Chapter 441 The Insects
The horn"s horrific sound echoed in the sky and spread to every corner and every person in the city.
Ou Yangming and Jiang Jiumei stopped almost at the same time as they were surprised. In particular, the young fellow was quite shocked. He had visited several counties, where he experienced the beast tide and the bird tide. This time, the insect tide broke out when he was in Yongxiang County.
He suddenly felt like he had been having terrible luck.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming was startled because other than his companions, the other people including Qinmiao Daoren and Yu Jingshuang were not worried at all. Lao Boyi cleared his throat and said, “Please carry on, I"ll go take a look and will come back in no time.” He cupped his hands and left.
Wu Hanning looked at the other people in confusion.
Yu Jinshuang quickly explained, “Your Highness, you don"t need to worry. The Insects won"t stop until they attack once or twice a day.”
“Governor Yu, how powerful are the Insects" attacks?” Wu Hanning asked in a deep voice. “Their attacks… Ah, even if we don"t make a move, they won"t be able to succeed.” Yu Jinshuang smiled bitterly. Ou Yangming turned his wrist to put his spear away, then he expressed, “Governor Yu, Senior Qinmiao, I haven"t seen how the Insects attack. I honestly don"t have the mood for a battle now, so please allow us to watch from atop the wall.”
Wu Hanning nodded. “That"s right. I"d like to go too.”
“Alright, please come with me,” Yu Jinshuang responded after some thought. He nodded apologetically at Qinmiao Daoren, then he led the way out.
Jiang Jiumei put away her treasure sword too and said, “Master, I"d like to join them.”
Qinmiao Daoren shook her head helplessly and reminded her, “Go on, go on, but be careful.”
“Mm.” Jiang Jiumei nodded with a smile, then she skipped away and joined the others. Qinmiao Daoren was rather glad. She had brought Jiang Jiumei into the Mysterious Mirror Sect, where the little girl was acknowledged by the divine sword, allowing her to advance by leaps and bounds in martial arts. Nevertheless, Jiang Jiumei had been resentful about something for a long time, and it would eventually cause her trouble if she could not let it go.
After Jiang Jiumei returned this time, Qinmiao Daoren knew while she had not completely cooled down, she had slowly begun to let go.
Qinmiao Daoren was delighted.
Even though Jiang Jiumei exchanged blows with Ou Yangming with a casual att.i.tude, she would have admitted defeat long ago if it was not because she felt sorry for her master. Despite that, Qinmiao Daoren could not begrudge her at all.
As Ou Yangming and the others followed Yu Jinshuang up to the top of the wall, they looked into the distance then at each other.
It was then when they finally understood why the people were unbothered even when the horn was sounded. This was because the Insects seemed like they were fooling around instead of attacking the city. By looking down from above, it was clear that the land outside the city was uneven.
Apart from the main road, the other parts were filled with pott-holes. The environment here did not match Yongxiang City"s reputation as the main city at all. Even so, Ou Yangming and the others knew this was the doing of the Insects. If the Insects had not dug holes everywhere without restraint, the land would not seem so miserable at all.
Insects were seen surfacing from the ground from time to time. Some of them were 10-meters-long pythons, but whenever they appeared, they did not attack the city. Instead, they stayed a certain distance away and hissed.
What caught everyone"s attention was 100 odd, multicolored snakes of different sizes at the front.
They gathered together and released yellow smoke through their breaths. As a result, the insects around them stayed far away as they dared not get close. Having said that, what kept the Insects from advancing were not the odd snakes, but Multi-armed King Kong, which lay on the ground sideways as though it was sound asleep. It was a hilarious scene.
The spirit beast was sleeping, but its aura flowed naturally, which was so oppressive that no insect could be seen within a 340-meters radius from it.
Moreover, hisses could not be heard in that direction too. It was as if the Insects had instinctively shut up because of Multi-armed King Kong"s pressure. Lao Boyi furrowed his eyebrows when he saw Ou Yangming and the others getting up to the wall. “The Insects are still surrounding the city. They"re not attacking now, but please go back.”
Wu Hanning commented, “If that"s the case, the city is not in danger.”
“Yes, that"s right,” Lao Boyi answered after some thought.
“If we"re not in danger, why can"t I be here?”
Lao Boyi was stunned. He could not help but smile bitterly, and he immediately signaled Yu Jinshuang with his eyes.
Her Royal Highness was a precious figure. The city might not be in danger now, but n.o.body knew if the Insects were up to something strange. If she was accidentally hurt, the governor and the commanding general would not be able to explain themselves.
Yu Jinshuang cleared his throat and stated, “Your Highness, the Insects have plenty of tricks up their sleeves, so it"s best to be safe than sorry.”
Wu Hanning questioned coldly, “If you"re not confident at all, wouldn"t I be doubtful too since the city"s under your control?”
Lao Boyi and Yu Jinshuang exchanged glances and felt helpless.
It would be best to play safe on the battlefield, but they could not do anything if the princess was so stubborn.
“Shriek…”
All of a sudden, a majestic cry was heard in the sky above.
The various insects on the ground panicked right after they heard it, and they began drilling into the ground at the same time.
After all, the Birds were the Insects" bane. Especially since a spirit beast like the goshawk shrieked in the air, the ordinary insects were frightened.
Multi-armed King Kong"s prowess could crush the goshawk, but it was far from being able to threaten the insects.
The people on the wall were glad upon seeing this. While the goshawk could not eliminate all of the insects, the Humans would not be defeated as long as the big killing weapon was around. At the spur of the moment, Ou Yangming"s face changed. For some reason, he felt extremely uncomfortable. He turned to look and fixed his gaze on an elder.
The elder was a Supreme Great Ancestor, who had been introduced to him earlier.
He was Dong Haoxian, a great ancestor from a newly-risen clan in the city.
Ou Yangming felt disgusted when he looked at the elder, who seemed to possess a power that he despised.
That said, Ou Yangming was not the same person he used to be. He instantly looked away but remembered the elder"s face.
However, the unsophisticated creature in the sky could not hold back.
With that, an enormous wind pressure came from the sky warning as the goshawk had someone swooped down. Its ma.s.sive body caused a surge of power, which oppressed the people in the city like a mountain.
The people atop the wall were appalled. Yu Jinshuang and Lao Boyi went over to Wu Hanning and shouted without any hesitation.
Numerous soldiers swarmed up and aimed their weapons at the sky.
Nonetheless, the goshawk ignored the obstructions. It would not have the guts to fly down to the city if Multi-armed King Kong was there, but it could easily shake the humans by flapping its wings to generate strong wind. If the people could not even gain firm footholds, how could they attack it?
The goshawk extended its claws and dove toward Dong Haoxian mercilessly.
Dong Haoxian was petrified. He crouched at once and exerted force through the tip of his toes to shuttle between the crowd, which was quite an odd ability.
The goshawk was furious, but it failed even after several attempts.
It was not inadequate but was wary whenever it attacked. The goshawk had a sense of priority, by which it would withdraw itself when it might hurt someone else. If it had gone all out without bothering about the other people, it would have achieved its goal but at the expense of many casualties in the city.
“Defend, attack…”
As Lao Boyi ordered the soldiers, they hurled their weapons at the goshawk courageously.
They could not hurt the goshawk, but it became more infuriated.
“Master Ou, what"s this about?” A Supreme Great Ancestor yelled at Ou Yangming.
Another person flashed and lunged at Ou Yangming.
The goshawk was Ou Yangming"s pet beast, so the great ancestor figured that it would stop if he captured the young fellow.
Who knew, a longsword suddenly appeared in front of Ou Yangming.
Jiang Jiumei stood still with her sword and stared at the great ancestor fiercely. The sword-light from her weapon was full of killing intent. It was evident that one would be ruthlessly attacked if one had the guts to get close to Ou Yangming.
The Supreme Great Ancestor was taken aback. He took a step back and reproached the young lady, “Jiang Jiumei, you"re from the Mysterious Mirror Sect. Why are you protecting someone else?”
“Because he"s my elder brother,” Jiang Jiumei uttered coldly.
Zuoqiu Hongyuan sighed and went over to Ou Yangming too.
On the other hand, Wu Hanning curled her lips into a smile. Ou Yangming was quickly rewarded after having put so much effort into Jiang Jiumei.
Upon seeing the chaotic situation, Yu Jinshuang held back his anger and called out to Ou Yangming, “Master Ou, can you please ask your pet beast to calm down?”
Ou Yangming waved his hand after some thought. The goshawk shrieked as it was disgruntled, but it flapped its wings and flew up to the sky. Nevertheless, it did not hide between the clouds; it waited at a distance away and stared at Dong Haoxian.