Chapter 261: Generous Lady Fu Luo La

Gao De looked over in the direction Elder Grant pointed.

The scene in the field made him frown.

The Jin Hui Wheat field, which should have been green and full of vitality, now looked desolate.

In the field, there were not many Jin Hui Wheat seedlings left.

Most of the wheat seedlings had withered and were carefully pulled out so as not to affect other healthy wheat seedlings.

Among the remaining few Jin Hui Wheat seedlings, it was visible to the naked eye that a part had wilted again; the leaves lost their usual fresh green and became withered and powerless, as if they would fall at any time.

These surviving wheat seedlings swayed in the breeze, looking exceptionally fragile and not long for this world.

"These wheat seedlings were normal when I looked at them yesterday; in just one night, they became like this." Elder Grant pointed to those wilted wheat seedlings and said with a frown and worry.

"If this is not solved, all the Jin Hui Wheat seedlings will be destroyed."

After speaking, Elder Grant's gaze turned to Gao De.

"How do you need us to cooperate with you?"

Gao De smiled and said: "No need."

Subsequently, he patted his pocket lightly.

The next instant, Fu Luo La flew out, flapping her wings.

Luo Yiqi had long seen Fu Luo La, so he didn't have much reaction, but Elder Grant was seeing her for the first time, and a flash of surprise flashed in his eyes subconsciously.

"This is the magic pet I obtained through 【Summon Magic Pet】, good at planting," Gao De introduced: "With her here, she will definitely be able to find the problem of Jin Hui Wheat withering."

It was an introduction, and also a statement.

To avoid others seeing Fu Luo La's means and having ideas about her—Fu Luo La was summoned through 【Summon Magic Pet】, so naturally, there was no way to forcibly seize her.

Hearing Gao De's introduction, Lady Fu Luo La couldn't help but puff out her chest proudly: It's my turn!

But the other two didn't give Fu Luo La face.

"Huh?" Luo Yiqi didn't expect that Gao De's reliance would be Fu Luo La, and he was shocked and half-believing.

"Magic pet?" Even Luo Yiqi was half-believing, and Elder Grant was even less likely to believe it easily.

He looked down at Fu Luo La, who was the size of a finger, and a look of disappointment appeared on his face, waving his hands repeatedly: "This kind of big matter, don't be childish; what problem can a magic pet solve?"

Elder Grant had never heard of any magic pet that could farm.

As soon as the words fell, he discovered that the little person who was originally flapping her wings and flying in the air with a very happy mood actually widened her eyes sharply and stared at him fiercely, her gaze bright like lightning: —Dare to question Lady Fu Luo La's professionalism, this grudge, Lady Fu Luo La has recorded it! The little person didn't say a word, but Gao De read her dissatisfaction.

"Elder, don't be anxious," Gao De said to Elder Grant, who was stunned by Fu Luo La's stare: "Since I dare to make such a bold statement, it is naturally not to show off and tease the Elder, but because my own magic pet is indeed extraordinary in ability. You just wait."

"Good, then let's see your performance; don't fool me." Seeing Gao De's confident look, Elder Grant also believed a few points and immediately put away the disappointment on his face.

"Of course not." Gao De promised fully.

Then, he lowered his gaze and looked at Fu Luo La, cupping his fists to Fu Luo La and saying: "I will trouble Lady Fu Luo La."

Fu Luo La hummed, puffed out her chest again, and flew toward the wheat field.

Elder Grant felt novel when seeing this scene.

It was said to be a magic pet, but Fu Luo La looked like a mini person, and Gao De, as the "master," now spoke to the magic pet so seriously, calling her Lady... it was truly a strange thing.

Over here, when Elder Grant was surprised, Fu Luo La's body had already landed on one of the wilted wheat seedlings.

Then, she began to work busily like a diligent little bee.

She looked at the leaves for a while, carefully checking the color and texture of each leaf, looking for any signs of abnormality.

She circled the wheat stalk for a while, carefully checking the roots and stems of the wheat stalk.

She landed on the ground for a while, digging open a small piece of soil with her fingers, as if checking something.

As soon as this posture was put out, Elder Grant's expression was clearly much more focused, and he seemed to have started to believe in Fu Luo La's professionalism.

Gao De watched Fu Luo La with narrowed eyes on the side, waiting for her to "get off work."

About half an hour passed.

Fu Luo La flapped her small wings, left the wheat field, and flew lightly toward Gao De.

She flew straight to Gao De's shoulder, then sat down steadily, dangling her little legs, and made some sounds that Elder Grant couldn't understand.

Gao De put on a serious listening expression, nodding from time to time.

Finally, he raised his head and looked at Elder Grant and Luo Yiqi, who were watching with eyes wide open on the side.

"How?" Luo Yiqi couldn't help but ask, his tone carrying urgency and anticipation.

Gao De smiled and said: "Found the problem."

"That's it?!" Elder Grant still couldn't believe it, a flash of doubt flashed in his eyes, but more of it was hope.

After all, the problem of Jin Hui Wheat had plagued him for a long time, and now that there was a sudden turning point, he felt both surprised and excited.

"It's done." Gao De answered affirmatively.

Fu Luo La, sitting on Gao De's shoulder, glanced sideways at the shocked Elder Grant, hugged her chest with both hands, and tilted her head away.

"What is the

Gao De stepped forward, came to a withered Jin Hui wheat seedling, bent down, and pulled it out by the roots.

He casually shook the soil off the roots of the seedling, then snapped his fingers, and flames immediately ignited on the seedling.

【Spark Spell】.

The flames burned very rapidly, emitting a sizzling sound, and the Jin Hui wheat seedling was quickly reduced to ash, which fell into Gao De's palm.

He gently blew away the straw ash, then reached out his hand to show it to Elder Grant and Luo Yiqi.

In Gao De's palm, more than a dozen tiny white particles were particularly conspicuous; they looked like sand grains, but were even smaller than sand, while simultaneously emitting an unusual luster.

"This is the reason why the Jin Hui wheat seedlings are dying," Gao De said in a deep voice.

Elder Grant and Luo Yiqi leaned in to observe the white particles carefully.

Elder Grant frowned and asked, "What is this?"

"The corpses of ice nematodes," Gao De explained.

"Ice nematodes?"

"A type of nematode that likes to gnaw on the root systems of wheat seedlings. Their activity destroys the structure of the roots, causing the Jin Hui wheat seedlings to be unable to absorb water and nutrients properly, which in turn leads to rot, with the roots turning black and softening."

"Furthermore, the irritating substances they secrete also cause abnormal proliferation of the barley root tissue—well, you might not understand this, but anyway, it leads to the formation of obvious small lumps on the roots."

Elder Grant listened very attentively, nodding continuously as he listened, "It all matches up..."

This was the detailed condition of those problematic Jin Hui wheat seedlings; he hadn't mentioned it, but now it had all been accurately described by Gao De. "Lady Fuluola told me all of this," Gao De indicated.

Elder Grant's gaze subconsciously turned toward Fuluola.

He saw the little person sitting upright on Gao De's shoulder, having already turned her head back, staring at him intently.

"Amazing!" Elder Grant looked at Fuluola, his eyes shining.

Fuluola unconsciously tilted her head up at an arc.

Gao De smiled slightly, paused, and continued: "These ice nematodes are a very cunning type of parasite. Not only is their volume extremely small, but their length is also between 0.1 and 1 millimeter, so they are completely invisible to the naked eye."

"Moreover, their bodies are transparent. Once they burrow into the roots of the wheat seedlings and mix with the sap of the roots, they are even harder to observe."

"Only after cremation will they form these solid, sand-like particles that are easy to observe."

Elder Grant widened his eyes, a look of sudden realization appearing on his face, "So that's it. No wonder we never found the source of the problem."

"I also thought it might be a pest infestation and kept looking for external pests, but after flipping through the withered wheat seedlings and checking them several times, I didn't find any clear clues. It turns out it requires cremation to be able to discover them."

Gao De's expression turned stern as he added: "The volcanic soil is already full of ice nematode eggs. These eggs will hatch rapidly in the warm and humid environment of the volcanic soil."

"Once they hatch, more ice nematodes will continue to infest the wheat seedlings, forming a vicious cycle."

"If measures are not taken early, the entire wheat field will be affected, and the losses will be unimaginable," he warned.

Elder Grant naturally knew the severity of the matter. He nodded and adopted a posture of humble inquiry: "Then what must be done to solve these ice nematodes?"

"Actually, once the cause is found, there are many ways to solve them. For example, although these ice nematodes like warmth and humidity, the ice nematode eggs are extremely afraid of heat. High-temperature treatment is all that is needed."

"However, high temperatures will also cause damage to the Jin Hui wheat seedlings. Although the ice nematode infestation would be solved, it would be a pyrrhic victory, doing more harm than good."

Elder Grant nodded continuously, "Indeed, although high-temperature treatment is effective, the risk is too great. We cannot take the risk."

"To achieve both, the methods that can be used are limited."

"However," Gao De smiled and continued to claim credit for Fuluola, "Lady Fuluola has already found a simple and easy method for you."

"When I was wandering around Phoenix, I noticed that many of your locals use a plant called bitter neem grass to feed snow pheasants."

"You take some bitter neem grass, crush it, soak it in water, then filter out the residue, and spray it on the wheat fields."

"There are some special substances in the bitter neem grass. These substances have a strong killing effect on ice nematodes, but have no negative impact on the Jin Hui wheat seedlings, and can even increase the organic matter in the soil to a certain extent... well, you don't need to worry about what organic matter is, anyway, it's just something beneficial to the Jin Hui wheat."

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope flashed in Elder Grant's eyes: "Bitter neem grass actually has such efficacy? Because its taste is too bitter, and it has very little moisture, and its texture is as dry as withered branches, we previously only used it to feed snow pheasants. I never expected it to have such a use."

"If you spray the bitter neem grass water today, there shouldn't be any new Jin Hui wheat seedlings withering by tomorrow, and some seedlings that have just been infested might even regain their vitality because of it," Gao De laughed.

"This method sounds simple. I will start trying it immediately!" Elder Grant said impatiently.

The problem had been found, and the method to solve it had been given. Gao De and Luo Yiqi left the place first and returned to Phoenix to wait for Elder Grant's good news.

The two walked back to the room together.

Along the way, Luo Yiqi was still burdened with worries.

On one hand, he was worried about Catherine's situation, and on the other, he was unsure whether the method Gao De provided would really work.

But now, all he could do was believe in Fuluola.

Gao De, on the other hand, was all smiles. Compared to Luo Yiqi's worry, he had absolute trust in Fuluola's ability.

Thinking of this, he thanked the little person who was still sitting on his shoulder: "This time, Lady Fuluola has been a huge help."

"Not worth mentioning," said Fuluola, who was clearly full of pride but pretending to be indifferent.

"That Elder Grant didn't know Lady Fuluola's ability and doubted Lady Fuluola at first. Lady Fuluola is a person of great stature who doesn't hold grudges against small people, so don't take it to heart," Gao De added.

"It's a small person who doesn't hold grudges against a person of great stature," Fuluola corrected him earnestly. Considering Gao De had just praised her, she didn't look down on him for not being smart this time. "It's fine, Lady Fuluola doesn't hold grudges."

"Lady Fuluola is magnanimous," Gao De praised again.

Fuluola was extremely satisfied.

She thought for a moment, looked up at Gao De's profile, and asked the question she had been holding back for a long time, "Mage, why didn't you let me find the problem immediately?"

With her ability, she only needed to touch the Jin Hui wheat seedling lightly to know what its problem was.

Yet she had been flying up and down, looking here and there, for a full half-hour. All of this was specifically instructed by Gao De.

Although Lady Fuluola obeyed and did it, she didn't understand why she had to do it that way.

If you don't understand, you ask. Lady Fuluola had always been very inquisitive.

Gao De thought for a moment and said, "I'll tell Lady Fuluola a story."

"Hmm, Mage, go ahead."

"Back where I'm from, there was a young locksmith. Although he was young, his craftsmanship was very good, so he was already ready to finish his apprenticeship."

"When he was finishing his apprenticeship, his master exhorted him, 'When you help others pick a lock, you must spend more time and pretend it's more laborious.'"

"He didn't understand, but he agreed anyway."

"Soon, his first business came. A butcher lost his own key and had to find a locksmith to open the lock."

"It was originally agreed to be a flat price of 2 silver to come and open the lock. This was already a cheap price; the young locksmith's master charged 3 silver to open a lock."

"Then, the young locksmith went over. His craftsmanship was very good, and with a click, he opened the lock smoothly in just a few seconds, completely forgetting what his master had told him."

"However, after the lock was opened, the butcher was unwilling to pay. The butcher felt that you spent so little time on the whole thing, and charging him 2 silver was cheating him out of money; he would pay at most 1 silver."

"The butcher was burly and had a fierce appearance. The young locksmith didn't dare to argue with him, and in the end, he could only take 1 silver and slink away. Even then, the butcher felt he had given too much."

"Does Lady Fuluola know why the locksmith master told the young locksmith to do that?"

The story was finished.

Fuluola fell into deep thought and did not answer the question Gao De raised.

Gao De shook his head and didn't mind.

After a while.

Fuluola's voice came to his ear: "Lady Fuluola is the young locksmith, the Mage is the locksmith master, and that old grandfather is the butcher, right?"

Gao De tilted his head and looked at Fuluola sitting on his shoulder. The little person was looking up at him.

"Lady Fuluola truly has a wise heart!" he praised.

"Correct." Hearing her own Mage praise her, Fuluola nodded decisively, very happy.

Seeing her happy, Gao De was happy too.

(End of chapter)