Chapter 320: The Swallow Displays Its Power

Cries of despair filled the roads, and sorrowful faces were everywhere.

The Daoist passed through the fields, entering the town to inquire with the local officials about the situation. The officials had come up with some measures and were organizing a response. However, their efforts were sufficient only for smaller disasters; in the face of a catastrophe of this scale, they were powerless.

To the officials and wealthy residents, this might feel like a flood, a drought, or an earthquake—disastrous, but manageable enough to warrant a sigh. For the poorest commoners, however, natural calamities like these left them utterly helpless. They could do little but weep, wail, and endure silently until they no longer had the strength to cry.

One could easily imagine that after the locust plague, unless the government provided disaster relief, the land would be littered with corpses from starvation, and resentment would run rampant.

North of Jiyan County’s town, the locust plague was at its worst. The Daoist, having entered the town from the south, made his way through it and continued north toward the areas most severely affected.

The jingling of the horse’s bells accompanied their journey.

By this time, it was afternoon.

Lady Calico was nestled inside a saddlebag on the horse’s back, swaying gently with the rhythm of its steps. She poked her head out and looked ahead.

Suddenly, a locust flew toward her.

Swish!

Lady Calico’s paw darted out like lightning, snatching the locust with precision. She held it up to inspect, then looked around for the swallow. Not seeing it, she casually opened her paw and let the insect go.

Thwap…

Another locust landed on the Daoist’s shoulder.

The swallow suddenly swooped in from behind, tracing a smooth arc through the air. It flew close to the Daoist, brushed past his shoulder, and when it flew off, the locust was gone.

Lady Calico turned her head, following the swallow’s path with her amber-like eyes.

In those eyes was the reflection of a murky sky filled with windblown dust and countless locusts. The nearer ones were visible in detail, while the distant swarms blurred into the gloom. The sky itself seemed dimmer under their sheer numbers.

Suddenly, the Daoist stopped in his tracks.

The jujube-red horse responded immediately, halting on the spot.

The jingling of the horse’s bell came to an abrupt pause.

In the fields ahead, they saw a figure—stooped, carrying a ragged cloth, tirelessly swatting at the locusts that filled the air and covered the ground.

In the dim, overcast landscape, the figure seemed relentless, as though engaged in a battle against the entire world.

The Daoist stood quietly by the roadside, turning his head to observe.

After a moment, the Daoist glanced around, spotted a small path leading into the fields, and began walking toward it.

The jujube-red horse followed close behind.

The fields were swarming with locusts, densely packed, while countless others fluttered in the air above. The sound of their wings beating was a constant, droning hum. Ř𝙖ŊÔВĘṣ

“Buzz, buzz, buzz...”

An old man stood in the midst of it all, wielding a tattered cloth and swatting at the locusts incessantly.

As the Daoist drew closer, it became clear that the old man wasn’t tireless. He was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily, utterly exhausted, and unable to speak from the strain. Yet he kept going, repeating the same motions over and over.

The cloth he wielded could indeed knock down clusters of locusts. A slap of his hand could catch some, and a stomp of his foot could crush others.

But with the sky and ground teeming with locusts, how could one man with a cloth hope to make a difference?

The constant hum of locust wings and the sound of the cloth slapping them filled the air, a chaotic and deafening noise. It wasn’t until the jingling of the horse’s bell grew near that the old man noticed the presence of others. He paused for a moment, resting his hands on his hips, panting heavily as he turned to look.

He saw a young man in a worn Daoist robe, accompanied by a jujube-red horse. This man and his horse weren’t on the main road but had instead ventured into the fields to approach him.

Taking a closer look, he noticed that the horse carried a pack, and within the pack was a calico cat. Amid the swarm of locusts, the Daoist stood calmly on the ridge of the field, watching him, while the cat poked its head out of the saddlebag to stare at him as well.

At that moment, a bird descended from the sky and landed on the horse’s back. It appeared to be a swallow, and it, too, fixed its gaze on the old man.

The locusts were as numerous as grains of sand swept by the wind, and this group of travelers was equally unusual.

Seeing this strange sight, the old man froze, momentarily at a loss for words.

The young Daoist addressed the old man with a question, “Old sir, with all these locusts, how long do you think it will take to finish swatting them away?”

The old man paused, then shook his head and replied, “What else can I do...”

“I heard the government is capturing locusts up north. Has it been effective?”

“Somewhat...” the old man answered, but he couldn’t help letting out a sigh.

Song You listened and seemed to grasp the situation. He asked again, “May I ask, old sir, when did these locusts first appear?”

“They’ve been around for a while. They started up north. Once they’d eaten all the crops there, they flew down here to us.”

“They say it’s caused by demons. Is that true?”

“With this many locusts, if it’s not demons, it must be the locust god. What else could it be?”

“Does this happen every year?”

“These bugs come every year, and every year they bring trouble. Is there a year we’ve escaped their torment? We farmers work hard all year, and in the end, we’re left with whatever they decide not to eat,” the old man said with a sigh. “Still, even though they show up every year, they usually leave a bit behind. But this year, they’ve eaten everything. It’s a full-blown disaster. It’s as if we’ve been cursed...”

“I see,” Song You murmured.

The old man, feeling his back ache terribly, leaned on his hands to ease the pain and continued the conversation. “And where are you from, sir?”

“I’m from Yizhou, traveling the world.”

“And where are you heading?”

“My original destination was Changjing,” Song You replied. “But when I heard about the demon trouble here, I decided to come take a look.”

Hearing this, he asked, “Sir, are you here to exterminate the demon?”

“I have such intentions,” Song You answered truthfully, “though my abilities are limited. I may not be of much help.”

Hearing this, the old man let out another sigh.

“Ah, some time ago, another demon-slaying gentleman came by—one who wielded a sword. He said he was here to get rid of the demon too. That man was fierce! With just a swing of his sword, he could create powerful gusts of wind that knocked the locusts out of the sky in swathes.

“But the bugs in the sky are simply too many. He worked all day, and while it seemed there were fewer locusts, it also seemed like there weren’t. It didn’t make much of a difference.”

“Oh? And where is this demon-slaying gentleman now?”

“They say he left...”

“I see.”

Standing on the ridge, Song You continued conversing with the old man, asking about the crops planted, the size of the land, how much had been harvested, and how much had been lost. All he heard was the farmer’s endless toil and despair.

Throughout the ages, farmers had always borne the heaviest burdens.

And yet, many who had been away from the fields for too long failed to understand their hardships, some even claiming that crops grew naturally in the fields.

How absurd.

“...”

Song You shook his head and finally said to the old man, “Thank you for sharing, sir. Allow me to lend you a hand.”

With that, he waved his hand, summoning a powerful gust of wind.

The locusts on the ground were swept up by the wind, while those in the air were also caught in the gust. When they fell back to the earth, they were motionless.

Song You cupped his hands in farewell to the old man and returned to the main road.

The sky was filled with swarming locusts.

These locusts had turned a dark yellow hue, a change that occurs only after they begin to swarm. At this stage, they became more excitable, moved in unison, and flew in dense clusters. At their thickest, they crashed into Song You and the jujube-red horse with audible thuds, their impact startlingly forceful.

At first, the cat stuck its head out, spitting fire repeatedly to burn the swarm of locusts in an effort to protect its Daoist and the horse. However, there were simply too many locusts. Exhausted from its efforts with little effect, the cat realized that while the locusts were numerous, they posed no real threat to the Daoist or the horse—they were just a nuisance. Deciding it wasn’t worth the trouble, the cat withdrew its head into the pouch, adopting an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude.

“

Sigh...”

Looking at the locust-infested sky, even the Daoist couldn’t help but frown, a trace of helplessness in his expression.

Both Guangzhou and the neighboring Yuezhou and Yanzhou were hotspots for locust outbreaks. It was said that the area once worshipped a locust deity. However, that deity was a nefarious god rather than a legitimate god.

It was said that he was always restless, causing trouble every year by wreaking havoc on the crops. Even after satisfying his hunger, he would use this as leverage to demand offerings and incense. At that time, the local people dared not catch or kill the locusts; they could only endure in silence.

Over time, the locust deity grew more audacious, demanding increasingly larger tributes and causing increasingly severe plagues.

Then, a bold prefect was appointed to the region. Armed with imperial authority, he declared that no deity, demon, or ghost within the empire could disrupt order or defy government decrees. He had the locust deity seized and executed.

After that, the region enjoyed many peaceful years. This time, it seemed to be a purely natural disaster.

Yet, the sheer scale of the infestation was staggering…

Song You’s frown deepened.

At that moment, the swallow perched on the horse’s back glanced at Song You, its eyes flickering with hesitation. Finally, it mustered the courage to speak, “Sir...”

“Hmm?”

“I might… possibly… be able to deal with this locust plague.”

“You have a solution?”

“I wouldn’t dare call it a solution, but… but swallows naturally eat locusts. We swallows of Anqing also possess the unique ability to multiply ourselves, transforming one into thousands...”

Hearing this, Song You suddenly remembered.

The swallows of Anqing indeed had such an ability.

Back in Yuezhou, when this swallow and the calico cat were showing off their magical skills, it had demonstrated its transformation technique.

However, while this little swallow’s cultivation was not shallow and had progressed significantly since following Song You, even if it could multiply into hundreds or thousands, how could it possibly eradicate such an overwhelming number of locusts?

Song You couldn’t quite grasp how it would work, but he didn’t dismiss the idea. He simply said, “Don’t worry. Take your time explaining. The locusts here have already caused a disaster, spreading across at least a hundred li. Even I would struggle to deal with this alone. If you truly have a way to control the plague, you’ll be saving countless lives. And if you can’t, it’s fine—eliminating even a portion of them would still be a great help.”

“My cultivation is shallow, so I certainly couldn’t handle this many locusts on my own. However, my ancestor was unparalleled in this domain. With the ability to transform into tens of thousands of swallows, it could transport an entire granary’s worth of grain in a single trip,” the swallow explained.

After pausing, its voice grew steadier. “After the ancestor ascended to the heavens, he left behind his physical body as well as some feathers, which he distributed among us.

“Thanks to the ancestor's favor, I and a few other elders who contributed the most in searching for superior seeds overseas received the largest share—three feathers from the tips of his wings. Each feather can unleash the full power the ancestor possessed at his peak...”

“I see,” Song You said, understanding at last, nodding repeatedly.

The Anqing Swallow Immortal, with a thousand years of cultivation, possessed skills that were perfectly suited for pest control, whether in his swallow form or through his abilities. If one had his talents, solving pest issues would likely be no problem at all.

Encouraged by Song You’s affirmation, the swallow grew more confident and added, “If I use all three feathers, I’m certain I can eliminate these locusts entirely...”

“Then on behalf of the local people, I must thank you greatly.”

“Not at all, not at all...”

Though the swallow spoke softly, it was clearly pleased.

Still perched on the horse’s back, it turned its head as if casually scratching or preening, but in doing so, it retrieved three feathers from its wings.

They looked as though they had been plucked directly from its own body.

Without any apparent effort, the swallow gripped the three feathers in its beak, spread its wings, and soared into the sky.

“Boom!”

A cloud of smoke suddenly erupted in the air.

The smoke appeared black, dense as ink, but upon closer inspection, it shimmered faintly with blue hues and a metallic luster—reminiscent of the black feathers on the swallow’s back.

Then came a chorus of chirping, as if countless birds were calling out in unison from within the smoke.

“Whoosh...”

A flurry of swallows burst from the cloud, their wings beating as they scattered in all directions. The sound of their flapping wings easily drowned out the droning hum of the locusts.

At close range, the mass of swallows resembled a dark storm cloud. As they flew farther and spread wider, the cloud gradually dissolved into countless tiny dots, soaring toward the horizon. Most flew out of sight, while a few remained nearby, swooping lower to hunt locusts with remarkable agility or alighting in the fields to continue their work.

The air was filled with the sounds of birdsong and wingbeats.

This spectacle continued for a long time, the sheer number of swallows released seeming endless, until finally, it subsided.

Song You gazed upward.

It felt as though he were peering through the veil of time, witnessing the Anqing Swallow Immortal’s legendary display of power during a year of great disaster, when it carried grain from distant granaries to save the starving masses. He could only imagine how stunned the disaster-stricken people back then must have felt upon witnessing such a miracle. Surely, it was as awe-inspiring as what he was seeing now.

The cat also tilted its head back, staring in awe, utterly transfixed.

“How incredible...” A soft murmur escaped her lips.