Jiang Xuan stood in the middle of the vegetable field, all he could see were scenes of insects gnawing on crops, and he heard various "rustling" sounds.
If he couldn't come up with a solution, this vast area of crops would all be eaten by insects, and even if they planted tuber-type plants, the autumn harvest yield would still be painfully low.
"Leader, don't panic. Think carefully. Since the Witch in your dream taught you how to plant, they must have also taught you how to resolve situations like this."
When Jiang Xuan was agitated, a pair of warm hands rested on his shoulders, and the gentle voice eased his nervous mood.
That was Chi Shao who had arrived.
Jiang Xuan nodded, took a deep breath, and began recalling various experiences from his past life in dealing with pest infestations.
Firstly, there is manual extermination. This method is the simplest but also the least efficient. With the manpower of the Vine Tribe, the crops would be gone before they finished killing all the pests.
Secondly, there is chemical control, the quickest and most effective method. However, the Vine Tribe doesn't have insecticide, so this method is completely infeasible.
Then there is the legendary method of raising ducks to eat insects.
The Vine Tribe currently, apart from fish farming, hasn't pursued any other forms of husbandry and doesn't even have a single duck.
This method is likewise infeasible.
This doesn't work, and that doesn't work either. What exactly should be done?
Everyone was waiting for the leader to come up with an idea to deal with these pests, but Jiang Xuan was at a loss, and this made him extremely uncomfortable.
"You all go ahead and start catching insects, and I'll think of a solution."
After leaving the group with those words, Jiang Xuan walked away feeling dejected, hoping that taking a walk and seeing things might bring him new ideas.
Gan Song and the others exchanged worried glances; it was apparent that the leader seemed helpless.
Gan Song gritted his teeth and said, "Catch insects!"
Afterward, he picked up a bamboo tube, squatted on the ground, and quickly started catching insects. For each insect, he would squeeze its head and then drop it into the bamboo tube, which could be taken back to roast and eat.
The Wanderers also started moving again, including Chi Shao and others, joining the insect-catching effort.
Chi Shao, while catching insects, occasionally glanced towards Jiang Xuan, the worry on her face was obvious.
These fields were cleared bit by bit by them, and Chi Shao was well aware of how much effort Jiang Xuan had put into farming.
If the pest infestation couldn't be resolved, clearing more land and planting more crops would be meaningless, as they would just become food for the insects.
While they were skilled in dealing with wild beasts, they lacked experience in handling large-scale pest infestations.
Chi Shao could only feel anxious, unable to offer any help.
Jiang Xuan walked slowly through the fields, his mind continually recalling various methods for dealing with pest infestations. However, since he hadn't personally experienced such an infestation, he lacked experience in this aspect.
Could it be that the crops painstakingly planted would really yield nothing?
Jiang Xuan was very unwilling to accept this outcome. As he walked, he found himself by the pond.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, from the pond, a large frog opened its mouth, its tongue darting out like lightning, sticking to a flying insect from the air, and slowly swallowing it.
Jiang Xuan's eyes lit up; if only there were a large number of frogs to release into the fields; they could eat plenty of insects.
Sadly, it wasn't practical to catch frogs temporarily, so they could only rely on the nearby frogs entering the fields willingly to catch insects.
Jiang Xuan's mood darkened again; relying on the few nearby frogs to eat insects was like trying to extinguish a fire with a cup of water.
Jiang Xuan thought until his head throbbed with pain, unconsciously walking back to the bamboo house.
He sat by the hearth, gazing at the flickering flames, when suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed in his mind.
"Firelight, the phototaxis of insects!"
As the saying goes, understanding one principle leads to understanding many principles. Seeing the firelight naturally led Jiang Xuan to think of how to deal with those troublesome pests.
The pests in the Vine Tribe fields, most were winged insects that flew over from other places.
Precisely because of this sudden appearance, they caused severe damage to the crops in the fields.
Because the Vine Tribe was completely unprepared, they hadn't anticipated a large number of insects suddenly invading.
These winged insects have vast numbers, reproduce rapidly, possess immense destructive power, and are extremely frightening.
However, they aren't completely without weaknesses.
Their weakness lies in their phototaxis at night, like most flying insects.
Every night is when they are most active and when they are most destructive.
They rely on moonlight and faint starlight to determine the direction of flight.
At this time, if a heap of bonfires appeared, it would disrupt their flight direction, causing them to dive into the fire pits and be reduced to ashes.
Of course, that's the theory. Whether these pests would actually fly towards the bonfires at night was something that could only be determined by trying.
Holding onto the mindset of treating a dead horse as if it were alive, Jiang Xuan immediately left the bamboo house, went to the fields, and instructed three of the Wanderers to stop catching insects and focus on collecting firewood to pile in spots in the field without crops, forming many wood piles.
Next came the wait for nightfall.
Jiang Xuan, along with everyone, both diligently caught insects and anxiously awaited the arrival of night.
Time flowed like water, from sunrise to sunset, and daylight soon turned into night.
As night fell, Jiang Xuan ignited a torch from the bamboo house area and then proceeded to the fields to ignite each of those piles of firewood.
"Crackle, crackle..."
The dry firewood quickly burned, emitting crackling sounds. Piles of bonfires ignited, and fierce flames lit up the night.
The flying insects that were buzzing around the fields, gnawing at the crops, became confused at the sudden appearance of strong light sources.
They flew around erratically and spiraled towards the fire pits.
"Pop!"
The first insect flew into the bonfire, its wings burned away, it fell into the fire pit, and was incinerated.
This insect was just the beginning.
Soon, countless flying insects surged towards the piles of bonfires, getting burned to death and exploding in the raging flames.
"Great!"
The waiting Wanderers cheered, and Gan Song was so excited that his face flushed red.
Jiang Xuan stood beside a bonfire, watching those insects fall one by one, and finally let out a sigh of relief.
This method was effective, especially when dealing with these flying insects, the results were remarkable.
As long as these flying insects were burned to death, the remaining crawling insects had much less destructive power, and the Vine Tribe's crops could be saved.
Throughout the night, countless insects were burned to death, and the smell of char was pervasive across the open field, deterring numerous wild beasts from approaching.
The fire burned all night, until it was nearly dawn when Jiang Xuan and the others returned to the bamboo house to sleep.
The Wanderers were the same; they needed to frequently add dry wood or bamboo to the bonfires to keep them burning continuously.
Only after dawn did the bonfires begin to die down, allowing everyone to rest.
Except for one person, Gan Song.
He watched the last bonfire extinguish and picked up a scorched yellow insect from beside it, putting it in his mouth.
"Crunch..."
The insect was roasted crisp; Gan Song chewed it a few times and swallowed.
He walked slowly through the fields, observing the crops carefully and finding that the number of insects was already quite low, finally feeling a sense of relief.
"Brilliant, burning a few more times and we should be able to kill all these insects, and what we've planted can continue to grow."
Gan Song stroked a Round Potato seedling with its leaves damaged, a comforting smile appearing on his face.