Chapter 380: Disaster |
"Help!"
"Run!"
Bai Che heard the commotion and climbed onto the battlements of Bluestone Fortress. Looking out, he saw a dense, black mass of people surging back across the open ground in front of the fortress like a collapsing dam.
Cries and the sound of trampling were all mixed together.
At the front of the group, Bai Shu was riding a horse, surrounded by several other riders who flanked him, trying to maintain order.
Behind them, a vast, squirming black shadow was spreading across the stone ground, sweeping towards them.
"What the hell is that?" Bai Che's pupils contracted, and he made an immediate decision. "Open the city gate, let the people in. Archers, prepare fire arrows."
The iron-plated wooden gate was pulled open, and the people outside the fortress rushed in.
On the city wall, archers shot fire arrows.
The fire arrows struck them, and the leeches, in pain, curled into balls.
But they merely curled into balls. Judging by their outward condition, these fire arrows didn't seem to cause them serious injury.
"Young Master, we can use quicklime, and also plant ash. Leeches fear plant ash." On the wall of Bluestone Fortress, an experienced farmer said to Bai Che.
Bai Che was speechless. For leeches this big, if there were only one or two, or three or four, it would be manageable. But right now, there was a black mass of them. How much quicklime would that require?
But he gritted his teeth anyway. "Bai Xing, take some men to the warehouse and bring all the quicklime, and also the charcoal ash from the wood we burned a few days ago."
"Yes." Behind Bai Che, a broad-shouldered young man wearing a blue headband clasped his fists together.
"San Shi, you ride quickly to the neighboring residential complex to ask for aid. If the lips are gone, the teeth will feel the cold. If Bluestone Fortress falls, they will be next!"
"Understood." To Bai Che's side and slightly behind him, a short, sturdy man nodded in affirmation, mounted a horse, and left through the side gate of Bluestone Fortress.
"Sworn Brother." Bai Che turned his head to look at Bai Zheng not far away on the wall.
"Brother, you take the men down first. Leave the wall to me." Bai Zheng lowered his head, looking at the giant leeches that had already approached below the battlements, and drew the horizontal saber from his waist.
"Using just quicklime won't work. We need fire. I've already sent men back to move firewood."
As his words fell, many people climbed onto the wall behind him, throwing down bundles of firewood obtained from trades during the day.
These leeches, upon nearing the wall, pressed against it and began climbing upwards.
Their tail ends anchored to the ground, their bodies contracting and extending as they scaled the wall.
Their moist bodies stuck to the wall, leaving behind dark, wet trails.
"Stab!"
Someone roared angrily, thrusting a spear.
The leech's body trembled, and in pain, it fell from the wall.
It squirmed incessantly on the ground.
"They fear pain." Bai Che identified the key point.
These leeches immediately curled up after being attacked; they were very sensitive to pain.
"Don't be afraid, everyone! These things can't climb walls!" Someone discovered that these leeches couldn't climb the dry fortress wall. They were too heavy. After squirming for a bit, even if left alone, they couldn't climb up.
But there were too many of them.
One leech crawled onto another. It swayed its body, seemingly attracted by the people.
"Light the fire. Burn them." The pile of firewood below the battlements wasn't very large yet, but Bai Che felt they couldn't wait any longer.
If they kept waiting, the leeches would only get more numerous. They would crowd the space, potentially pressing all the firewood underneath them.
The firelight illuminated.
Below the wall, green smoke began to rise.
The thick smoke grew larger, the flames flickering.
The leeches burned by the fire squirmed constantly, struggling frantically on the ground.
Many witnessed with their own eyes that the bodies of the leeches roasted by the flames visibly shrank. Large amounts of liquid flowed from around their bodies, like water being squeezed from a saturated sponge.
Large quantities of water spread out in all directions, soaking and extinguishing the burning firewood.
"Fire attacks are effective! Don't be afraid, everyone! Keep burning them!" Bai Che roared, swinging his horizontal saber down heavily on a leech diagonally ahead that was almost upon the battlements.
He felt as if he had chopped into a thick piece of cowhide. The other end of the blade transmitted a thick sensation, but thankfully, it still split its skin, carving a long, narrow wound on the leech's body.
Some yellowish fluid flowed from the wound. The injured part of its muscles contracted inward, pressing tightly together.
A few drops landed on Bai Che's face. He wiped his face and then lunged forward fiercely.
The injured leech's body tilted backward, falling into the pile behind it.
"Don't be afraid!" Bai Che raised his horizontal saber. "Everyone, fight with me! Our families are behind us. We have no retreat!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" On the battlements, a wave of angry roars erupted.
Amidst the killing cries, Bai Che felt a burning, stinging pain where he had contacted the leech's blood, especially around his eyes, which felt swollen and unbearable.
His movements paused. He gasped for breath a few times and loudly warned, "Be careful! Don't touch their blood!"
The Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle was thrown from the balcony into Home by Mogu.
It was then taken to the Insect Taming Hall.
Arriving in a completely new place, the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle became somewhat anxious and restless.
Qin Ziwen walked forward and placed his right hand on the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle.
The power of Resonance activated.
He sensed the emotions of this big bug before him—alertness, unease, anxiety.
He released his own emotions.
The previously anxious Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle gradually calmed down.
It stopped moving, turned its head, and a pair of pitch-black eyes gazed at the human before it.
"We will raise you. We provide food and shelter." Qin Ziwen Resonated with it.
Upon hearing Qin Ziwen's words, the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle became very happy, its two large antennae swaying left and right on its head.
Qin Ziwen's face darkened.
Because he received the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle's response.
In the worldview of the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle, protecting its safety and providing it with food was the task of the Belly Aphid Spiders, and the Belly Aphid Spiders were its subjects.
Therefore, when it heard Qin Ziwen say "provide food and shelter," its reaction was that Qin Ziwen and the others wanted to replace the Belly Aphid Spiders' position and become its providers.
Thus, it was very happy, believing it had received a group of very capable servants.
So it lay down on the ground, its two antennae swaying, giving Qin Ziwen an order to fetch some dry leaves and vines. The ground here was too hard; it was uncomfortable to sleep on.
Qin Ziwen was both angered and amused by its straightforward logic.
"The world is upside down! I'm your servant? Get up! Stand up straight!"
He walked in front of the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle and slapped its head.
The relaxed Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle was stunned by this slap.
It didn't understand.
It was about to get angry, but meeting Mogu's eyes beside it, it softened again.
It stood up, looking utterly wronged.
"Lie down in there yourself, and then accept the contract. We're raising you so you can be useful, not so you can be a lord." Qin Ziwen scolded it.
This complex string of words was naturally incomprehensible to the Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle, but it could understand the meaning Qin Ziwen conveyed.
It wanted to protest.
"Protest denied!"
When the Blood Land greatsword was placed against its neck.
The Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle, following its heart, chose to submit. It just felt that these two-legged creatures before it were so complicated.
[Successfully contracted Giant Aphid Rhinoceros Beetle. Current Raised Species: Belly Aphid Spider.]
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