"Mother, are you feeling any better?"
In the dim cellar, Tiezhu moved the oil lamp closer to the figure curled up in the corner beside a thick pile of bedding, as if hoping its light might bring her some warmth.
It had been nearly ten days since the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster began. At first, he had still been able to light a fire in the house to keep warm, but as the Insect Race drew closer, he had no choice but to move into the cellar.
Even though he had smoked out the cellar with fire beforehand, it still couldn't keep out the chill that seemed intent on burrowing into his bones.
More important was the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster's ability to steal away lifespans.
He had reached Fetal Movement Minor Accomplishment, and was still young and strong. Though it was painful, he could bear it.
But his mother was already over fifty. She hadn't even managed to enter the Fetal Movement stage and was an ordinary person through and through.
In past years, he had saved enough Spirit Stones for the whole family to enter the Blessed Land by farming and blacksmithing. But this year, with the number of places skyrocketing, there was nothing he could do. In the end, he could only stay behind with his mother.
He had long prepared himself for the possibility that his mother might not survive, but he still hadn't expected her to fall ill so soon, right at the beginning. That made the days ahead even harder to endure.
At Tiezhu's call, the figure on the bed only murmured a couple of times. She didn't even open her eyes.
Unfortunately, the last of the Spirit Rice they had kept at home had run out a few days ago.
And in his mother's condition, she couldn't swallow the cold, hard rice cakes.
Thinking of the wild beast not far from his home, Tiezhu couldn't help regretting it.
If the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster had come a few days later, if that wild beast's injuries had been more severe, if Old Man Yu had been willing to help, then with a pot of meat soup made from that beast, his mother would probably be in much better shape now, wouldn't she?
Besides, ever since the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster began, that wild beast had disappeared. He had no idea where it had gone.
Just as Tiezhu was worrying himself sick, he suddenly heard a hurried roar from aboveground, followed by the sound of something heavy crashing down.
The sudden noise startled Tiezhu.
From the roar, he guessed it was the wounded wild beast from before.
The problem was, judging by the sound and where the heavy object had fallen, it seemed to be right in his yard.
His heart immediately leapt into his throat.
The wall around his yard wasn't very tall, only a little over two meters—not nearly as high or thick as the wall around Old Man Yu's home.
He had mostly used stones to block the windows and doorway, and had piled plenty around the cellar entrance too.
What he hadn't expected was that the wounded wild beast hadn't fled the settlement. Instead, it had broken into his home.
He wasn't especially worried about the beast itself, since no matter how big it was, even if it could smash the house apart, it couldn't get into the cellar.
But the Insect Race was about to arrive. What if it brought the insects...
Just as the thought crossed Tiezhu's mind, a sharp screech rang out aboveground.
"The In-Insect Race?"
Tiezhu's eyes flew wide open. This wasn't the first time he had heard that kind of cry. Every wind-disaster season, the Blessed Land's Insect Hunter Teams captured some weaker members of the Insect Race and kept them in cages for people to see.
He had been lucky enough to see them a few times, and their cries had left a deep impression on him.
So the moment he heard the sound, he knew that the wounded wild beast hadn't fled the settlement. On the contrary, it had actually brought the Insect Race here.
At the thought, Tiezhu's heart pounded, but there was nothing he could do.
Neither the wounded wild beast nor the Insect Race that had driven it to his home was something he could fight.
All he could do was pray that the insects would leave after eating the beast.
But things rarely went the way you hoped.
A much louder crash rang out. Tiezhu could clearly feel the cellar shaking beneath him, and at the same time, the heavy, panicked footsteps appeared directly overhead.
That meant the beast had broken into his house. It was right above him now—and it even seemed to know he was hiding in the cellar, hoping to drag him down with it.
Hiding in the cellar, Tiezhu had no idea what the Insect Race that had driven the powerful beast to this point looked like, or whether there was one of them, two, or a whole swarm.
He only knew that if the insects sensed them, he and his mother would be reduced to nothing but scattered bones.
At the thought, Tiezhu couldn't help shivering. Fear showed in his eyes, and only then did he realize he wasn't as brave and unafraid of death as he had imagined.
If only he had known...
Time didn't leave Tiezhu much room to choose.
Above the cellar, part of the wall around Tiezhu's yard had collapsed. Stones lay scattered across the yard, and a huge hole had been smashed through the bedroom window.
The stones Tiezhu had used to block the window hadn't done much good.
The wild beast had a wolf's head and a bear's body. Its fur was ragged and torn, and a savage wound still gaped across its belly. This creature, which should have been ferocious and cunning, was now trembling in the house.
Its gaze was fixed on the yard.
On top of the wall, a long-bodied insect gave a light spring. Its powerful leap carried it more than ten meters, and like an arrow piercing through the gale, it shot straight toward the wolf-bear.
Faced with the oncoming insect, the wolf-bear, which had been full of fear moments ago, suddenly glinted with murderous intent. Its enormous body charged forward with astonishing agility.
Its thick claws flashed with cold light as they slammed into the unsuspecting insect, smashing it hard against the wall.
The wolf-bear pressed its advantage, rolling forward in a swift lunge and snapping its jaws at the insect.
At that moment, the insect let out another screech, louder and shriller than before.
Even Tiezhu, hiding in the cellar, felt a stabbing pain in his ears.
The wolf-bear, which had been lunging at the insect, visibly froze. But in the moment it lost, the insect had already sprung away. Its wings spread, and it flew through the hole into the air.
The two feelers atop its head were now trembling wildly.
When the wolf-bear saw the insect escape, it didn't pursue. Instead, it quickly pried away all the stones Tiezhu had piled over the cellar entrance. Before long, Tiezhu watched in horror as the sealed entrance above him was torn open.
He even caught a fleeting glimpse of the wolf-bear's cunning gaze.
"Is this revenge?"
Tiezhu thought of how he had once wanted to kill the beast. Now it had not only brought the Insect Race to his home, it had also pried open the cellar entrance. Despair washed over him.
He had never imagined a wild beast could be so intelligent, or so bent on revenge. It clearly went against everything he knew.
After all, there was a vast difference between wild beasts and true Demonic Beasts.
Especially when it came to intelligence.
Or perhaps this wild beast was unusual—not an ordinary beast.
But whether he was willing to believe it or not, the facts were right before him.
Just as he grabbed the spear beside him, ready to die together with the beast, it pulled its head back.
"What should I do? Should I go up and block the entrance again?"
For a moment, Tiezhu couldn't make up his mind.
With the wolf-bear's size, it couldn't squeeze inside. But those insects could.
And Tiezhu couldn't be sure whether the wolf-bear was still waiting beside the cellar entrance, ready to pounce as soon as he came out.
While Tiezhu hesitated, the wolf-bear had already left his home and was quickly racing toward another house in the settlement.
High in the air, the insect, almost motionless in the gale, also saw the wolf-bear fleeing. But it didn't give chase right away, as if it were waiting for something.
If anyone had been looking down from high above, they would have clearly seen countless swarms of the Insect Race rampaging across the land.
As time passed, the insects seemed to receive a signal. They split into squads and flew in a certain direction.
The routes taken by these insect squads led straight toward the settlements surrounding New Moon Blessed Land.
Without anyone noticing, this also eased the pressure of the approaching Insect Race army on New Moon Blessed Land.
Before you continue