Chapter 154: Little Black Makes a Move

Even she had been repeatedly warned by the villagers, and Bai Xi simply could not comprehend how Little Shun and the others could be so bold. Did they lack any sense of the immensity of heaven and earth simply because they had never been stung before?

By the time they were nearing the treehouse, the wailing of Little Shan and Little Stone could still be faintly heard. Unable to stop herself, Bai Xi muttered, "Couldn't you have just asked an adult to get the honeycomb for you? You had to go yourselves—you totally deserve this!" And now she had to trouble herself to go harvest the bee pupae.

Little Shun sniffled, his voice tinged with a sob as he said, "We just saw Sister-in-law Li make honey cake for Great-aunt, and then we figured Great-aunt loves honey. Since we happened to run across it, we wanted to harvest it so that Great-aunt would be happy."

As for things growing on the mountain, whoever laid eyes on them first claimed them—this rule was well understood even by the likes of Little Shun.

After having their watermelon snatched away last time, seeing a honeycomb this time around meant they were unwilling to wait.

However, Little Liu had a stomachache and couldn't join them, leaving only Little Shun, Little Stone, and Little Shan. Who would have guessed that the three of them were simply too young and greatly underestimated the ferocity of bees, ending up stung until their heads were covered in bumps?

Hearing this, Bai Xi froze, a stunned look crossing her face, though a warm feeling filled her heart.

"You idiots!" While these boys were undeniably mischievous, they truly were filial toward her. Of course, this was also the result of the village's long-term discipline and adherence to rules.

Bai Xi let out an exasperated scold before saying, "If there is ever a next time, come ask me first." With that, she instructed Little Shun to shoulder the bamboo basket and follow her.

Little Shun nodded obediently, thinking to himself that they had actually just wanted to give Great-aunt a surprise, only to make a complete mess of it.

"Great-aunt, what are we carrying the bamboo basket for?" With the basket on his back, Little Shun kept pressing the spot on the back of his hand where he had been stung. If getting stung twice on his hand hurt this much, how much agony must Little Stone and Little Shan be in with all those bumps?

Because he was following Bai Xi, Little Shun didn't dare to cry out in pain, but Bai Xi didn't miss his attempts to press and massage the stings.

"We're heading into the mountain."

"Into the mountain? Great-aunt, what are we going into the mountain for? Grandfather Village Chief explicitly said you aren't allowed to go into the mountain."

"Enough chatter, just follow along." Bai Xi shot Little Shun a displeased side-eye. "It's not like I've never taken you guys into the mountain before."

This remark successfully silenced Little Shun.

Seeing the path growing increasingly familiar, Little Shun panicked. "Great-aunt, we really shouldn't go over there. There are bees."

They had just raided the hive, and the bees surely hadn't returned home yet. Going over there now meant guaranteed stings all over their heads.

If the villagers found out he had led Great-aunt here to be stung by bees—even just once—it would be enough to get him beaten so badly he wouldn't be able to get out of bed for days.

Finding the path difficult to walk on, Bai Xi signaled Little Black to crouch down and climbed onto its back. Hearing Little Shun's concern, she casually explained, "Little Stone and the others got stung by bees, so we have to go find the bees. Otherwise, there's no way to clear the poison."

"Clear the poison?" Little Shun's eyes widened in shock. "Great-aunt, are bees poisonous?"

"Finding bees can clear the poison? Is this fighting poison with poison? But bees aren't going to listen to us..."

Listening to his endless chatter, Bai Xi felt a vein throb at her temple, and she snapped, "Has anyone ever told you that you're very noisy?"

"No, Great-aunt..." Little Shun shook his head, but then caught himself, his words catching in his throat. Was Great-aunt saying he talked too much?

Yet talk too much or not, he had to speak up. Otherwise, if he let Great-aunt go over there, his bottom would definitely bloom into a colorful mess from a severe beating.

"Great-aunt..."

Before Little Shun could finish, Bai Xi gently patted Little Black's head. "Pick up the pace."

Obeying the command, Little Black broke into a run. Watching the distance between them grow rapidly, Little Shun panicked and scrambled to give chase.

"Great-aunt, please don't..."

"Great-aunt, be good..."

Seeing that they were just around the bend past the stream, Little Shun burst into tears of pure panic. "Waaah, Great-aunt, please don't go over there..."

We're done for, we're completely done for! I'm dead!

By this point, Bai Xi had already reached the vicinity of the beehive. Overhead, quite a few startled bees were indeed darting about, and even more were buzzing furiously around the hive itself.

The originally oval-shaped honeycomb had several holes punched into it, with bamboo poles discarded nearby. Honey was dripping drop by drop from the ruptured sections. Understanding dawned on Bai Xi—to dare provoke a hive this massive, no wonder they got stung so badly.

As she approached, Bai Xi used her divine might to block the bees' perception of herself and Little Black. Consequently, even though bees were flying everywhere, they acted as if the two newcomers did not exist at all.

Just as Little Shun came stumbling and scrambling across the stream with a bamboo crate over his head, Little Black raised its head toward the honeycomb and let out a fierce tiger roar.

A fierce gale swept past, shaking loose droplets of honey, and once the wind subsided, Bai Xi finally lowered the little hands she had been using to cover her ears.

Startled by the roar, Little Shun froze mid-action as he peeked his head out from beneath the bamboo basket.

He had originally intended to drop the basket over Bai Xi to cage her in and shield her somewhat from the bees, but before he could even take the basket off, he was left dumbfounded by Little Black's roar.

"This, this, this..." Could a roar from Little Black really be this powerful?

Bai Xi offered no explanation to Little Shun. Meanwhile, Little Black proudly lifted its chin. *Call this anything? I am a spiritual beast, after all. This was merely using a trace of spiritual energy to stun the bees unconscious.*

"What are you standing there stunned for? Climb up, cut the honeycomb down, and put it in the jar. Little Stone and the others are still waiting for the bee pupae."

"Oh, oh, coming right up!" Shouting in acknowledgment, Little Shun hurried over to take the clay jar and dagger from Bai Xi's hands.

The jar was gourd-shaped with a narrow waist. Following Bai Xi's instructions, Little Shun pulled a rope out of the bamboo basket and tied it securely around the narrow waist of the earthenware jar to make it easier to carry up the tree.

When he reached the base of the tree, Little Shun belatedly asked, "Great-aunt, where did this clay jar come from?"

Earlier, Great-aunt had only told him to carry the bamboo basket; she hadn't brought any clay jar.

"Found it on the road."

"Found it? But..." Were there clay jars lying around on the road?

Akimbo, Bai Xi unceremoniously scolded, "Stop with the nonsense. If you dawdle any longer, I'm leaving you to your own devices. Once the bees wake up, you'll be the one with a face full of bumps."

Of course, Little Black knew exactly where the clay jar came from—its master had simply retrieved it from her storage pouch. But it would never breathe a word of this to a single soul.

Frightened by the threat, Little Shun immediately snapped into action and forgot all about his lingering confusion.

This walnut tree was not particularly short, standing around ten meters high. The bamboo poles they had brought weren't long enough, which was why Little Shan and Little Stone had climbed the tree to poke at the hive while Little Shun waited below to catch things—which also explained why Little Stone and Little Shan ended up with faces full of stings.

Under Bai Xi's direction, in a mere ten minutes or so, Little Shun had successfully harvested the entire honeycomb, and the jar was lowered down bit by bit.

Throughout the entire process, not a single bee stung him. Filled with both awe and shock, Little Shun's adoration for Bai Xi deepened even further. Great-aunt was simply too amazing!

Why did harvesting honey look so effortless when Great-aunt did it, yet the three of them had suffered such a miserable fate?

*(Has any little cutie ever been stung by a bee?)*