150: Chapter 150 Locust Swarms Fly North

Just as the Eastward Expedition Team was investigating the trench, the locusts had ravaged almost all of the wild outskirts.

They raged in Guanhai County for several days. The wild grass was eaten bare, the shrubs were eaten bare, the tree bark was eaten bare, and even the grass roots were dug up and gnawed clean.

Qin Ling had no way to go to the wild outskirts to deal with these locusts, and as a result, their numbers grew larger and larger.

But no matter how rampant these locusts were, they could not penetrate the light barrier maintained by Qin Ling.

As long as the light barrier was raised, any locust that touched it would turn into powder.

All the villages were under his protection, and the rice fields near them were protected, completely untouched by the locust infestation.

On this day, the overwhelming swarm of locusts flew toward Guanhai County City.

The commoners of Guanhai County City saw that moving dark cloud from far away.

Some people were taking a walk on the city wall. They were a few old men who had just finished offering incense, leaning on their walking sticks and pacing slowly.

They looked up at the locust swarm, then lowered their heads and continued walking; some scratched an itch, while others yawned.

A young fellow leaned on the battlements, a blade of grass in his mouth, squinting at the approaching dark mass and muttering.

"Here they come again."

Someone nearby chimed in.

"Locust powder is practically becoming our county's local specialty."

Several people burst into laughter, not a single one of them taking the overwhelming locust swarm seriously.

Inside the temple, the commoners offering incense crowded the main hall and the courtyard.

The incense sticks in the censers burned vigorously, sending up curls of blue smoke.

Some knelt on prayer mats and kowtowed, some stood in the courtyard with their palms pressed together, and others held their children, looking up at the rosewood divine statue.

The locust swarm pressed down from the north in a dense, black mass, even blocking out much of the sunlight shining on Guanhai County City.

The people in the temple didn't even bat an eye. Some were still chatting with those next to them, some squatted by the base of the wall peeling peanuts, and others were feeding water to the children in their arms.

The locust swarm swooped over the city.

They crashed into a light barrier, which was like a layer of gauze enveloping the entire city.

As the locusts crashed into it, their bodies instantly disintegrated into powder.

The greyish powder drifted down from the sky like an unconventional snowfall.

The locust swarm charged forward wave after wave; as the front batch turned to powder, the next batch threw themselves forward, only to turn to powder as well.

The powder piled up thicker and thicker, landing on the ground, on the rooftops, on the city walls, and on the commoners who were still taking their strolls.

No one looked up at the locust swarm that was still continuously pouring in. They strolled as they pleased, and offered incense as they pleased.

The commoners of the city knew well that with the protection of Lord Qinling, those locusts could not harm them at all.

Lin Duwu walked out of the temple gates. Standing on the steps, he raised his head and looked at the golden light barrier enveloping the sky above the city.

He watched the locust swarm blocked outside the light barrier.

Since the day he declared he would serve at Lord Qinling's side, he spent most of his time inside Lord Qinling's temple.

During the day, he knelt on a prayer mat to offer incense, kowtowed, and listened to the commoners chant, "Lord Qinling protect us."

At night, he sat cross-legged in the corner of a side hall, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.

Over these past few days, he had heard many stories about Lord Qinling's deeds.

From the mouths of the commoners offering incense, from Qin Yin and Qin Mo, and from Pei Se, that woman who drank all day.

He heard about Lord Qinling's deeds starting from that ruined temple in Qin Family Village.

He heard of Lord Qinling slaying a dragon, killing Huang Zu, and protecting the fishermen so they could go out to sea safely.

He heard of how, during the Disaster of the Evil Tree, Lord Qinling split the sky-blotting Evil Tree with a single strike of his sword, rescuing the entirety of Guanhai County from the Evil Domain.

Lin Duwu stood on the steps, watching the locusts crash into the light barrier and disintegrate into powder, the greyish dust drifting down from the sky and landing on his shoulders.

He suddenly chuckled.

He smiled because he hadn't expected that a deity who truly protected the common people actually existed in this world.

Before this, he had never seen a god, nor did he believe in them at all.

But now, he knew that a god was right here, right inside the temple before him.

Lin Duwu could not help but feel happy for the commoners of Guanhai County, glad that they could receive the protection of a true deity.

The locust swarm continued to throw themselves at the barrier for nearly another double-hour.

Two hours later, they finally stopped.

The locusts hovered outside the light barrier, the frequency of their flapping wings slowing down.

They realized that no matter how they attacked, they could not penetrate the light barrier before them to enjoy the plants inside.

Thus, the locust swarm began to retreat northward, pulling back in massive waves like a receding tide.

The sound of flapping wings grew further and fainter, finally disappearing into the northern horizon.

The old man on the city wall leaned on his walking stick, squinting as he watched the dense, black locust swarm drift further and further away.

In the main hall of the temple, Qin Ling kept his eyes closed inside the shrine.

According to the information observed by his various Divided Souls, almost the entire locust swarm in Guanhai County was flying toward the north.

And to the north of Guanhai County lay Yongning County.

Naturally, Qin Ling had no way to go to Yongning County; after all, he had no statues of himself there.

Moreover, he only wanted to first ensure the complete protection of the commoners who believed in him.

Meanwhile.

On the southern border of Guanhai County, Magistrate Sun Feng of Pingchang County stood on an uninhabited hillside. His magistrate robes fluttered loudly in the wind, and the head on his neck was that of a locust.

With his eyes closed, he raised his hands before him, his fingers twitching slightly as if plucking invisible lute strings.

He was commanding the locust swarm inside Guanhai County.

The locust swarm was something he had released into Guanhai County. Under his command, they had eaten all the grass, shrubs, and tree bark in the wild outskirts, and gnawed clean the untended crops.

However, other than that, they had caused no damage to any of the villages or the county city.

All the villages and the county city in Guanhai County were protected by light barriers.

The Locust Demon knew that this was Lord Qinling's doing.

Suddenly, the Locust Demon's expression changed.

He discovered that the locust swarm had begun flying toward the north. This was not by his command; rather, the locust swarm was heading there on its own.

After countless of their kind were crushed by the light barrier, the locust swarm grew unwilling to crash into it anymore, turning instead to look for new places with food.

The Locust Demon realized he could no longer control the entire locust swarm.

He controlled the entire swarm indirectly through the special locusts within it. These special locusts had been nurtured with his demonic power and shared a connection with him.

He issued commands through them, and they in turn passed the commands down to the ordinary locusts.

But the locust population had expanded too quickly. The number of special locusts could not keep up, preventing the commands from being passed down, so the ordinary locusts began acting on their own will.

They did not want to die; they wanted to find new food.

They flew toward the north, in the direction of Yongning County.

The magistrate of Yongning County was Magistrate Wang Rengui.

The Locust Demon knew what would happen once this locust swarm flew over there.

Yongning County's crops would be eaten bare, Yongning County's commoners would starve, and Yongning County's incense offerings would be cut off.

Magistrate Wang Rengui's incense offerings were already scarce. If they were gnawed on by the locusts again, they would probably run completely dry.

When that time came, Magistrate Wang Rengui would certainly not let the matter rest!