Chapter 63

"An array that adds a pound of weight?"

Everyone found this idea rather novel. A few people walked into the array to carefully sense it, and indeed, they discovered that their clothes and such were slightly heavier. However, as most of them had some cultivation, at the age of thirteen or fourteen, their strength was comparable to that of adult farmers, so the additional pound of weight was barely noticeable.

However, for Yang Junxin, a little girl under seven years old with no cultivation, the added pound of weight was much more noticeable.

This additional weight from the array was, of course, negligible for humans, but if a swarm of locusts were to rush into the array, and each locust suddenly gained an extra pound, it would be enough to crush them to the ground, whether it was a regular swarm or a swarm of giant locusts.

At this point, the interception of the locusts in the southern part of the village was becoming increasingly intense, and more and more locusts were rushing into the village. The spirit fields at the foot of West Mountain were the farthest from the southern part of the village, but even here, scattered giant locusts could be seen flying over.

At this moment, Yang Junshan noticed that the locusts blocked outside the village were slowly moving, gradually tilting from the south to the southwest. Although the movement of the locusts was not obvious, it still brought enormous pressure to the southwestern defense line guarded by Han Xiumei. More and more small swarms of locusts were slipping through from the southwest.

Yang Junshan almost instantly determined that there must be a demonized insect king directing this swarm. If he had gone to the south of the village with Yang Tiangang and others to face the initial locusts, he would have confirmed the existence of the insect king much earlier.

"Brother, the locusts are coming!"

A small swarm of locusts, like a wisp of green smoke, constantly changed shape in the sky. When it reached the sky above West Mountain, it had transformed into a gray-brown veil, descending over Yang Junshan and the others.

"Everyone, put on the animal skin clothes and protect your heads and faces!"

Everyone put on the ugly animal skin clothes, which were quite crude and only covered their entire bodies.

When the locusts rushed in, the regular locusts were manageable, but the giant locusts could even break through the spells of cultivators. They were much larger, stronger, and more ferocious than regular locusts. Although they wouldn't eat people, being hit by them was extremely painful. If a swarm of them collided with a person, even an adult would be knocked down.

"Everyone, enter the array!"

As the locusts drew closer, Yang Junshan shouted to the others.

"Big brother, little sister hasn't come in yet!"

Yang Junshan looked over and saw that his little sister, Yang Junxin, who had been playing with Hu Niu, had run about fifty feet away and hadn't heard his call to enter the array.

However, the locusts were already descending, and the overwhelming sight frightened the little girl, making her cry out. Just as Yang Junshan was about to run out of the array, Hu Niu suddenly darted out from behind the little girl and roared loudly, "Ao-hou!" An invisible force seemed to radiate out from Hu Niu, and a strange phenomenon occurred.

The locusts that approached within three feet of Hu Niu all veered away, flying to the sides or upwards, creating a space around Hu Niu that was completely free of locusts, while beyond three feet, the locusts formed a sea.

Tiger's Might! Hu Niu had actually cultivated Tiger's Might!

If Yang Junshan had only suspected Hu Niu's ability to intimidate a wild rabbit into becoming food when she emerged from the spirit spring cave, now he was certain that Hu Niu had indeed cultivated Tiger's Might, a skill possessed only by high-ranking demon cultivators.

"Little sister, stay with Hu Niu and don't run around!"

Yang Junshan, seeing that his little sister was safe, shouted a warning and then settled down in the center of the stone disc to oversee the array. As the endless swarm of locusts rushed into the spirit fields, the array's power was added to each locust, and the extra pound of weight was enough to kill the regular locusts by smashing them to the ground.

Even the giant locusts could not withstand such weight and fell to the ground, some fainting, others with torn wings or broken legs. However, very few were crushed to death like the regular locusts. Despite this, the giant locusts were still resilient, unable to fly or jump, but still trying to crawl towards the spirit fields.

Yang Junshan then shouted, "Second brother, it's up to you!"

Yang Junping, with his head and face covered in animal skin, heard his brother's command and quickly called to Ge Erxi. The two of them led a large and a small packhorse towards the fallen locusts, each pulling a large and a small roller. As they moved, greenish fluid splattered everywhere, turning the fallen locusts into a mass of flesh, the stench of which was almost unbearable, but after the earlier exposure to the medicinal powder, this smell was no longer a problem for them.

More and more locusts entered the village, and the swarms grew larger, with more and more giant locusts rushing towards the spirit fields at the foot of West Mountain. The entire village seemed to be enveloped in a cloud of insects, which was continuously deepening and thickening.

Yang Junping and Ge Erxi had already walked back and forth many times in the array, the locust corpses underfoot turning into a green, mushy paste. The continuous arrival of locusts added to the paste, creating a writhing, unsettling sight.

With each step, green fluid splashed up, and the rollers were completely dyed green, covered in locust flesh and dripping with fluid, looking like rolling meat wheels.

At this moment, Su Baozhang suddenly shouted, "No good, the spirit coins embedded in the stone disc have run out of power!"

As he spoke, the locusts on the southern side of the array where Su Baozhang was stationed suddenly surged in, with only a few being suppressed and falling to the ground, while the majority rushed into the spirit fields.

"The spirit coins on my stone disc are also losing their light!"

"Mine too, what should we do?"

Yang Junshan remained calm, holding a spell talisman in his hand. With his far superior spirit power compared to ordinary cultivators at the启蒙 stage, the time to activate the talisman was greatly reduced. A fire snake suddenly shot out from his hand, burning a large portion of the locusts that had rushed into the spirit fields, but ultimately, dozens of giant locusts still made it through.

Yang Junshan shouted, "Don't panic, a few dozen giant locusts won't cause much damage. Quickly replace the spirit coins, and the array will be restored. Remember to replace the spirit coins before they run out of power. This is not the time to be frugal."

Just as Yang Junshan and the others had inadvertently allowed a small swarm of giant locusts to enter the spirit fields after crushing countless locusts, Xu Lei, Xu Jing, and Zhang Huzi, who were defending the other two spirit fields, encountered significant trouble.

These groups of young people had not prepared animal skin clothes like Yang Junshan and the others to prevent the giant locusts from colliding with them. When the locusts first arrived, several of the younger boys were knocked to the ground, and the scene was so terrifying that two of the girls burst into tears, while the others were also thrown into disarray by the initial impact.

The Xu family's spirit fields were covered by a giant talisman. When the locusts first arrived, the talisman's power was triggered, and the locusts flying over the spirit fields were burned to ashes. However, as the locusts became more numerous and dense, and the swarm seemed endless, the giant talisman in the Xu family's spirit fields began to lose its power.

Xu Lei and the others still had some backup talismans, but these were clearly expensive, and even the Xu family could not have many.

When a young Xu family member tried to replace the talisman that had run out of power, the locusts took the opportunity to land in the spirit fields protected by that talisman. The young man tried to drive the locusts away before laying down the backup talisman.

However, the locusts descended in a thick layer, making it impossible to drive them away quickly. Xu Jing kicked the young man away, seized the giant talisman, and suddenly unfurled it, releasing a fiery light that burned all the locusts on the ground and in the air. Taking advantage of the moment before more locusts arrived, she laid the talisman on the ground, patching the gap in the spirit fields.

In the subsequent replacement of the talismans, the Xu family members learned from Xu Jing's method, sweeping away the nearby locusts before quickly replacing the talismans.

However, this only ensured the temporary safety of the spirit fields. As the giant talisman's power continued to wane, the Xu family's backup talismans were running out, and they could only watch as the locusts gradually covered the spirit fields.

Zhang Huzi, defending the other spirit field, faced the same predicament. After the giant net initially caught all the locusts, as more and more locusts continued to fly in, the net was filled to a half-foot thickness. The process of replacing the three giant nets could not prevent the giant locusts from finding opportunities, and after just an hour, more and more giant locusts had landed in the spirit fields.

At this moment, Xu Jing suddenly screamed, "Look, at West Mountain!"

Her scream was so loud that it even drowned out the noise of the flying locusts. Not only the Xu family members, but also Yang Junshan and Zhang Huzi, heard it. Looking over, they saw a thick, gray-brown cloud of locusts rising from West Mountain.

——

Mom is really important. When she goes back to her hometown, both of us have to take care of the kids, and we can't do anything. She has no time to work, and I have no time to write.

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