Patting the two dazed men and kicking awake the cart driver who had buried his head in the dirt like an ostrich, Yun Ye shouted loudly to continue the journey.
Sun Simiao sprinkled a pinch of yellow powder from his hand into the medicine basket. In an instant, the locusts inside the basket stopped moving. He sighed and said, “They’re all medicinal ingredients—don’t waste them.” After speaking, he shouldered his basket and followed Yun Ye toward Chang’an.
Liu Xian suddenly let out a great roar that startled countless locusts. The treasured sword at his waist rang out as it left its sheath, sweeping through the air around him with a dense curtain of blade light. Countless locusts were sliced in two and fell to the ground. The cart driver lifted his foot and stomped down viciously. The densely packed locusts tangled together beneath his foot instantly turned into puddles of green flesh.
Watching the three men’s futile actions, Yun Ye shook his head. He drove away the locusts from a nearby tree and broke off a branch. The leaves had long been eaten away, leaving only the branch itself, thin and dense like a broom.
He stopped Liu Xian’s frenzied behavior and stuffed the branch into his hand, indicating that this tool killed locusts faster than a sword.
Liu Xian seemed somewhat dazed. His gums bled, staining his teeth red. Combined with that fierce face, his mouth opening and closing made him look like a man-eating demon from hell.
The cart driver desperately used tree branches to hunt down locusts, as if proving he wasn’t a coward.
Old Sun dusted off his sleeves and took the lead, striding forward with great strides, trampling the locusts covering the ground.
Passing by a village, they found no one exterminating locusts. There were only rows of incense tables laid out, topped with various pastries and the three sacrificial animals including a pig’s head. A ground full of people knelt densely. The elderly gentleman leading them had a trembling yet devout voice. A “Memorial to the Locust God” he had written was genuinely moving. The fresh blood on his forehead showed that the old scholar had used the most devout ceremony.
But this did not hinder the locusts throughout the village from feasting on the crops. Some even jumped onto the offering table and began gnawing at the unripe fruits among the offerings.
Yun Ye’s stomach was somewhat hungry. Having run for half the day without eating a single bite, he ignored the villagers kneeling on the ground. In a few steps, he reached the offering table and grabbed a flaky pastry from it, taking a beautiful bite. Not bad, not bad—oily but not greasy, with a faint osmanthus fragrance.
“Daoist Sun, the pastries here are really quite good. You should come try some too.” Yun Ye loudly called his companions to enjoy the delicacies.
Old Sun was not polite at all. First, he grabbed the wine pot and poured it down his throat, then tore off a piece of roasted pork and chewed heartily, his mouth smacking loudly.
Liu Xian laughed loudly as he lifted the pig’s head, found a good spot to bite, opened his bloody maw wide, and buried his head in the pig’s head without coming back up. The cart driver timidly grabbed a sour fruit and took a bite, making him grimace from the sourness.
The old scholar’s eyes nearly popped out. He pointed at the several of them, trembling all over, unable to speak. A man in blue clothing jumped up, about to curse loudly, but Liu Xian—still gnawing on the pig’s head—kicked him into the crowd with one foot.
“How dare you! Who are you people to show such disrespect to the Locust God?” The old fellow finally managed a complete sentence.
Yun Ye nudged Old Sun. This was the time for the old man to step forward.
“This old man is Sun Simiao. Today while gathering medicine, I passed through your esteemed village and saw fine food and wine. Unable to restrain myself for a moment, my eating manner was rather unseemly. Please forgive me, forgive me.”
A person’s reputation is like a tree’s shadow! Old Sun’s words left the villagers speechless. The Medicine King’s name wasn’t given for nothing—in the villagers’ hearts, he was no different from an immortal.
Immediately, villagers who had seen Old Sun before came forward to kowtow, saying they were grateful that the Divine Physician Sun had saved their elderly mother last time.
“You’re all living people. Instead of going to the fields to catch locusts, how can you drive the locusts away by kneeling and kowtowing?” Sun Simiao asked the villagers.
The old scholar from before stepped forward to speak: “Master Sun, you are an enlightened sage of the Way. How can you also show such disrespect to the divine spirits? You must know that the emperor of the mortal world has failed to cultivate virtue, so Heaven has sent down punishment. We should pray for forgiveness from the heavens above. How dare we kill recklessly?”
“This old man has used locusts in medicine throughout his lifetime and has killed countless numbers. Now I have an even bigger appetite and can easily live another seventy or eighty years. How is it that I’ve never encountered any damned Locust God bringing calamity? The person beside me is the famous Marquis of Lantian, who loves eating locusts most in his life. I’ve heard he has eaten countless locusts as well. How is it that at such a young age he was enfeoffed as a marquis and made prime minister, without the Locust God bringing disaster? That general over there just now killed innumerable locusts, yet now he’s light as a swallow and strong as an ox? Even the cart driver has trampled many to death, and isn’t he perfectly fine now? You see! That Locust God is just a creature that bullies the weak and fears the strong. If you’re tough, he becomes soft. You’ve kowtowed for so long—has even one locust decreased? Old brother, you’ve kowtowed until your head bled, which cannot be called anything but devout. Was it useful? Since it’s useless, let this food and wine enter the bellies of us old men. We’ll gather some strength to kill a few more locusts and save a few more grains of food, so that one disaster victim can live one more day.”
Well said! Yun Ye praised in his heart. Although Sun had described him as someone with unusual eating habits, considering how hard Old Sun was working, he would forgive him.
“But…” The old scholar had just taken a step forward to speak when he heard a crunching sound beneath his foot—two locusts tangled together in oblivious mating had met their end.
His face flushed red, unable to speak. He himself had become a killer.
“Ninth Uncle, which child in our village hasn’t caught locusts to play with? Even when I was small, I tormented plenty of them. I’ve never seen anything wrong happen. We should still listen to the Divine Physician Sun and catch all the locusts in the fields clean. I’ve heard the government office pays one copper coin for three catties. Which household won’t catch a hundred catties or more in a day? We can exchange them for copper coins to buy grain—that’s better than starving to death.”
“Insightful!” Yun Ye raised his thumb and praised loudly. “I am the master of the Yun Family estate. My family purchases locusts in large quantities. You needn’t rush to deliver them. Take the caught locusts, drown them, then dry them into preserved goods. Deliver them to my home and I’ll exchange them for grain. Fair dealing with young and old alike.”
Without waiting for Ninth Uncle to speak, the people of the village dispersed in a hubbub, calling to their children, some tying up bags, some binding nets, each busying themselves.
Liu Xian moved his head away from the pig’s head and said to Yun Ye: “When I saw the locusts flying over, I had already fallen into despair. Now I feel there’s still hope.” His appearance was unseemly, but his tone was exceptionally sincere.
“I have no divine powers—I’m just an ordinary person who happens to know more. The men of Guanzhong have never lacked hot-blooded heroes. Since ancient times, Guanzhong has produced mighty armies. The First Emperor of Qin relied on them to conquer and pacify the six states. Our dynasty also relied on them to rebuild order in chaotic times. His Majesty will rely on them even more to sweep away the barbarians on all sides, letting our Great Tang dominate under heaven with all nations coming to pay tribute. Would such men be cowering, submissive types? When rage rises to their heads, they would hate heaven for having no handle to grasp, and hate earth for having no ring to hold. Seeing locusts so thoroughly ruining the grain they worked so hard to grow, their hearts have long accumulated fury. I merely let them vent it. Before such rage, even if there really were a Locust God, he would retreat three measures and not dare face their sharp edge.”
The villagers surged out of the village, rushing toward their own fields. Even the elderly Ninth Uncle grabbed a tattered fishing net and shouted that he would exterminate all the locusts.
“Is this the power of rage?” Liu Xian asked himself.