0p0 Chapter 166 Honey
Chapter 166 Honey
At Lin Baiyan's command, the beastmen swarmed towards the peach grove.
Most of the beastmen that Lin Baiyan brought were used to gathering work, and they skillfully picked the ripe peaches and put them into their baskets.
Then they loaded the full baskets onto the cart they had brought.
The entire process was streamlined, and Hu Yuan, as the leader of the gathering team, was clearly very skilled. While the beastmen of the Azure Flame Tribe were picking peaches on the left, she led the big tigers of the Silver Tiger Tribe to the right.
Lin Baiyan watched as everyone busied themselves picking peaches, not even bothering to eat any for themselves.
After thinking for a moment, he took Lang Cang and carried a basket of peaches on his back, intending to take them to the river to wash them and bring them back for them to try.
The two people, carrying baskets on their backs, walked through the peach grove and followed the direction of the mountains toward the stream.
A gentle breeze blew through the woods. Lin Baiyan, wearing a straw hat and holding a wild grass he had plucked from somewhere, hummed an unknown tune.
Wolf Cang walked beside Lin Baiyan, glancing occasionally at the sub-beastman beside him who was filled with joy, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes.
Suddenly, Lin Baiyan's gaze sharpened, and he quickly patted the male orc beside him, "Wolf Cang, Wolf Cang, look!"
"What do you think that is?"
Lang Cang looked in the direction Lin Baiyan was pointing and saw a large tree not far away. "A tree?"
"Oh dear, look at that branch, isn't that a beehive?" Lin Baiyan was anxious and pulled Lang Cang away.
When they got closer to the tree, they realized that it was ridiculously large, probably requiring three orcs to encircle it.
The two stood under the tree. Lin Baiyan looked up and, sure enough, saw a huge beehive among the branches of the tree.
The beehive was built in a very secluded place. If Lin Baiyan hadn't been so sharp-eyed, he might have missed such a large beehive!
Lin Baiyan excitedly patted Lang Cang's arm, "A beehive! Such a huge beehive!"
Wolf Cang didn't seem so happy. "I'm afraid it won't be that easy to get the beast honey."
His expression was somewhat solemn. "These needle beasts are very powerful. Don't be fooled by their small size; if you get stung, you'll be covered in welts. There was even an orc who was stung and returned to the embrace of the Beast God not long after."
Lin Baiyan seemed to be thinking, "You mean those are poisonous wasps?"
Wasps contain toxins, and being stung by a wasp can lead to multiple organ failure due to an overdose of toxins. Since there is no good treatment available on the Orc continent, this is the likely cause of death.
"It is indeed possible for the situation you described to occur, but bees are better off."
Lin Baiyan smiled and said, "I have a way to prevent us from getting stung."
It's clearly impossible for Lin Baiyan to give up such a large beehive.
Why would you spit out food that's already in your mouth?
Lang Cang frowned. "Then tell me when I come and go, and that you shouldn't come near here."
Bai Yan's skin is already prone to redness, so if she were stung by a needle beast, it would probably hurt even more.
He was a tough male orc who wasn't afraid of these things.
Hearing him say that, Lin Baiyan suddenly remembered that when he approached the long-necked beasts before, they didn't seem to react much and would even avoid him.
Now that the epiphyllum mark on his wrist has deepened a bit, these bees probably won't sting him anymore, right?
We'll have to try to find out if it works or not.
Lin Baiyan took some tree branches and vines and a bundle of firewood and tied them together to make a small woodpile, then tied it to one end of a long wooden stick.
He wants to smoke the bees away so he can collect the honey.
The two men stood under the tree, and Lang Cang approached the huge beehive with the pile of firewood that was already emitting thick smoke.
Wild bees are very sensitive to smoke, and using thick smoke to drive them away is the most practical way to obtain honey; burning branches emit billowing smoke.
Before long, the bees, feeling the heat of the smoke, flew away from the hive, revealing the golden honeycomb inside, laden with honey.
Seeing the bees flying away from the hive in large numbers, Lin Baiyan was delighted. Instead of immediately approaching, he continued to smoke them with thick smoke for more than ten minutes.
When less than one-tenth of the bees remained around the hive, Lin Baiyan tore open his animal skin bag, covered his face with it, and then tied his sleeves and trousers tightly with vines. "I'll try it myself."
Lang Cang disagreed, saying, "It would be too dangerous for you to go."
Lin Baiyan's face was covered by animal skin, and his words were somewhat muffled, "You forgot that the Rainbow Phoenix Chicken and the Long-necked Beast didn't even bark when they saw me, and the Pan-Sheep was also very docile."
"I wanted to see if these bees would behave the same way as them?"
"Besides, I've wrapped it up tightly. I'll smoke the bees off the hive a bit first, then it won't be so dangerous."
Hearing him say that, Lang Cang's expression was still somewhat unpleasant. "Then I'll go with you."
Lin Baiyan looked at Lang Cang disapprovingly, "If you come with me, I'll feel restricted, and you won't have any protective measures."
"Okay, it's settled then, I'll do it myself!" If this keeps going on like this, the bees will fly back.
Lin Baiyan made a quick decision, took the bamboo tube, climbed up the tree branch, and got closer to see that the beehive was even larger.
Lin Baiyan stared in disbelief at the beehive, which was almost two meters long.
Seeing that the bees around him were showing signs of returning, Lin Baiyan gestured to Lang Cang, signaling him to bring the torch closer to the hive.
Sure enough, as soon as the branch got close to the hive, the bees scattered in all directions.
Taking advantage of the moment, Lin Baiyan quickly took out Lang Cang's bone knife and cut off the honey along with the honeycomb, putting it into the bamboo tube.
Surprisingly, the bees around the hive sensed Lin Baiyan's presence and avoided him, showing no signs of causing any trouble.
Seeing this, Lin Baiyan became even more certain of the effect of the Epiphyllum mark, and he began harvesting honey with peace of mind.
Luckily, the bamboo water tube he brought with him was quite large, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to hold all those beehives.
These honeycombs are also valuable resources. After the honey is squeezed out, the remaining residue can be used to make beeswax or honeycomb candy.
Lin Baiyan picked a whole bamboo tube full of honey, which was only about one-tenth of the honeycomb.
Looking at so much honey, he felt a little reluctant to part with it. This was the first time he had encountered such a large beehive since coming to the Beastman Continent.
However, they had no other containers, so Lin Baiyan had no choice but to climb down the tree with the honey.
He looked at Lang Cang with frustration, a hint of grievance in his eyes, "We're out of things to store the honey..."