Volume One, Chapter 20: No Wonder It’s Such a Powerful Insecticide!

Lin Yifan had originally planned to take one of the two mint plants to use as medicine and keep the other as a seedling for propagation. After all, mint was resilient and reproduced easily, especially with the cultivation soil—one seedling would be enough. But now, that seemed unnecessary.

He discovered that in this world, medicinal herbs were not counted by the number of plants but by their quantity. When Lin Yifan plucked five leaves, it registered as one unit. After retrieving one unit of mugwort from his spatial storage, he began crafting the "Potent Mosquito Repellent."

He had expected it to be a spray like those used on Earth, but to his surprise, the resulting product was a roughly half-meter-long bundle of herbs.

Potent Mosquito Repellent
Grade: Good
Usage: Smoke fumigation (ignite the top of the herbal bundle to release abundant medicinal smoke capable of killing mosquitoes; each bundle lasts three hours)
Note: When used indoors, ensure good ventilation to avoid suffocation.

Lin Yifan sighed softly as he held the rustic bundle in his hand. Such a primitive method—could it really kill mosquitoes? Doubt lingered in his mind. Still, there was no better option for dealing with the swarms, so he had to trust this herbal bundle.

After making five bundles from several portions of herbs, Lin Yifan prepared to retrieve a blue chest nearby. Before leaving, he took an empty white chest and gathered some embers from the fire pit to carry along.

This white empty chest was made from a grayish-white stone, unlike the wooden green chests he was familiar with. He wasn’t sure if it could withstand high heat, but since he had no other means to transport fire, he had to carry embers from the shelter.

Ideally, a torch would have been perfect, but even the simplest torch required bamboo or pine wood—both unavailable to him. So he settled on using the white stone chest to hold the fire, hoping it wouldn’t crack or lose the embers on the way.

With all his might, Lin Yifan sprinted toward the blue chest’s location, cutting five minutes off his previous time. Fortunately, although the chest grew hot, it remained intact.

He gathered a large handful of relatively dry leaves from the ground’s layer of fallen foliage, placed them atop the embers in the chest, and blew steadily to ignite them. Moments later, the dry leaves caught fire, and he added several pieces of dry wood from his spatial storage, allowing the flames to grow gradually.

Once the fire was stable, Lin Yifan didn’t immediately light the potent mosquito repellent. Instead, he fetched a set of clothes from his storage and wrapped his face and hands carefully, leaving only his eyes exposed.

Only then did he ignite one of the herbal bundles over the flame. Soon, white smoke began billowing from the top of the bundle. Surprisingly, the scent was quite pleasant—fragrant mugwort mixed with the refreshing coolness of mint. Though slightly pungent, the aroma was invigorating.

As the smoke drifted away, Lin Yifan focused intently on the mosquitoes swarming on the banyan tree’s branches. Despite its simple appearance, the herbal bundle’s effect was impressive.

He exhaled in relief—this potent mosquito repellent was his trump card against the impending mosquito outbreak. While staying inside the shelter could shield him somewhat from the insects, what if the mosquitoes didn’t retreat during the day? Would he just stay home and starve?

That would be a certain death sentence.

He needed a way to control the mosquito population, or else there would be no escape. The potent mosquito repellent was, so far, his best hope.

As the smoke spread, the once motionless mosquito cluster on the branches began to stir chaotically.

The buzzing grew loud and erratic, making Lin Yifan’s head throb with irritation. He rubbed his temple and took a deep breath of the smoke, the coolness easing his discomfort.

Only then did he understand why, although mugwort was the primary insecticidal ingredient, mint was added—the mint was meant for people.

Realizing this, he watched as clusters of black shapes fell from the branches. Upon closer inspection, they were mosquitoes—some dead, others struggling but near death.

The herbal bundle’s potent mosquito-killing power lived up to its name.

Looking up, Lin Yifan saw fewer and fewer mosquitoes clinging to the branches. The blue chest, once obscured by the swarm, was now mostly visible.

He stuck one bundle into the ground and lit another, holding it in his mouth as he began to climb the tree.

The blue chest was about seven or eight meters above the ground, roughly equivalent to the second or third floor of a building. If it had been a straighter tree, he wasn’t sure he could have climbed that high.

But the banyan’s branches were lush and divided from near the bottom, making the climb relatively easier. The higher he climbed, the more mosquitoes there were—but nearly all were dead, their bodies hanging from the branches.

On the rare occasions a few still struggled, the bundle clenched between his teeth took care of them.

Thus, retrieving the blue chest went smoothly. Once secured, Lin Yifan exhaled deeply—but upon checking the time, his face turned pale.

16:15.

Only fifteen minutes remained before nightfall.

Fifteen minutes was nowhere near enough to return.

Panic surged through him. But no matter what, he couldn’t give up.

Quickly, he tossed the blue chest into his ring storage, extinguished one herbal bundle, and held the other in hand.

Then, clutching the chest filled with embers, he dashed toward the shelter with all his might.

Though the likelihood of a forest fire in this weather was low, Lin Yifan refused to take the risk.

Forest fires were everyone’s responsibility.

Born in the countryside, those words were etched into his very bones.

Besides, his shelter was right there—if it caught fire, he’d be roasted alive.

Though the chest was already hot, he refused to abandon it.

Not out of fear of burns—he wanted to get rid of the embers—but there was no time.

Despite his frantic rush, he was ultimately too late.