Chapter 408 - 380: Disaster
"Help!"
"Run!"
Hearing the cries, Bai Che climbed the watchtower of Cyan Stone Castle. He looked out over the open ground before the fortress, where a dark, surging mass of people was flooding back like a bursting dam.
Cries and the thud of trampling feet merged into a chaotic din.
At the head of the crowd, Bai Shu was on horseback, flanked by several other riders who were trying to maintain order.
Behind them, a massive, writhing black shadow was crawling over the stone ground, sweeping in their direction.
"What the hell is that thing?" Bai Che’s pupils contracted. He made a snap decision. "Open the gate! Let everyone in! Archers, prepare fire arrows!"
The iron-sheathed wooden gates were pulled open, and the people outside the castle scrambled inside.
From the walls, archers fired a volley of fire arrows.
In the light of the flaming arrows, Bai Che finally got a clear look. They were leeches, just like the ones from the fields, but magnified countless times over!
The fire arrows struck them, and the leeches recoiled in pain, curling into balls.
But they only curled up. Judging by their appearance, the fire arrows hadn’t seriously injured them.
"Sir, we can use quicklime and wood ash! Leeches are afraid of wood ash," an experienced farmer on the walls of Cyan Stone Castle told Bai Che.
Bai Che was silent. ’For leeches this big, it might work if there were only a handful. But for a whole swarm... how much quicklime would that take?’
Still, he gritted his teeth. "Bai Xing, take some men to the warehouse and bring all the quicklime. Also, get the ash from the wood we burned the other day."
"Yes, sir." Behind Bai Che, a broad-shouldered young man in a green headscarf clasped his fists.
"San Shi, ride to the neighboring Gated Community for help! If the lips are gone, the teeth will grow cold. If Cyan Stone Castle falls, they’ll be next!"
"Understood." A short man standing behind and to the side of Bai Che nodded, then vaulted onto his horse and galloped out of a side gate of Cyan Stone Castle.
"Brother." Bai Che turned his head to Bai Zheng, who was not far away on the wall.
"You should head down with your men, little brother. Just leave the wall to me." Bai Zheng looked down at the giant leeches approaching the base of the watchtower and drew the saber from his waist.
"Quicklime alone won’t be enough. We need fire. I’ve already sent people for firewood."
As soon as he spoke, many people climbed onto the wall behind him and began tossing down bundles of firewood—the very same they’d acquired in trade earlier that day.
Once the leeches reached the wall, they stuck to its surface and began to climb upward.
Anchoring their rear ends, their bodies stretched and contracted as they scaled the wall.
Their moist bodies clung to the stone, leaving dark, wet trails in their wake.
"Thrust!"
A man roared, leveling his spear and stabbing downward.
The leech’s body shuddered, and it tumbled from the wall in pain.
It writhed ceaselessly on the ground below.
’They feel pain,’ Bai Che realized.
The leeches immediately recoiled when attacked; they were extremely sensitive to pain.
"Don’t be afraid, everyone! They can’t climb the walls!" someone shouted, having noticed that the leeches couldn’t get a grip on the dry parts of the wall. They were too heavy; after wriggling for a moment, they would fail to ascend even if left completely alone.
But there were too many of them.
One leech climbed on top of another. It swayed its body, seemingly drawn to the people on the wall.
"Light it! Burn them!" There wasn’t much firewood piled at the base of the wall yet, but Bai Che knew they couldn’t wait.
If they waited any longer, more and more leeches would swarm in, covering the firewood and pressing it beneath their bodies.
Flames flared to life.
Acrid smoke billowed up from below the wall.
The smoke grew thicker, illuminated by the dancing flames.
The leeches caught in the blaze writhed, struggling frantically on the ground.
Many people witnessed it firsthand: as the leeches were roasted by the flames, their bodies visibly shrank. A large amount of fluid poured out from them, as if a waterlogged sponge was being wrung dry.
The sheer volume of liquid spread outwards, dousing the burning firewood and extinguishing the flames.
"The fire is working! Don’t give up! Keep burning them!" Bai Che roared, swinging his saber down hard on a leech that was about to crawl over the parapet.
It felt like he was hacking at a thick piece of cowhide. He felt the heavy impact through the blade, but thankfully, he still managed to tear through its skin, leaving a long, narrow gash.
Yellowish fluid oozed from the wound, and the muscles around the cut curled inward, sealing it shut.
A few drops splattered onto Bai Che’s face. He touched his cheek, then kicked forward with all his might.
The injured leech reeled backward, tumbling into the writhing pile of its brethren below.
"Don’t be afraid!" Bai Che raised his saber. "Fight with me! Our families are behind us, and we have no room for retreat!"
"KILL! KILL! KILL!" A wave of furious roars erupted from the top of the wall.
Amid the battle cries, Bai Che felt a hot, stinging pain where the leech’s blood had splattered on him. His eye, in particular, began to swell unbearably.
He faltered, gasping for breath, and shouted a warning, "Be careful! Don’t let their blood touch you!"
...
Mogu tossed the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle from the balcony into the Home.
Once inside the Home, they took it to the Insect Taming Hall.
Finding itself in a brand-new place, the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle became agitated and restless.
Qin Ziwen stepped forward and placed his right hand on the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle.
The power of Resonance activated.
He sensed the giant insect’s emotions: wariness, unease, and agitation.
He projected his own emotions toward it.
The previously agitated Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle slowly began to calm down.
It stopped moving and turned its head, its pair of jet-black eyes fixing on the human before it.
"We... will tame you. Food and lodging... provided," Qin Ziwen communicated via Resonance.
Upon receiving Qin Ziwen’s message, the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle was overjoyed, its two large antennae swaying from side to side.
But Qin Ziwen’s expression darkened.
Because he had received the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle’s response.
In the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle’s worldview, protecting it and providing it with food was the duty of the Belly Aphid Spiders, which it considered its subjects.
So, when it heard Qin Ziwen offer food and lodging, it assumed they wanted to take the place of the Belly Aphid Spiders and provide for it.
Thus, it was delighted, believing it had just acquired a new group of very capable servants.
And so it lay down on the ground, its two antennae twitching, and issued a command to Qin Ziwen: bring it some dead leaves and vines. The ground here was too hard and uncomfortable to sleep on.
Qin Ziwen was so exasperated by the insect’s logic that he had to laugh.
"Servants? Get up! Stand up straight!"
He walked up to the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle and smacked it on the head.
The beetle, which had just been relaxing, was completely stunned by the slap.
It didn’t understand.
It was about to get angry, but then its eyes met Mogu’s, and it immediately deflated.
It scrambled to its feet, looking utterly aggrieved.
"Get in there yourself and accept the contract. We’re keeping you because you’re going to be useful, not so you can act like some pampered lord," Qin Ziwen scolded.
The Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle naturally couldn’t understand such complex phrasing, but it could grasp the meaning Qin Ziwen was conveying.
It wanted to protest.
"Protest denied!"
The Blood Land Giant Sword was pressed against its neck.
The Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle wisely chose to submit.
[Contract with Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle successful. Current subordinate species: Belly Aphid Spider.]