Chapter 113: Flyswatter

The inn attendant, upon learning they were part of the trade caravan, nervously opened the door to welcome them in. As Yun Qing stepped inside, she took one last look at the swarm of mosquitoes that made her skin crawl. She had not been mistaken; within the swarm, there were not only level 20 mosquitoes but also level 30 ones, though she saw none of an unknown level.

The inn’s courtyard had been reinforced with some protective measures. The Lion-Horse beasts, still fast asleep, had been moved to specialized stables that were tightly sealed. Furthermore, the exterior was covered in a layer of linen netting to prevent the insects from entering.

The attendant informed them, "Esteemed guests, you have finally returned. Meals have been prepared for you in Private Room No. 4. They are individual portions, so you may go and enjoy them at your leisure."

Relieved that she wouldn't have to work overtime to cook, Yun Qing was delighted. Xiao Jingzi cheered, "Thank you for your trouble."

Having forgotten about the dark, dense swarm of mosquitoes outside, Xiao Jingzi called out to the group, "Let's go eat now!"

"Right!"

Yun Qing raised both hands and said, "You all go ahead. I need to wash my hands; don't wait for me, I'll join you in a moment."

Duan Mengrou waved her hand in disgust, "Ugh! Go quickly, don't let us see them again. We are trying to eat!"

"Alright, alright!"

The group headed toward the private room, while Yun Qing went to her own room instead of joining them. The inn did not have many sealed rooms, so they were mostly arranged for two people each. Among the caravan, there were five women in total; aside from Yun Qing, they were paired up, which left the cook, Yun Qing, with a room to herself. Even so, not everyone had a sealed room. Half of the caravan members chose to stay in their carriages, as the carriages offered better defensive capabilities than the rooms.

After washing her hands, Yun Qing took the opportunity to enter her pocket dimension to tend to her fields, as she had had little chance to do so while traveling over the past few days. Her Soul-Repelling Tree had produced a single fruit, now the size of a ping-pong ball, though it remained unripe.

After fertilizing it, Yun Qing thought of the dense swarms of mosquitoes outside and felt that things were not as simple as they seemed. She had a gut feeling that it wouldn't be easy for the caravan to leave Rizhao Town. Unsure of what countermeasures the leader and the caravan might have, she decided she needed to come up with her own.

Reflecting on modern weapons for dealing with mosquitoes—electric mosquito coils? Insecticide sprays? These relied on toxins, and she currently had none, only the "Mud-Dissolving Divine Water" which could dissolve anything, and that hardly seemed like the right tool for mosquitoes.

An electric mosquito swatter?

Looking at the empty crafting recipes in her system inventory, she realized she could edit a weapon model herself. The system would generate the recipe and required materials, and the weapon would have a set power level. This was only useful for the current situation, as it wouldn't hold much value later on. Perhaps she could design something similar to an electric mosquito swatter.

No sooner said than done, Yun Qing began editing an empty recipe. She made it twice the size of a modern swatter. It required a sturdy handle and frame, and the mesh needed to be durable and sticky enough so that mosquitoes would be trapped upon contact. It would be designed to channel internal energy, converting it into "electricity" to deliver a fatal strike to any mosquito that touched it.

The design was completed quickly, and the blank recipe transformed into a "Mosquito Swatter Recipe." The system calculated the required materials against her current inventory and generated a list: Spider Silk *1, Black Iron Ore *10, Wood *10, and Linen Stalks *10—with the wood and linen specifically requiring purified versions.

Fortunately, Yun Qing had all these items. The spider silk was something she had scavenged in a dungeon; even after a hundred years, its quality remained excellent. She felt it would be perfect. As for the contaminated linen and wood, she had collected them previously for experience and energy.

She loaded the crafting machine with enough charcoal and initiated the production of the mosquito swatter. A progress bar appeared, and her level 2 and level 1 energy stores began to deplete. Judging by the bar, it would take about two hours.

With that settled, she hadn't wasted much time. With a thought, she went to get something to eat and to hear what the caravan members thought about the mosquitoes outside.

In the inn’s courtyard, despite the precautions, a small number of mosquitoes had still managed to get in, and several attendants were busy swatting them. From their conversation, Yun Qing finally understood why the streets were filled only with the elderly, women, and children. The young men chose to rest during the day so they could handle the mosquitoes at night, as they were, for some reason, more attractive to the insects than the others.

In Private Room No. 4, Yun Qing received her dinner: two meat dishes, one vegetable, and three large steamed buns. This was the first time since joining the caravan that someone had prepared a meal for her. Just as she collected her food, she looked around and saw Xiao Jingzi, Duan Mengrou, and the others waving for her to join them. She also saw Wei Yi and Fang Rui, though Tang Luo was nowhere to be seen.

The surrounding caravan members were whispering among themselves:

"I don't think the people in this town are very honest."

"Don't say that."

"They are acting this way themselves, yet they won't let people talk about it. We arrived just past noon. If we had known the mosquitoes here were this vicious, we wouldn't have stayed the night. Look, most of the shopkeepers we saw this afternoon had been bitten, yet they were trying to cover up their welts intentionally or unintentionally."

The caravan was not part of the Immortal Cultivation Alliance; their main duty was to travel across the Central Continent, exchanging goods for regions with poor transportation. They possessed a certain level of martial prowess and would extend a helping hand when unavoidable disasters struck villages or cities, but they were the type who struggled to even protect themselves. They were not like the Immortal Alliance, which possessed the immense strength to solve problems and difficulties for villagers.

This was written in the handbook that every member of the merchant guild had to memorize: unless they encountered a major danger that threatened the personal safety of the caravan members, they generally would not intervene.

The people of Rizhao Town had used this underhanded method of not informing them, hoping to keep them here to help deal with the mosquito problem, which had sparked dissatisfaction among some of the caravan members.

Xiao Jingzi whispered, "The people of Rizhao Town might have their own desperate reasons for doing this. Let's keep a level head and just follow the leader's orders."

Duan Mengrou praised, "Xiao Jingzi, you truly are a 'veteran' of the caravan; you're so composed when things happen. That said, aren't they being a bit too worried? Even though these mosquitoes are a bit larger than normal, it's not like they've become a disaster that requires them to force us to solve it."

Zhang He nodded in agreement; he had seen large mosquitoes before, too.

Yun Qing remained noncommittal, though she felt these mosquitoes were not simple. When the sky falls, the powerful will be the ones to hold it up; she would simply do whatever the leader assigned her to do.

As the caravan members were eating, several important figures from Rizhao Town arrived at the inn—the mayor, the captain of the guards, and some young, strong men. Yun Qing looked up and saw that, good heavens, they were all level 40 or above, with some even having levels she couldn't discern.

"Leader Jing, it has been a long time. I've been waiting and hoping, and finally, you have arrived."

"Mayor Lu, it has been a while. May I ask what this is about, given the solemnity of your visit?"

"It is a long story. Why don't we go to the council hall to discuss it?"

"Please!" The leader, several carriage captains, Wei Yi, and Fang Rui headed to the council hall to see what was happening.