Fleeing from famine? Not a chance; the divine healer's wife made her fortune.

Chapter 206 Exploring Beekeeping Techniques: A Difficult and Arduous Journey

Beekeeping techniques are difficult and arduous.

On the mountain path where the morning mist had not yet dissipated, Su Yunlan stepped into the bee farm wearing straw sandals covered in beeswax.

Xiao Yuhan placed the mint leaves soaked in the medicinal spring into her palm. Amber-colored water droplets dripped through her fingers onto the blue bricks with the Southern Dipper pattern, startling several worker bees with golden wing veins.

"The beehive must face the seventh star of the Big Dipper!" Suddenly, beekeeper Chen emerged from behind the locust tree and slammed his wax knife heavily onto the century-old ebony beehive.

The old bee-man's hunched back almost broke the jade gourd at his waist, and fluorescent blue mycelium was spreading along the Southern Dipper pattern on the bottom of the gourd.

Su Yunlan calmly crushed the ashes of the decaying firefly grass, watching as the ashes traced the same trade route as the previous night in the morning light.

The moment her fingertips touched the edge of the beehive, Chen, the beekeeper, suddenly poured the entire bucket of red sand onto the bees.

Hundreds of worker bees suddenly flapped their wings and rushed toward the north hive, their wingtips glowing with golden light, piecing together a fragmented Big Dipper constellation in the mist.

"Master Chen, the bee path should follow the earth's veins." Su Yunlan held up the miniature sand tray she had made last night from crimson sand. The seventh star's position clearly showed traces of the corpse bee swarm's fluorescent green phosphorescent powder. "You deliberately made the bee swarm flow backwards; what were you trying to cover up?"

Chen, the beekeeper, cleaved the sand tray open with his wax knife, and the flying red sand condensed into the phantom of the Blood-Eyed Queen Bee in mid-air.

The star-shaped water droplets on the old beekeeper's raincoat suddenly flowed backward, soaking the rubbing of "The Heavenly Craft Bee Manual" at Su Yunlan's waist: "What does this little yellow-haired girl know about beekeeping!"

Back then, the Wu family... &34; He suddenly stopped talking, and used a wax knife to pry open the rotten firefly ash at the bottom of the beehive, from which honey mixed with fluorescent blue mycelium gushed out.

Xiao Yuhan's sword sheath suddenly appeared between the two of them, and the blood-eyed bee wing ornament hanging from the sword tassel hummed and vibrated.

He picked up the beeswax corroded by the mycelium, and golden veins appeared on his fingertips, which had been tempered by the medicinal spring: Master Chen's Southern Dipper beekeeping technique was actually a perfect match for the Wu family's Northern Dipper beekeeping method.

"Fourth Master, be careful what you say!" Chen the beekeeper swung his wax knife at the beehive, and the century-old ebony cracked open with seven Big Dipper patterns.

Countless worker bees surged out of the crack, their wingtips glowing with golden light in the morning mist, forming a complete star map of the trade route that perfectly overlapped with the trajectory of the decaying fireflies and ashes from the previous night.

The red-scaled sand bottle in Su Yunlan's sleeve suddenly became scalding hot, and the sand grains inside spontaneously condensed into miniature queen bees, which flapped their wings and crashed into Chen Fengnong's jade gourd.

With a clang, the Southern Dipper pattern at the bottom of the gourd cracked open, and what gushed out was not honey, but the broken wings of corpse bees covered in fluorescent green phosphorescent powder.

"Is this the bee way you were talking about?" Su Yunlan slammed the rubbing onto the beehive soaked in phosphorus powder. The "Heavenly Craft Bee Manual" that had melted in the space last night suddenly became hot on her wrist.

The bee wing branding appeared through the silk cloth, perfectly matching the patterns on the remains of the dead bee's wings.

Chen, the beekeeper, suddenly let out a laugh like an owl, his wax knife picking up a piece of decaying firefly grass covered in mycelium: "Back then, the Wu family used the Big Dipper bee-feeding method to make golden honey, but on the seventh day, the bees turned into man-eating corpse bees." He abruptly opened all the beehives; each one had a reversed Southern Dipper pattern engraved on its bottom. "Only by using the Southern Dipper bee-trapping technique to subdue these bees that have eaten human blood..."

Xiao Yuhan suddenly pulled Su Yunlan behind him, and the blade of his sword sliced ​​through the fluorescent green phosphorus powder splashed from the beehive, which, when soaked in the medicinal spring, ignited into a ghostly blue flame.

The image of the swarm of corpse bees emerging from the flames is flying towards the deep mountains in the direction of the seventh star of the Big Dipper.

"Fourth Madam, have you seen enough?" Chen the beekeeper sealed the beehive with a wax knife, his fingertips, entwined with mycelium, trembling slightly. "Apiculture doesn't welcome outsiders." As the old beekeeper turned around, half a honeycomb fell out of the crack in the jade gourd, bearing the same bee wing brand as Su Yunlan's palm.

On the oxcart on the way home, Su Yunlan stared at the bee wing mark on his palm that flowed with the medicinal spring.

Xiao Yuhan dripped the medicinal spring water, infused with mint leaves, onto her wrist. Suddenly, the seventh crack reflected the Big Dipper constellation: "My twenty-sixth brother said that before the Wu family was wiped out, there was a beekeeping manor in the direction of the seventh star."

As dusk settled into the room, Su Yunlan stared blankly at the image of the swarm of corpse bees that had reappeared in the space.

The fluorescent queen bee, transformed from an ancient scroll, suddenly crashed into the direction of the seventh star of the Big Dipper, its golden wingtips drawing the characters "Tianquan" in the void.

She suddenly remembered the honeycomb fragments that had fallen out of the crack in Chen Fengnong's jade gourd. The mycelium covering them was the lost "Tianquan Beekeeping Method" from the "Tiangong Beekeeping Manual".

Outside the window came the whistle of Young Master Xiao feeding the hawk. The boy hummed an off-key honey-gathering song as he passed under the corridor: "...The Seven Stars guide the bees, the Heavenly Power illuminates the honey source..." Suddenly, the teacup in Su Yunlan's hand tilted, and the medicinal spring water condensed on the table into the shape of the seventh star of the Big Dipper. That location was the old site of the beekeeping manor that Xiao Yuhan had mentioned.

As twilight seeped through the windowpanes, Young Master Xiao, number twenty-six, rushed into the room, clutching a half-rolled, yellowed copy of "The Heavenly Craftsman's Bee Manual," his hair still stained with the distinctive purple alfalfa pollen from the direction of the seventh star of the Big Dipper. "Fourth Sister-in-law!" the young man exclaimed, patting a honey-scented handkerchief onto the table. The silver whistle between his fingers gleamed with beeswax in the candlelight. "In the Tianquan Mountain valley, there's an old woman named Wu who used to be a lamplighter for the beekeepers of the Big Dipper."

The bee wing brand on Su Yunlan's wrist suddenly became hot, and the fluorescent queen bee floating in the space flapped its wings and crashed into the Big Dipper star map, the wingtips drawing swirling patterns on the Tianquan star position.

She dripped the medicinal spring water onto the alfalfa pollen brought by Xiao Twenty-Six, and the fluorescent blue mycelium actually condensed into the skeleton of a miniature beehive in the amber water droplets.

34; Tomorrow at the third quarter of the Yin hour. 34; Xiao Yuhan's sword tassel swept across the table, and the ash from the decaying firefly grass clinging to the bottom of the scabbard suddenly leaped up, forming the position of the seventh star of the Big Dipper in the void. 34; When the mist in the mountain valley is at its thinnest, the bee swarm will collect nectar along the direction of the star Tianquan. 34;

In the alfalfa field where the morning mist had not yet dissipated, Su Yunlan followed the guidance of the fluorescent queen bee and parted the spider webs covered with honeydew.

Granny Wu's bamboo hut is suspended among the branches of a thousand-year-old locust tree, and seven glass bee lamps on the eaves reflect the Big Dipper constellation as they slowly rotate.

The old woman's withered fingers held a honeycomb model made of red sand, and her cloudy eyes reflected the bee wing mark that appeared and disappeared on Su Yunlan's wrist.

&34; The venom of the heart-devouring bees requires aconite honey from the six stars of the Southern Dipper to be neutralized. &34; Granny Wu suddenly pressed the beehive model into the medicinal spring, and the red-scaled sand transformed into hundreds of fluorescent worker bees upon contact with the water. &34; Years ago, the young mistress of the Wu family, to save refugees injured by corpse bees, stubbornly reversed the bee-feeding method of the Big Dipper to brew the antidote. &34; Fluorescent blue mycelium sprouting from the seams of the old woman's raincoat was climbing along the bee wing imprint on Su Yunlan's body.

Suddenly, Young Master Xiao blew his silver whistle, startling the medicinal bees that were perched on the eaves of the bamboo hut.

The boy flicked a beeswax ball coated with the ash of decaying firefly grass from his fingertip, which landed precisely in the rotating bee lamp: "Grandma, look at this improved bee path map!" The wax ball melted upon heating, and the red scale sand condensed into a spiral star track inside the glass lampshade, cleverly connecting the originally opposing patterns of the Big Dipper and the Southern Dipper.

Suddenly, a bee wing brand, similar to Su Yunlan's, appeared on Granny Wu's age-spotted wrist. The old woman trembled as she lifted a hidden compartment in the bamboo couch and took out a jade wax knife engraved with the Tianquan star pattern: "This is the bee-feeding device improved by the young mistress." The moment the tip of the wax knife touched the medicinal spring, the fluorescent queen bee in Su Yunlan's space suddenly emitted a clear buzzing sound, projecting the missing seventh volume of the "Heavenly Craft Bee Manual" into the morning mist.

On the return journey, Su Yunlan held the jade wax knife and sketched an improved bee path in the air.

Young Master Xiao, humming a newly composed honey-gathering song, sprinkled alfalfa pollen onto the fireflies startled outside the carriage window.

The boy suddenly lowered his voice: "This morning, Fourth Brother specially added aconite honey to the medicinal spring, saying it was to temper the toughness of the beeswax."

As dusk settled into the courtyard of the inn, Xiao Yuhan was fiddling with a newly made beehive model on a stone table.

The man was wearing a beeswax apron sewn by Su Yunlan over his cold, hard armor, and a few strands of purple alfalfa vines were wrapped around his sword sheath.

He held a poria cocos cake coated with aconite honey between his fingertips; the cake, soaked in the medicinal spring, shimmered with pale gold patterns resembling the Big Dipper.

"Try this." Xiao Yuhan pushed the warm celadon cup over, the dew inside shimmering with the unique luster of fluorescent blue mycelium, "Locust honey mixed with morning dew from the direction of Tianquan Star." He lightly swept the tassel of his sword, and the model beehive suddenly disassembled and reassembled automatically, revealing the spiral structure of the beehive lamp on the eaves of Granny Wu's bamboo hut.

The moment Su Yunlan bit into the Poria cocos cake, the fluorescent queen bee in the space suddenly trembled violently.

The missing seventh volume of "The Beekeeping Manual" unfolded in her mind, the ancient text perfectly matching the bee-feeding techniques demonstrated by Granny Wu.

She suddenly grasped Xiao Yuhan's hand as he refined beeswax: "If the medicinal spring water were introduced into the beehive's interlayer..."

Before he could finish speaking, a crisp sound came from the backyard as the wooden planks of the beehive cracked.

When the two rushed over, they saw that the newly harvested wildflower honey was gushing out from the cracks—the crudely made wooden beehive could not withstand the pressure of the improved bee passage, and the Big Dipper pattern on the bottom of the hive had been blurred by the honey.

As the night deepened and the dew grew heavy, Su Yunlan stared intently at the blueprints of beehives made of seven different types of wood on the table.

The jade wax knife given by Granny Wu shimmered with starlight under the moonlight, and half a bronze gear engraved with the character "Zhao" fell out from the hidden mechanism in the hilt.

The sound of Young Master Xiao feeding the hawk drifted in from outside the window. The boy hummed an off-key tune as he passed under the corridor: "...honey brewed nine times, steamed and dried, crafted by nature and made with earthly materials..."