Calming his heart, Zhou Qi listened to the sounds continuously coming from not far away.
Zhou Shun also looked at Zhou Qi's state, his heart sinking.
At this moment, the surroundings were terrifyingly quiet, so quiet that Zhou Qi could even hear his own heartbeat.
The wind blew, and a continuous "whoosh whoosh" sound echoed.
Zhou Qi looked at the side of the distant mountain, where there was a dark cave covered by vines, very inconspicuous if not looked at carefully.
Zhou Qi felt that it might be the "whoosh whoosh" sound of the strong wind blowing into the cave. How could there be a cave in such a desolate mountain?
Just as he was curious, Zhou Shun walked up to Zhou Qi.
"Zhou Qi, we need to leave quickly. Otherwise, I'm afraid there might be wild wolves that have strayed from the Huangshi Mountain Range," Zhou Shun said with a serious expression.
Zhou Qi looked at Zhou Shun beside him, thought for a moment, and decided to investigate that cave later when he was alone.
The two quickly lifted the stretcher. Carrying the 200-plus jin wild boar was still a bit strenuous for them.
But neither dared to delay, fearing any unforeseen circumstances on the way.
Along the way, the two hurried, resting twice. They descended the mountain at noon.
Not long after descending the mountain, people began to gather around, marveling at the two large tusks at the front of the wild boar.
Zhou Shun suggested he go sell the wild boar, and then they would split the money. Zhou Qi had no objection to this.
After all, his family raised pigs, and he was very clear about the price of wild boar meat here.
Without considering other factors, this wild boar should be worth around 6000 yuan. After splitting it evenly, each of them would get 3000 yuan, which would just replenish Zhou Qi's wallet.
Zhou Qi returned to the farm to wash up, preparing to set up his Centipede shed in the afternoon.
After lunch, just as Zhou Qi was about to drive his family's truck to buy the Materials needed for Centipede farming, Zhou Shun transferred a little over 3000 yuan to Zhou Qi's account.
The bustling noise of the Yingtian Building Materials Market assailed them.
At the entrance, stacks of boards formed small mountains, with solid wood and particle boards emitting different scents.
The tile area was colorful, with all sorts of styles available.
The hardware tool area displayed various products.
Zhou Qi had researched online what he needed to buy for Centipede farming and made a list.
It included large plastic boxes, some tiles, hygrometers, feeding trays, and so on.
Zhou Qi was busy all afternoon, and the truck was packed full.
As evening approached, Zhou Qi drove home and began to unload the items. Zhou Haidong also came to help.
Together, they neatly arranged four large plastic boxes, then placed tiles intricately, and also put in feed trays and water trays.
Once Zhou Qi saw that the arrangement was almost complete, he placed some Centipede larvae in each box.
Suddenly, he realized that he seemed to have forgotten to buy food for the Centipede larvae.
Zhou Qi slapped his forehead, "Oh, I forgot that!"
Changing his thought, he directly ordered his Apostles to start catching Earthworms and sending them to the shed.
As dusk fell, Zhou Qi told Zhou Haidong that he would be on duty there that night, then locked the farm's main gate tightly.
In the shed, soybean-sized first-tier ants, in groups of two and three, were herding Earthworms.
At a glance, dense swarms of ants surrounded the several breeding boxes.
There were at least several hundred Earthworms. Zhou Qi's heart stirred slightly; having Apostles work truly made him experience what it meant to have a hundred responses to one call. This visible feedback warmed Zhou Qi's heart.
Zhou Qi had the Five-Tier Annam Centipede drive out 4 Centipedes and immediately began to strengthen them.
"Ding, consuming 1 Evolution Points, Red Head Centipede has evolved into a First-Tier Red Head Centipede. Congratulations to the host for obtaining Elementary intimacy with the First-Tier Red Head Centipede."
...
"Ding, consuming 16 Evolution Points, Red Head Centipede has evolved into a Five-Tier Red Head Centipede. Congratulations to the host for obtaining undying loyalty from the Five-Tier Red Head Centipede."
"Ding, congratulations to the host for successfully strengthening one Five-Tier Red Head Centipede, promoting it to a First-Tier Apostle, and gaining the talents: Fast Movement, Toxin Enhancement, Solid Armor, Elementary Environmental Adaptation, Centipede Summoning."
These 4 Red Head Centipedes continuously grew in size. Since they were all larvae, their initial state was around 3 centimeters. After being strengthened to Five-Tier Centipedes, their size was only a little over 10 centimeters.
However, in front of other larvae, they were already a dominant presence.
Apostle: Five-Tier Centipede
Rank: Ordinary Life Form
Species: Red Head Centipede
Gene: Elementary Centipede Gene
Life Essence: Carbon-based life form
Talents:
One-star Talent:
Fast Movement: (Slightly increases movement ability)
Solid Armor: (Outer shell defense ability increased fivefold)
Elementary Environmental Adaptation: (Ability to adapt to various environments increased fivefold)
Centipede Summoning: (Can summon 100 Centipedes to fight for it)
Life Strength: 1
Zhou Qi placed each of the 4 strengthened Five-Tier Centipedes into a separate breeding box.
He let them manage the other Centipede larvae on his behalf, truly embodying the principle of early evolution driving later evolution.
Afterward, Zhou Qi found several wooden sticks and stood them outside the 4 breeding boxes.
The First-Tier ants then climbed up these wooden sticks, dropping the Earthworms, clamped by their mandibles, one by one.
In the dim, damp corner of a breeding box, an Earthworm happened to fall directly onto a Centipede.
Its slender, many-legged body rapidly wriggled, and instantly, multiple legs embraced the Earthworm.
In a blink of an eye, the Centipede used its sharp mouthparts to firmly clamp the Earthworm, and its venomous fangs quickly pierced, paralyzing the Earthworm.
Immediately after, this Centipede began to greedily feast. Before the surrounding Centipede larvae could approach, this Earthworm was eaten completely clean, leaving only some residue.
The 4 Five-Tier Centipedes maintained order, preventing the Centipede larvae from killing each other.
These Centipede larvae had not eaten for an unknown number of days; at this moment, an intense struggle was unfolding inside the breeding boxes.
Zhou Qi stared intently at these scenes, only feeling the light screen continuously refreshing the Evolution Points.
"I still need to find a way to raise an insect with strong reproductive capabilities, which can serve as food for Centipedes and also provide a continuous stream of Evolution Points," Zhou Qi muttered to himself.
There was still plenty of space inside the shed; even if several hundred more of these breeding boxes were added, it would be more than enough.
While thinking, Zhou Qi immediately searched online.
"Yellow Mealworms have extremely strong reproductive capabilities. It takes approximately 2-3 months for larvae to develop into adults.
Adults begin to mate and lay eggs 3-5 days after eclosion. Each female can lay 20-30 eggs per day, and the egg-laying period lasts 2-3 months, with a lifetime production of around 500-1000 eggs."
"Can be used as food for scorpions, stone frogs, etc."
Zhou Qi watched the short videos continuously introducing them and felt that these Yellow Mealworms were indeed feasible, meeting several of his requirements.
Without further ado, Zhou Qi opened a shopping app and began to purchase items: folding racks, wooden breeding boxes, sieves, and so on.