153: Chapter 153 Internal Strife Among the Monster Magistrates

Kong Sanlang looked at Village Chief Wang Deshun, opened his mouth, and said,

"Village Chief Wang, thank you... thank you all..."

Behind Kong Sanlang, the villagers of Kongjia Village also expressed their gratitude to Village Chief Wang Deshun and the residents of Wangjia Village.

Some villagers from Kongjia Village even stepped forward directly to help the people of Wangjia Village with their chores.

Some shelled peanuts alongside the villagers of Wangjia Village, while others helped them fetch water.

"Village Chief Wang, we would like to offer incense to Lord Qinling."

Although Kong Sanlang couldn't immediately bring himself to believe in talk of deities, he still expressed a desire to offer incense to Lord Qinling.

Village Chief Wang Deshun naturally would not refuse, so he led Kong Sanlang and the villagers of Kongjia Village to the temple.

They stepped through the temple doors, crossed the threshold, and saw the statue of Lord Qinling.

The statue appeared no different from the ones they had worshipped before.

Kong Sanlang pulled three incense sticks from beside the burner, lit them with a candle flame, and inserted them into the incense burner.

Taking two steps back, he knelt and kowtowed.

The sticks in the burner burned, curling with wisps of blue smoke.

Qin Ling's avatar sat cross-legged inside the shrine, looking down at Kong Sanlang and the Kongjia Village villagers below.

Kong Sanlang's incense offering did not generate any incense points, meaning he did not truly believe in him and possessed no piety to speak of.

However, Qin Ling was not surprised by this. After all, getting common folk to truly believe was a process that took time.

Sitting cross-legged in the shadows of the shrine, Qin Ling's avatar shifted his gaze away from Kong Sanlang and onto the villagers of Kongjia Village.

Naturally, he had heard everything, knowing these people had fled from Kongjia Village in Yongning County.

The locusts had devoured their crops, gnawed away all tree bark, dug up grass roots, and ruined the village.

This meant the swarm of locusts had already moved from Guanhai County toward Yongning County.

Realizing this, Qin Ling was somewhat surprised and raised an eyebrow.

Wasn't the magistrate of Yongning County the yaoguai who had bought his office from Prefect Yin Wuji?

Even if this yaoguai wasn't the one controlling the locusts, shouldn't he be a "colleague" of whichever yaoguai was commanding them?

How did his own territory end up devastated as well?

...

Over the next few days, the locust swarm spread overwhelmingly across Yongning County.

From south to north, east to west, wherever they passed, not a blade of grass was left standing.

Without light barriers to protect them or divine miracles descending, the locusts that had been blocked outside the barrier in Guanhai County now swept through here completely unobstructed.

In just a few short days, several villages in the southern part of Yongning County suffered disaster.

Crop seedlings in the fields were chewed down to bare stalks, and the leaves on the trees were eaten completely clean.

Villagers ran out of their homes, staring at the sky-darkening clouds of locusts and their ruined crops.

Some collapsed on the ground weeping, while others turned and rushed back indoors to pack their bags.

They knew clearly that they had to flee to survive!

Magistrate Wang Rengui of Yongning County was nowhere to be seen.

No one was sent to provide relief, no granaries were opened to distribute food, and not a single official stepped forward to say a word.

The common folk could rely only on themselves, and more and more refugees flooded the dirt roads.

Some carried sacks on their backs, some pushed wheelbarrows, and others held children in their arms.

The line of refugees stretched continuously for miles.

The locust plague in Yongning County continued unabated.

Having devoured the southern villages, the locust swarm began spreading northward.

On the other side...

In Qingxi County, inside a private room of a tavern.

Three magistrates wearing official robes were seated.

However, this time, the ones who arrived first were different.

Magistrate Luo Tang of Qingxi County sat by the window.

Magistrate Zheng Yang of Pingshun County held a teacup, the tea inside having long lost its color.

Magistrate Sun Feng of Pingchang County picked up a fan from the corner of the table and fanned himself.

This time, the latecomer had changed as well.

Right then, the door curtain was yanked open, slapping against the wall with a dull thud.

Magistrate Wang Rengui stood at the doorway, his official robes rumpled and his black gauze hat askew.

He looked awful. Stepping inside, his gaze swept across the private room and landed on Magistrate Sun Feng.

Magistrate Sun Feng sat against the wall, fanning himself.

Hearing the noise, he looked up, not even having time to put down his fan.

Magistrate Wang Rengui had already strided over, grabbed him by the collar, and lifted him straight out of his chair.

A teacup shattered on the ground into several pieces, splashing tea all over the floor.

Magistrate Sun Feng's back slammed into the wall with a thud. His mouth gaped, his eyes widened, and he still clutched fragments of the cup in his hand.

Magistrate Wang Rengui's face began to transform.

That fair, well-featured human face contorted, blurred, and fractured.

His skin turned from fair to grayish-brown, shifting from smooth to deeply furrowed.

His forehead bulged, his cheekbones widened, and the flesh on his cheeks sagged down.

His eyes shifted from human ovals into the round eyes of a beast, the pupils turning from black to dark red, and then to deep brown.

His nose collapsed, the bridge caving in to leave only two gaping black nostrils.

His mouth split open, revealing two rows of thick, sharp fangs.

His head was no longer human—it was the head of a bear.

The head was massive, so huge it was completely out of proportion with his slender, robe-clad body.

It looked as though it had been severed from a giant bear and forcibly attached to a human torso.

Magistrate Wang Rengui glared at Magistrate Sun Feng, his dark red pupils reflecting Sun Feng's terrified face.

His jaws opened and closed, fangs interlocking as heavy, wet breaths rasped from his throat.

Flecks of spittle sprayed from between his teeth, splattering onto Magistrate Sun Feng's face.

"Sun Feng, why—"

Magistrate Wang Rengui's voice forced its way out of the bear head, sounding like the low growl of a beast.

"Why did those locusts swarm into my territory?! My county! My crops! Everything was eaten clean by your locusts!"

His fingers tightened around Magistrate Sun Feng's collar, his knuckles cracking loudly.

Magistrate Sun Feng's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, squeezing out words in a choked voice.

"Let go of me, and I'll explain."

Magistrate Wang Rengui did not let go.

He continued to stare down Magistrate Sun Feng, a surge of dark red light churning within his eyes.

Magistrate Luo Tang of Qingxi County stood up from his chair, while Magistrate Zheng Yang of Pingshun County set down his teacup.

The two stood by the table, watching Magistrate Wang Rengui look as if he wanted to tear Magistrate Sun Feng apart and swallow him whole.

Magistrate Luo Tang slowly walked over to Magistrate Wang Rengui and Magistrate Sun Feng, speaking up.

"Brother Wang, let us talk this through calmly. As for the locusts, Brother Sun might not have done it intentionally."

Magistrate Wang Rengui did not look at him, his eyes remaining fixed on Magistrate Sun Feng, his fangs still exposed.

Magistrate Sun Feng's Adam's apple bobbed once more as he spoke,

"That's right. The number of locusts grew too rapidly, making it impossible to control them all at once."

"On top of that, because Lord Qinling erected light barriers over all the villages and the county seat, those barriers killed countless locusts and made the rest unwilling to stay in Guanhai County."

"That is why this happened, Brother Wang."

Magistrate Wang Rengui blinked.

The churning, dark red glow faded from his eyes.

His fingers slowly loosened. Magistrate Sun Feng slid down from his grasp and slumped against the wall, gasping heavily while rubbing his neck.