The corpse worms, destined to become a nightmare for many over the coming years, were among Jing Shu’s least favorite creatures from her previous life. These creatures would also reluctantly serve as a last resort for sustenance. Though the red worms were tasteless, they were edible and safe, unlike corpse worms, which were so bitter they were nearly inedible and could cause illness.
In her previous life, during a desperate fifth year, Jing Shu had swallowed bowls of these worms, which expelled a greenish liquid that was intensely bitter and left a gritty residue in her mouth, their foul stench rivalling that of the world’s stinkiest canned fish.
Only under extreme hunger did she consume them, based on others’ advice that they should be swallowed whole to avoid the taste. After enduring two days of this diet until help arrived, she was plagued by severe digestive issues.
From then on, Jing Shu vowed never to eat corpse worms again, especially after even maggots and red worms died out in the cold, leaving only these hardy creatures in abundance.
Due to their omnivorous nature and preference for decaying flesh, corpse worms thrived wherever there were dead organisms, consuming them and in turn becoming vectors for disease.
Wang Cuimei’s distress was shared in a voice message: “It’s like a curse, I opened a new bag of rice to find it half full of black-green worms. As soon as I opened the bag, they started crawling everywhere, some even flying around the room!”
Her message quickly drew numerous responses.
Luo Zhu 9 said: “I’ve been finding dead flying insects floating in my water bucket, but today, the entire bucket was swarming with those dark green, wriggling worms. I was so scared I threw the whole bucket out.”
Feng 3 shared: “[Crying emoji], I’ve been unable to take out the trash due to my injury. I had thrown meat with maggots into a trash bag, and today I found it crawling with dark green maggots. Have the maggots evolved? Why are they so much smaller?”
Luxury Car Sales 5 lamented: “I’ve been bitten! What should I do?! This morning I woke up to find my bed swarming with those damn things, and now my body is covered in swollen, painful red spots. The hospital was useless, saying my symptoms were too mild to warrant medication!”
Corpse worms seemed to be invading households everywhere, from spoiled grains to decaying meat.
They originated from the bodies of aquatic creatures that had not been timely cleared from lakes and seas, coupled with buried livestock and a lack of sunlight for sterilization, leading to this new invasive species.
At first, the worms were tiny, half the size of fleas at 0.3 mm in length, but they bred in massive numbers. Female worms could fly and burrow, laying eggs while feeding, rapidly producing thousands of offspring.
Despite not consuming much grain, the worms thrived in the hot weather, which also led to other small insects in food, attracting corpse worms. They were voracious, consuming anything, including human bodies, when other food sources were depleted.
In their natural environment, corpse worms faced many predators, but in the lakes, where most fish and wildlife had died, they proliferated unchecked, disrupting the ecosystem.
The incident with Luxury Car Sales was common; undetected infestations could explode in number, leading to direct attacks on humans.
Jing Shu discovered corpse worms in her pigsty, but her chickens quickly devoured them, proving their value once more. She carefully checked her basement and other potential hiding spots to ensure her living spaces remained free of these pests.
Realizing that bees might also prey on the worms, she released some from her space, who after initially ignoring the worms, effectively eliminated them. Encouraged, Jing Shu set up a small beehive in the greenhouse to naturally control any future invasions.
Later, as Jing Shu discussed beekeeping and requested more frogs from Wu Youai, she pondered the ongoing battle against these resilient pests, determined to safeguard her home and family from the insidious threat of corpse worms.
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