Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Jingzhe

The return journey was long, and Zhu Ge took a winding route the entire way.

He avoided places with overly powerful Spirit Monsters, as well as those that were too desolate.

He was out to hone his martial skills, not to get himself killed or to go sightseeing.

Therefore, he had Hua Xiaomei sense the strength of the various creatures in the forest, then did his best to pick fights with those whose auras were similar to his own.

Over the course of ten-odd days, his gains were substantial!

’It’s a shame I didn’t break through to the late stage,’ Zhu Ge mused as he ran. ’And that horse... it looked magnificent!’

The bamboo horse was a vibrant, uniform green. Though made of bamboo, it was spring bamboo, which was translucent and sparkling.

It made the bamboo horse look as if it were carved from jadeite—a true work of art, stunningly beautiful.

But that wasn’t the point.

So, since he couldn’t catch it, Zhu Ge didn’t bother with it any longer. It was just a mount, after all. Having one or not made little difference.

His own two feet were much faster than any ordinary mount.

THWACK!!

After casually smashing a First Realm stinkbug that was flying toward his ear, Zhu Ge could already faintly sense the Tiger God’s aura.

He was almost at Jianshan Mountain!

Eager to get home, Zhu Ge planned on finding some oil and stir-frying a plate of blue-staining boletes.

"Tiger God! You got any wild boars around here?" Zhu Ge yelled as he arrived before the Tiger God’s three mountains. "Give me one of your wild boar Believers! I’m all out of lard at home!"

But the area was eerily silent. Not a sound came in reply.

Zhu Ge immediately charged in, heading for the spot where the Tiger God’s shrine had once stood.

But there was nothing there.

No clay shrine for the Tiger God, no zombie-like animals—nothing.

’He ran away?’

Zhu Ge froze.

’This Tiger God is a real coward!’

’A literal paper tiger!?’

After all, he’d only met the Tiger God a few times, but each time, the "paper tiger" had seemed pretty spineless.

’Forget it. I’ll just head back.’

Zhu Ge shook his head and started on the path home.

SPLAT!!!

He clapped his hands together, killing a First Realm flying mosquito.

’Something’s not right!’

A sudden realization struck Zhu Ge.

’Two First Realm flying insects in just a few minutes!’

Normally, it would take a vast expanse of forest to support even one First Realm insect.

"Is this Jingzhe?" Zhu Ge frowned.

His qi and blood suddenly flared, and the oppressive aura of a Mid-First Realm cultivator swept out from him.

Sensing this aura, some of the lesser insects immediately scattered, no longer daring to approach.

But he hadn’t walked for long before another First Realm mosquito charged at him, attempting to suck his blood.

Jingzhe was coming!

Zhu Ge’s heart sank.

Jingzhe didn’t fall on a specific date. It simply happened on one of the days of spring when all of nature reawakened, and the insects came crawling out.

Insects that had slumbered through the cold, newly hatched and hungry larvae, adult insects in a frenzy to mate and lay eggs everywhere...

These insects would converge, sweeping over everything in their path.

And Jingzhe in Yunjiang was particularly terrifying.

Yunjiang was home to an incredible number of venomous insects. During Jingzhe, they would form a tide of bugs that blotted out the sky and covered the land.

The most terrifying part wasn’t the locusts that devoured grass and rice plants, but the blood-sucking, venomous, and parasitic insects that were impossible to defend against.

In previous years, the Teacher had always led the villagers in fending off the insect tide, but he had shouldered the main burden himself.

Moreover, the Teacher would avoid the brunt of the assault. He wouldn’t face it head-on, but would hide and find ways to cope.

Even so, the village always lost a great deal of food, and many people died.

Now, with less than a tenth of Jianshan Village’s population remaining, it would be impossible for the five of them to hold back the insect tide.

But there was an advantage to this as well.

He, Yu the Scholar, Ji Fuhui, Duan Lei, and Sui Niang—all five of them had to do was hide in the cellar and block the entrance.

Of course, that was easier said than done.

In truth, Zhu Ge wasn’t confident at all.

But he also knew that the insect tide was only a threat to those in the First and Second Realms.

Someone in the Third Realm could simply fly high into the sky to avoid it.

Compared to the countless "delicacies" on the ground, the insects wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack the tough, unappetizing "rocks" in the sky.

"Xiaomei, the insects are getting more numerous. Can your bewitching ability work on them?" Zhu Ge asked as he hurried back.

"It can, but..."

Hua Xiaomei’s voice was hesitant. "During Jingzhe, there are just too many of them. I’m afraid my power won’t be able to cover them all."

"Can’t you just devour them?" Zhu Ge suggested. "With so many souls, wouldn’t you be able to grow much faster?"

"I can’t," Hua Xiaomei said, exasperated. "Brother, why didn’t you eat a hundred bowls of rice a day when you were a child? Wouldn’t you have grown faster?"

"’I couldn’t afford to back then.’ Zhu Ge rubbed his nose, understanding her point."

Whether gods or Ghosts, there was a limit to how many souls they could devour. Infinite consumption for infinite growth was impossible.

Otherwise, a single insect tide in Yunjiang could create seven or eight Ghost Kings.

"If you could have afforded that, would you have even given me the time of day back then?" Hua Xiaomei teased. "But Brother, before it was just the Teacher and Yu the Scholar. Now we have a Second Realm Scholar, plus you and me. We should have no problem holding out."

"We’ll take turns standing guard then," Zhu Ge agreed. "But you’ll have to keep your abilities hidden. The Raincoat Fisherman can’t find out about them."

As they discussed their strategy, they arrived at the foot of Jianshan Mountain in the blink of an eye.

’There are already some grasshoppers.’

Zhu Ge scanned the area. Plant-eating insects were perched on many of the rice stalks.

’It’s a shame Yu the Scholar killed several dozen roosters before. There aren’t many chickens left in the village now. Otherwise, they could have had a feast.’

Roosters, sika deer, and tigers were creatures of pure yang.

Previously, to deal with the crisis after the Teacher’s departure, Yu the Scholar had killed many roosters, using their heart’s blood as ink in an attempt to dispel evil energy.

As it turned out, influenced by both bewitchment and possession at the time, the few characters Yu the Scholar had managed to write were all the "Double Happiness" symbol used in weddings, not the righteous "Scholar" character.

"Brother, it’s not just chickens that eat insects," Hua Xiaomei said. "Insects eat other insects, and plenty of birds do, too."

"Speaking of which, Brother, have you noticed? We haven’t seen a single bird in a long time. It’s very, very strange."

Birds!

At her words, Zhu Ge frowned.

’Come to think of it, that’s true, isn’t it?’

He hadn’t seen any large birds like eagles or hawks, or even common sparrows and swallows.

"’Forget it. It has nothing to do with us,’ Zhu Ge said, shaking his head to dismiss the thought."

’Thinking too much is just needless worry. All I need to do is get stronger as fast as possible.’

"True. If the sky falls, the tall ones in Yuan Yang City can hold it up," Hua Xiaomei’s tone lightened.

"Yeah. The insect tide won’t affect Yuan Yang City in the slightest." Zhu Ge ascended the stone steps, quickly arriving back in the village.

Most of the village’s houses were still standing, but anything useful from inside them had long since been collected and stored, especially dried goods and other food.

Just then, he saw that a large pile of wooden furniture had also been brought out and arranged around the village perimeter.

Duan Lei, Sui Niang, and Ji Fuhui were busy arranging it all.

Upon seeing Zhu Ge return, Sui Niang coldly put down the wooden stool she was holding and turned to head home.

Zhu Ge’s spirits inexplicably fell. He then walked up to Duan Lei and Ji Fuhui, who both wore complicated expressions.

"This year’s insect tide might be different. Where’s Yu the Scholar? I need to go discuss a strategy with him."

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