Old Li was a gaunt old man over fifty years of age.

    His scalp was shiny and glowing with only a few sparse hairs clinging on.

    The tip of his nose was slightly red, and his eyes were perpetually blurry from years of straining.

    Anyone who saw Old Li would think he''d nearly been submerged head first in a barrel of liquor.

    While usually befuddled, at this moment Old Li was anything but; his eyes were bloodshot, and his face was flushed with excitement.

    "Old Niu, believe me, this stuff is the absolute nemesis of those damned green caterpillars!"

    "Have you gone mad with greed, thinking you can deceive me into spending money with just some chili powder?" Old Niu was a bald, potbellied man.

    His eyes were wide open, glaring at Old Li with displeasure.

    "Don''t think for a second I don''t know."

    "If this thing really worked, your fifteen acres wouldn''t have been ravaged empty!"

    Far from irritated, Old Li chuckled mysteriously: "They ate it all right!"

    Old Niu''s expression changed instantly.

    Had Old Li lost so much that he''d gone insane?

    "I''m not insane!" Old Li didn''t mind.

    "If it weren''t for those bugs eating all my Yellow Bud Rice,"

    "I''d never have stumbled upon this secret!" With that, Old Li became visibly more animated.

    He leaned in and whispered, "I actually had just under half an acre left."

    "In that field, I found something incredible."

    "It''s a special kind of weed."

    "Any green caterpillar near it stumbled around as if drunk, completely unable to dodge being captured and killed!"

    "Really or not?" Old Niu was half-believing, half-doubting.

    "If you don''t believe me, come back with me and take a look." Old Li swore confidently, "If I''m lying, may I be struck by lightning!"

    "How much?" Old Niu couldn''t help being tempted.

    The green beetles were proliferating too fast; he had been busy all night and still lost three to four acres.

    "For such a high-end Insecticide Smoke, just four White Jade Coins," Old Li extended four fingers.

    "You want to sell me a heap of chili powder for four White Jade Coins? Are you crazy or am I?" Old Niu said gruffly.

    "To tell you the truth, the powder isn''t just chili. It contains black pepper as well, but it''s all to disguise the specific details of the weed," Old Li said, smugly.

    "Besides, it''s only two months of wages to safeguard twenty acres of Yellow Bud Rice. Is that too expensive?"

    "Not at all expensive!"

    "Four White Jade Coins, you can''t get a loss, can''t be deceived."

    "How about it, want to try?" Old Li raised an eyebrow, his face eager.

    "I need to see that surviving patch of Yellow Bud Rice in your field first," Old Niu was still skeptical.

    The two of them were instantly overjoyed.

    "We got it!"

    ...

    Two nights later.

    Inside the Low Hill Courtyard.

    Dark smoke roiled as a mixture of gray-brown powder poured down from mid-air, flowing like water, and then disappearing into the black smoke below.

    Chen Mu controlled the Five Ghosts, intermittently adding ground-up medicinal herbs into the cycle, constantly mixing and stirring.

    "There must be about fifty pounds by now," he mused, estimating, "That should be worth..."

    "Ptui, ptui, ptui! What''s all this talk about selling? It''s not like I''m in this for the money!" Chen Mu was dead serious.

    "It''s just that the destructive power of the emerald beetles is too strong."

    "Making more of the Insecticide Smoke would save more Yellow Bud Rice Fields."

    "I simply want to do good within my capabilities." Chen Mu''s face was a picture of righteousness, "It''s certainly not for those piles of White Jade Coins!"

    Thinking of his actions, Chen Mu looked impressed with himself, "There aren''t many good people like me left."

    His thoughts drifted to the afflicted Yellow Bud Rice Fields, and he couldn''t help but pray sincerely, "I really hope the pest problem lasts... ah, no, I mean ends quickly!"

    ...

    Suddenly, a sound like bees buzzing could be heard high in the sky.

    Chen Mu''s heart went cold. A new type of bug?

    The Ghosts Paper Man swiftly took to the sky.

    Under the bright moonlight, a mass of red clouds rolled in from the direction of Tongtian Square, like a breached river surging forward.

    Accompanying the annoying buzz, clusters of fiery red spheres split from the red cloud, diving toward the Yellow Bud Rice Fields below.

    Before Chen Mu could fully understand what was happening, he faintly heard numerous disciples from the Lower Courtyard shouting and cheering.

    "The Oversight Courtyard? Director Song Wujie has returned?"

    The rolling red clouds, seemingly slow but actually quick, arrived in the blink of an eye.

    Chen Mu quickly retracted the Five Ghosts.

    He then saw the red cloud plummet down, rapidly invading his Yellow Bud Rice Fields.

    The pests in the field were swiftly exterminated; even the dozen or so green beetles he''d left as a decoy didn''t escape fate.

    Chen Mu scrutinized the red clouds.

    What looked like clouds were actually a massive swarm of red bugs obscuring the sky!

    "Manipulation of swarms? Is this Oversight Courtyard Song''s method?"

    Suddenly, something caught Chen Mu''s eye at the edge of his vision.

    He focused and immediately saw a short figure.

    The figure was enveloped in a clear white glow, flickering on and off above the swarm of insects.

    "I wonder when I''ll acquire such a skill?" Chen Mu said, full of admiration. Enjoy new stories from empire