mtl008 Chapter 1220 Mountain of Corpses
Chapter 1220 Mountain of Corpses
As the sun rises higher, the world eventually returns to peace.
The valley was deathly silent; the flapping of locusts' wings and the sounds of them gnawing were no more.
The people looked at each other, their faces still frozen in tension, their eyes filled with bewilderment and disbelief.
Some people subconsciously raised their hands to wipe off the insect powder stuck to their faces, only to find their fingers trembling the moment their fingertips touched their skin.
"Is it... over?" someone asked in a trembling, hoarse voice.
No one answered; everyone instinctively looked at Shen Zheng.
"It's over." Shen Zheng's voice was soft, yet it clearly pierced the silence at the valley entrance: "We succeeded."
"We...succeeded?" someone repeated.
The next moment, there were no cheers as expected, no earth-shattering shouts, only extremely suppressed sobs.
"We succeeded..."
Some people covered their faces and squatted down, some people's shoulders trembled violently, and some people bit their lips tightly, but they could not stop the tears from flowing.
The cries spread like a tide through the crowd.
Their fields, their land, their homes...
They didn't give an inch.
They held their ground.
"I was so scared..." Jiang Zhiming collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down his face, repeatedly muttering, "I was really scared to death..."
Almost, just a little bit.
If he hadn't gone to Liuyang Prefecture first.
If he hadn't been able to invite Lord Shen...
The consequences could be disastrous.
The consequences would be unimaginable.
"Lord Shen!" Jiang Zhiming scrambled halfway on the ground, his eyes gleaming through the tears as he precisely located the corner of Shen Zheng's robe.
"You are my benefactor, and a great benefactor to all the people of Fuzhou!"
"Bang bang bang-"
Jiang Zhiming kowtowed three times without hesitation.
The people also realized what was happening.
At this moment, two kilograms of high-yield rice seeds seem less important.
Most importantly, they are heroes of Wangyue County, heroes of Fuzhou Prefecture, and even... heroes of the entire Great Zhou!
They followed Lord Shen and protected the land beneath their feet.
They annihilated the entire locust army—the very locusts that were so detestable and repulsive to look at—in this Locust-Locking Valley!
They don't know, nor do they care, whether anyone will follow suit after what they did today.
All they knew was that this battle was unprecedented!
They accomplished something that was almost impossible!
"Master Shen!"
Someone shouted first, and in the next instant, everyone knelt down before Shen Zheng.
"Thank you, Lord Shen, for protecting my family and my land!"
"Thank you, Lord Shen, for protecting Wangyue Village and Fuzhou Prefecture!"
"Thank you, Master Shen!"
"Thank you, Lord Shen..."
The cries and sobs of the people echoed through the valley, more heart-wrenching than the chirping of insects earlier.
Shen Zheng looked at the group of kneeling figures in front of her, and her vision blurred.
Actually, she was terrified too.
No one is born a hero.
When she witnessed the overwhelming swarm of insects, her legs went weak with fear and her palms were constantly sweating.
She is afraid.
She was afraid of being caught too late.
She was afraid of being too late to light her cigarette.
She was afraid there wasn't enough lime.
She feared that a single wrong decision would lead to total defeat, she feared seeing the disappointment in the people's eyes, and she feared even more the devastation of the land.
She secretly bit her tongue and pinched her thigh, using the persistent pain to remind herself—it's okay to be afraid, but don't panic.
Now, she has done it.
Luck was ultimately on her side.
"Get up...all of you." A tear slid down Shen Zheng's cheek.
Unable to utter any sentimental words, she could only ask them in a muffled voice, "Would you like to see the valley?"
The people paused for a moment, then shouted in a deafening voice, "Yes!"
They wanted to see the corpses of those beasts with their own eyes; they wanted to personally confirm that this nightmare was truly over.
Shen Zheng raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes and took the lead in walking towards the valley entrance: "Come on, let's all go and take a look."
The dense net was still hanging above the valley entrance. Jiang Zhiming, disregarding the dirt on his hands, cupped his hands together like a megaphone and shouted towards the valley top, "Pull up the net! Pull it up!"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a commotion at the top of the valley.
As the young men at the top of the valley shouted in unison, the bottom of the dense net slowly lifted half an inch off the ground.
Just as everyone was staring intently at the dense net, Yu Nanshu's voice suddenly rang out from the top of the valley: "Sister Shen, you and everyone else should retreat at least thirty steps!"
Retreat thirty steps?
Shen Zheng looked at the dense net bulging outwards and immediately understood. She then led everyone to retreat to the rear.
"What... what does this mean?" Jiang Zhiming's heart, which had just calmed down, became chaotic again. While retreating with Shen Zheng, he asked anxiously, "Lord Shen, is it... is it that the locusts are not all dead and want to launch a counterattack?"
Shen Zheng shook her head, but before she could answer, Xin Ji interrupted her, saying, "Lord Jiang, it seems the floodwaters are about to be released."
After saying that, Xin Ji leaned closer to Jiang Zhiming and whispered, "Once that net is pulled up, the locusts piled up at the mouth of the valley will swarm towards us with a 'whoosh.' If you stand close enough, you might even be knocked to the ground by the swarm. Do you want to go and try it?"
try?
Just thinking about it made Jiang Zhiming's scalp tingle.
"No, thank you..." Jiang Zhiming obediently retreated behind Shen Zheng.
The dense net slowly rose.
As the dense net rises an inch, the number of insect corpses that people see becomes an inch thick.
As the dense net rose two inches, the thickness of the insect corpses increased by another inch.
Three inches...
Four inches...
Ten inches.
Ten inches make one foot.
When the dense net rose a foot high, all that came into view was still a dense mass of insect corpses.
Jiang Zhiming swallowed hard, then couldn't help but shrink closer to Shen Zheng. "Lord Shen, our legs are almost bent over..."
Shen Zheng stared intently at the net, her fingers unconsciously clenching: "That's not all."
The dense netting is still slowly rising.
Two feet...
Three feet...
The insect corpses were still densely packed, and the anticipation in everyone's hearts gradually turned into fear.
Suddenly, as the dense net rose to about four feet off the ground, the net surface suddenly trembled violently. Immediately afterwards, the pile of insect corpses that had been firmly held by the net suddenly lost its support.
"Wow——!"
The sound of the mountain of corpses collapsing wasn't loud, but the visual impact was enough to send chills down everyone's spine.
The insect corpses, having lost their support, poured out of the valley like a breached dam. They were no longer scattered individuals, but rather condensed into a dark brown "corpse stream".
The acrid smell in the air suddenly intensified, causing everyone to cough involuntarily.
As they coughed, someone suddenly started gagging.
"vomit--"
"Ugh—ugh—"
"nausea......"
"That's disgusting..."
It was as if taking another look or smelling it would be a punishment from heaven.