Chapter 2187: Mutual Devouring

"Perhaps." Shuangye said to him, "After you've been to the Thousand-Eyed Cave, you don't need to come back. Go directly west to investigate the Punishment Dragon Pillars for me, lest they all scatter into the hands of the Kshatriya Heaven."

Xi Yunhe was slightly startled: "Yes."

"Alright, you may go."

Watching Xi Yunhe walk out and close the door behind him, National Preceptor Shuangye only then slowly stood up and walked to the side of the couch.

Xi Yunhe was a capable subordinate; National Preceptor Shuangye had kept him close for the past year or two, and he had been noticed by people with ulterior motives.

But Xi Yunhe's background couldn't withstand deep scrutiny. To avoid trouble, Shuangye simply dispatched him abroad, incidentally completing the task assigned by the Heavenly God.

He opened the lid of the crystal box and observed the pouch-frog.

The young on the frog's back were all alive; three of the largest tadpoles had already grown legs, and their tails had shortened as well.

In another dozen or so hours, they would turn into little toads and leave the mother's body. By then the mother-child bond would be severed, and they would have to swim away quickly, lest they be eaten by their mother.

However, neither mother nor children would have that chance, because National Preceptor Shuangye casually grabbed a small knife and fiercely stabbed it into the pouch-frog's brain, even stirring it twice!

The pouch-frog immediately kicked its legs and died in less than a few breaths.

National Preceptor Shuangye flipped it over, dumped it into a stone bowl, and shook it vigorously a few times.

The little tadpoles were shaken out of the holes on its back and fell into the clear water in the stone bowl.

The bottom of the stone bowl was white, and the condition of every little tadpole could be seen clearly.

Upon entering the water, they swam rapidly, very lively.

But after a dozen or so breaths, some tadpoles could no longer swim; one after another, they slowed down.

Then, they died one by one.

This is the pouch-frog's "mother dies, offspring perish."

Shuangye ignored the other tadpoles, only watching the three that had grown legs.

When their kin could no longer swim, they were still very vigorous.

But this good fortune couldn't last two quarter-hours; they too became increasingly immobile and eventually died.

"Two quarter-hours, hmm..."

The stronger ones, or rather the more mature the young were in evolving toward becoming frogs, the longer they survived after their mother died.

Shuangye's expression was impassive; this matched the conclusion he had drawn from many previous observations.

But it was of no use whatsoever.

It seems this brood of young is the same; they brought him no surprise.

Shuangye picked up the stone bowl, about to open the window and pour it out, when a tadpole in the bowl suddenly moved again.

"Hm?"

This tadpole was small and very frail.

Born of the same mother, why did the strong siblings die first, yet this weakling still lived?

The little tadpole trembled for a good while longer before following its mother in death.

Although it ultimately couldn't escape death, it persisted longer than all its siblings.

Shuangye immediately used a long needle to pick it up and dissect it, examining it carefully.

Soon, he discovered a tiny bit of pus in the tadpole's mouth and abdomen.

The water tank was very clean, with nothing special; what was this bit of pus — residue from berries or moss?

Shuangye picked it out to observe further, then returned to the water tank to compare.

On the water surface around the pouch-frog's corpse, there were indeed a few tiny bits of the same pus floating; they were unnoticeable unless one looked closely.

Shuangye leaned in and gently sniffed.

There was a faint, extraordinarily fishy smell.

His sense of smell was heaven-defying; he identified it instantly:

This is the pouch-frog mother's brain matter!

After he killed the pouch-frog, the mother's brain matter also flowed into the water, and by chance that little tadpole ate it.

Could its slightly longer survival be because of this?

Shuangye had only observed this phenomenon today because previously he killed pouch-frogs with a long needle, the wound extremely small, so brain matter couldn't seep out. Today he casually switched to a knife, and there was a different effect.

"Mother dies, offspring perish; mother and child devour each other." Shuangye finally revealed a smile. "Interesting, truly interesting."

His research had finally made the tiniest bit of progress.

Shuangye walked to the window and took a deep breath.

Outside the window stood an old late-maple tree, its posture graceful, leaves a brilliant red like blood. Through the gaps in the red leaves, Shuangye gazed at the deep blue sky.

Occasionally a bird passed by, free and unfettered.

That evening, someone brought him a new pouch-frog again.

$$$$$

Time flies.

More than half a year had passed since the Nine Nether Great Emperor sent troops to aid Bailie and seized Ya Kingdom's holy land.

In this half year, Di Jiang occurred frequently, and Cangyan reaped almost all the benefits of the revival of heaven and earth's spiritual energy. As He Lingchuan predicted, as long as Cangyan survived those extremely difficult three to five months at the founding of the nation, and two rounds of grain were harvested in various places, the situation would greatly improve.

In the early founding period, Cangyan's domestic economy was still struggling. But the Shanjin people had previously suffered greatly from natural disasters and war; their vitality was more tenacious than wild grass in rock crevices or poplars in the desert — they could endure any suffering from plague, disease, or famine. And the peace and stability brought by Cangyan's founding had already made them feel reborn.

No bandits or rebels entered towns to plunder, no corrupt officials flagrantly perverted the law, few local tyrants or powerful bullies oppressed men and seized women; in their place, years of barren fields were once again cloaked in tender yellow, the clear Xihe flowed freely again; those appearing in the countryside and mountains were no longer bandits, but government-organized reclamation teams, herb farmers gathering spiritual herbs in the mountains, patrol guards protecting the peace of towns, and merchant caravans and barefoot physicians shuttling back and forth through the wilds.

The air was filled with the scent of busyness and order; the Shanjin people were unfamiliar with it, but fell in love with it instantly.

Everywhere, they vigorously reclaimed wasteland and promoted planting on one hand, and protected fields and harvests on the other.

The Shanjin people erupted with an unprecedented, astonishing enthusiasm for farming.

Their efforts were quickly rewarded. The frequent visits of Di Jiang, plus the protection of the Black Flood Dragon Totem, caused the spiritual energy density of the Shanjin Plains to reach nearly the highest in seven hundred years. Formerly delicate seedlings that needed good soil, good fertilizer, careful tending, and would die if watered a bit too much, now could survive just by being casually thrown onto the ground. Farmlands generally yielded two crops in 140 days, and some places could even achieve three crops.

During the two nights when the Imperial Flowing Paste erupted to an extreme degree, some places even saw their crops mature ahead of schedule.

There was no need to wait until autumn; the Flash Gold people could already experience the joy of harvest. Speaking only of the agricultural output in the suburbs of Ju City, the capital, the yield over these five months was more than four times the annual output before the great eruption of Imperial Flowing Paste!

Ju City is still considered a major stronghold within the former Situ family territory, with relatively good farmland preservation, but a larger proportion of urbanized area. Take the vast, underdeveloped agricultural regions, for example, Shizou Tou City, where the Nine Abysses Great Emperor and the Black Armor Army first appeared several years ago—there, people once starved so badly in famine years that they ate dirt and tree bark. Yet, the local officials of Cangyan led by example, going into the fields to diligently cultivate and plant, and assigned personnel to tend the farmland. The entire city treated the crops in the fields as ancestral deities, nourishing them with utmost care.

Their hard work was rewarded, with the past five months' grain yield exceeding six to seven times the previous annual average—and even more!

The granaries of Shizou Tou were filled for the first time. Excess grain that could not be stored was temporarily transferred to city inns and rural manors outside the city.

Along the dirt roads traversed by grain carts, countless birds landed on the ground, picking up fallen wheat grains.

How many people witnessed such a sight for the first time in their lives, bursting into tears on the spot.

Happy holidays!

What kind of zongzi do you eat for the Dragon Boat Festival? Sweet or savory?