The group traversed through the mountains, but they did not see any greenery along the way. The sound of locusts flapping their wings was omnipresent. Coupled with the fear of the unknown ahead, it made them restless and uneasy. Arguments would erupt from time to time, or even swords would be thrown at one another.
Liu Hong could not walk at the front anymore. He rode his horse to the front and back of the group, using his dignity as an innate master to intimidate everyone. They arrived before a narrow valley.
Liu Hong suddenly stopped his horse and waved his hand for the group to stop. He said loudly, "Friend, where are you from up ahead? Don't sneak around. Come out and meet me!"
Using his innate true qi, his voice reverberated through the valley.
"Haha, and I was wondering who it was. So it's the Iron Lion. Do you still recognise me?"
A large man climbed up a huge rock and gazed at the group below. His face was sallow like he was ill, but his eyes shone brightly. He held a large bow in his hand. Many figures stood up on the two sides of the valley with a rustle, all holding bows and arrows.
"Huang Binghu!" Liu Hong's eyes narrowed. Although he had become an innate master through a pile of spiritual fruits, he could tell that Huang Binghu had already reached the seventh layer, having split open his sea of qi. He had surpassed the cultivation of the masters of the jianghu and become a true Qi Practitioner.
He clasped his hands. "Manor lord Huang, it really has been a while. I heard you've been travelling around, but I wonder when you've returned to the mountains and started doing business like this."
"I've made a fool of myself in front of school master Liu. Daemons run amok right now, and the mountains are no longer a paradise. All I can do is go to the Clear River prefecture to make a living, but I don't have enough food. There's nothing I can do."
Huang Binghu sighed. The locust plague mainly spread through populated areas. It would not reach the depths of the mountains or forests. The Drawn Reins village relied on hunting for a living. They did not rely on farming to survive, so they were relatively free in the beginning. However, in recent years, the daemons lurking in the depths of the Boundless mountains gradually expanded their range of activity.
A few months ago, daemonic beasts began intruding into the village. The tall wooden walls might have been able to stop soldiers, but they were unable to stop the daemonic beasts that moved like the wind. In just a few days, people would lose their lives. The daemonic beast basically treated the Drawn Reins village as a "sheep pen", able to come and catch a few people and eat them at any time.
Drawn Reins Village had no choice but to invite Huang Binghu back. They had spent a great deal of effort to kill the demon beast, but nearly a hundred people from Drawn Reins Village had died. However, if it was a demon that had come, it was uncertain who had died. Huang Binghu had no choice but to move the entire village, but the Drawn Reins Village did not have that much food in reserve, which was why this happened.
Huang Binghu could casually kill a Qi Practitioner at the first layer of Qi Practitioner, but Liu Hong was a little troublesome. It was not that he was afraid of the Iron Fist, but that the old man had a good disciple, the current head of the Agricultural Family, Li Long.
"Sect Leader Liu, take the Iron Fist disciples and leave first! Although I don't want to do this, I can't just watch my children starve to death. " The moment Huang Binghu said this, the team behind him went into a panic. Some of them loudly begged for Liu Hong's protection, while others scolded Huang Binghu.
With a swoosh, an arrow was shot out of nowhere. The person who was cursing was hit and fell to the ground. The crowd was in an uproar. "Murder!"
"What're you howling for? All of you shut up!"
Liu Hong bellowed out furiously. With the prestige he had accumulated in Qingyang city over all these years, the group immediately quietened down. He did not pity the person who had been shot to death at all. How could a mighty Qi Practitioner be cursed just like that? Even second or third-rate figures of the jianghu would kill someone with a blade.
"Brother Huang, why don't we go to the Clear River prefecture together? I'll deal with the matter of food. It'll be a little safer on the way too."
Liu Hong thought about it. The disciples of the Iron Fist did not grow up from the ground. They had many connections with the wealthy clans behind them. If he allowed Huang Binghu to plunder them as he pleased, their morale would immediately disperse. However, if he stubbornly refused, Huang Binghu was no pushover either. If he made up his mind and decided to eliminate the source of trouble, no one would be able to stop him here.
"Master, we didn't bring that much food with us either," Wang Lei said softly.
"Collect all the food and redistribute it according to the number of people. If you don't want to, then piss off!" Liu Hong yelled.
"Thank you, old sect master Liu." Huang Binghu clasped his hands, and the hunters of the Drawn Reins village descended from the two sides of the valley. Then, he ordered, "Take out our stored food too and let old sect master Liu distribute it."
The hunters handed over their dried meat and other food silently. All of them were expressionless, but they gave off a sense of ruthlessness that could erupt at any time. The painful experiences of the past few months had suppressed and twisted their personalities. Let alone stealing some food, they would even eat people without hesitation.
Even the disciples of the Iron Fist who collected the food were cautious when they approached them, let alone the others. None of them were bold enough to break away from the group, handing over their stored food obediently.
The group set off once again, passing through a few more mountains before finally arriving at a mountain pass. Vast plains appeared before them, but not a single stalk of rice was to be seen. There was only endless barren land. Perhaps because it was too barren, there were not many locusts flying about. The group advanced silently. The villages and towns along the way were all abandoned. There was no sign of human activity at all.
Liu Hong took the lead. The group travelled day and night, hurrying towards the town of Xiachuan.
… …
"We'll rest for a while!" Liu Hong ordered.
It was noon right now, and the sun was blazing like fire. Everyone was drenched in sweat, utterly exhausted. They used this opportunity to rest.
"The town of Xiachuan is already close. Once we get there, we'll be able to follow the river and reach the prefectural city of Clear River. There's no need to walk anymore!" Wang Lei boosted their morale loudly.
"Looks like old sect master Liu has already prepared a boat. I wonder if it'll be enough?" Huang Binghu probed. Even the largest boat could not fit so many people.
"It's all my disciple's arrangements. I don't know if it'll be enough. I'll probably have to squeeze." Liu Hong weighed his words.
"As long as there's a boat, squeezing is fine." Huang Binghu smiled. It was not like he would be the one being squeezed out. Right when he wanted to ask a few more questions, his expression suddenly changed. He picked up the great bow on his back, picked up an arrow, and nocked it on the string. He looked around.
"What's wrong?" Liu Hong asked.
"There's daemon qi!" Huang Binghu glanced around. Suddenly, he saw a green figure emerge from the earth from the corner of his eye, shooting into the body of a burly man. The burly man let out a miserable shriek, rolling around on the ground. He immediately bled to death from his facial orifices.
Huang Binghu's fingers loosened, and the arrow shot through the air, entering the corpse of the burly man and exploding violently.
Within the rain of flesh and blood, the green figure shot up again. Blood blossomed from the head of an Iron Fist disciple, and a hole appeared. He collapsed before he could even let out a shriek.
"A Chi Daemon!"
Only now did Huang Binghu see the green figure's true appearance. It was a locust larva. It was emerald green and only the size of a pinky. It could not fly, so it was commonly known as a Chi Bug. However, the daemon qi gathered by this Chi Bug was extremely startling, reaching the level of daemons. Who knew how many people it had eaten.
He thought, 'This place is so barren that even ordinary locusts can't survive here. How can there be a Chi Daemon here? It doesn't seem like a chance encounter, but more like it's here to kill us!'
Before Liu Hong could even see the appearance of the Chi Daemon clearly, miserable shrieks rang out from the crowd. In the end, almost everyone was letting out horrifying screams, as if their minds were being controlled by an invisible monster. Even he felt a little flustered, and only after touching the talismans in his bosom did he manage to calm himself down.
He asked Huang Binghu beside him, "Brother Huang, what do we do?"
Huang Binghu leaped over, his body reaching the highest point. His pupils narrowed into two as he stared at the location of the daemon qi. Over a dozen arrows rained down like a torrential rain, turning into balls of exploding flames and blasting a corpse into smithereens.
Liu Hong asked, "How is it? Did you kill it?"
"It burrowed back into the earth. Perhaps it was injured, perhaps it wasn't."
Huang Binghu shook his head, his expression abnormally solemn. That Chi Daemon seemed to have seen through his thoughts, burrowing back into the earth at the first moment instead of shooting at the next victim. Otherwise, there really would have been a chance to kill it. Furthermore, it maintained such a tiny body size, as if it was specifically targeting him.
"Then what do we do?"
"There's nothing we can do," Huang Binghu said. No matter how good his archery was, it was impossible for him to pierce through the earth and hit that Chi Daemon.
Liu Hong's expression changed. A Demonic Beast hiding in the earth, ready to pounce at any moment, was practically a nightmare.
"Looks like we don't have to worry about not having enough boats."
Huang Binghu made a joke, but even he himself could not laugh. In terms of strength, that Chi Daemon was at most equivalent to a human at the fourth or fifth layer of Qi Practitioner. It could only be considered a Demonic Beast, not a Daemon.
However, he did not have the slightest confidence that he could defeat it, because behind this Chi Daemon was a Great Daemon King that had wreaked havoc in the entire Green Province. Amidst its madness, there was also a deep sense of cunning and prudence. Be it in terms of combat skills or experience, it was not something an ordinary Demonic Beast could compare to.
At most, he could serve as a deterrent, allowing the Chi Daemon to feast on the regular people in the distance.
"Let's go!" Liu Hong made up his mind as well, passing down the order.
Before he had even finished speaking, another howl rang out. A person at the very end of the group collapsed on the ground. Green bulges protruded from beneath his skin, but it did not directly kill him. It was as if it was purposefully increasing his pain. The howl was extremely tragic, enough to make people's scalps tingle.
The crowd immediately surged forward like a ruckus. Twisted cries filled the air, filled with fear and regret. They regretted leaving Qingyang city in such a hurry, but they had no idea that Qingyang city had already become a slaughterhouse for "locusts" right now, rapidly transforming into daemonic beasts.
Huang Binghu's bow was nocked as well, but after some thought, he lowered his bow again. He gathered the hunters of the Drawn Reins village and sped up towards the Lower River village. He could continue to stop the Chi Daemon from eating, but he would definitely be unable to endure it first. As a result, he was better off letting the Chi Daemon eat a little longer, which would buy him some time.
However, he also understood that this was just quenching his thirst with poison, as the Chi Daemon's strength would increase with every person it ate. If it completely turned into an adult insect, even he would be in danger of being eaten.
"Old brother Liu, I hope that school leader Li has arranged for reinforcements at the ferry crossing, or we're all going to lose our lives to the mouths of the insects!"
"It's just death." Liu Hong's face darkened with rage.
"Sect master Liu, manor lord Huang, save me!" Liu Hong looked back and saw a group of people fighting over Ye Dachuan's carriage. As a result, he turned his horse around and smashed a head with a punch. "All of you piss off!"
As they fled, the group split into two. Those without horses and who did not practise martial arts were left behind, becoming food for the Chi Daemon. Their howls gradually faded away, completely swallowed up by the sandstorm.
They travelled like this until dusk. Even the fine horse Liu Hong sat on began foaming at the mouth. Even though the disciples of the Iron Fist sect and the hunters of the Drawn Reins village were skilled in martial arts, they were utterly exhausted. They could not help but stop to rest and eat something.
"Thank you, old hero Liu. Once we reach Clear River city, I'll definitely reward you handsomely! If I had known this earlier, I wouldn't have left Qingyang city. No, I shouldn't have returned to Qingyang city. When Jiaping city was destroyed back then, I should have obediently retired to the prefectural city! "
Only then did Ye Dachuan get off the carriage in time to thank him. His chubby face was pale, completely drained of blood.
In the past, when Jiaping city was destroyed by the rock demon, he had nowhere to go as the district magistrate, and he was deeply afraid of the strength of the daemons. As a result, he got his sister to whisper to the prefectural magistrate of Clear River, Liu Changqing, and he was transferred back to Qingyang city as the district magistrate. He never thought he would still be unable to escape in the end.
"There's no need to be so polite, sir!" Liu Hong nodded slightly. Wang Lei patted his chest. "As long as I still have a breath left, I'll definitely make it to Clear River city safely, sir!"
Ye Dachuan's sister was the beloved concubine of the prefectural magistrate of Clear River, Liu Changqing. Although she was old and frail now, she had given birth to a son and a daughter for Liu Changqing, so her status had instead become even more stable. Ye Dachuan had mentioned this matter for many years. Wang Lei could not forget it even if he wanted to. He knew his relationship with Li Long was not exactly harmonious, so it was good to have an additional path.
"Thank you, sect master Wang!" Ye Dachuan thanked Wng Lei again, but he didn't really trust Wng Lei's guarantee. Sect Master Wng already had a hard time protecting himself when the Leprechaun attacked, let alone protecting Ye Dachuan. Ye Dachuan suddenly thought of someone. "Sigh, if Qingshan was here, he wouldn't be in such a difficult situation!"
"Sir Ye, you're overthinking it. Do you still treat him as your constable?" Huang Binghu smiled. If Li Qingshan were here, a measly demon would be nothing.
"I heard from Li Long that he's the White Hawk commander of the South Sea commandery of the Mist province right now. He occupies a place called Savage mountain, and he's known as the King of Savages. Even the King of Southern Yue shows some respect when he sees him," said Liu Hong.
"Really?" Huang Binghu was filled with disbelief. Only after embarking on the path of cultivation did he truly understand just how lofty an existence the lord of a province was.
"I found that rather hard to believe, but that disciple of mine would never lie. I've even punched him several dozen times in the past!"
"Time sure passes quickly!" Ye Dachuan sighed.
"Are you talking about Li Qingshan?" A shrill voice drifted over with the wind.
"Who else could it be?" Ye Dachuan said, only to see Huang Binghu's expression change drastically. Liu Hong also raised his fist, gazing at the barren slope nearby cautiously.
By now, the sun had already sunk below the horizon. Only the west was dyed red, and a few cold stars lit up in the sky. On the barren slope, a withered tree extended its branches like a huge, withered hand, as if it wanted to grab a star.
A tiny caterpillar lay on the branch of the withered tree. The shrill voice originated from its mouth.
"We've actually only noticed it when we're so close. The situation doesn't look good!" Huang Binghu sharply noticed that a smear of greyish-yellow had appeared on the caterpillar. It was rapidly transforming into an adult. Once it completely transformed, it would be the end of everyone.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
