translator: baumkuchenย
In the Kunlun were birds, with the shape of bees but the size of mandarin ducks, known as qinyuan. With a single sting, they could kill any bird or beast. With a single sting, they could wither trees.
The qinyuan recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas were a type of powerful beast. Even though they looked like bees, they were a lot bigger than them. If they encountered any fauna, the fauna would die. If they encountered any flora, the flora would wither. Generally, everyone would take pains to avoid them. It was rare that anyone would come to provoke them, leaving them to happily live their lives in peace. Those happy days continued, until one day, it all suddenly ended.
The weather had been fine that day. They had been flying freely in the sky, talking about what to eat, when they felt a terrifying aura fall upon them. Before they could even react, they were enveloped by black fog. Then, a pair of giant claws pressed against their bodies.
One of the qinyuan tried to fight back with its stinger, but after touching the giant beast, found that the stinger on its behind couldnโt even pierce the skin on the beastโs claw. They were held in that thingโs palm like tiny toys.
Weโre going to die, weโre going to die, weโre going to dieโฆโฆ All the qinyuan thought that they were done for, about to be swallowed whole, but just as theyโd mentally prepared themselves for death, they heard an imposing voice sound out from above their heads.
โCan you produce honey?โ The fierce beast asked.
Produce honey? The oldest qinyuan was called Man Chen. He was the most senior one, but even though he had already experienced a lot of things, he was still left stunned for a moment by the fierce beastโs question.
Not receiving a response, the fierce beast became impatient. โCan you produce honey or not?โ
โCan can can!!โ Man Chen replied, terrified. He recognised that if he couldnโt produce honey, in the next moment, he might be buried in the beastโs mouth, so his strong will for survival made him give a definite answer, โWe can!โ
โEn,โ The fierce beast made a satisfied hum, โThen you will all be honeybees.โ
Man Chen, โ……โ
The other qinyuan, โ……โ They hadnโt thought that they would be demoted just like that, going straight from monstrous beasts that killed anything they touched and withered any tree they came into contact with to cute little honeybees.
โWhat? Got an opinion?โ The fierce beast sensed their silence.
โNo no no no.โ How could Man Chen dare to hesitate any longer. โWeโre little honeybees, weโre little honeybees!โ
The fierce beast, โEn, when the time comes, youโd better not slip up.โ
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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He carried out the beehive heโd made. Looking at those big bodies of theirs, he was a little troubled. โThis beehive is too small, I donโt think you guys can fit.โ
โItโs fine, itโs fine,โ The biggest one out of all of them hurriedly said, โWe can become smaller, please donโt worry yourself over this!โ As he said this, he shrunk to the size of a thumb with a shake of his wings.
Lu Qingjiu was amused. He said, โYou guys can really produce honey?โ
โWe can,โ Man Chen said, โWhat flavour of honey do you want?โ
Lu Qingjiu, โ……I can even choose the flavour?โ
โArenโt there a lot? Like what osmanthus honey, Japanese pagoda tree honey, goji berry honey, that sort.โ Man Chen lay down on top of the beehive, staring anxiously at Lu Qingjiu.
Lu Qingjiu smiled and said, โAnythingโs fine, just go with whateverโs convenient for you.โ These qinyuan were actually really pretty, with gorgeous feathers of all colours on their wings, beautiful gemstone-blue eyes, so exquisite they looked like works of art. Looking at them, Lu Qingjiuโs hand started to itch slightly. โCan I touch you?โ
Man Chen, โGo ahead, touch me anywhere you want, as long as you donโt touch the stinger on my tail.โ Even though they didnโt know what kind of identity Lu Qingjiu had, only able to smell the scent of an ordinary person from his body, seeing how that fierce beast treated Lu Qingjiu, they knew that the person before them wasnโt someone they could slightโฆโฆย
Lu Qingjiu reached out a hand and stroked the qinyuanโs feathers. His feathers were incredibly soft and smooth like satin. He couldnโt help but laugh, โIf itโs really not okay, donโt force yourself.โ
โIโm not forcing myself, Iโm not forcing myself.โ Man Chen had never been touched by a human before, so heโd originally been a little nervous, but he hadnโt expected that the feeling of Lu Qingjiuโs warm fingers against his body actually wasnโt bad. It actually even felt rather good. But in the next second a cold gaze pierced into him. The qinyuanโs body tense. Tracing back the gazeโs source, he found that the fierce beast was currently staring at him with an unfriendly look on his face, looking very unhappy.
Man Chen, โ……Ge, donโt touch anymore.โ If he stroked his skin any longer, he wouldnโt have a skin anymore.
Lu Qingjiu, โOh, Iโm sorry. It just feels too good, so I couldnโt hold back.โ
Man Chen wept silently in his heart. It also felt very good to be touched, okay? But compared to feeling good, his life was still more important.
Just like that, under Bai Yuehuโs enthusiastic arrangements, this swarm of bees successfully settled into Lu Qingjiuโs home. However, unlike real bees, there were only four to five qinyuan in a swarm. After becoming smaller, the beehive seemed rather empty. Lu Qingjiu asked them whether he should place them somewhere where there were more wildflowers, but they all expressed that there was no problem, they could travel a thousand li in a day. Other than that, they were already troubling Lu Qingjiu to help them make a ceiling for their beehive, so that they wouldnโt get drenched by the rain.
Lu Qingjiu then placed these little bees in his inner courtyard, and even built them a canopy out of wooden boards, saying that from now on, this place was their home, if they ever needed anything, they could just ask him directly.
The few little honeybees nodded pitifully, saying to Lu Qingjiu, โYou really are a good person.โ
Lu Qingjiu, โ……โ He didnโt have the heart to tell the little honeybees that it was him who had brought up wanting to eat honey in the first place.
However, Lu Qingjiu didnโt have much hope of actually getting honey. Could these qinyuan really produce honey? According to the records of them, didnโt everything they touched die? But oh well, he could just keep them at home and take care of them, it didnโt matter anyways.
Thinking such thoughts, Lu Qingjiu soon threw the matter of the honeybees to the back of his mind, up until half a month later, Yin Xun, whoโd gone to clean the inner courtyard suddenly started shouting, โQingjiu, Qingjiu quickly come over!!!โ
Lu Qingjiu had been frying crispy meat for Yin Xun. Hearing his shouts, he put the spatula aside and asked, โWhatโs the matter?โ
Yin Xun said, โOur beehive is full?โ
Lu Qingjiu was stunned for a moment, then headed over to the inner courtyard to see the beehive Yin Xun was talking about. He saw that the top of the beehive was covered with golden, extremely alluring honey. Because there was too much honey, it was even overflowing from a crack in the beehive, dripping onto the ground.
โItโs completely full.โ Yin Xun pulled out a frame and said in surprise, โSo fast?โ
Lu Qingjiu was still lost in his shock, when he saw a little qinyuan fly out of the beehive and say in a small voice, โWhat flavour of honey would you like?โ
Lu Qingjiu, โThereโs even different flavours?โ
Yin Xun, this thing, stood by the side making noise, โI want chocolate flavoured honey.โ
That little qinyuan rolled his eyes at Yin Xun, โI was asking about what flower.โ
Spring was the season where hundreds of thousands of flowers were in bloom. Most flora bloomed with beautiful flowers in spring, and the honey produced from different pollen would taste different, even containing the fragrance of the flowers.
Lu Qingjiu, โWhat flowers do you have?โ
โPeach blossom, pear blossom, roses, we have all kinds.โ This little qinyuan seemed to still be quite young, and wasnโt as scared as that big qinyuan. โYou can take it all, but I have a tiny condition.โ
Lu Qingjiu, โWhat condition?โ
โYou have to touch me,โ The little qinyuan said, โLike how you touched Man Chen!โ
Lu Qingjiu was confused for a moment, before realising that Man Chen was that qinyuan that heโd stroked before. The tiny one before him was also very cute, and besides, they felt really good to the touch, so Lu Qingjiu happily agreed. He reached out his hand and carefully stroked the qinyuanโs soft feathers.
The little qinyuanโs eyes curved from the pleasure. He was even humming.
Yin Xunโs hand felt itchy. โCan I touch you as well?โ
โDonโt touch me.โ That little qinyuan mercilessly rejected Yin Xunโs request. โDonโt defile my pure body.โ
Yin Xunโs eyes widened. โBut why can he touch you?โ
The little qinyuan, โHeโs human, are you?โ
Yin Xun, โ……โ
The little qinyuan, โHumans and us canโt be together, but youโre not human. What if you fall for me?โ
Yin Xun, โI wonโt fall for you!โ
The little qinyuan, โHa, nothing you mountain gods say can be trusted.โ
Yin Xun, โ……โ Friend, what in the world happened to you.
Lu Qingjiu couldnโt help bursting into laughter. After massaging the qinyuan for a few minutes, Lu Qingjiu successfully obtained a few frames of honey, just that there now lay the question of how to get the honey off the frames. Just as Lu Qingjiu was pondering this, he saw Yin Xun bring over an iron tube, saying that he could leave this job to him. Then, Lu Qingjiu saw him shake off all the honey on the frame into a bucket.
This was the honey of a farmer family in spring. Lu Qingjiu tasted a bit, and found the taste very good. There was none of the overly sweet taste of artificial honey. The honey actually wasnโt particularly sweet, mainly filled with a strong fragrance. It was especially suitable for mixing into water and making pastries.
Bai Yuehu drinking vinegar even from a ‘bee’ ๐๐๐
+1 Haha
+2 hahahaha you made my night
Aww the ‘bees’ are so cute and hilarious.
The little qinyuan, โHa, nothing you mountain gods say can be trusted.โ
Yin Xun, โโฆโฆโ Friend, what in the world happened to you.
Lmao๐๐๐
Many thanks for the update! XD
What fun bees.
These “bees” are a beeautiful addition to the family
That little qinyuan is so bitter towards mountain gods. Little bee, what hurt you?? I mean, except for fantastic mr. fox there.
Thank you for the chapter!!
hahaha poor “little honey bees” i could feel their desire to live lol.
Yuehu drinking vinegar was so cute.
Thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for the update
the qinyuan are so cute TwT)b and i love seeing lqj slowly becoming a cottage witch with all the ingredients he has lol
thank you for the chapter! โก
Those little death machines are so cute.
Thanks for the great translation โฅ๏ธ
BY is too savage Haha. Poor ‘Bees’. Everyone on the farm is hilarious. Even the ‘cow’ that doesn’t talk. The ‘car’ is still the cutest.
Hahaha Qingjiu’s hands should only be on Yuehu~ If Yuehu doesn’t keep Qingjiu to himself, what if Qingjiu allows the fluffy ‘bees’ to sleep on his bed?
Thank you for the chapter!
โDonโt touch me.โ That little qinyuan mercilessly rejected Yin Xunโs request. โDonโt defile my pure body.โ LMAOOOOOOO, that little qinyuan is merciless towards YX. ๐๐๐
Little qinyuan is your honey sweet or bitter? Hilarious af ๐
Thanks for the chapter update!
These bees have killed me with laughter multiple times lmaooo
They’re good bees!!
Thx for the ch (ใ หใ ห)
poor ‘bees’ ๐
Now you make me want to eat freshly harvested honey
The first part of the chapter made me laugh so hard
Thx for the chapter
This chapter is so cute and funny๐
I feel like my intestines are very green reading this…. I also want fresh genuine honey ah ah ah!
LQ, seducing the little โhoneybeesโ. ๐
Thank you
Gosh..this chapter really make me laugh๐๐คฃ๐๐คฃ๐๐คฃ