Starting from the imperial palace guards, his clones spread all over the world

#262 - Plague of locusts

A swarm of locusts blotted out the sky, whistling as they came.

Liang Jin and the others could only return to the dilapidated temple, blocking the doors and windows to prevent too many locusts from flying inside.

Everyone sat around the bonfire, their expressions grave.

After the previous severe drought, Liang Jin had been worried that the sudden heavy rain would catalyze the hatching of locust eggs.

Now it seemed his fears had come true.

With the locust plague upon them, the famine would likely become even more severe.

Can locusts be eaten?

Of course, they can.

But there's still a big difference.

The locusts that people ate in Liang Jin's previous life were basically artificially farmed, harmless, and high in protein.

But the locusts in a locust plague all carry a certain amount of toxicity.

Healthy people can eat them without issue.

But if those starving and dying disaster victims ate them, it could lead to vomiting and diarrhea, making their bodies weaker and causing them to die even faster.

However, in situations where food is scarce, even slightly toxic locusts can indeed serve as food.

In Liang Jin's previous life, during the Tang Dynasty, the capital suffered a severe drought, and a locust plague arose.

Emperor Taizong of Tang at the time, in order to alleviate the famine, called on the people to eat locusts and even took the lead by eating one himself.

But relying solely on eating locusts was just a drop in the bucket for the disaster.

Locusts can fly and have extremely strong mobility, capable of migrating thousands of kilometers.

They stay for a short time, and when they have eaten all the surrounding plants, they fly away.

And the people of this world have limited means of catching locusts, let alone long-term storage methods.

So even if the disaster victims can eat locusts for a few days, they still face a longer period of hunger afterward.

Especially after this rain, plants are growing new buds.

But once the locusts pass, all the new buds will be completely devoured.

This kind of destruction is long-term and will lead to a longer-lasting famine.

And more people will starve to death.

Everyone present understood this principle.

They couldn't help but sit by the fire, silent and speechless.

Outside, swarms of locusts flew past, constantly hitting the doors and windows, making a rustling sound.

Some locusts crawled into the dilapidated temple through the cracks, flying back and forth, and Xiao Liu waved his palms, constantly slapping these locusts to death.

They deeply hated locusts.

After a long while.

Lei Zhen suddenly asked:

"Brother, do you have any plans?"

And seeing the disaster here so severe, with starving people everywhere.

He didn't mind lending a hand to the starving people wherever he went.

Hearing Liang Jin's answer, Lei Zhen's eyes lit up.

He clasped his fist and said:

"Brother has such great righteousness, I will definitely help you with my life!"

Xiao Liu, who was on the side, immediately made the same guarantee upon hearing this.

Now that the famine was going to be more severe, facing such a disaster, the people had only two options.

First, wait for the imperial court to provide disaster relief.

But it's been more than two years, and if the imperial court had the ability to provide disaster relief, they would have done it long ago, and so many people wouldn't have starved to death.

Then they can only choose the second method, to take action and rob!

Lei Zhen had previously called on a group of Green Forest heroes to rob official grain to help the starving people.

Now that Liang Jin was willing to do this kind of thing, it couldn't be better for him.

Immediately, Lei Zhen excitedly said:

"I know many places where a lot of grain is hoarded."

"Those were originally allocated by the imperial court for disaster relief, but as soon as the grain was transported into Chang Prefecture, it was divided up by those corrupt officials."

"After they got the grain, they sold it at dozens of times the price, making a fortune."

"We are acting on behalf of heaven to rob their grain!"

Lei Zhen now couldn't wait to start acting immediately.

Liang Jin waved his hand to signal Lei Zhen not to be excited:

"Second Brother, now the locusts are flying all over the sky, there's no rush."

"Why not wait…"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly noticed something.

"Pa!"

A figure suddenly jumped up, trying to escape out of the house.

It was that little girl!

She had actually woken up too!

And the rope on her body had been secretly worn away by her sharp nails.

Seeing this, Liang Jin snorted coldly, and with a wave of his hand, a vast internal force immediately arose.

The little girl had just rushed to the window when she was immediately swept back by the powerful internal force.

She still wanted to struggle.

Liang Jin had already grabbed her neck and pressed her to the ground:

"Are you still not afraid of being beaten?"

Seeing this, the little girl was so frightened that she kept whimpering and turned her belly up, indicating fear and submission.

When dogs live together and interact with their own kind, turning their belly up often indicates fear and submission, indicating that they are not a threat.

This little girl lived with that group of wild dogs and only knew how to express herself in the way of wild dogs.

Before, in the 【Nine Empty No Boundary】, the little girl was constantly beaten by Liang Jin and had already been subdued.

Her IQ was already close to that of a dog, causing her to not be able to distinguish between reality and illusion.

In her opinion, everything that happened in the 【Nine Empty No Boundary】 was real.

Seeing this, Lei Zhen was surprised:

"Brother, this child is…"

Liang Jin could only tell Lei Zhen what had happened to this little girl.

Lei Zhen was greatly moved after listening.

He didn't expect this world to turn people into beasts.

But at the same time, Lei Zhen expressed his admiration for Liang Jin's willingness to bring this little girl back to the right path.

But then, Lei Zhen suddenly asked:

"Brother, your martial arts are relatively high, I want to ask…"

"Have you ever encountered a situation where you went into Qi Deviation?"

"After going into Qi Deviation, will there be many hallucinations?"

Following that, Lei Zhen told Liang Jin about his experiences in the [Nine Empty Realms].

Xiao Liu listened from the side, clicking his tongue in amazement.

But he seemed to have thought of something, and couldn't help but glance at the mountain god statue, then at Li Hu and his group.

In the end, however, Xiao Liu said nothing, simply listening quietly.

Liang Jin then replied:

"While Qi Deviation can also cause hallucinations, it is usually accompanied by symptoms such as chaotic Qi flow and damaged meridians."

"From what I see, your body is healthy, Second Brother, so it's probably not Qi Deviation."

"But listening to you, this might not be a bad thing; perhaps you'll have another opportunity."

"After all, the talk of ghosts and gods, while ethereal and uncertain, who can be sure if it's definitely true or definitely false?"

Hearing this, Lei Zhen's doubts remained unresolved, but he felt there was some truth to it.

Afterward, he stood up again and knelt before the mountain god statue, not knowing what he was praying for.

Liang Jin secretly chuckled.

However, now that he had become sworn brothers with Lei Zhen, he could also teach him the 《Great Demon Subduing Fist》.

Immediately.

Liang Jin once again pulled Lei Zhen and the little girl into the [Nine Empty Realms].

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… …

Nine Empty Realms.

Liang Jin and Lei Zhen met again in the same place.

Lei Zhen looked at the blurry figure in front of him and couldn't help but exclaim:

"How did I return here again?"

"Senior, could it be that you really are… a ghost?"

He looked around in surprise, feeling as if everything was both real and illusory.

Liang Jin replied calmly:

"I promised you that I would teach you the 《Great Demon Subduing Fist》."

"Listen carefully…"

Following that, Liang Jin began to explain the profound meaning of the 《Great Demon Subduing Fist》.

Lei Zhen did not dare to be negligent, quickly calming his mind and focusing, listening carefully.

After a while.

Liang Jin had finished teaching, and he continued:

"The fist technique has already been taught to you, but your matter here is not yet over."

Speaking to this point, Liang Jin pointed to the distance.

Only to see the clouds disperse.

Revealing a blood-red sky, a vast and desolate land, and a black and ferocious city in the distance.

Liang Jin said in a deep voice:

"That place is the City of the Wrongfully Dead."

"A wicked ghost wearing a metal skull mask is wreaking havoc in the city, oppressing the kind and wronged souls."

"Go and defeat it, and there will be another opportunity."

After saying that, Liang Jin transformed into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared.

Looking at this scene, Lei Zhen became even more certain that this blurry figure was probably a ghost.

But he was no longer afraid now.

Since he could really learn this exquisite fist technique, then he couldn't let down this ghost's last wish.

"City of the Wrongfully Dead… wicked ghost…"

Lei Zhen immediately took a step and headed towards the City of the Wrongfully Dead.

In the mortal realm, he helped the common people.

In the underworld, he didn't mind helping the hundred ghosts either.

… …

On the other side.

Liang Jin was already in another instance, continuing to train the little girl.

Of course, he could see that although the little girl outwardly expressed fear and submission, she still didn't trust Liang Jin.

Once she found an opportunity, the little girl would continue to run away, returning to the wild dog pack.

And wanting to correct a human who had already turned feral was a very time-consuming and lengthy process.

Liang Jin didn't have that much time in the real world.

So he could only slowly train and correct her in this [Nine Empty Realms].

Time slowly passed.

Lei Zhen was naturally quickly defeated by the combat puppet, Desolate Walker.

But Liang Jin was worried that Lei Zhen in reality would once again become mentally exhausted and pass out, so he directly kicked him out of the [Nine Empty Realms].

… …

In reality.

Lei Zhen stood up in surprise.

Liang Jin and Xiao Liu raised their heads, looking at him in confusion.

Lei Zhen calmed down before exclaiming:

"Big Brother, Third Brother, you might not believe me."

"Just now, I went to the City of the Wrongfully Dead in the underworld!"

"I even saw a wicked ghost; he was very powerful!"

"And that senior ghost I saw before really passed down that set of fist techniques to me!"

Lei Zhen was too surprised, so much so that his words were a bit jumbled.

Liang Jin and Xiao Liu exchanged glances.

Then Liang Jin smiled and said:

"Since you were able to receive the fist technique, that's naturally a good thing."

"Second Brother, quickly sit down and properly digest and consolidate the profound meaning of the fist technique that was passed down to you, and see if it's really true."

"Don't be so flustered, or you might forget it again later."

Hearing this, Lei Zhen felt that Liang Jin was right.

He quickly sat down cross-legged and began to slowly digest and consolidate.

And beside Liang Jin.

The little girl looked around with a somewhat confused expression.

She had just come out of the [Nine Empty Realms], and was obviously still not used to it.

But this time, Liang Jin's training and correction of her was effective.

The little girl had always been afraid to approach the fire, being particularly fearful of fire.

But now, she already dared to curl up by the fire to keep warm, and had also gradually quieted down, no longer constantly wanting to escape.

Liang Jin then looked at Xiao Liu:

"Third Brother, I see that you practice Yellow-Rank martial arts, right?"

Xiao Liu quickly replied:

"Big Brother, I've never had the chance to obtain good martial arts manuals…"

He looked ashamed, knowing that his martial arts were low and his abilities were poor.

Liang Jin, however, said:

"It doesn't matter; since we've become sworn brothers, I, as the Big Brother, should give you a little gift."

"I heard from others that your nickname in the pugilistic world is 'Blood Sword Lone Wolf,' which means you're good at using swords?"

"I have a Profound-Rank sword technique here, the 《Great Sumeru Sword Style》, which I'll just pass down to you."