CHAPTER 114 - THOSE WITH ARACHNO-FEAR-BIA ARE SAFE.

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“What?!” I knew the creatures inside of the box were a little icky, but Mo’s reaction was too much. “It’s cool, these are a special spirit variety. They don’t have teeth or bite or anything. No attack capabilities at all, I promise.”

I paused to eye Mo who was still cowering behind Kharli. “Well, actually if you handle them too roughly they will exude a foul-smelling liquid. I think it’s a defense mechanism. The liquid is disgusting but it won’t hurt you.”

My three apprentices remained silent.

“These are an important resource for farmers. We’re gonna need this for the Immortal Herbs. What’s the matter?” I asked

Kharli scratched her head and then said, “It’s not that she thinks they’re dangerous. Mo just really hates worms.”

“Huh? That’s a strange thing to dislike. What happened?” I asked.

“Don’t tell her!” Mo shrieked.

I frowned a little. “Well, okay. I won’t force you to tell me. I’ll excuse you from this particular task, but you’ll miss out on all of the xp.”

“Does this give a lot of xp?” Lari bent down and peered at wriggly worms inside the box.

“Not a lot, but every little bit counts.” I patted Mo’s shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell me? I mean, if you can’t trust your teacher, then who can you trust?”

“It’s not even a big deal,” said Lari.

“You should tell her,” said Kharli.

Mo fidgeted with her sleeves for a few minutes while I patiently waited for her reply.

“Think of the xp!” said Lari.

“Ah! Okay, you tell her then,” said Mo. “But no laughing!”

Kharli’s lips were already twitching. “Of course, we would never make fun of your fear of worms.”

Lari and Kharli exchanged glances then burst into peals of laughter.

“You guys are terrible friends.” Mo folded her arms across her chest and pouted, but we could all tell that she wasn’t really upset.

After the laughter died down, Lari explained it to me. “Teacher, you know how the orphanage is funded by the clans? So our food is okay, but not really that good except for special occasions. Sometimes, rich merchants or nobles will donate food to celebrate the birth of a new heir or a wedding.”

“That’s nice of them,” I said.

“Yes, we always loved it when they threw a celebration party. That was the only time that we got to eat meat. A few years ago the Anwei Cooper’s Guild arranged a feast for us to commemorate their 100th Founding Day, and they served Four Joy Meatballs,” said Lari.

“They tasted great, and the donation was so generous that we all ate as much as we wanted,” said Kharli. “Mo ignored all of the other dishes and ate one whole plate of the meatballs.”

Where was the story going? I couldn’t figure out what it had to do with earthworms.

“I had three plates of it, too.” Lari smiled at the memory. “They were just so good that all sorts of stories were made up about them. Someone spread the word that the meatballs were made of worms instead of pork.”

“Unlikely. Worm meat would cost way more than pork, especially minced pork which doesn’t use the best parts of the animal most of the time,” I said.

“So we're going to raise these worms for their meat?” Kharli gave the [Red Wrigglers] a dubious look.

[Red Wriggler:

A type of spirit earthworm that is a dull red color and around 2 to 4 inches in length. Its segmented body is moist and slimy. The Red Wriggle is commonly used for vermicomposting, which is the process of using earthworms to decompose organic waste into nutrient-rich compost. Their castings are rich in nutrients and beneficial microorganisms, making them a valuable resource for enriching the soil and promoting plant growth.]

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I shook my head. “No. Continue the story, what happened?”

“Most people didn’t believe it, but it was a running joke for a long time. I mean, we rarely got to eat meat, and it was a big event for us,” said Kharli. “But one of the others took it way too far.”

“That was Muchen,” said Lari. “He was always playing pranks on the younger kids.”

“Yes, this time he sneaked into the girl’s room while we were napping and put an earthworm in Mo’s mouth,” said Kharli.

“A dirty earthworm! Oh, it still makes me mad when I think about it,” said Mo.

“He picked Mo because she snores a lot and sleeps with her mouth open,” said Lari.

“What do you mean she snores a lot? You snore louder than everyone in the entire orphanage combined,” said Kharli.

“The point is, Muchen put an earthworm in Mo’s open mouth while she was sleeping. She woke up and spat it out… half of it anyway,” said Kharli.

“I did not! I spat out the whole thing,” said Mo.

“I saw you close your teeth on half of it and spit out the other half,” said Kharli.

“Everyone called her ‘Worm Eater’ for a few months,” said Lari.

I gave my apprentice a sympathetic look, then patted her on the shoulder again. “It’s okay, it’s all in the past and no one cares about childish nicknames like that. Are you saying you don’t want to take care of these worms?”

“I really hate worms,” said Mo.

“What did it taste like?” I asked.

“I said I didn’t eat it!” said Mo.

“But it was in your mouth, right? You must have tasted it,” I said.

“It was really slimy and gross. I think it tasted like soil,” said Mo.

“Hahaha, slimy and gross? I’m pretty sure worms could be cooked in a delicious way. Do you want me to ask the chef?” Mo’s expression was so funny that I couldn’t help but tease her a bit.

“No! I don’t want to eat or take care of worms.” Mo pouted.

“Aw, don’t be such a baby. Think of the xp,” said Lari.

“...” Mo looked unconvinced.

“No problem, Lari and Kharli can take care of them,” I said. “Have you examined the box yet? If not, do it now.”

[Worm Bin:

Status: Healthy

Vermicompost: 0/3]

I put the lid back on and then put the upper box over the lower box before taking out some table scraps from my inventory to show my apprentices. “These worms eat all sorts of food scraps like rinds, seeds, cores, stems, and so forth, as well as most other types of organic matter like dead plants.”

Taking out a table and knife, I put the food waste on it and then chopped it into smaller pieces. “We just have to cut these up like this. When they’re small enough, activate the System’s [Use] command.”

I gave them each half a handful and said, “Now, use [Trash] with [Worm Bin].”

After a moment, Kharli said, "That was easy.”

I waited until all three of them had finished. Despite her protests, Mo obediently did as I instructed. “Yes, that’s it. These are spirit animals, so they don’t need a lot of looking after. However, take note that you can't just put any old thing inside the [Worm Bin]. Don’t ever put any citrus or acidic stuff inside, and no meat or grease. Also, try not to remove the lid or disturb the worms too much. They like quiet and darkness.”

“Teacher, what is this [Vermicompost]?” asked Kharli. “You said we’re going to need this for the Immortal Herbs?”

“[Vermicompost] is the product of this [Worm Bin]. It’s basically the worm’s excrement and decayed organic matter along with the worm’s bedding materials. By the way, when we gather the [Vermicompost], I’ll have to add more [Worm Bedding] which is made of shredded brown cardboard. The System has plenty of it,” I said.

“Poop again? Why is it always poop?” Mo poked a corner of the box and gave it a disgusted look. “I bet it will be smelly.”

“All this time that we’ve been farming, we’ve used the fertilizer from the System, but for Immortal Herbs, that won’t be enough. We’ll have to use [Mysterious Goo] which is made by combining [Vermicompost] and Cutie’s [Goo],” I said.

I wanted to make [Mysterious Goo] for my quest.

[Curing Infertility Part 2:

Plant the Crimson Pearl Peony seed.

Requirements: Black Soil, Spirit Water, and Mysterious Goo.

Reward: Farming Exp]

“Then I hope we get a lot of [Mysterious Goo] soon,” said Kharli.

“Lucky for us, we don’t actually need a lot. I already have plenty of it.” In fact, I had 2,147,483,647 [Mysterious Goo] in my inventory courtesy of GodIam.

Lari looked puzzled. “Why do we need to make it if you already have a lot of it, Teacher?”

“My ancestors, the ones responsible for my bloodline inheritance, have provided me with plenty of materials, but a lot of them need to be ‘unlocked’ first,” I said.

“Unlocked?” asked Kharli.

“We’ve only used the most basic materials from the System. The more advanced ones need to be unlocked first. Think of it as a treasure chest. We need a key to open it, and for a lot of them, the key to unlocking the chest is to complete a task such as crafting an item.” Since we were finished with the [Worm Bin], I started walking back to the house. It was time for an afternoon snack, and I had asked the Demon Chef to prepare dim sum and tea for us.

“Your ancestors sound like they were strict,” said Mo.

“Then all we need to do is to make a few [Mysterious Goo] then you can use the ones from the System?” asked Lari.

“Yes. It’s easy, isn’t it? We can use the ones from my inventory on the farm, and the ones we produce from the [Worm Bin] can be sold to others,” I said.

When we came within sight of the house's front gate, we spotted one of the maids waiting there. She quietly slipped inside when she saw us, no doubt to inform the kitchen staff that we were on our way.

“It’s funny that the first type of animal that we are raising on the farm are those worms. I thought we were going to raise chickens first,” said Lari.

“We won’t be raising animals on the farm,” I said.

“No animals? Why not? I was really looking forward to it,” said Lari.