Maybe it was because they had been drinking Spirit Spring for more than half a year, but the bees inside the Cube Space were more irritable, and their stingers were more venomous than ordinary bees.
These last few days, Jing Shu had been using Xiao Dou as a test subject. She held Xiao Dou down so the bees could sting, otherwise Xiao Dou would bolt, counterattack with a claw, and swallow the bees in one bite. The spots where Xiao Dou was stung swelled into big lumps. It hurt so much that the chicken let out sharp clucks. Only after Jing Shu smeared on some honey did the swelling go down.
"Good girl. This is like giving you a shot to build your resistance," Jing Shu soothed Xiao Dou. As for why Jing Shu always used Xiao Dou for experiments, maybe Jing Shu simply could not help herself.
How thick was Xiao Dou's skin?
After seven months of drinking Spirit Spring, Xiao Dou's whole body was solid muscle. When Jing Shu tested the Spirit Spring's hemostatic effect before, she had to press the knife hard to even open a cut. Yet the bees could still pierce that hide, which meant bees raised on Spirit Spring might have developed an armor-piercing effect.
In any case, after half a year of raising them, the bees could serve as an interim means of attack. They were more covert, could catch people off guard, and there were many of them, which meant swarming.
Most important of all, they produced honey.
"If only I had a person to test the bees on. Then I could judge their lethality more directly."
Thinking that, Jing Shu turned the seven-layer cube over in her hands. As the name suggested, the 7×7×7 cube was several tiers harder than the original 4×4×4.
Solving a seven-layer cube in a short time was impossible. Restoring four faces of 7×7 squares to neat single colors was already beyond Jing Shu for now, let alone at a professional level.
Professionals trained for years and still might fail. Jing Shu could only practice diligently and make up for talent with effort.
Unlocking a completely new cube was its own challenge. If she wanted the cube's heaven-defying ability, she had to work for it. There was no such thing as a free lunch. Jing Shu did not expect that someone willing to test the bees' stings would show up so soon, and it was someone she never expected.
Wu City had been supplying maggots as food for half a month. People's adaptability was shockingly strong.
Just like Jing Shu in her previous life, they had gone from refusing to eat any at all, to nibbling when they were starving, to fully accepting the stuff now. Every day they even went out to collect bugs for work points. The hot topic each day, besides the death toll of the Hainan migration, was maggots.
For example:
[Feng No. 3]: "What flavor of maggots are you eating today? The pepper-salt ones have a line every day, and you might not even get any."
[Fat Girl No. 25]: "Dry-fried, I guess. At least it has dried chili. I really miss the three days of the Dragon Boat Festival banquet. We could eat whatever we wanted."
Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: "Young folks don't know thrift. Plain-boiled maggots are the most cost-effective. At least they come with water. The water price went up again. A whole day of digging bugs for work points just to trade for water."
[Feng No. 3]: "Sister, please stop. People like you lead the charge to dig maggots from toilets every day and then boil them in plain water. Yellow water is more like it. I really can't drink that kind of soup."
Wang Qiqi said, "@Everyone, from now on the state will open a one-day buffet for every major holiday. This is a new benefit. Also, our community's assigned Consolation and Counseling Specialist has arrived. Heads up. This person was sent by the government to collect information. Watch what you say. I heard they have a lot of authority and can directly decide whether you've committed a crime."
Jing Shu frowned. A moment later, the WeChat group pushed a new alert.
Wang Qiqi invited "Consolation Specialist Su Meimei" to the group.
Jing Shu: "???"
What kind of stunt was this? Jing Shu tapped the profile of the newly added visiting specialist and saw it was none other than her former aunt, the estranged Su Meimei. How did Su Meimei land this position?
Jing Shu narrowed her eyes. Could it be that her so-called cheap father really had some connections?
She had planned to deal with Su Meimei, but that got delayed when Wu You'ai was kidnapped. Then a dozen other things piled up, and she had only just cleared her schedule. Now Su Meimei had delivered herself to the door.
As the saying went, the road to heaven is open and you refuse to walk it, but there is no door to hell and you insist on barging in.
Thump, thump.
Her heart beats faster, Jing Shu clenched her fists. For some reason, excitement stirred again. She sent Wang Qiqi a message: "Wanna bet? Guess how many days Su Meimei lasts."
Wang Qiqi: "?? I have no idea."
"I'm guessing she won't last seven days." Jing Shu's lips curved, teeth flashing.
Wang Qiqi was baffled. What was with Jing Shu? Was something about to happen again?
Meanwhile, in the group, Su Meimei had already started her speech.
[Consolation and Counseling Specialist Su Meimei]: "@Everyone, hello. From today on, I am the person in charge of this community. I will now tally the number of survivors and deaths, and record current occupancy.
From now on, I will also tally survival rates daily. Each person must sign in with me before 18:00 every afternoon and describe what you did today, what you ate, where you went, and so on.
Of course, starting today, I will conduct daily home visits to understand your living conditions, see what you normally eat, and assess your household situation. You must also explain the source of certain goods. If any items were obtained through improper means in the past, hand them over and we will not pursue the matter.
Wu City is now in a strike-hard period. If any robbery or murder is discovered and reported, once confirmed, it will be recorded.
Oh, you still don't know the consequences of being recorded, do you? Anyone recorded in Wu City can no longer receive any food from major supermarkets.
Alright, remove the deceased from the group now. Everyone else, report to me first. I will start visiting each household."
In a buoyant mood, Su Meimei kept posting in the group. Holding power over life and death felt amazing. These country bumpkins had no idea. Once the tag for robbery or murder was stamped on you, forget getting food, even keeping your life would be hard.
She loathed those days of living in fear. Those who had robbed and killed deserved to die.
Also, the entire Jing Shu family deserved to die.
Su Meimei's eyes burned with hatred. She had originally been assigned to the area near her family home, but her father said there were too many high-ranking officials there and it would be hard to control. Better to go somewhere with fewer people.
So Su Meimei immediately chose this community precisely because that damned Jing Shu and Su Lanzhi were here. After hearing about the new policy, Su Meimei decided she would use her methods to destroy this family. The honest Su Yiyang could be spared, but Jing Shu, who beat her and reported her repeatedly, deserved death.
Turning through the big-data assessment report for Jing Shu on her phone app, Su Meimei sneered.
"Too bad I only have Level-1 permissions right now. I can only see your family's scores and some trivial wage logs and credit evaluations. But that's enough. With scores this high, I can make up a reason to confirm your crimes and then get rid of you."