Chapter 508 Dealing with the Locust Plague

Let's talk about the other side. ♦♦  ♦♦

Dayu Kingdom's incense gods are gathering towards a certain place. Li Changxiao felt something, but he was still not nervous. He just looked up at the sky, and then murmured to himself, saying that the world is unpredictable, good and bad luck is hard to determine. After that, he stretched his waist, scratched his butt, and continued on his way.

Tianyu Village is very far away. It takes four to five days for a group of people to travel more than ten miles a day. Get up early and go to bed late. If you come across a small shop along the way, go in and rest for a while. Fortunately, you have a safe journey and have never encountered any major troubles.

The apparent stability and prosperity in Dayu is really due to Wang Ruyi's good governance. At least most of the people have enjoyed a peaceful life.

After walking for only two or three days, Wang Ruyi's legs and feet became sore and her body could not stand the tossing. After all, she was a mortal and a woman. She endured the scorching heat and rushed on the road. The sweat fell down, which was very tiring. But it was also the price of traveling in the rivers and lakes. It was normal to be tired.

When they arrived at Tianyu Village, they stepped on the yellow land and looked around. There was a barren land with dead trees. There was a small village in the distance. There were starving crows on the road. With one step, several yellow-brown locusts were crushed to death. Wang Ruyi, who was known as the Red Sleeves Heroine, looked up, raised her eyebrows, held the sword, and walked to the front in order not to show any timidity in front of others. She looked very calm. Li Changxiao did not disturb her pretending to be ignorant and chatted with the two people beside him.

As far as the eye can see, the mountain village in the distance is Tianyu Village. There are 400 people in the village and thousands of acres of land. Although it is not rich, it is enough to eat and drink. Unfortunately, the disaster came from the sky. Once the locust plague was severe, the villagers left.

Entering the village entrance, the skinny village chief came out to greet them. Seeing that the two villagers who were sent out did not invite back the Three Insect Goddess, but only brought back a man and a woman, the village chief was so angry that his head and eyes were dizzy and he cursed the two villagers.

The villagers felt wronged. It was strange that they could invite gods with such a small amount of money and food. In comparison, they felt that the Red Sleeves Female Hero was more reliable. On the way back, Li Changxiao popularized the Red Sleeves Female Hero's chivalrous deeds.

Li Changxiao pushed Wang Ruyi. She stood in front of everyone, coughed twice, and promoted herself seriously, saying that she couldn't bear to see the suffering in the world, so she came to solve the locust plague for everyone. Although her title of Red Sleeves Heroine was not worthy of her reputation, she was an empress after all and had held a high position. Her acting skills and means of winning people's hearts were very good.

With just a few words, she completely convinced the villagers. The village chief of Tianyu Village had once passed the imperial examination and was more clever. He said, "Hero, the evil bandits in the mountains are a disaster. You can easily solve it with your sword. But the locust disaster, even if you are a powerful martial artist, I am afraid you are powerless, right?"

"It is not just my strength. I need your help. With concerted efforts, the locust disaster is not a problem." Wang Ruyi raised her eyebrows. She did have some experience in dealing with locust disasters.

"Man can conquer nature. It is better to rely on yourself than on others." She paused for a moment and spoke again. The people of Dayu are very dependent on incense and worship. Although it is common for people to pray to gods and Buddhas in despair, Wang Ruyi or Li Changxiao wants to teach the people of Dayu the courage and faith to face difficulties and get rid of them.

She never wants her people to only pray to gods when they encounter difficulties.

The villagers were completely convinced by these remarks. Due to the scarcity of food, the village chief did not hold a big banquet. He only took out a rice bun, broke it in half and gave it to the two.

The next morning, the two began to act. Wang Ruyi called on the villagers to unite all the villages and villagers who suffered from the locust plague one by one. There were thousands of people gathered, which was not a small number.

Wang Ruyi coordinated the villagers to go into the fields to catch and kill locusts. Baskets of locusts were burned to death. On the other hand, Li Changxiao was not idle either. Helping to eliminate the locust plague was a good deed. In addition, he had another reason to come here.

He had a vague suspicion in his heart. He had always had that suspicion, but he needed an opportunity to verify it. The locust plague was a disaster, but it was also a good opportunity to verify it. So when he heard the words of the two villagers, he rushed to Tianyu Village without stopping.

He climbed a barren mountain. Due to the ravages of the locust plague, there were no leaves on the mountain, only dry tree trunks. The lush and vibrant mountains and fields have turned into old people in their twilight years. On the branches of the tree, there were densely crawling yellow-brown locusts, and the tentacles were densely distributed and swaying. It was frightening to see. Li Changxiao turned around and his sight fell on the fields without any obstruction.

He saw Wang Ruyi holding a large net bag and removing insects with the people. His eyebrows were tightly knitted, his lips were tightly pursed, and he looked like he was working hard with all his strength, revealing a bit of pure sincerity. Seeing this, Li Changxiao chuckled. He helped Dayu protect such a king, even if he lost the tomb of the God of Dreams, it didn't seem to be too bad.

The emperor's heart, which had suffered so much hardships and trials, could no longer be clouded by desire. If there was a chance, Li Changxiao wanted to take her to see the mountains and rivers of Dayu, and to see the people of Dayu again, from the powerful officials in the court to the beggars begging on the street.

Li Changxiao pulled back his thoughts, bent his fingers, and clamped a locust between his fingers. He looked up and down. The locust was not small, one finger long and four fingers thick, yellow-brown all over, with a faint odor, and its mouthparts could be seen, which were quite sharp.

Such locusts, flying towards people, were enough to scare people to death, not to mention that they appeared in groups. Li Changxiao initially suspected that this locust plague was man-made, but there was no substantial evidence, only speculation.

He suddenly frowned, took out the purple gold bowl from the dream space, and with a thought, he enlarged the bowl body, and then pinched the breeze with his hand to blow more than ten brown locusts into the bowl body for easy observation.

These ten or so locusts were not much different in size, and there was a red spot under their wings, which seemed to be a product of artificial breeding.

At night, after a busy day, the villagers returned to the village to rest. They killed countless locusts. At this rate, it was not impossible to completely kill all the locusts.

Most of the locusts killed were set on fire to prevent the breeding of poisonous gas. Wang Ruyi thought silently in her heart that starting tomorrow, she could not only kill the insects. She needed to bring a group of people to look for the source of the locusts. Only by eliminating the eggs can it be considered a complete solution.

Li Changxiao returned late at night and found the village chief's house and asked him about the locust plague. He asked the village chief whether this locust plague had ever happened before, how many times, and how long it was apart.

The village chief told Li Changxiao that this was the first time a locust plague had occurred in Tianyu Village, but in the villages farther away, there had been several locust plagues a long time ago. Those villages had long ago invited Sanchongdi back to the village and offered sacrifices day and night, which was indeed effective. The locust plagues had obviously decreased a lot, but even so, there were still locusts harassing from time to time.

The village chief of Tianyu Village was not very clear about the more specific details, but since Li Changxiao asked and wanted to know more clearly, he could ask someone to take Li Changxiao to those villages to ask the village chiefs there in person.