This year, rumors had begun spreading through the Blessed Land as soon as the settlement's bountiful harvest had been confirmed.
On the surface, they seemed to have been sparked by the Insect Race's growing strength this year.
But their source pointed straight to the New Moon Song Family.
More precisely, to the Song Family's Foundation Establishment ancestor, who was nearing the end of his life.
In particular, the Song Family still hadn't produced a second Foundation Establishment cultivator. That meant they couldn't smoothly pass the mantle on and appoint a new Lord of the Blessed Land.
Under these circumstances, it was only natural that some people would start itching to make a move.
Clearly, Miss Xiaoxiao's warning had stemmed from this.
It seemed someone planned to use this year's Black Annihilation Wind Disaster to stir up trouble.
Whether they meant to test the Song Family or had some other goal, the ones charging at the front would undoubtedly be cannon fodder.
To avoid leaving any trace, the people pulling the strings would never send their own. That made the settlement's Fetal Movement cultivators at Major Accomplishment or perfection, along with the Qi Refining families, the perfect candidates.
They might threaten you or tempt you with rewards; either way, they would make you their vanguard.
On top of that, the steep increase in the price of Blessed Land quotas this year had already bred resentment among many people in the settlement.
The Insect Race threatened from without, while all kinds of instability brewed within.
For those pulling the strings, it was a heaven-sent opportunity. How could they possibly let it pass?
There was one thing, though, that Yu Ershan believed: if even Miss Xiaoxiao knew about this, and he could figure it out himself, then the Song Family, as the Lord of New Moon Blessed Land, had no reason to be in the dark.
So what would the Song Family do?
Would they sit and wait for their doom, or fight back with everything they had?
At the thought, a chill suddenly crept through Yu Ershan.
There would definitely be a major upheaval in the Blessed Land this year.
Caught in the tide of events, ordinary people like them from the settlement had no power to resist at all.
Thankfully, whoever claimed the spoils in the end couldn't possibly wreck the Blessed Land or send every ordinary person like them to their graves.
Otherwise, what use would a ruined Blessed Land and settlements emptied of people be?
So, just as Miss Xiaoxiao had said, the only way to weather this disaster was to stay indoors and refuse whoever came knocking.
For the next few days, Yu Ershan forbade Yu Dashan and Yu Xiaoshan from going out. He even turned down Zhao Jiadong when he invited him to go shopping.
Then, one day, news arrived from the Blessed Land: the Insect Race had appeared.
The entire Blessed Land sprang into motion. The Insect Hunter Teams, in particular, were on high alert.
To some, the Insect Race's arrival spelled disaster. But to the Insect Hunter Teams, it marked the beginning of a harvest.
Every year, more than a thousand people died in the Insect Race's jaws during the wind disaster season, yet that still couldn't stop the greed in people's hearts.
After all, New Moon Blessed Land was barren to begin with. How could a family ever produce cultivators by relying on nothing but the meager yields from Spirit Fields and the mines?
Taking risks was inevitable.
Besides, the ones who died in the greatest numbers were always the ordinary people hired to do the work.
That was also why the Blessed Land had always treated its settlements relatively gently and encouraged them to have children.
After all, people were a resource too. Once they matured to Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment, they could be harvested by one means or another.
And this year, for all sorts of reasons, the harvest was especially brutal.
While undercurrents churned through the Blessed Land, the settlement presented a very different scene.
Perhaps his Divine Ability: Town Protection had worked. Old Man Yu had somehow endured the most painful days of the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster. Though he still suffered under the pressure of having his life stripped away, his spirits were much better than they had been a few days earlier.
Whenever he had nothing to do, he would sit in the space among the tree roots and reminisce about the three Yu brothers as children. He also told stories about his own youth. Yu An hadn't completely shut off his mind, so he heard Old Man Yu's confidences.
That naturally taught him more about the Yu Family and Old Man Yu.
Put simply, it was an ordinary little household: an old man and his three sons, struggling to survive in this wretched world.
There was plenty of pain, but there were happy moments, too.
For some reason, as Old Man Yu poured out his heart, Yu An felt his mind grow more in tune with that faint rhythm between heaven and earth.
It was as if he had always viewed this world as an outsider. Perhaps that was because his soul came from another world.
He had already accepted his transmigration and the fact that he had become an elm tree, but deep down, a divide might still have remained. After all, his soul was still human.
But after hearing Old Man Yu's stories, he found that he felt a greater sense of belonging to this world, and an inexplicable bond with Old Man Yu in particular.
It was a connection he couldn't put into words.
Judging by the understanding he had brought from another world, Yu An thought it resembled what people called karma.
Of course, that was only his own guess.
Regardless, once he felt more at home in this world, his cultivation and perception seemed to be blessed by heaven. His efficiency improved noticeably.
In that respect, he even had Old Man Yu to thank.
Without those stories, he didn't know how long it would have taken him to realize this.
Daoism spoke of untying the knots in one's heart, while Buddhism spoke of letting go.
Yu An couldn't claim to have reached enlightenment, but he had come close to something of the sort.
From then on, Yu An could finally be called a true part of this world.
Heaven and earth, too, truly accepted him as one of their own.
"Little Tree, the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster has been going on for a while now. If I've got the timing right, the Insect Race should appear soon. You have to be careful and make sure those bugs don't spot you.
"But don't be afraid. If they really come, I'll be here."
Old Man Yu reckoned through the timing and spoke softly.
In fact, at the very moment Old Man Yu said this, an insect had already reached the outskirts of Ox Ridge Settlement.
It was over a meter long, with a dark gray body and a shape somewhat like a locust. Its head bore a pair of compound eyes that made one's skin crawl. It had eight legs beneath its body, and its wings spread behind it, letting it fly for brief stretches with the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster's help.
At that moment, the two antennae atop its head, like a pair of aerials, trembled faintly, as if sensing something.
Suddenly, it turned toward a certain part of the settlement. Its nimble body bent sharply in midair, and it darted toward that spot.
As it flew, its mouthparts opened. A row of sharp, sawlike teeth lined its upper jaw, giving it a savage look.
This was the prelude to its meal.
By then, the cooking smoke had long since vanished from above Ox Ridge Settlement. Everyone knew the Insect Race was about to appear. Lighting a fire to cook now would be no different from serving themselves up to the insects.
So they had all hidden in cellars, secretly praying that the Insect Race wouldn't find them.
But they didn't know—
the Insect Race had already arrived.
And it had found its target.
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