Chapter 38: The Second Year of Zhenguan, Dragons and Worms

Above the parched fields, a swarm of locusts danced. The incessant buzzing of their wings filled the air, stirring an inexplicable irritability in the ears of all who heard it.

These were no ordinary locusts; they were spawned from the mutation of spiritual veins. Not only was their fertility rate far beyond that of common insects, but they were also vicious enough to feast upon human flesh. Whenever the ominous hum drew near, the farmers would hurriedly abandon their work to hide, lest they be bitten to the bone by the savage pests.

With a rustling sound, the rice stalks were parted, and several Tang soldiers emerged from the field. The leader, holding an iron cage about a foot in size, presented it before Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, we have thoroughly inspected the swarms and captured a few of these strange creatures. Please, Your Majesty, take a look."

Li Shimin lowered his gaze. The iron cage was covered with fine gauze; through the mesh, several locusts could be seen fluttering their wings. Among them, the most striking was the one at the center.

A common locust is at most the size of a thumb, but this giant specimen in the cage was nearly a palm long. A faint, uncanny luster flickered in its eyes as it struggled back and forth, causing the iron cage to rattle with its violent movements.

Li Shimin stared at the giant locust, pondered for a moment, and turned to the official in robes standing behind him. "Minister Wei, what manner of creature is this?"

Wei Zheng, standing to the side, stepped forward. He took the cage and studied it for a moment, his expression darkening.

"This is the Locust King of the fields, a malevolent entity birthed by heaven and earth. I fear it is the source of the plague in this region."

Li Shimin asked, "What if we slay it?"

"Humans possess the aura of the Emperor, and locusts possess the king-aura of their kind. Even if you kill this one, the king-aura will not perish; it will simply choose a new master among the swarm, and a new Locust King will be reborn."

His tone was heavy, yet Li Shimin remained unmoved. Once he heard the explanation, he flipped the cage open. Without a moment's hesitation, he reached inside and grasped the Locust King along with several smaller insects.

"I am the master of the people; how can I allow these calamitous insects to wreak havoc? If there is a King, then today, I shall use my own royal aura to suppress its fate."

He stared at the Locust King in his hand. "The people rely on rice for their lives, yet you consume it. You might as well consume my own vitals."

The surrounding officials, hearing his words, immediately realized his intent and fell to their knees in unison.

"Your Majesty, you must not!" Even Wei Zheng looked anxious. "This is an evil creature of heaven and earth. Even with your dragon constitution, consuming it will surely bring on a grave illness!"

"I suffer for my people; what illness is there to fear?"

With those words, he raised his hand and tilted his head back, swallowing the Locust King and the smaller insects whole, amidst the panicked cries of his ministers.

***

This scene did not escape the eyes of two cultivators standing at the edge of the fields, both of whom wore expressions of astonishment.

"To suppress the calamitous aura of evil locusts with one's own dragon aura... to think such a hero exists among mortals. He is truly worthy of the title of Emperor."

Ye Qiansheng let out a long sigh. Beside her, Zhou Wuqing looked at the scene from afar, his expression one of surprise.

Having walked the mortal realm for hundreds of years, he had seen countless emperors. Many were indulgent or extravagant, and the occasional wise ruler was often merely putting on a facade. He had always believed that all emperors were cut from the same cloth; this was the first time he had seen a monarch act in such a manner.

*I suffer for my people; what illness is there to fear...*

He watched as the group dealt with the aftermath of the commotion. In the blink of an eye, Ye Qiansheng had already produced a flying talisman, her fingers dancing as she wrote upon it.

"The Emperor has swallowed the evil locusts and used his dragon aura to suppress the disaster. While it may not cost him his life, bearing the malevolent energy of such a vast swarm may yet leave him gravely ill."

Ye Qiansheng surveyed the parched earth below. "I am sending word to the Immortal Alliance, urging the sect to dispatch elites to set up an array to exterminate the locusts, and to have water-attuned cultivators bring rain..."

"By the time they arrive from the Alliance and finish setting up the array, it will be far too late."

Before she could finish, Zhou Wuqing said, "Just have the rain-bringers come. As for these vermin, I alone can suppress them."

A flash of fire erupted, a powerful gale whipped up his robes, and he leaped into the air, stepping onto the clouds. In a few short breaths, he reached the green mountains at the edge of the fields.

Standing upon the mountain peak, Zhou Wuqing gazed at the locust swarm that blotted out the sky. He raised a hand, and as a flicker of spiritual light crossed his palm, a longbow appeared out of thin air.

He held the bow before him, nocked no arrow, but pulled the string back with three fingers, aiming toward the heavens.

The calm breeze suddenly began to surge. His fingers drew a line of fierce, blazing light as the string was pulled; flames spread between the bow and the string, coalescing within breaths into a long arrow of searing fire.

If anyone had been watching from below, they would have seen a dazzling, blinding star light up the sky. Vast, ocean-like spiritual power was continuously condensed within it; the heat was so intense it caused the surrounding air to distort.

At the moment the star's brilliance reached its zenith, his fingers released the string. The blazing star shot out, straight into the clouds.

A thunderous explosion rang out. Li Shimin, standing on the field ridge, suddenly looked back to see fire flashing across the clouds, casting down sparks like a fine rain.

As the fiery rain fell among the swarm, the evil insects across the vast fields began to ignite, turning into ash that scattered over the land. The commoners, unaware of the cause, believed it to be a divine manifestation of heaven's might. They knelt on the ground one after another, bowing repeatedly toward the firelight in the sky.

***

"Such a celestial phenomenon... it must be that the heavens have eyes, and seeing the Emperor's sacrifice, have bestowed a blessing to suppress the disaster."

The ministers on either side bowed in praise. But the Emperor before them remained unmoved, gazing into the distance toward the mountain peak where the star had risen, his eyes filled with contemplation.

...

[(The Second Year of Zhenguan) A drought and famine struck the Guannei region; the people sold their children to obtain food and clothing. On the day of Jisi, the Emperor issued an edict to take gold and silk from the Imperial Treasury to redeem them and return them to their parents.]

[Locusts appeared in the capital region. On the day of Xinmao, the Emperor entered the garden, saw the locusts, picked up several, and prayed: "The people rely on grain for their lives, yet you consume it; you might as well consume my own vitals." He raised his hand to swallow them. His attendants warned, "This is an evil thing; it may cause illness." The Emperor replied, "I suffer for my people; what illness is there to fear!" He then swallowed them. That year, the locusts did not cause a disaster.]

— *Zizhi Tongjian, Annals of Tang, Book 8*

Qin Jiajia flipped through the pages of the text, reading word by word, imagining the extraordinary undercurrents hidden behind those lines of record.

According to her superior, a thorough study of historical records and the ability to draw connections were part of the new staff training. It was meant to cultivate a "cultivator's mindset" in specialists, so that in future work, they could instantly associate similar historical records with their corresponding supernatural interpretations.

As she flipped through the book, she occasionally glanced at the portrait soaking in the water tank. The figure in the painting remained as ethereal as before, floating in the water as if submerged in a long river of time, adding a sense of nothingness to the image.

In the office at this moment, she was the only one looking at the painting. Other researchers were busy with their own projects, and most attention was focused on the table where the "Yuan Tiangang" artifacts were displayed.

Although she didn't know the full details, through these days of observation, she could clearly feel that the name "Yuan Tiangang" was held in extremely high regard within the Supernatural Research Institute—or rather, within China's entire supernatural system. Any artifact associated with him was practically gold-plated.

"Little Qin, come give me a hand."

While she was lost in thought, Cheng Xiaomeng's voice rang in her ears. "It has been confirmed that that artifact is indeed related to Yuan Tiangang. Drop what you're doing and compile these reports into a single document, then fax it to the address on this business card."

Qin Jiajia answered and took the stack of materials from her. Printed on the top business card was an address and the name of the unit: *Heavenly Observation and Secret Inspection Bureau*.

"This is..."

"Like the Sanitation Bureau, they are our partner unit, but their scope of management is a bit more... special. It's complicated to explain; I'll tell you later."

Cheng Xiaomeng added, "For now, you only need to know one thing... the reason everything related to Yuan Tiangang is so valuable is precisely because of their existence."