C316 – Sapphire
Posted on December 5, 2018 by AzureOrchid92
Shao Xuan did not tell the others that he had enslaved a bug, and that the hole in the corner of his room was not sealed up.
Originally, he intended kill what he enslaved successfully, but Shao Xuan changed his mind, letting the bug out of his control. But every day, the beetle would appear once.There was even one day when it started pushing a dung ball to Shao Xuan’s feet.
Shao Xuan thought at that time if this beetle wanted to be spared or killed?
Probably aware of Shao Xuan’s mood, the beetle pushed with its legs again to put the dung ball back into the hole. Since then, it has not pushed a dung ball out of the hole, which saved the bug’s life.
Every day, watching the guy always pushing the dung ball in front of him, Shao Xuan almost trampled it to death. Fortunately, the bug did not run around the house again and no longer appeared inside the room except for a daily peek. It was several days then that Shao Xuan saw it in the place where the camel was tethered.
At first, the insect was not conspicuous. In Beast City, there were many insects active despite the cold weather. These insects were more resistant to freezing than in other places and they were often seen in the place where the beasts were kept. From these dozens of beetles, Shao Xuan could point out which was his slave.
As the days passed, Shao Xuan discovered that the bug was growing fast, much faster than its peers. Then, less than five days later, it grew twice as fast and still continued to grow.
In addition to its size, the bug was beginning to change its color. It was black but now, it was turning blue.
Shao Xuan also wanted to try unlocking the shackle of his slave, but he was not aware of the process of unlocking it, nor has he ever seen Su Gu’s slaves unlocking it. Hence, after careful consideration, he gave up the idea.
Another five days later, the beetle’s body was darker and more pure. It looked like a dark blue armor, with a bluish light reflected under the sun. Its size, meanwhile, was still growing faster, day by day.
From Shao Xuan’s enslavement success to the present, ten days have passed. A beetle that was not bigger than a finger has grown fast until it was the size of Shao Xuan’s fist. Its six feet were also like knives with a hook. When Shao Xuan saw it in the camel shed, rolling a dung ball, he picked it up and swept it around, easily cutting off the surrounding weeds.
Originally, Shao Xuan was worried that the beetle would be seen. After all, in such a place, such a large beetle was too special. It was not a problem however, since this bug was quite clever. When someone passed by, it would hide quickly, slipping under the haystack. It still left its dung ball that was obviously bigger than others there, but fortunately, the slaves taking care of camels did not notice.
On weekdays, this beetle would appear in Shao Xuan’s room, staying just around the corner of the hole and not running around. This was Shao Xuan’s order. To his surprise, the beetle was obedient. It was more and more able to understand some of the more complex instructions.
Besides Shao Xuan, Lei and Tuo, who were staying in the same room naturally knew the existence of the beetle, but they did not know that it was a slave of Shao Xuan.
Lei and Tuo were told by Shao Xuan not to kill the beetle. The two also noticed that each time they see it, the beetle had changed. Although they were curious, since Shao Xuan did not say more, they never thought to ask. In their mind, they guessed whether the bug was domesticated by Shao Xuan.
The beetle looked like a piece of sapphire when it didn’t move.
“Now that you say that, it’s kinda like that.” Lei said.
They had seen a slave owner bet two days ago with a blue gem. It was not as bright as the fire hill stone or the fire crystals, and now, they thought that the beetle looked like the sapphire.
So, when no one else was around, Lei and Tuo would jokingly call the bug “Sapphire”, shouting it until it became its name by default. Whether it was Lei or Tuo, they didn’t mind the bug and just thought that it was interesting. Sometimes when they were bored, they would pick up a few twigs to tease it, watching the twigs cut into pieces.
On this day, Su Gu and a Baishi slave owner had a fight, and Shao Xuan’s group followed to watch.
In these recent days, Su Gu often had fights with several slave owners of Baishi City. He had won and lost some. Just yesterday, he won a desert specialty and rare healing herbs which Su Gu brought back to Shao Xuan,. Shao Xuan had helped him a lot in the times he had to pick the rewards, so some of Su Gu’s winnings were given to Shao Xuan.
As for those herbs, Shao Xuan took a little with him, and left the rest in his room.
When Shao Xuan and his entourage went to the city, in another place not far from the city, there were a few people from Baishi having a discussion inside a stone house in their area.
The doors and windows were closed, and only a few small stones emit a faint light. There was a strange smell in the room, but the three people inside didn’t care.
“How?” A young man wearing a lot of gemstones as ornaments asked.
Next to an animal hide, another young man was sitting on a mat, his neck hung with a string of bones carved into a variety of skulls. His facial features was cold and ruthless. Hearing the question of the person next to him, he turned slightly in that direction. “Young master, rest assured.”
As he said that, he lifted up a jar made of animal shells and released the contents of it out.
They saw ants with heads like large soybeans climbing out of the jar. There was a total of nine, all colored brown and black.
After a few ants came out, they entered a hole inside the house and soon disappeared.
When he saw that, the young master sat down. “Su Gu should be in a fight in Beast City. He would certainly not be in the room now. When he returned and found the fire hill stone missing, I wonder what kind of expression will he show. Haha ha!”
Su Gu was known to a lot of people since he won a fire hill stone from Fire Hill’s Di Sheng. Additionally, he had constantly brushed up his existence with the young slave owners’ circle, hence, the number of times Su Gu was mentioned increased, which made many people uncomfortable, including slave owners from Baishi City.
Unfortunately, Su Gu never took that piece of fire hill stone out to bet in a fight.
In order to teach Su Gu a lesson, this young slave owner specially called these two people to come over to think of a way. At the same time, he also received news that Su Gu did not like to have a slave stay in his room. Therefore, this was what they did today.
The thought of Su Gu losing the stone he recieved from Fire Hill City and his possible fate made the Baishi young master laugh again. Losing such a stone, Su Gu as a slave owner would certainly lose face!
For the young slave owners, reputation was very important.
Inside the room, in addition to these two people, there was a third person, but he did not make a sound from beginning to end. Instead, he quietly listened to the other two talking.
Underground, a team of nine ants were moving from the Baishi station to the Luoye City station.
(￣‐￣) I don’t like that the name of the dung beetle was my birthstone. Sad…
