Chapter 308: Chapter 301 Black Land_1

This was also a necessary process on the path to becoming stronger.

The laws of the world are very fair, they won’t allow an insect to effortlessly complete its metamorphosis. If that were the case, it would defy the natural laws and the principles of biological evolution. The order of the universe would be thrown into chaos.

Powerful creatures would be found everywhere.

The next morning, Qin Niu checked the Green-Head Summoning Bee; its antennae were vibrating slightly.

Had it come back to life?

He guessed that after suffering this hardship, the next time he fed it, it would likely have a psychological shadow.

It would definitely be extremely cautious.

Qin Niu decided to take over the one hundred mu of good farmland that had been awarded to him.

He also wanted to check on the locust disaster.

The sixth day of next month would be his wedding day. Before then, if he took over that one hundred mu of good farmland, the wedding could be made a bit more lavish.

Taking Xiao Qing and Green Ox with him, Qin Niu headed to the location specified on the title deed.

“Oh, Master Qin, it has been some days since I last saw you.”

Upon seeing Qin Niu, Xu Zhenchang hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

Ever since the visit from Official Lu, Young Master Fang, and others to Qin Niu’s home, the local people had held Qin Niu in even greater awe.

Since Qin Niu’s status had risen, it was only natural for people to feel intimidated.

It was like an ordinary person standing at the foot of a mountain, looking up at it, would naturally feel a sense of fear.

“Ah, Village Chief, are you preparing to sow the seeds?”

Qin Niu saw that Xu Zhenchang was carrying a bag of wheat seeds and a few corn seeds, while Xu Zhenchang’s wife was carrying buckets of water behind him.

“It looks like the locust plague is finally letting up, and I can’t just leave my fields fallow. By the end of the year, I have to pay the rent to the Yan Family on time, and it won’t be a small sum. The first half of the year, we had floods and locust plagues, and it has been a tough time for me.

Luckily, with Master Qin’s help, there was no total loss, and my losses were greatly reduced.

If the harvest in the second half of the year is not bad, then I won’t be at a loss this year.

However, facing such a year of disasters, it’s like working for nothing for a year.”

As Xu Zhenchang spoke, he was filled with grievances.

He was one of the luckier ones, at least most of the harvest in his eighty odd mu of land in Shuangfeng Village was saved. It only cost him a bit of money to get rid of the pests.

Compared to other tenant farmers, he was incredibly fortunate.

In the face of such natural and insect disasters, not just him, even the Yan Family suffered heavy losses.

The Yan Family alone spent a shocking amount on Qin Niu and the other two Insect Masters for pest control.

The two Insect Masters they hired last ended up with one dead and one fleeing, the Yan Family might even have to pay compensation to the family of the deceased.

After all, it was the Yan Family who hired them, and the accident happened while they were on the job.

“Farming has always been a battle against the heavens and a struggle with the earth. Village Chief, you being able to break even without loss means you have already won against most of the farmers. I believe things will get better.”

Qin Niu chatted with Xu Zhenchang for a bit before quickly leaving.

Even after leaving the village, they could still spot some scattered locusts, but compared to the seriousness of the disaster, these few were negligible.

Many forests and fields had become barren.

Some trees, after having their leaves stripped away, had sprouted fresh green buds.

The most tenacious creatures in the universe must undoubtedly be plants.

They have an incredible ability to adapt.

Indeed, wildfires can’t burn them out, the spring breeze brings them back to life.

Qin Niu continued westward along the main road.

Cross the river and it would be Daoyuan Village, but if he didn’t cross the river and kept going west, that territory belonged to another large village under the He Family’s control.

It was said that the He Family’s heritage was even deeper than the Yan Family’s.

In Jade Stream Town, there are only three most powerful families: the Yan Family, the He Family, and the Pang Family.

The Yan Family was a newcomer who rose to power, currently holding the strongest apparent strength among the three families.

But the He Family, an old established family, had been meticulously cultivating their land in the countryside for many years and had a thriving population; their strength should not be underestimated.

Because Shuangfeng Village was part of the Yan Family’s territory, the other two major families would usually consciously avoid any semblance of conflict and almost never intervene.

It was like drawing a boundary line between two countries.

If one were a larger and stronger nation, one might even leave a smaller country between them as a buffer.

The three major families had coexisted for many years with an unspoken understanding in this regard.

They would never foolishly engage in conflict over minor benefits or disputes.

When two strong armies clashed, one was bound to be injured.

Usually, if there was a need to suppress an opponent, it was done when the opponent’s power was not yet fully developed.

Once an opponent gained significant influence and everyone’s strength was roughly equal, taking action would be utterly foolish.

Qin Niu, accompanied by Xiao Qing, quickly reached their destination.

This place had about five hundred mu of public farmland, with visible signs of cultivation.

“Separated by the main road reaching the foot of Woniu Peak and from the irrigation canal on the left to the measured boundary on the right.”

It was clearly stated on the deed.

“Why are there crops newly planted on these mu of land?”

Qin Niu was somewhat puzzled.

The Black Tiger Gang leader was very generous, rewarding him with a hundred mu of prime farmland that not only had convenient irrigation and plenty of sunlight, but also included more than ten mu of the finest black soil.

This type of prime farmland was top-grade among A-grade lands.

Ordinary prime farmland sold for eleven taels of silver per mu, but this black soil farmland would fetch no less than fifteen taels of silver each.

Its soil was fertile, ensuring very good yields regardless of the crop planted.

But that wasn’t all; cultivating this top-grade farmland could save a great deal of fertilizer.

It saved on labor and fertilizer with crops’ root systems developing well and growing speedily, producing about thirty percent more than ordinary prime farmland.

“Xiao Qing, go to the road and chop a dozen thick logs for me,”

Qin Niu told Xiao Qing.

“Lazy Ox, you help out too; haul the logs over here.”

Qin Niu, upon receiving this hundred mu of prime farmland, definitely needed to make some markers.

The most common practice was to erect boundary markers on the edges of the farmland.

If it were in his own village, there wouldn’t be so much trouble. A simple announcement would suffice.

The villagers wouldn’t dare to offend him, the Insect Master.

Now, in what was known as the strongest village in Jade Stream Town, and being unfamiliar with the place, Qin Niu had to rely on old customs, erecting boundary markers to declare his sovereignty over the hundred mu of prime farmland.

Xiao Qing, having reached the peak of the Mortal Realm and been gifted a treasure sword by Qin Niu, found chopping down trees to be child’s play.

Although the Green Ox was known to be lazy, its strength was not to be underestimated.

It easily pulled two logs at a time without effort.

Qin Niu used his Ink Blade to split the logs in half, then sharpened them and drove them deep into the edges of the farmland ridge, engraving the character “Qin” on them.

This was to tell everyone that from now on, this hundred mu of prime farmland would be known by the surname Qin.

“Young man, what are you doing?”

Two farmers came walking over.

One was about fifty years old, a more elderly farmer, while the other was a man in his thirties, in his prime.

They were carrying hoes, having been working on a distant plot.

They were likely villagers from the same village.

Or perhaps long-term workers hired by the Pang Family.

“I am Qin Niu from Shuangfeng Village, here to take possession of the hundred mu of prime farmland gifted to me by the Gang Leader. Do you know who planted these crops?”

Qin Niu asked politely.