Chapter 241: Wayward Disciples Leave Some

As the disciples all acted together, the wood insects Ye Zhangqing brought back were quickly cleaned.

Soon, a big basin full of fried wood insects came out of the pot; seeing the golden‑colored wood insects, the disciples drooled.

"Fellow junior disciples, I won't stand on ceremony."

Xu Jie was the first to rush forward, but Zhao Zhengping, Liu Shuang, Lu Youyou, Wang Yao and the others were not slow either.

One person held a big bowl and scooped up a full bowl.

At the same time the disciples were scrambling, inside the Spring Pavilion, a room whose door had been tightly shut suddenly had a disheveled old man rush out, holding up his pants.

"You bunch of little brats, eating something good without calling me."

Behind the old man were two more old men; the three moved identically, rushing toward the door while fastening their belts.

"Holy shit, what the hell are you doing? You don't even have time to tie your pants?"

The sudden scene left everyone present stunned; they had frequented Gōulán for years but had never seen anything like this.

At least tie your belt properly, damn it.

The three old men hurried out of the Spring Pavilion; the madam quickly came to the private room and asked the several girls inside.

"What's going on?"

Hearing that, the girls were also bewildered; they had been having fun just moments ago, and these three old men were each more flamboyant than the last, but suddenly one of the old men let out a strange shout, as if saying something about having eaten.

Then the three leapt up and rushed out, not even having time to pull up their pants.

"We really don't know; their pants came off and the three old guys just ran."

The girls said, wanting to cry but unable to shed tears; hearing this, the madam was also baffled—after so many years in this line of work, she had never encountered anything like this.

The three were none other than Hong Zun and his companions.

Idle and bored, the three old men had agreed to go to Gōulán to listen to music, but who would have thought those rebellious disciples would secretly eat a new dish behind their backs? Unable to tolerate it, they immediately rushed back.

"Damn it, slow down—hold up your pants!"

Along the way, Hong Zun sped like wind and lightning; behind him, Qing Shi was slightly slower, and Zhāng Tiānzhèn lagged last, busy fastening his belt while shouting loudly.

Merely hearing that, Hong Zun had no intention of stopping.

"Still slow—if you go any slower, you won't even get any soup."

"You haven't tied your belt."

"Eating is important, is the belt important? What time is it, still worrying about this?"

Three gusts of wind swept by, and the three old men holding up their pants appeared in the kitchen; seeing that each disciple had taken a big bowl of fried wood insects, Hong Zun was utterly exasperated.

"Wayward disciples, leave some for us."

"Holy shit.........."

As the words sounded, the wood insects remaining at the bottom of the basin were simply taken away whole by Hong Zun.

And the disciples, seeing Hong Zun and his two companions rushing without even pulling up their pants, were all stunned.

"Master, you............."

Zhao Zhengping asked bluntly, but Hong Zun and his companions obviously ignored him, already gathering around to taste the fried wood insects.

"Delicious, delicious."

While eating, they also shook their heads and swayed their bodies in praise.

It was everyone's first time eating wood insects, and they were all captivated by the flavor; only after finishing did Hong Zun and his companions leisurely fasten their belts and smile at Ye Zhangqing.

"Young man Ye Zhangqing, you're amazing—no one had ever discovered these wood insects were so tasty, yet you figured it out."

Hearing that, Ye Zhangqing's mouth twitched; "Damn it, can't you at least tie your belt before you speak?"

"No, I just happened upon it."

"No, this isn't a coincidence."

Hong Zun did not think it was a coincidence.

Having tasted such a delicacy, given the dispositions of the Divine Sword Peak and Jade Maiden Peak disciples, what will happen next goes without saying.

Immediately, many disciples rushed toward the Forest Sea, no longer needing their tokens; their target was the wood insects.

This is the ultimate delicacy; the wood insects Ye Zhangqing brought back—they haven't even tasted their flavor yet.

For a time, figures of Dao Yi Sect disciples could be seen everywhere in the Forest Sea.

Moreover, some people directly collected wood insect corpses from those who were fishing for insects.

"Fellow Daoist, do you still want these wood insect corpses?"

"This thing is useless; I definitely don't want it."

"Then let me have it."

"If you want it, take it—just what use does this thing have?"

"Fellow Daoist, you don't know, but this is a good thing."

"A good thing?"

"Good grief, when did the corpses of these wood insects become a good thing?"

Besides collecting others' wood insect corpses, the disciples also employed every means at their disposal.

What medicinal powders, bewitching drugs, narcotics—they all brought them out.

For a time, the wood insects of the Forest Sea suffered an unprecedented mass cleansing.

The disciples stared at those wood insect corpses, their eyes practically glowing; meanwhile, this scene left others utterly puzzled—what were these Dao Yi Sect disciples up to?

"Insect queen, fellow junior disciples, I've found the insect queen."

"Huh???"

Just then, Xu Jie shouted loudly; only see him holding up a gigantic, corpulent wood insect—this is the wood insect queen.

All wood insects propagate through the queen, and moreover, the wood insects have an instinctive urge to protect the queen.

Hearing Xu Jie's shout, many disciples gathered around. According to reason, after catching the insect queen, they should immediately slay it.

However, the Dao Yi Sect disciples did not do that; instead, they used the insect queen as bait, continually attracting more wood insects.

Under the attraction of the insect queen's scent, countless wood insects swarmed in, and the Dao Yi Sect disciples simply waited by the stump, killing however many came.

After being busy for several Shíchén, when it was nearly Fàn diǎn, each disciple finally returned loaded down.

Seeing the burlap sacks full of wood insects before him, Ye Zhangqing's eyelids twitched.

"Could this be too much?"

With so many wood insects, have you cleared them all out of the forest?

In response, Xu Jie said with a smile.

"Not much, not much; today we'll eat wood insects. Junior brother, just prepare a wood insect, no need to cook rice."

"As a meal?"

Hearing that, Ye Zhangqing was taken aback; the taste of the wood insects was indeed good, but he didn't know if it was the same as bee pupae.

You know, bee pupae are quite heating; eating too much can cause internal heat—can your throat handle it?

But they didn't give Ye Zhangqing a chance to refute; Xu Jie and the others already called all the fellow brothers to start cleaning.

Seeing that, Ye Zhangqing could only grit his teeth and go along.

Bowl after bowl of fried wood insects came out of the pot; each disciple got a large bowl—really, they were eating it as a meal.

Looking at those crispy wood insects, people were stuffing them in big mouthfuls; Ye Zhangqing worried inwardly, are they really not afraid of internal heat? Can their throats handle it?

This stuff is fragrant, but eating it like this—are you sure there's no problem?

After the meal, everyone felt extremely satisfied, not wanting to stop, and even made plans to go catch wood insects again tomorrow.

They called it ridding the people of harm.

"Um, Shī xiōng, you really don't feel any discomfort?"

Hearing the senior brothers say they'd still eat tomorrow, Ye Zhangqing asked softly; upon hearing that, Xu Jie wore a look of self‑through‑the‑way.

"It's fine, junior brother, relax—we're all cultivators; how could we get internal heat?"

"Do cultivators really not get internal heat?" Upon hearing that, Ye Zhangqing was doubtful.