Chapter 58

Yang Junshan's first reaction was that a demonic insect had appeared among the swarm of giant locusts!

Only a demonized giant locust could possibly know to have the adult locusts nurture the larvae. It was impossible for all the giant locusts in the valley to be demonized, so there must be a demonized insect king among the swarm.

This insect king controlled all the giant locusts in the valley, restraining them from ever rushing out of the valley. At the same time, it ordered the adult locusts to gather leaves and branches from the surrounding mountains to feed the larvae.

Yang Junshan could imagine that once all the giant locusts in the valley grew into adults, it would only take a command from the insect king for countless giant locusts to surge out of the valley and out of Quwu Mountain.

Yang Junshan circled along the edge of the forest at the edge of the valley, closely monitoring the movements of the giant locusts in the valley, trying to find the hidden insect king. However, the giant locusts in the valley were densely packed. Even if the insect king's body might be larger than the other giant locusts, or perhaps had some obvious features due to demonization, finding it would be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

Yang Junshan stealthily moved along the edge of the valley, silently killing a few giant locusts that had flown into the forest to forage, and then stored their bodies in a waist pouch.

However, as Yang Junshan approached the forest on the southern slope of the valley, he noticed that fewer and fewer giant locusts were flying into this area, and the further south he went, the fewer giant locusts there were. At the same time, a pungent smell in the forest became increasingly strong.

At this point, Yang Junshan noticed that the ground and the leaves and branches of the trees in this area were covered with a layer of yellow-brown dust. Normally, in the mountains, the wind often blows, and when the branches and leaves sway, very little dust would settle on them.

Carefully placing a leaf covered with dust to his nose, a smell far more pungent than that in the forest rushed into his mind, making Yang Junshan sneeze.

Moreover, Yang Junshan found that these yellow-brown dust particles had a particularly strong adhesive property. Once they landed on the leaves, no matter how much he shook them, they would not fall off, and even blowing hard with his mouth could not completely blow away the yellow-brown dust.

This was definitely done intentionally. The pungent dust prevented the giant locusts in the valley from foraging to the south. In the future, once the locust disaster broke out, the locusts would instinctively avoid the south and sweep northward. This was probably why, in the previous life, the locust disaster that broke out in Quwu Mountain quickly swept through half of Yu County, while Zhang County suffered very little.

The locust disaster was both a natural disaster and a man-made disaster!

Yang Junshan was almost certain that the people who spread the dust were the same group that bought spirit grains in Wasteland Town. However, the locust disaster that swept through half of Yu County was clearly not enough with just the swarm in this valley. This meant that there were many similar swarms in Quwu Mountain.

The force that Yang Junshan knew, represented by the wolf head, probably did not have the power to monitor so many swarms. This meant that to control the giant locust swarms in Quwu Mountain, at least several forces in Zhang County would need to act together.

Yang Junshan, who was stealthily moving, suddenly stopped and hid behind a large tree. On the path he had been following, there was a cleverly set early warning trap. If it weren't for Yang Junshan's experience as a seasoned hunter, he would not have noticed the trap. Any slight touch would have alerted the people hiding in the dark.

The appearance of the early warning trap indicated that the cultivators monitoring the swarm probably had their base nearby. However, it was unknown whether they had all been lured to the north to chase the swarm or if some were still on guard.

Yang Junshan carefully bypassed the early warning trap and continued forward. He discovered two more early warning setups along the way. An open area appeared before him, and in the center of the open area was a wooden house, half buried in the ground.

The surroundings were quiet, showing no signs of anyone being there, but Yang Junshan did not dare to be careless. He held two talismans he had taken from his junior brother Cheng and placed the talisman-inscribed short sword where he could easily draw it, slowly approaching the wooden house.

Based on Yang Junshan's experience, this camp should have at least six or seven cultivators temporarily stationed here, and they had just left not long ago. From the things left behind in the camp, it was clear that they had left in a hurry. From the information he had obtained from the deceased Senior Brother Ma, this camp should be led by Senior Brother Zhao, who was undoubtedly a Martial Realm cultivator.

Yang Junshan gently opened the door of the wooden house and finally confirmed that no one was in the camp and that there were no traps left behind. Only then did he relax and begin to search the camp carefully.

Important items that cultivators usually carried with them were no exception in this camp. In the wooden house, apart from about five hundred pounds of spirit grains, there were also some leftover salted and roasted meats, including the meat of two or three fierce beasts, which were likely hunted in Quwu Mountain. It was unknown whether they had harvested any spirit beasts.

In a corner, Yang Junshan found a spirit-sealing barrel about a foot tall and a spirit-sealing box about a foot wide and half a foot thick.

When he opened the spirit-sealing barrel, a strong bloody smell emanated from it. Inside was half a barrel of blood plasma that had been treated to prevent coagulation. This blood plasma, all from fierce beasts, could be used by Mortal Realm cultivators to write talismans, saving a lot of spirit power.

The spirit-sealing box contained tanned fierce beast hides, neatly divided into more than twenty pieces. These hides could be used as talisman paper, keeping the spirit power in the talismans from dissipating and maintaining their power.

The spirit-sealing barrel was too large and inconvenient to carry, but Yang Junshan did not hesitate to take the twenty or so pieces of fierce beast hides and the spirit-sealing box.

In addition, there were many herbs drying in the open areas around the camp. These were likely collected by the cultivators stationed here during their free time in Quwu Mountain. Although most were ordinary herbs, they were of sufficient age and potency, and most would be used as auxiliary herbs in the refining of elixirs, indicating that the cultivators who collected them were quite knowledgeable.

Yang Junshan naturally did not hesitate. If the cultivators in the camp were only proficient in herbs, Yang Junshan, in his previous life, was a pill master. Although he did not have the talent of a pill refiner, the more than ten pill formulas he had memorized made him more adept at selecting herbs. He chose the more valuable herbs from the drying herbs.

After thoroughly searching the camp, Yang Junshan found a hidden earthen kiln behind the wooden house. When he opened the kiln, a strong, pungent smell hit him, the same as the one he had smelled in the forest but even stronger.

He wet a piece of hemp cloth and covered his mouth and nose, then entered the kiln. Inside was a stone platform with many bottles and jars, and various colored powders in different bowls. There was also a foot-tall open-mouthed porcelain jar, filled with powders from the bowls, and a clay stick inside, apparently used for stirring.

Under the stone platform were two bags, each weighing about twenty to thirty pounds. When Yang Junshan opened them, he found the yellow-brown powder identical to the one scattered in the forest.

Yang Junshan immediately understood that the powder used to block the giant locusts from moving south into Zhang County was not only prepared on-site but also made from herbs collected in Quwu Mountain. No wonder the small camp was filled with drying herbs. It seemed the formula for the powder was made from these herbs, though the specific preparation process was still unknown to him.

Looking at the dozens of bottles and jars of powder, Yang Junshan could not deduce the specific formula from these items. Helplessly, he decided to take one of the bags of powder back to Wasteland Town.

Before leaving, Yang Junshan set the small wooden house on fire and quickly circled around the west side of the valley to the north end. However, as he approached the northwest corner, a swarm of locusts suddenly burst out of the valley, rising into the air and flying in all directions, like a gray-brown cloud spreading across the sky.

A cold, evil wind blew through the forest, and when it reached Yang Junshan, it felt like a knife cutting through him, as if a fierce beast with a murderous aura was watching him.

This was a malevolent aura, a source of malevolent aura in the valley!

Yang Junshan suddenly darted behind a large tree and looked into the valley. He saw a dense swarm of locusts swirling in a vertical column, rising dozens of feet into the air.

The insect king must be there! The source of the malevolent aura must also be there!

The giant locusts forming this massive column were actually competing for the malevolent aura gushing from the source. Yang Junshan almost instantly made this definitive guess!

However, when Yang Junshan circled to the north end of the valley to return, the column of locusts, which had risen dozens of feet, suddenly collapsed, and the swarm fell back into the valley. The grand scene in the valley instantly calmed down.

Yang Junshan still did not find the hidden insect king, but he no longer felt the malevolent aura that had seemed to be hunting him.

Was this source of malevolent aura intermittent?

It was unknown whether the six or seven cultivators monitoring the valley had ever noticed this situation and, if so, whether they recognized the terrifying aura as a rare source of malevolent energy.

However, Yang Junshan needed to return to Wasteland Town as soon as possible. The camp he had set on fire was now enveloped in thick smoke, but Yang Junshan, after traveling several miles through the forest, plunged into the miasma.