Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the eyes of the students, Xu Zhuang Zhuang’s goal was obvious. After all, the boy was rather large. In addition, the look of satisfaction over his stealthy actions said it all.
However, Little Celery and Wang Yaning did not discover the boy as they walked. This was because most people did not look behind them when walking. Who would be cautious and think that someone was following them? Besides, they were young and innocent primary school students… Well, perhaps Wang Yaning may be capable of deeper thoughts, but her mind was mainly on pleasing the teachers and not engaging and deterring spying activities.
However, behind a predator was another predator that saw it as prey. Xu Zhuang Zhuang did not expect it, but he was being followed by someone else. This person was, of course, Zhang Zian.
Zhang Zian could see clearly what was happening. After the class bell rang, Xu Zhuang Zhuang had rushed out of the classroom like a cannonball. He’d run to the classroom where Little Celery was studying and waited for her to emerge. When she finally left the classroom, he’d quietly followed… However, Wang Yaning was walking along with Little Celery. He hadn’t anticipated this.
The direction Little Celery and Wang Yaning were headed was toward a special area for hamsters. It was behind the classrooms. The route there was filled with trees. Even though the area was considered to be heavily infested with caterpillars, they felt that they were responsible for caring for the hamsters. Even if they were afraid, they must hold in their fear and proceed.
Fortunately, they’d prepared a folding umbrella. When they walked out of the classroom, they shared an umbrella. They shielded themselves from the caterpillars that might fall on their heads. They’d also changed into rain boots before leaving the classroom.
Xu Zhuang Zhuang quietly followed. He carefully surveyed the situation. He obviously wanted to get back at Little Celery for making him lose face in public. His choice of doing so? Well, it was nothing more than picking up a bug and throwing it on her to scare her. This was the trick that he used most often in scaring girls.
Zhang Zian saw through his intentions and immediately increased the pace of his footsteps. He took another, more direct route to reach the room where the hamsters were raised, moving much more quickly than the girls. Although the place was a good distance away, he was, nevertheless, an adult. He could walk faster and would get there first.
The trees around the classroom were as Little Celery had described. There were many “hanging ghosts” on them.
The term “hanging ghost” was a common name for the larvae of the moth. The larvae would pull a long silk thread from the branch and hang themselves in the air. When the wind blew, it would sway slightly. If the gust of wind was strong, it may be blown onto the ground…or even onto the human body.
Most moth larvae were not toxic, but a few species are toxic.
Zhang Zian looked at them carefully. After all, he hadn’t brought an umbrella and didn’t want to be poisoned by one of these larvae.
There were too many “hanging ghosts.” He couldn’t see all of them at a glance. Nevertheless, based on whatever he managed to see, he could tell that the ones here were black in color and had bodies full of grayish fluffy hairs. It looked rather horrifying. This type of caterpillar was called the Macrobrochis Gigas. The hairs on their bodies were not poisonous. Even if it landed on one’s body, there was no possibility of getting poisoned. It would feel disgusting at most. This was unless the person had allergies and could develop redness swelling of the skin.
The Macrobrochis Gigas had once ravaged Kai Ping City and Nan An City in 2014 and 2017 respectively, causing very bad experiences for local residents. At that time, the number of people visiting the hospital in these two places for skin infections increased exponentially. This happened despite the insects being non-toxic in nature. If they’d been poisonous, then perhaps the local hospitals would have had to treat issues more significant than skin infections…
Seeing that it was the larva of the Macrobrochis Gigas, Zhang Zian was relieved.
“Yaning, about today’s homework…”
Little Celery’s voice came from a distance. They were already very close to their destination.
Zhang Zian’s eyes widened. He ignored the Macrobrochis Gigas and looked around carefully for other types of caterpillars.
Soon, on the leaves of a potted plant, he found what he’d been looking for.
It was a blue-green caterpillar covered with pale yellow hairs. The most visible sign of its species was a small lavender-colored tuft of hair at the eighth abdominal section of its tail. The vivid color acted as a signal to its enemy that it was a poisonous creature: advance with caution.
Although some non-toxic caterpillars also had bright protective colors to deceive natural enemies, that was not the case with this caterpillar.
Zhang Zian looked down and picked up a branch from the ground. He picked up the caterpillar from the plant with it and took it to the back of the breeding room.
Little Celery and Wang Yaning appeared. They both walked closely together under the umbrella and shut their eyes so tightly that only slits were visible on their faces. They tried hard not to look at the “hanging ghosts” and the other caterpillars and quickly walked towards the breeding room.
Later, Xu Zhuang Zhuang also appeared. He looked around, probably looking for the props that he intended to use to scare Little Celery.
Zhang Zian took advantage of the moment that he was not paying attention and used the branch to place the caterpillar with the lavender-colored spot on the ground directly in front of Xu Zhuang Zhuang.
“Eh?”
Its bright colors made it difficult for Xu Zhuang Zhuang to ignore it. He saw it almost immediately.
“This bug seems to be very powerful. It will definitely scare those little girls until they scream like there is no tomorrow…” he muttered to himself as he took out toilet paper from his pocket. He intended to use it to pick up the caterpillar.
A naughty boy would always be a naughty boy. When he saw two dogs walking together, he had to go forward and kick their buttocks. Similarly, now that he’d seen such a brightly-colored caterpillar, one that even birds knew to avoid, he still intended to pick it up. He would never learn his lesson and would continue to seek out danger.
“Don’t get close to it!”
Seeing that Xu Zhuang Zhuang was not yet that close to the caterpillar, Zhang Zian jumped out of his hiding place immediately and stopped him.
Zhang Zian had merely intended to use this to teach him a lesson. He had not really planned to let the boy get injured. This was because this caterpillar was the notorious larva of the velvet moth. It was very toxic. Although it could not kill someone, the pain it could inflict was very terrible. It was somewhat like a scorpion as well. When faced with dangers, it would actively eject poison from pores on its skin. Thus, if one even approached it, it was still very possible to be attacked by it.
“Who is it?”
Xu Zhuang Zhuang was shocked and could not help but take two steps back.
Seeing that it was Zhang Zian, he widened his eyes and screamed hysterically. “You… Why are you here? Who let you into our school? I… I’m telling the teacher!”
He screamed, and Little Celery and Wang Yaning, who were in the room, ran out to check the situation upon hearing the commotion.
“Ah! Mr. Shop Manager, you are here!”
Little Celery was happy and wanted to run over to greet him. However, she did not have an umbrella and was held back by Wang Yaning. Zhang Zian also waved his hand to tell her not to come over.
Wang Yaning had a tight expression on her small face, emphasizing that she was thinking hard. Like a little adult, she took a look at Zhang Zian before she glanced at Xu Zhuang Zhuang. Finally, she raised her finger to the latter and said, “You are Xu Zhuang Zhuang, aren’t you? What are you doing here? You are not a member of the hamster-breeding team, are you?”
“I… I think this man is very suspicious. I am eighty percent sure that he broke into our school. He was following both of you. I followed him because I think he is up to no good. If he really wants to do something bad, I will stop him immediately!”
Xu Zhuang Zhuang was scared out of his wits. He came up with an excuse to leave on the spot.
Unfortunately, Wang Yaning was not Little Celery. She could not be easily fooled.
