A Beekeeper in a Magical World

Chapter 24: The Forest Tyrant

It seemed like a giant was approaching step by step.

The swarm was quite sensitive, and any disturbance would send the worker bees patrolling, showing signs of losing control.

Hua Mi hurriedly closed the entrance and put away the magic box.

He looked in the direction of the sound.

What he saw initially shocked him instinctively, but then he remembered that this was a magical world, and it all made sense.

It was a tree slowly emerging from the forest, moving step by step towards the lake.

Each step caused the ground to tremble.

In the Black Forest, the trees were generally two to three times larger than typical trees on Earth. The tree trunks could require the embrace of four people, with a height of twenty to thirty meters, and their weight was substantial.

Compared to the motionless trees, its canopy was not particularly lush, with some branches even bare.

The trunk was covered with knots and grooves, and near the canopy, some of the finer, flexible branches twisted together to form a distorted, abstract face with eyes emitting a faint green glow.

Staring at that "giant face" for a while, Hua Mi felt like he was about to enter the realm of joy beans.

It was a tree spirit.

The "Black Forest Adventure Guide" stated that there were only thirteen documented tree spirits in the entire Black Forest, which wasn't that many considering the forest's size.

The first tree spirit in this world was created by the Druids.

In simple terms, a Druid used an enlightenment spell on a tree, forming an "enlightened heart" within it, activating the wood in a special way, giving it basic mobility and a certain level of intelligence.

When a tree spirit came into contact with ordinary trees, there was a low probability that it would spark enlightenment within them. However, the probability was quite low, which is why there were only thirteen in the vast Black Forest.

This creature might look intimidating, but it had a danger level of only one.

Tree spirits were tall and had high defenses.

But they were slow in movement, and their reactions were even slower. As long as you didn't provoke them, they generally wouldn't pose a threat.

Different tree species formed tree spirits with slightly varying attributes, but the differences were generally minor.

As for why the Druids had created tree spirits in the first place, that remained a mystery.

In the words of the "Black Forest Adventure Guide," Druids were just like that, and ordinary people couldn't understand their thought processes.

Hua Mi and the Seven Minis stood in place, watching the tree spirit slowly approaching the lake.

Underneath the tree spirit, the trunk forked into two "legs," and the dense, thick roots wrapped around them looked like muscles, giving the impression of great strength.

Each step had a considerable span, but the slow and stiff movement reduced the overall speed.

The tree spirit reached the lake and squatted down, as if it were taking root. Two "arms," composed of intertwined branches, plunged into the water.

From behind, it appeared as if a tree had grown by the lake, and it didn't look harmonious at all.

"Is it replenishing its water? It should leave soon," Hua Mi said.

The red-haired pseudo-flower spirit replied, "Usually, once a tree spirit decides to settle in a place, it won't leave in the short term. Sometimes it may stay for months or even years."

Months or even years...

Keep in mind that the nectar flow period for a flower typically didn't exceed a month, sometimes as short as ten to fifteen days.

In other words, if it decided to stay here, it would likely remain for the entire nectar flow period of the Feathery Blossom.

"Let's go to the other side of the lake. This place is vast, and we won't disturb each other," Hua Mi suggested.

The red-haired pseudo-flower spirit poured cold water on his idea, "It's hard to say, tree spirits have strong territorial instincts."

Hua Mi remembered the guide's description: Tree spirits were generally domineering and followed the forest's law of predation and survival of the fittest.

Just as he was thinking, the tree spirit suddenly turned its "face" towards them with a creaking sound. Its green, shining eyes stared directly at them.

Then, it moved its legs and walked towards them, exuding a strong sense of hostility.

"..."

The adventure guide was right; their territorial instincts were indeed strong!

"We have to leave!" urged the Seven Minis.

Hua Mi thought it would be a shame to leave just like that. This place was so vast, and if they kept their distance, maybe there would be no issue.

So, Hua Mi, with his equipment and the Seven Minis, headed to the opposite shore.

Unexpectedly, the tree spirit didn't give up the chase just because they moved away voluntarily. As long as it could see them, it continued to approach.

This made it impossible to set up bee boxes for honey collection!

"This is outrageous!"

In the end, Hua Mi became infuriated. He stopped and aimed his bow at the tree spirit, intending to release an arrow to vent his frustration.

The tree spirit had some degree of intelligence and could understand the preparatory action for an attack. It seemed to exhibit a stress response, accelerating its pace slightly. The canopy rustled, and its two "arms" reached forward, suddenly coming too close for comfort!

Hua Mi cursed, promptly put away his bow and arrow, and ran away with the Seven Minis.

A true archer didn't shoot hastily.

He only stopped when he could no longer see the tree spirit, catching his breath.

It was his bad luck. He had finally found a source of nectar, only for a tree spirit to appear out of nowhere.

Even if the tree spirit didn't stay there for a long time, not for months or even a year, just for ten days to two weeks, it would still disrupt this nectar flow period.

"Damn Druids, creating such troublesome creatures."

After thinking for a while, Hua Mi asked the pseudo-flower spirits, "Are there any other sources of nectar?"

The seven little beings gathered and shook their heads in unison.

"We still have nectar-producing flowers, but there's no place with such a large concentration."

"Got it."

This was why they said that a forest environment wasn't suitable for beekeeping. In addition to factors like rainfall, it was challenging to find extensive areas of flowers for the bees to collect nectar.

In an environment filled with towering trees like this, it was difficult to form large clusters of flowers.

Typically, flowers in this area were used as decorations rather than forming communities.

That's why Hua Mi had been thinking about building a greenhouse.

Once the greenhouse was established, he could bring back flowers from his explorations and cultivate them. He wouldn't have to rely on the weather for food. He could adjust the flowering period and nectar flow period as needed.

With the pseudo-flower spirits' magic, they could ensure rapid growth of the flowers.

Only then could he say that his beekeeping operation was on the right track.

However, this was a significant project.

Today, he could only return home.

He'd come back to the lake in a few days.

If that stubborn tree spirit hadn't left by then, he would have to...curse it wholeheartedly.

As for honey collection, he could temporarily suspend it.

After all, he had four hundred bottles of honey in reserve.

The next day, Hua Mi received the earnings from those one hundred bottles of honey, totaling thirty thousand yuan, without any platform fees.

The entire thirty thousand yuan went into his account, and he felt a reassuring sense of contentment.

It had been a while since he earned this much money in one go.

After admiring his balance for a while, he also checked the online shop's backend.

There were dozens of new five-star reviews, instantly raising the overall rating by 0.4.

"First time sleeping so soundly! Came to leave a good review."

"Great honey, truly a product of Huayu Town!"

"Incredible, it cured my years of insomnia!"

"Don't waste time, buy it! Excellent for insomnia, and it tastes good too."

"Don't ask questions; even sensitive skin can use it!"

"Bought it for my mom, she's old, and her sleep has been terrible for years. After drinking this honey water from this shop, she finally had a good night's sleep and her complexion improved."

"My goodness, what kind of black magic honey is this?"

"Thank you, shop owner, I shall call you the Honey Hero!"

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