Cultivating Farmland in a Fluffy S-Rank Game – CH33

Chapter 33: Second Detection

As for the idea of “building an artificial apiary,” Chu Jiu wasn’t just being whimsically impulsive.

In his memory, a beekeeper could manage an apiary alone — even just one person could handle the entire setup. For Bean Village, where labor was scarce, this kind of facility that could function with a single worker was a perfect fit.

Moreover, the mountain behind Bean Village was lush with vegetation and dotted with wildflower fields, so finding nectar sources wouldn’t be an issue — otherwise, Grandpa Du wouldn’t have been able to collect wild honey.

Unfortunately, aside from the two points — “an apiary needs a beekeeper to care for the hive” and “there must be nectar sources nearby” — Chu Jiu had no other knowledge about how to build an artificial apiary.

With such fragmented information, even with the buff of “Clear-Headed Thinking,” there was no way he could comprehend the “Apiary Blueprint” on his own.

And the system hadn’t dropped any apiary blueprints yet either, so he couldn’t just let the spirit beasts build one near his cabin and then replicate it in Bean Village.

But…

Chu Jiu stepped out into the yard and once again examined the “Beginner Monster Ranch” that had just been completed that day.

The ranch covered a large area and was neatly laid out. Glup-Glup had cleared away trees on the ground, fenced off a section with wooden rails, and tilled the soil within. However, there weren’t any specialized facilities inside yet — no troughs, no coops, nothing.

According to the system prompts, once Chu Jiu released captured monsters into the ranch, the system would automatically generate corresponding facility blueprints.

In other words, if he caught a monster bee and brought it back, he would receive a special blueprint for “Beekeeping Facilities for Monster Bees.”

But the formula description for the Monster Ranch made it very clear: “Cannot directly generate ‘Honor Region-Specific Blueprints,’ and cannot be directly reused in the ‘Honor Region.’”

Chu Jiu pondered this sentence in the system backend for a long time, and then decided to boldly test his hypothesis.

*

Early the next morning.

Chu Jiu, riding his Bodo and carrying Little Can, headed to the Forgotten Forest and dug up a young Giant Canna Lily.

In the China world, the canna lily was an elegant and vibrant plant. Not only was it beautiful in appearance, but its nectar was considered a “natural treat.” In the countryside back in the day, early summer meant kids would pluck the fiery red blooms at dawn to suck the sweet nectar hidden inside.

But in this world, the adult Giant Canna Lily grew as tall as a three-story building. Its flowers, though also red, were a blood-like, eerie crimson.

Not only were the petals blood-colored, but the nectar also gave off a metallic, rusty scent — virtually indistinguishable from human blood.

The nectar was so abundant it often dripped down the petals and stems. That thick, blood-scented fluid would trap any small animals or insects that passed by, sticking them in place. They’d struggle in vain, slowly exhaust themselves, and eventually die — becoming nutrients for the plant.

In short, this Giant Canna Lily had no resemblance to the refined edible flower of China.

Chu Jiu had encountered this flower in the forest before, but had always steered clear of it. After all, it didn’t drop any useful materials.

But this time, with Little Can on lookout duty to alert him at the first sign of dripping nectar, Chu Jiu took his shovel and dug away until he finally unearthed a one-meter-tall Giant Canna Lily seedling.

Unlike the bamboo rhizomes he had previously dug up, this item’s data card didn’t say it was “plantable” or “cultivatable.”

Still, Chu Jiu handed the seedling to Rawr Rawr Rabbit.

According to the “Action Plan” he’d discussed with the spirit beasts the night before, Rawr Rawr Rabbit had already cleared a section of forest. Upon receiving the blood-scented seedling, the little bunny immediately began the process of Creative Cultivation.

[Creative Cultivation: “Even plants previously not marked as cultivatable may yield seeds through creative cultivation.”]

As Rawr Rawr Rabbit dug a hole and planted the seedling, Chu Jiu’s passive skill Detail Master was triggered:

[Please specify which attributes the spirit beast should focus on cultivating in this plant: Appearance, Scent, Flavor, Growth Rate, Plant Utility Note: The more traits selected, the lower the success rate. Choose wisely.]

Chu Jiu thought for a moment and chose “Scent.” Within the scent category, he selected:

[Non-irritating to humans] [Retains attractiveness to insects]

Although the Giant Canna Lily looked terrifying, he’d grown used to it and didn’t find it scary anymore — and the spirit beasts didn’t seem afraid of it either. He wasn’t planning to eat the nectar directly, so taste wasn’t important.

But the smell was another matter.

If he planted a whole field of these and didn’t adjust the scent, once they bloomed the entire area would reek like a vampire’s castle. Just the thought gave him chills.

With the scent modification set, the system showed a cultivation success rate:

Thanks to fertile soil, the spirit beast’s excellent condition, and high affection toward the host, the cultivation success rate exceeds 80%.

Not bad — that was promising!

With his orders clear, Rawr Rawr Rabbit was pumped, thumping his chest like a gorilla:

“Rawr rawr rawr leave it to me! I’ll definitely breed a canna lily that doesn’t stink but still attracts bugs!”

Cultivation of the Stink-Free Canna Lily took four days. On Chu Jiu’s system panel, he could see Rawr Rawr Rabbit’s progress bar steadily filling up.

On the fourth afternoon, the bar finally lit up completely. Hoho Rabbit jumped two meters in the air to report excitedly:

“Rawr rawr rawr it’s done! The new canna lily has bloomed and doesn’t stink at all!”

Chu Jiu rushed to the edge of the woods to check. One look and one sniff — indeed!

The new flower’s nectar was still thick and sticky, but the overwhelming bloody scent was gone. It no longer made people grimace and turn away.

Clearly, the “non-irritating to humans” scent modification had succeeded.

As for whether it still retained its “insect-attracting aroma,” that remained to be seen.

Ten minutes later, Chu Jiu, carrying his homemade Bee-Capturing Tool, with Little Can in his pocket and Kakaba in his backpack, rode his Bodo straight toward the Bloodthirsty Bee Hive.

His entire goal in breeding the stink-free canna lily was to use its nectar to feed the Bloodthirsty Bees, which survive on the nectar of the Giant Canna Lily.

Now that he had the skill Monster Luring, he could see new details on certain monster data cards.

For example, the Gratitude Earthworm had a red heart symbol in the bottom right corner of its card — a sign of “Affection.” It meant that through friendliness and “gentle coaxing,” the monster could be lured back to the ranch.

The Bloodthirsty Bee had two hearts: one red, one blue. The red still meant Affection, while the blue stood for “Fear.” For monsters like these, you had to first instill enough fear in them before the red heart would activate — only then could they be successfully captured.

It didn’t take long for Chu Jiu to locate the hive.

He picked a clearing in the forest and applied his bee-trapping tool on the ground.

Traditionally, bees are caught using “bee traps” — typically bucket-sized, wide-bellied containers smeared with syrup to lure bees in. Once inside, the entrance is sealed and the trap is taken away.

But that wouldn’t work for bees this huge — ones with stingers two meters long.

Chu Jiu’s custom bee trap was a Honey Nectar Pitfall, made by mixing Sticky Mud and Stink-Free Canna Lily Nectar.

Given the Sticky Mud’s properties, once a bee touched it, it would be stuck fast — unable to fly away.

Whether it would lure the Bloodthirsty Bees… that depended on whether the nectar still retained its original attraction.

Chu Jiu, with Little Can and Kakaba, hid nearby in the hollow of a breadfruit tree.

He thought he’d have to wait an hour or two.

But after just fifteen minutes, he heard the heavy buzzing approaching…

“It’s the Bloodthirsty Bee!”

The canna flower cultivated by Rawr Rawr Rabbit really worked!

Hiding in a tree hollow, Chu Jiu decided to give Rawr Rawr Rabbit an extra honey-glazed pork chop as a snack while keeping a sharp eye on the giant bee slowly circling through the forest. Finally, it landed squarely in the nectar trap.

This brown-and-yellow giant bee noticed nothing unusual and naturally extended its proboscis to suck nectar, even pressing its fuzzy hind legs against the honey.

However, once its long, syringe-like mouthpart entered the nectar, it realized—its mouth was stuck. Firmly. Completely immobilized.

Bloodthirsty Bee: ??!

Panicked, it began to beat its wings furiously, seemingly trying to fly free from the strange honey.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard it flapped—so much so that nearby leaves were being blown away—it still couldn’t move an inch.

Chu Jiu crawled out of the tree hollow and activated [Monster Capture] on the furious Bloodthirsty Bee.

In an instant, a glowing illustrated card appeared above the bee.

In the center of the card was the bee itself. At the bottom right corner were a red heart and a blue heart—representing Affection and Fear levels respectively.

But both were currently empty, indicating that the Bloodthirsty Bee couldn’t be captured yet.

Looks like while the [Nectar Trap] immobilized it, it only enraged the bee—it didn’t generate any fear.

That wasn’t part of the plan.

So how to make this giant insect feel fear?

Just as Chu Jiu was considering which weapon to pull out to give it a beating, a small head poked out from the pouch on his chest.

It was Little Can, making a low “rrrrr” sound.

This sound was identical to the one it made when it scared off the jungle boar earlier.

To Chu Jiu, it was just a grumpy cat noise—more of a pout than a threat.

But the Bloodthirsty Bee, which had been struggling violently just moments ago, suddenly froze as if someone had hit pause. It lay motionless in the trap, only the fine hairs on its body trembling slightly.

At the same time, Chu Jiu saw the blue fear heart on the card fill up—one-third… two-thirds… full!

In mere seconds, the Fear bar maxed out?

…That little cat’s rrrrr had that kind of effect?! Could it be that the jungle boar ran not because it feared cats, but because of this?

Chu Jiu reached out, a bit surprised and impressed, and patted Little Can’s head.
“You scared it off, didn’t you?”

Little Can: “Meow.”

Chu Jiu: “Awesome.”

Little Can: “Meow.”

Done praising Little Can, Chu Jiu turned to the now-paralyzed bee and got ready to raise its Affection.

He wasn’t going to try himself—he had no idea how to make a bee like him.

So he placed Kakaba on the ground and told the little capybara: “Your turn! You got this!”

This had already been decided during the group planning session with the spirit beasts about the Bloodthirsty Bee Capture Plan.

Once Fear was maxed out, Kakaba—who had the “Persuade Monster” skill—would step in to raise Affection.

Kakaba waddled over on its short, chubby legs and looked up at the bee, then began speaking in a gentle, rhythmic tone: “Dum dum dum dum…”

Chu Jiu, of course, couldn’t understand what it was saying to the monster.

But he could tell that Kakaba’s voice was soft and warm.

Unlike the fear meter, which had instantly maxed out, the red Affection heart slowly filled bit by bit under Kakaba’s soothing words.

Finally, the red heart was full too. The Bloodthirsty Bee, which had been frozen on the ground, fluttered its wings lightly twice.

Kakaba trotted back to Chu Jiu: “Chu Jiu, Chu Jiu! I told the bee: we won’t hurt them. If they’re willing to help us make honey, we’ll give them a beautiful new home and endless canna nectar to eat!”

“The bee said it’ll go persuade the queen and start ‘splitting the hive’ to move into our monster ranch!”

Then Kakaba blinked its big round eyes: “Does that mean it worked?”

Chu Jiu rubbed its fuzzy head: “It worked! That’s how you win over a monster! Great job!”

Kakaba blushed and covered its face with its little paws: “N-not a big deal.”

“I could only do it because you told us all about hive splitting ahead of time and planted the canna flowers.”

That was true. When planning earlier, Chu Jiu had explained that when a hive gets overcrowded, the queen bee will take about one-third to half the hive and relocate. A new queen naturally arises in the old hive. It’s a natural instinct among social insects like bees.

Bloodthirsty Bees, despite their scary name and looks, were actually peaceful nectar-feeders that wouldn’t attack unless provoked. So instead of fighting them, Chu Jiu’s plan was to use this hive-splitting instinct to invite them to the ranch.

And as planned, Kakaba’s persuasion worked.

Chu Jiu then pulled out a pre-prepared alkaline solvent, made from ash water, and poured it on the nectar trap.

Sticky goo can’t be overcome by force—but with a bit of alkaline solution, the trap quickly lost its stickiness and turned to regular mud.

Soon, the bee’s proboscis and legs were free again.

Chu Jiu stood before it and handed over a bamboo tube.

“This is nectar we harvested from our canna flowers. There’s a huge field of them near your new home. You’ll always have enough to eat.”

The bee dipped its proboscis into the bamboo tube, tasted the nectar, and immediately began buzzing its wings excitedly.

After licking the tube clean, it waved its forelegs at Kakaba.

Kakaba said, “It’s going to tell the queen bee. Within three days, the queen will bring 20 worker bees to live near our house.”

Bloodthirsty Bees aren’t like normal bees—they have far fewer workers. These 20 are already half the hive.

The bee waved its legs again, buzzed its wings, and flew away.

Chu Jiu received a notification:
[Successfully captured “Bloodthirsty Bee.” The bee will move into the Monster Ranch soon.]
[You have received “Bloodthirsty Bee Beekeeping Facility Blueprint” x1]
[Construction requirements: 500 Development Points, 20 Bamboo Stalks, 20 Wood, 1 Spirit Beast]

Chu Jiu grinned, “Great! Let’s go tell Gulu that he can start building the beekeeping facility! He’ll be so happy!”

Of course, capitalistic Chu Jiu was just as happy!

*

Three mornings later—

Chu Jiu got up early. He boiled water and washed fish, then laid ginger slices and scallions at the bottom of the plate to steam the fish.

One pot steamed the fish, while another pot was filled with prepared brine to marinate chicken legs.

While the steam hissed and the broth bubbled, Chu Jiu took the chance to go pick fresh, juicy cabbage from the garden, washed and finely shredded it.

Then he squeezed some grape juice and stirred in a spoonful of honey.

Finally, he made himself an egg pancake and a cup of soy milk.

Breakfast for one human and four spirit beasts—done!

The smell from the kitchen was so enticing that he didn’t even need to wake them. The four little ones came down the stairs in a line, rubbing their eyes and yawning, toddling into the bathroom to wash their paws and faces before sitting obediently at the table, waiting for Chu Jiu to serve them.

Breakfast time!

Little Can munched on steamed fish, Rawr Rawr Rabbit tore into a chicken leg, Gulp-Glup sipped grape-honey juice, and Kakaba crunched happily on a bowl of cabbage shreds.

After breakfast, the other three little ones each had an important mission for the day:

Soon, the Bloodthirsty Bee Queen would bring the worker bees to settle in the ranch. To help the Bloodthirsty Bees feel safe and begin honey production, Kakaba would be responsible for communication and reassurance, Gulp Glup would inspect the beehives, and Rawr Rawr Rabbit needed to tend the canna lilies.

With their tasks assigned, the three little ones either flew or ran off toward the forest and ranch.

Back in the cabin, only Chu Jiu and the little Little Can in his pocket remained.

Chu Jiu sat down at the long table in the workshop, pulled out a wooden board, and began sketching on it with a charcoal pencil while planning his next steps.

Hmm… according to the backend, Cheng Yue’s “Cotton Research” is going smoothly—she should have the recipe in a few days.

Tofu production in Bean Village was also proceeding normally, but it looked like they were nearly out of gypsum? Time to go collect some more.

Also, although he had earned quite a lot of Development Points before, opening the Honor Area and building the monster ranch had cost a whopping six thousand points, leaving him poor once again—back to that desperate, penny-pinching pioneer lifestyle…

Thinking of Development Points reminded Chu Jiu of the video logs he had paused.

If he could start filming logs again, having that extra daily reward income would be really nice…

He wondered—had the little mirror been fixed yet?

With that thought, Chu Jiu pulled the recording mirror from his backpack and gave it a shake in front of his eyes.

The system didn’t respond.

The mirror remained pitch-black, not even reflecting a normal image.

However, Little Can resting on Chu Jiu’s shoulder suddenly became interested in the mirror. It let out a curious “meow~ meow~” and asked, “What is this?”

Chu Jiu suddenly realized—ah right, this was Little Can’s first time seeing the mirror.

After all, when he used to record videos, the little one would already be fast asleep. Plus, the system repeatedly warned “Do not mention spirit beasts in logs” and “Do not record spirit beasts on video,” so Chu Jiu had never used the mirror in front of them.

But since the mirror was broken now, he no longer had to worry about accidentally recording any of the spirit beasts.

So Chu Jiu told Little Can without concern, “It’s a mirror—but a broken one, it can’t reflect anything.”

Little Can tilted its head curiously at the mirror and even raised a little paw to tap it a few times.

Just then, Chu Jiu received a system prompt:

[Detected incoming monster entering the Pioneer’s Cabin Area. Please confirm whether to allow entry.]

It must be the Bee Queen and her workers arriving!

Although Chu Jiu guessed that much, he didn’t rashly click “Allow.”

Instead, he quickly put the mirror away and said to Little Can, “Let’s go see if our new bee neighbors have arrived!”

In his hurry, Chu Jiu naturally didn’t notice that the mirror, now face-down in his backpack and recently pawed by Little Can, had started flickering with strange lights.

*

Arsa Star.

[Spacetime Rift detected. Mental sequence matched.]
[Launching ‘Explorer’ deployment program.]
[Deployment in progress…]

He Fang and Chen Mo stared unblinking at the screen.

He Fang’s palms were soaked in sweat; Chen Mo kept fidgeting with his collar.

Less than a second ago, the monitoring system received the signal—as Marshal Lu had predicted, the rift reopened without warning.

This time, the force sending the “Explorer” to the target coordinates wasn’t synthetic mental energy from the military, but spiritual power directly infused in advance by Lu Qingyan himself.

When Marshal Lu suggested using his own energy to deploy the Explorer, the imperial physicians immediately objected.

They said it was too risky—Lu Qingyan’s mind couldn’t withstand such strain.

But once Lu Qingyan made a decision, he never wavered.

Left with no choice, under strict precautions to avoid the “worst-case scenario,” Lu infused his spiritual energy into a special vessel.

As soon as the rift reopened, the Explorer would return to that strange, barely understandable world.

[Deployment complete.]
[Real-time visual transmission active…]

The screen gradually lit up.

Unlike last time’s pitch-black night, the world of target WT0906 was now in “daylight.”

The image was incredibly clear.

The location was the same village as before.

At the edge of the village stood the familiar wooden two-story house.

The Explorer flew toward the wooden house.

This time, it wasn’t attacked by any “unidentified flying object.”

After circling the wooden house several times, the Explorer drifted toward a nearby clearing.

—“Human!” Chen Mo gasped.

Yes. On the screen was that same human boy, looking no older than sixteen or seventeen.

This time, when the rift opened, Arsa Star hadn’t received any simultaneous livestream footage. It seemed the boy wasn’t recording this time.

Marshal Lu Qingyan lightly tapped his knuckles against his chin, eyes scanning the boy, the strange building behind him, and… the row of tiny pet-like creatures?

At this moment, He Fang spoke up, “Those white and brown tiny little puffballs next to him—what are they?”

*

Ten minutes earlier.

Beginner Beekeeping Area.

Although the Bloodthirsty Bees were granted access to the Pioneer’s Cabin, it was their first time coming so close to a human residence.

The abrupt environmental change, paired with the natural stress of “swarming,” made the bees restless and anxious. They began flying about chaotically.

Just then, Chu Jiu received a system prompt:

[“Monster Ranch – Beginner Beekeeping Area” pending activation.]
[To activate and maintain normal operations, Spirit Beast x1 required.]
[Please assign a qualified Spirit Beast to begin work.]

Chu Jiu immediately opened the backend, tapped on the round, fluffy brown icon for Kakara #4, opened its task schedule, and dragged the new Q-version brown bee icon representing “beekeeping work” into its schedule.

[Spirit Beast #4 has the required skills!]
[Spirit Beast #4’s assignment today: Beekeeping.]

With the task received, Kakaba ran directly beneath the bee swarm, waving its short limbs and letting out a distinctive call. While calming the frightened bees, it told them where the new hive was, how vast the flower fields were, and reassured them that no other bugs would come steal their nectar.

Gradually, the bees stopped flying wildly and began performing a figure-eight dance in the air.

They now understood—the Canna Lily Fields had more nectar than they could ever collect, and the giant bamboo-wood hives were quite cozy.

They were satisfied with their new home.

[Congratulations, Host!]
[Beekeeping area officially activated!]
[Estimated time until first honey harvest: 120 hours.]

Chu Jiu squatted down happily and praised his little companions one by one:

“Gulp Glup, those hives you built are amazing! If they hadn’t been comfy enough, the bees definitely wouldn’t have stayed.”

“Rawr Rawr Rabbit did such a great job cultivating the canna lilies! They don’t smell bad at all, and the Bloodthirsty Bees really like them!”

“And Kakaba, it’s all thanks to you being able to communicate with magical creatures—otherwise, who knows how long these bees would’ve kept flying around chaotically?”

Gulp Glup started dancing proudly after being praised, Rawr Rawr Rabbit made a heart shape with its ears over its head, and Kakaba jumped up in place, its tiny nose twitching with joy.

That wasn’t all—Chu Jiu also received a system notification:

[Beast No. 4 has triggered “Growth.”]
[Current growth level: Level 4]
[New passive skill learned: “Emotional Stability.”]

[When magical creatures are within a certain range of Beast No. 4, those in a rage or berserk state will temporarily lose hostility and enter a lazy “What a lovely day for a nap…” mood.
Note: The effectiveness of this skill depends on multiple factors such as the creature’s condition, personality, environment, and Beast No. 4’s own state.]

[Please continue assigning suitable tasks to Beast No. 4 to ensure its mental and physical well-being and to support its rapid growth.]

Ah! Kakaba leveled up! And it’s already at level 4! Higher than both Rawr Rawr Rabbit and Gulp Glup.

Chu Jiu sighed in admiration—this new skill sounded really useful. He curiously stared at the newly upgraded mini capybara:

Hmm… Its eyes do seem brighter? And its brown fur looks shinier and smoother?

Well, in any case, growth is always good for spirit beasts.

Now that he thought about it: Kakaba is level 4, Gulp Glup is level 3, Rawr Rawr Rabbit is level 2… what about Little Can?

Don’t tell me Little Can is still at level 0?

Just then, another system message popped up:

[Attention: Spirit beasts must work! Prolonged inactivity may lead to spiritual power regression and health issues.]

This same message had appeared when Little Can was first summoned. Seeing it again now… Could it be that Little Can’s condition wasn’t great?

A wave of worry hit Chu Jiu.

He walked to the side and softly spoke to the little one curled up in his pocket:

“Little Can… would you like to pick a job too?”

“You’ve helped me fight off so many monsters—you’re amazing at it. Maybe you could try another job too?”

“Take your time and choose. There might be something you’d enjoy.”

But Little Can didn’t seem to hear him. Instead, it poked its head out and stared at the air behind Chu Jiu, meowing curiously, “What’s that behind you?”

Chu Jiu followed its gaze—

There was nothing there.

And the system wasn’t issuing any alerts.

This little guy… had it just learned how to divert attention?! Chu Jiu felt both frustrated and exasperated.

He gently pressed a finger to Little Can’s head, guiding it to face him.

“Listen carefully. Don’t interrupt.”

“Little Can, all the other babies are working hard, farming and growing—and they’ve all leveled up. But you…” But you haven’t grown at all. That’s not okay.

“If you still refuse to work, then I’ll…”

I’ll what?

Chu Jiu thought for a moment, then a lightbulb went off. He lowered his voice and tried his best to sound stern: “Then I’ll take away your dried fish treats!”

The moment he said that, Little Can’s eyes went wide, staring directly at Chu Jiu. All its fur stood on end, and even its whiskers twitched!

Chu Jiu stared right back, not backing down.

Neither the human nor the cat noticed that, at the very instant Little Can’s whiskers began to tremble in fury, a tiny, nearly invisible black speck of light suddenly flashed in the air—then disappeared completely.

*

Arsa Star.

The probe had crashed—again.

The transmission feed had been interrupted once more.

But what really made He Fang and Chen Mo’s hearts race in fear was this:

At the exact moment the teenager said “take away your dried fish,” the water glass beside Marshal Lu shattered into pieces without warning.

---

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