

However, the Nine-Star Insect King was very familiar with the sound, and its wings vibrated, emitting a continuous buzzing noise. The other small Nine-Star Insects in the box also unfolded their wings and flew around the Nine-Star Insect King, like a cloud of unpredictable changes.

Following Wang Luojing's command, the Nine-Star Insect King led the charge towards the wheat field, followed by tens of thousands of insects forming a swarm like a fierce wind. Although they were all ladybugs, the ladybugs in this mysterious martial world were clearly more ferocious.

They landed on the withered wheat ears, catching an aphid and starting to feast. Their combat power was far beyond what the larvae could compare to. In just half an hour, each Nine-Star Insect had killed at least five or six aphids.

With this biological legion, they were truly unstoppable.

"Well done, Luo Jing, well done," Wang Shoujie praised with a smile. "With your skills, our Wang Clan's food supply is saved."

"It's not enough, Fourth Brother," Wang Luojing shook her head. "From the wheat's flowering period to maturity, there's only about ten days left. The later it gets, the more likely the yield will decrease."

Her grandfather, Wang Xiaozhi, had spent his whole life farming, and she had been familiar with this process since she was a child. Without hesitation, she took out two large, grayish-brown lacewings from the box, each as thick as an arm.

"Fourth Brother, these two lacewings have laid too many eggs and might not live for more than a month," Wang Luojing said with some guilt. "I hope they can make one last effort for the family in their final moments."

She played the emerald bamboo flute again, and this time the sound was completely different from when she commanded the Nine-Star Insect King. The sound was very low and solemn. The two grayish-brown lacewings suddenly woke up and flew away.

Their speed was extremely fast, and they disappeared from sight in just a few breaths. As they flew, their mouthparts kept vibrating, emitting a low-frequency sound.

"Fourth Brother, the lacewings have the ability to summon their companions," Wang Luojing said. "I hope they can summon more companions back, as there are fewer and fewer lacewings in the wild, and only some remain in the mountains."

Wang Shoujie also thought about this, and it was likely due to the insecticide powder released by the Purple Palace Academy, which had caused a significant decrease in aphids, leading to a decrease in the lacewing population.

Now, with the emergence of pesticide-resistant aphids, the lacewing population was struggling to keep up, and it seemed like something big was about to happen.

An hour later, one of the lacewings returned, bringing back thousands of its kind. They flew around the wheat field, crazily devouring aphids, and what was even more terrifying was that they started laying eggs on the wheat leaves as they ate.

By the time the sky turned dark, another lacewing returned, bringing back even more of its kind. The dense army of lacewings made Wang Shoujie wonder if there were enough aphids in the thousands of acres of wheat fields for them to eat.

Moreover, the large number of insect eggs they laid would hatch in just a few days, and the small larvae were not to be underestimated.

Such a magnificent scene gradually caught the attention of the farmers, and then they reported it to Wang Xiaozhi. When Wang Xiaozhi arrived later, he learned that it was his granddaughter Wang Luojing's good deed, which left him utterly shocked and speechless.

In an instant, he was overcome with emotion, muttering to himself: "This time, our Wang Clan is saved, we're saved."

"Fourth Grandfather, our other two farms also have a lot of crops," Wang Shoujie said, "As for the specifics, I won't get involved, you can discuss it with Luo Jing yourself." Although the silkworm farm was mainly focused on sericulture, they also grew a significant amount of wheat.

"This..." Wang Xiaozhi hesitated when he heard that he had to discuss it with his granddaughter, who was still very young, and his face fell slightly.

"If you think Luo Jing is in the way, I can take her back, so she won't be a bother here," Wang Shoujie said with a smile.

"No, no bother," Wang Xiaozhi quickly shook his head, his old face twisted into a flattering smile towards Wang Luojing, "Luo Jing, we still need to think of a way to save the other two farms. Whatever you need to do, just let Grandfather do it."

Wang Shoujie smiled, although Wang Xiaozhi was a stubborn old man who favored men over women, his loyalty and sense of belonging to the family were unquestionable. As long as his mindset could be changed, he was still a pillar of the family.

Seeing Wang Xiaozhi's change in attitude, Wang Shoujie pulled him aside and said seriously, "Fourth Grandfather, it seems that this pestilence is not just affecting our Wang Clan. I dare not say it's Longzuo, but the Changning Guard area will likely reduce production by at least 40-50%."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Wang Xiaozhi asked, then laughed foolishly, "If others reduce production, we'll have a bumper harvest..."

"In this world, good and bad things are often not absolute," Wang Shoujie said coldly. "Sometimes things that seem good can turn out to be bad."

Wang Xiaozhi was taken aback, then reacted, "You mean other families will be jealous of us?"

"It's not just jealousy," Wang Shoujie's expression was very serious. "As the saying goes, 'it's not that you're not worried about having little, but that you're worried about not being equal.' If we, the Wang Clan, have a bumper harvest, not only will our enemy families be envious, but even families with whom we have a good relationship might also harbor resentment. One misstep, and our Ping'an Wang Clan might become the target of everyone's criticism."

"What should we do? Now that our Wang Clan is already struggling, if we..." Wang Xiaozhi became anxious, after all, he was just an old farmer who didn't understand much about these matters.

"Don't worry, Fourth Grandfather," Wang Shoujie said confidently, "Sometimes bad things can turn out to be good. We need to see how to operate this situation to our advantage. Let's think about it, first we have the Changning Xu Clan, the Shanyang Gongsun Clan, and the Shanyin Liu Clan. These three families have a long history of intermarriage with us, and we need to think of a way to help them."

In fact, among these three families, Wang Shoujie had the best impression of the Shanyang Gongsun Clan, not only because his current stepmother was from the Gongsun family, but also because the Gongsun family had a more open and optimistic clan culture, which didn't look down on the currently struggling Ping'an Wang Clan.

Of course, this was also related to the previous marriages between the direct descendants of the two families. Gongsun Mo, the current clan leader of the Gongsun family, was the grandson of Wang Lingdie, who was from the fourth generation of the Wang Clan's direct descendants.

The Changning Xu Clan was an extremely powerful martial family, comparable to the Wang Clan's strongest period. At that time, the direct descendants of both families were intermarried, and their relationship was very close.

Unfortunately, later on...

Wang Xiaozhi nodded complexly and painfully, "That's right, these three families have a deep blood relationship with us. It's just a pity about Sister Zhenmei..."

Wang Shoujie knew what he was talking about. After the Wang Clan's family drama, in order to solidify their relationship with the Changning Xu Clan, under Ancestor Longyan's operation, the fifth generation's Wang Clan direct daughter, Wang Zhenmei, was married to the Xu Clan's direct eldest son.

Wang Zhenmei did not disappoint, and a few years later, she became pregnant with a direct descendant, and the relationship between the two families reached its closest state. Unfortunately, Wang Zhenmei died mysteriously during childbirth, resulting in a tragic outcome of one death and two lives lost.

At that time, the Wang Clan was grief-stricken, and the brothers of the same generation even went to the Changning Xu Clan to cause a scene, which even shocked Ancestor Longyan, who personally came to investigate, but found no suspicious circumstances.

Since then, the close relationship between the Wang Clan and the Xu Clan had a rift, and their intermarriage was limited to direct descendants, no longer involving the main line.

Similarly, the relationship between the Shanyin Liu Clan and the Wang Clan was also complex and difficult to describe in one sentence.

However, no matter how complex it was, the blood relationship between them could not be erased, and at critical moments, they still had to rely on each other.

[Heartfelt thankyou for the support! SlaySaga]