Chapter 316: Eradicating the Hornet's Nest, the Beekeeper's Experience

"Why do I recall you poking hornet's nests when you were little? I think your master even got stung."

As they walked down the road, a memory came to Cui Feng, and he spoke up.

Thinking of his childhood mischief, Ning Fei just smiled, mindful of the ongoing live stream.

The viewers, however, heard it loud and clear.

"What? Temple Master Ning poked hornet's nests when he was little? He was that brave?"

"All boys are mischievous when they're little. Being a bit active is normal."

"Didn't Temple Master Ning say he loved playing with swords as a kid? What do you think playing with swords means at that age? It's just going out to chop weeds, hacking away all day long."

"Wow, to think Temple Master Ning was a mischievous little Daoist priest in his youth."

"Such a cute little Daoist priest. If I had been teaching on the mountain back then, I'd have loved to take him home and raise him."

The viewers' conversation drifted off topic.

Looking at Temple Master Ning now, gentle, refined, and with an otherworldly aura, one could only conclude that as men matured, they grew increasingly charming.

The two arrived at South Lake. Seeing Xiaoxiong by the lake, Cui Feng paused in surprise and said, "You're raising one too?"

"Free-range," Ning Fei nodded.

Since both men raised bears, the viewers could only comment, "The black bears in Qinshan Village are so lucky. One gets honey every day, and the other gets fish every day."

Just then, Cui Feng spotted a hornet flying toward them.

"It's this big? That nest won't be small."

Cui Feng exclaimed in amazement.

He had kept bees his entire life and was intimately familiar with them. Catching sight of a single hornet was enough to give him a rough idea of the nest's size.

"Yeah, these things build nests fast. Now that a winter has passed, who knows what it's grown into?" Ning Fei looked toward the mountain forest beside South Lake, speaking with a hint of worry.

"I'd guess it's about a meter across."

As they spoke, the two entered the dense forest.

Before stepping into the trees, Ning Fei deliberately updated his stream's title with a warning:

"Professional operation. Amateurs, do not imitate."

He was worried that others would copy him and try to poke hornet's nests; that would truly be courting death.

The warning carried little physical harm, but was highly insulting.

Neither man wore a Protective Suit at first. Until they located the nest, as long as they remained careful, the hornets wouldn't sting without provocation.

At that moment, the viewers watched Cui Feng take out a small jar of honey. He folded a leaf down the middle, poured the honey inside, and hung it from a branch.

"What's he doing?" a wave of confusion rippled through the viewers.

Ning Fei explained, "The mountain is so big. Searching blindly across the whole range for a hornet's nest is too much trouble."

"We just need to find the nest's large worker hornets—the scouts—and they'll lead us to the actual nest."

"This step is called luring the hornets. It's how skilled beekeepers locate nests."

Hearing Ning Fei's explanation, the viewers suddenly understood.

Not long after, sure enough, the viewers watched a large, slender hornet with yellow and black stripes fly over to gorge on the honey in the leaf.

"Confirming the nest's location is very simple. We just need to time how long a hornet takes for a round trip," Ning Fei added.

The viewers watched in silence, finding the entire process fascinating.

The realities of mountain village life felt distant to them.

By then, the hornet had eaten its fill of honey and flew unsteadily away.

Ning Fei and Cui Feng waited to the side, with Cui Feng checking the time.

A few minutes later, the hornet wobbled its way back.

"About three minutes. The nest is roughly five hundred meters from here."

Cui Feng said immediately upon seeing the hornet.

Hearing Cui Feng's assessment, the viewers silently gave him a thumbs up.

"This beekeeper is amazing."

"It's all from years of experience."

At this point, Cui Feng spoke again:

"Now that we've confirmed the distance, the next step is just to observe the general direction the hornet flies back."

The hornet flew back once more, and both Ning Fei and Cui Feng looked up.

"It's that way, slightly south of west."

Having determined the direction and distance, the rest was easy.

The five hundred meters through the mountains featured complex terrain with trees everywhere.

Finding a hornet's nest in such an environment wasn't easy.

The two pressed forward. Before long, Cui Feng pointed ahead and said, "Look over there. There aren't many large trees on the mountainside, but there are a few tall ones at the foot."

"Hornets generally like to build their nests in large trees."

"The nest is probably right there!"

The two sped up their pace. When they reached the trees, the viewers caught sight of the nest they were looking for through the drone's lens.

Cui Feng was absolutely right; the nest was right in this large tree.

Before everyone had time to marvel at Cui Feng's seasoned experience, they were shocked by the scene before them.

The hornet's nest in front of them was incredibly huge!

Just moments ago, the viewers hadn't understood what Cui Feng meant by a one-meter nest.

Only when the drone's camera captured it did they truly understand how terrifying such a nest was.

It looked to be the size of a human body, resembling a gray fortress.

They could even hear a clear buzzing sound around it.

"So scary, it makes my scalp tingle just looking at it."

"Goodness, are hornet nests this big?"

"I thought they were all the size of basketballs!"

"If these hornets came out to sting someone, how terrifying would that be?"

Knowing the upcoming footage might cause unnecessary debate, Ning Fei informed the stream and had the drone broadcast elsewhere.

Around the village, or near contracted reservoirs, fish ponds, and farmlands, or near barren hills leased for planting tea and fruit trees—whenever a hornet's nest was discovered, it had to be dealt with.

Dealing with the nest also meant eliminating the hornets.

Otherwise, if the nest was gone and tens of thousands of hornets swarmed wildly in the dense forest, the surrounding animals would be in for a disaster.

Even Qinshan Village's poultry might be affected!

Hornets attacked not just humans, but animals as well. Videos of cats and dogs getting stung often circulated online, their snouts or paws swollen to massive proportions. Although tragic, they always made people want to laugh.

The two men had already donned their Protective Suits. Cui Feng brought out some white powder and placed it beneath the tree.

"I didn't expect the nest here to be so large. Good thing we found it, or the villagers would have suffered again."

Cui Feng's expression turned solemn.

"Fortunately, I brought enough."

"This is Hornet Removal Powder. Hornets have a keen sense of smell, otherwise they wouldn't have come the moment we set out the honey."

"The smoke produced by burning the Hornet Removal Powder can effectively kill hornets. It's a specialized tool for us."

The two worked together to clear a patch of empty ground out of the surrounding weeds and brush, ensuring the fire wouldn't spread outward.

Then, Cui Feng checked the wind direction and ignited all the white powder.

As soon as the powder burned, thick white smoke immediately billowed up.

The white smoke surged straight into the massive hornet's nest.

Before long, dead hornets began tumbling unsteadily to the ground.

This continued for over half an hour. Only when no more hornets fell did Cui Feng go up to check.

He pulled out a Kitchen Knife and sliced directly into a small section of the honeycomb.

Inside, rows of white hornet pupae were revealed. Finding the sight a bit too unappetizing, Ning Fei stayed below and didn't climb up.

Cui Feng, however, was highly delighted. Hornet pupae were an excellent ingredient for infusing wine, and like silkworm pupae, they possessed extremely high protein value.

"Ning Fei, we'll split the pupae evenly. These are real treasures,"

Cui Feng said with a laugh.

Eradicating the hornet's nest was a good deed for Qinshan Village, and harvesting so many good things naturally made him happy.

Hearing his words, Ning Fei waved his hand and said, "Old Cui, you're the one who put in all the work and effort. I just tagged along for the ride. The pupae are all yours; I don't want them."

If someone with trypophobia saw the densely packed pupae inside the nest, they would probably faint on the spot.

The things looked exactly like white grubs.

Ning Fei had always disliked such things, avoiding them like the plague.

Hornets didn't produce honey, so there was nothing for him to harvest anyway.

"You don't want such excellent pupae?"

"Alright then. Later, I'll grab some honey from my place for you. I can't let you leave empty-handed."

Cui Feng was quite principled.

In truth, he had profited quite a bit.

The pupae in a nest this large could probably fetch around ten or twenty thousand yuan if sold on the market.

Afterward, Cui Feng busied himself on the nest, packing up the comb and pupae. As a professional beekeeper, he handled all this with ease.

Ning Fei watched from below. Unable to help out anyway, he was left to relax in peace.

Eradicating the hornet's nest was a good thing for South Lake and Qinshan Village alike.

The villagers soon learned of the matter, showering them with all kinds of praise.

Mountain village life was mostly like this; whatever happened, everyone would...