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Chapter 2 Stepmother
The burly man was a "divine cultivator". Practitioners of this school of thought were accustomed to imprisoning souls and training ghost soldiers.

Xu Yuan pointed in a direction: "Walk another three miles over there and you will reach Wangxiang Village. I won't go there. There is no danger ahead. The place where I collect firewood is on the other side..."

The two exchanged glances: Take action?

The burly man nodded, and three evil spirits jumped out silently from the shadows under him!
His eyes are bloodshot and he looks eerie and ghostly!

Two of them pulled Xu Yuan's legs, and one bit his throat.

It seemed that Xu Yuan was grabbed by the ankles by two ghosts, and he stumbled and fell into the woods in front of him, thus avoiding the fatal blow.

A bunch of strange snake-like creatures jumped out of the woods, wrapped around Xu Yuan's neck, hands and feet, and quickly dragged him into the depths of the woods.

The two ghosts that were pulling at his legs refused to let go. The "strange snakes" suddenly opened their mouths and sucked, and the two ghosts were immediately swallowed into their stomachs. The last one retreated in a hurry, trembling with fear and not daring to chase anymore.

"Ah!" The burly man felt a pang of pain in his flesh, and looked at the forest in surprise and doubt, not daring to go beyond the line.

"Swish!"

There were strange sounds coming from the woods, as if something was watching them, but they couldn't leave the woods.

"Has this guy been guarding against us all the time, or is it just a coincidence?" Daxiaoyan was not sure.

The burly man was still worried about his ghost soldiers: "Why bother? My ghost soldiers are vulnerable to these things, and he, an ordinary person, is dead."

Daxiaoyan was a little hesitant: "Should we go in and take a look? We came to Guiwu Mountain to find that thing, and we must not reveal our whereabouts."

The burly man felt that the ghost soldiers all showed great fear of the forest.

"You have to go."

Daxiaoyan took a tentative step forward, and just as he was halfway into the woods, dozens of dark shadows whizzed towards him. He hurriedly retreated: "That kid is doomed for sure."

Deep in the woods, Xu Yuan used his teeth to tear open a secret pocket on his collar, and the realgar powder inside spilled out.

Those "snake vines" were frightened and ran away.

These strange vines always think they are snakes and are very afraid of realgar.

Xu Yuan broke free from his restraints, smeared realgar powder on his body, quietly moved to the edge of the woods, and listened to the conversation between the two.

"What should we do now?"

"Without our guide, we can only go to Wangxiang Village on our own. Fortunately, it shouldn't be far away."

The two men cautiously set off again. The burly man couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is that 'June Bug'? Why would someone as stingy as Lord Zheng be willing to pay such a high price for us to find it?"

He glanced at him and said, "Don't you think that since Lord Zheng is willing to spend such a huge price, the true value of the Juneworm must be far greater than his offer?"

The burly man said, "That must be the case."

Big and small eyes warned him: "We are doing this for money, don't have any bad intentions! Zheng is not a good person. If we swallow his things, we will be hunted down to death!"

The burly man fell silent, his eyes wide open as he pondered, "There's only one June bug, how are we going to divide it? If I find it, I'll definitely kill you and keep it all for myself."

Xu Yuan frowned while hiding in the woods. This was the third group of people he had brought into the mountains to look for things.

The first two groups died in the mountains. There must be others in town leading the way, so the actual number must be much higher.

However, this was the first time Xu Yuan knew that what they were looking for was called "June Bug".

The two merchants walked away, and Xu Yuan came out from the other side of the forest. This was the correct direction, and the two men would never reach Wangxiang Village.

They had bad intentions from the beginning and had no intention of giving any reward at all. The burly man was even interested in Xu Yuan's soul.

It’s a pity that they don’t understand the people in the town. If they were tricked so easily, they would not survive more than three days in the town.

Xu Yuan avoided a ghost stream in the mountains and walked for a while before arriving at a sunny slope. The sunlight here seemed softer and warmer than anywhere else.

The Yang energy is strong, so evil spirits hate it.

This is where Xu Yuan collects firewood. The slope is covered with various kinds of wood.

Xu Yuan climbed all the way to the top of the slope, where there grew an old walnut tree half a man's thickness, with a basket-sized hole in the tree.

There is a small bamboo cage in it.

Xu Yuan took out the cage and his eyelids jumped. There was a fat white worm lying inside.

"Is this what they're looking for...Junebug?!"

The small cage was given to Xu Yuan by his stepmother.

The stepmother is four years older than Xu Yuan. She was originally an apprentice of Xu Yuan’s father, but somehow she became his second wife.

Xu Yuan's father passed away half a month ago. After the funeral, his stepmother inherited all his father's property and then found this job in the inn for Xu Yuan.

Before leaving home, my stepmother handed me the cage and said mercilessly, "When you get there, find an old tree hole where you collect firewood and put the cage in it. Remember to check it every day. If you catch a fat, white worm, you can eat it."

"What if we can't catch him?" Xu Yuan asked.

"If you can't catch it...don't come back."

The stepmother put a few grains of stale rice in the small bamboo cage as bait.

After Xu Yuan arrived at the inn, an old man took him to collect firewood on the first day, and he went out alone on the second day. He placed the cage in the hole of the walnut tree.

For more than ten days, Xu Yuan would check every day when he came to collect firewood, and it was always empty.

But the few grains of stale rice inside have always been there. I wonder if the insects in the mountains are different from those outside the mountains and don’t like to eat rice?
Before today, Xu Yuan never thought that those people who went into the mountains to look for things like moths to a flame were also targeting this insect!
The cage is made very delicately and you can't get out once you get in.

There was one thing Xu Yuan had to admit, that his stepmother was indeed very clever and skillful.

The little bug trapped inside seemed to have given up and lay there motionless.

Xu Yuan caught the bug and opened his mouth - but he felt a little disgusted. After hesitating for a moment, he closed his eyes, gritted his teeth and threw the bug into his mouth.

Unexpectedly, it was very delicious, melting in the mouth, with a fresh and sweet taste sliding down the tongue into the throat.

(End of this chapter)