Insect Swarm Descends

The night deepened, stars and moon shining together.

Torches flickered throughout Vermilion Ridge as patrols checked doors and windows everywhere.

At Bamboo Mountain Academy, several youths played Go on the roof by moonlight.

The nights of the Great Wilderness were long, leaving no heart at peace. The youths plucked stars to pay for wine.

"Let's make this clear: after this game, you're buying us drinks."

Jiang Ming placed a black stone on the board.

"You only get wine if you beat me."

Feng Xu placed a white stone afterward, calm and composed.

It was not that Feng Xu was stingy or unwilling to share his wine. His stock simply was not large to begin with.

There was no decay in the Great Wilderness, nor were there microorganisms. Grain could not naturally ferment into wine and had to be refined with magical power.

Most of it was made into alcohol for disinfection, while only a tiny portion was used to reward those with merit.

It was not even particularly tasty, merely enough to experience the dreamy sensation of drunkenness. Feng Xu had no idea why these boys were so obsessed with it.

"Hey, Jiang Ming, that was the wrong move. You should put it here."

Lin Feng picked up the stone Jiang Ming had just placed and set it somewhere else.

"Lin Feng, stop messing around."

Though Tie Zhao did not understand Go, he still felt that the situation got worse every time Lin Feng interfered.

"You're sure you want to place it there?"

Feng Xu smiled brightly, yet somehow gave off an insidious, scheming feeling.

Out of boredom, he had created Go, but he could not find anyone to play with, so he had come to fool these wild boys into playing.

It was a game of wits, after all. He could treat it as a way to help develop their minds.

Jiang Ming returned the stone to its original position. Just as Lin Feng was about to move it again, Tie Zhao and Kunmu dragged him aside.

Feng Xu's smile deepened as he placed another stone.

The board's situation immediately became clear. Jiang Ming had lost.

"I told you I shouldn't have played it there. You just had to stop me."

Lin Feng broke free and ran back to the board.

In truth, if they had followed Lin Feng's move, they would have lost even more badly. But Feng Xu could not be bothered explaining and let the youths make a fuss.

"Feng Xu, just let us have a taste. Just one sip."

Lin Feng clung to Feng Xu's arm and spoke softly. He had seen girls in the tribe do this before.

"You want wine that badly?"

Feng Xu shook him off with a disgusted look.

"I want it so badly. I dream about drinking wine."

For the sake of wine, they had gone through all kinds of contests.

They competed in riding and archery, work, running, swimming, tree climbing... they had even competed over who could pee farther.

They had competed in everything and won nothing, so Lin Feng began trying a softer approach.

"Fine. One small cup each. Don't tell anyone else."

Feng Xu took out four cups and poured just a tiny amount into each.

These were the cups he used for tea. Whenever the mood struck him, he would brew a pot.

Calling it tea was generous. It was really just stir-fried young leaves.

The tribe did not yet have proper tea trees, so this method had not been widely adopted.

"That little? Who's that enough for? Fill them up!"

Lin Feng spoke grandly, like some wandering martial hero.

"Drink it or don't. If you don't want it, get lost."

Feng Xu did not indulge them. He did not want them getting drunk.

With the wine they had longed for right before them, the youths ignored everything else and poured it straight into their mouths.

"Cough—ptui!"

Lin Feng was the first to spit it out.

"Why does it taste so awful?" Tie Zhao frowned.

"Whoa, that burns! Is this stuff even meant for people to drink?"

Kunmu opened his mouth, trying to air out the flavor in it.

Jiang Ming said nothing, but his face was full of disdain.

Feng Xu giggled at their miserable appearances.

This was high-proof baijiu. It was perfectly normal for first-time drinkers not to be used to it.

"I told you it didn't taste good, but you refused to believe me."

Feng Xu put away the cups, and his tone suddenly turned serious.

"Alright, it's late. Go back to the dorms and rest. Remember to keep the doors and windows tightly shut. Things may not be peaceful lately."

Lin Feng did not take it seriously. As he headed downstairs, he bragged, "What could possibly happen? If some ferocious beast attacks, I'll deal with it myself."

Feng Xu laughed.

"Alright, you've only had half a cup and you're already talking nonsense. If you drank a whole cup, you'd probably claim you could pluck the stars from the sky."

Feng Xu watched the youths return to their dormitory and shut the doors and windows.

During this special period, most people had gathered in the Vermilion Ridge stronghold to stay temporarily, while those at the foot of the mountain had also moved into sturdier earthen buildings.

Bamboo Mountain Academy was the only building made of brick and stone, making it the most defensible.

The students continued living in the dormitories, but their rest time had been moved earlier, and they were required to close their doors and windows.

In the middle of the night, Lin Feng felt stuffy and got up to open the window.

Outside, the moonlight was hazy. The night breeze carried a trace of dampness from the pond ahead.

"Nothing's out there. Why are they making such a big fuss?"

Lin Feng muttered before going outside to relieve himself.

With no one around, he did not go to the latrine. Instead, he handled it beneath the tree in front of the house.

Kunmu was awakened by Lin Feng's movements and also went under the tree to relieve himself.

"Such a huge dark cloud. Is it about to rain?"

Lin Feng looked at the overwhelming mass of dark clouds in the distance, moving toward them.

"That doesn't seem right. Dark clouds don't look like that."

Kunmu yawned and squinted up at the night sky.

Lin Feng looked carefully. A faint gleam flowed through his eyes, and his vision suddenly sharpened.

The dark mass that had seemed like black clouds turned into countless densely packed flying insects.

"Not good! It's an insect swarm! Quick, get inside!"

Goosebumps rose all over Lin Feng's body as he grabbed Kunmu and tried to pull him indoors.

Kunmu was more than half awake now. He shook off Lin Feng's hand and ran next door.

He saw that the window next door was still open.

"The insect swarm is here! Close all the doors and windows!"

There were more than ten dormitories here, all scattered small houses surrounding the central pond.

At this moment, many dormitory windows were still open. Kunmu ran while shouting, getting the windows of nearby dormitories closed.

After the windows were shut, their inner latches still had to be fastened. Otherwise, they could easily be opened from outside.

The insect swarm had already drawn near, yet the people inside were still dawdling.

Lin Feng shut his window and urged Kunmu to hurry back inside.

By the time the people in the nearby rooms realized they had to latch their windows, insects had already landed on Kunmu.

Kunmu took only a few steps before collapsing to the ground.

Lin Feng lunged over and dragged Kunmu back while countless insects pursued them closely.

The moment the two entered the room, Jiang Ming immediately shut the door, blocking the insects outside.

At that moment, Kunmu's back was covered in insects, and he no longer had the strength to move.

There were several insects on Lin Feng as well. He shouted and directly blasted them away with magical power.

The others hurriedly drove the insects off Kunmu, enduring the needle-like pain as they slapped every last insect to death.

In just two or three breaths, Kunmu had changed from a chubby boy into a gaunt one.

Half an hour later, Feng Xu pushed open the door to Lin Feng and the others' dormitory.

"Yuqi, inspect every dormitory. Send the injured to the stronghold, and tally the casualties while you're at it."

Feng Xu hoisted the unconscious Kunmu onto his shoulder, took out the Heaven-Hanging Ruler, and flew away.

Kunmu was covered in insect bites, and his entire body looked as though he had suffered severe loss of vital energy and blood.

It was impossible to say whether he could be saved.

There was also considerable unrest at the old site. Feng Xu told them to send everyone bitten by insects to the Blood Pool.

Sigh. These barbarians really would not take the patrols' warnings seriously unless a few people died.

Several hundred people at the old site had been affected. More than a hundred had died on the spot, while over fifty more died in the Blood Pool after rescue efforts failed due to severe loss of vital energy and blood.

It was still unknown how Vermilion Ridge and the foothills had fared.

A grave atmosphere hung over the entire tribe.

Feng Xu walked out of the Blood Pool and had the clansmen gather and dispose of the bodies.

Kunmu's life had been saved, but he needed to recuperate in the Blood Pool. It was hard to say when he would awaken.

When Feng Xu returned to Vermilion Ridge, more than ten core clansmen were holding a meeting in the stronghold.

"The tribe has a total of 4,537 people. Nine hundred and sixty suffered light injuries, and over three hundred died."

Feng Ling reported while holding the statistics.

Feng Sui, seated at the head of the room, wore a gloomy expression as he slowly spoke.

"Have we found out what demon beast caused this?"

"They were Black-Winged Poison Bees. The swarm was massive. Many nearby wild beasts were drained dry."

Feng Chi took out a small jar containing several insect corpses the size of little fingers.

He was the captain of the patrols, responsible for investigating abnormalities within the tribe and maintaining order.

"Why would Poison Bees suck blood?"

Feng Xi picked one up and examined it carefully.

"No, these aren't Black-Winged Poison Bees. They're Flower Jade Bees."

Feng Xu picked one up and scanned it with the Merit Mall.

"Flower Jade Bees have white bodies with pale yellow stripes, and their wings also reflect a faint pink light. Why do these look like this?"

Feng Yuqi looked puzzled. She had always trusted Feng Xu.

But as an academy instructor, she knew that the Record of the Great Wilderness contained records of both insects. Flower Jade Bees clearly did not look like the ones before them.

"They were contaminated by Baleful Qi. The shape of the stripes on their bodies matches Flower Jade Bees, not the ghost-face white markings of Black-Winged Poison Bees."

"Black-Winged Poison Bees are far more venomous. Two or three are enough to kill someone. The survivors this time had far more stings than that, which proves the venom was nowhere near as strong."

Feng Chi fiddled with an insect corpse and asked, "Neither of these Poison Bees originally sucked blood, but every victim suffered severe loss of vital energy and blood in an extremely short time. Was that mutation also caused by Baleful Qi?"

Feng Xu put down the insect and swept his gaze around the room, his tone growing even heavier.

"I'm afraid so. And Baleful Qi will not dissipate. It will only transfer. All bodies must be gathered and burned, and the survivors must also be isolated for observation."