Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 94 Controlling Locusts
Li Xiangming's gaze was cold and stern, which startled Li Jiong.

However, he performed much better than Li Qiu. He quickly handed over a booklet and said, "This is the information collected by people from Dongxiang who went to the countryside. It is all corroborated by local people. About 50% of the paddy fields in Dongxiang have been damaged."

"Fifty percent?"

Li Xiangming took the booklet, flipped through it, and nodded.

Thanks to Xixiang's efforts to divert the locusts, and the fact that Li Jiong had a group of elite soldiers trained by Li Qianbai, this force was immediately dispatched to various villages to kill the locusts.

The locusts swarmed in, looking frightening, but actually quite scary.

The soldiers shouted in unison, grabbed bamboo poles, attached nets, and waved them around at will, easily capturing large areas.

However, since the locusts were commanded by a demonic beast, the swarm remained orderly, and the soldiers dared not confront them head-on. Their actions were more like intimidation than driving them away.

Nevertheless, these soldiers still managed to salvage a significant portion of Togo's losses.

"Any soldier who participates in the campaign to kill locusts in the countryside will be rewarded with 20 taels of silver."

Li Xiangming naturally wanted to encourage this courageous and fearless spirit.

After reading the booklet, Li Xiangming had a general understanding of the situation in Dongxiang.

Fifty percent of the rice paddies were affected by the disaster, which is still within acceptable limits.

Were there any casualties in the two townships?

"Yes, according to the statistics, 8 people died and 42 were injured in Xixiang, and 2 people died and 13 were injured in Dongxiang."

Li Xiangqi replied.

Hearing this, Li Xiangming became even more dissatisfied with Li Qiu. Although the Xixiang government had fewer people than the Dongxiang government, that was not a reason for such a large difference in casualties.

Have you developed a locust control plan?

Not yet, everyone.

"Right now, no one is allowed to leave this room. The plan must be submitted by today."

Li Xiangming snorted and instructed Li Xiangqi to keep an eye on them, putting them under considerable pressure.

Li Xiangming was naturally not as familiar with the situation in the two townships as these people were.

Only the plans they devise are worth implementing.

Of course, as a cultivator, he can also do things that ordinary people like Li Jiong cannot.

After leaving with the Shangjifang and others, Li Xiangming arranged for Li Qianfu and Li Qianbai to patrol Dongxiang and eliminate the remaining locusts.

He and Jiang Liang stayed in Xixiang.

At the same time, Li Xiangshuo was sent to Changyang Valley to seek Li Qianshi's help.

Li Qianshi, who is in charge of the Service Institute, can issue bounties to allow his own or other cultivators to build a defensive line around the two villages.

This is to safeguard the safety of both townships.

This is very necessary. No one knows if the locusts will come again. If the locusts keep coming back, no matter how much effort the two villages put in, it will be useless.

In addition, Li Xiangming also sent Nie Rong and Tang Xueyan to Xulong Township in the north to help Li Xiangqian.

Xulong Township is not large and does not require too many cultivators. With Nie Rong in charge, we can rest assured.

He also didn't want Nie Rong to be in the public eye recently.
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The next day, the reactions of the two township governments finally reached the people.

The government ordered that young men and women from each village form locust-catching teams, led by monks, to kill the locusts that refused to leave.

In addition, the government funded the purchase of a large number of chickens and ducks, driving them to devour any fish that escaped the net.

In response to the difficulty of moving around at night, Li Jiong came up with a solution: to lay out firewood near the farmland and use the locusts' attraction to light to lure them into the fire.

This was not enough. When locusts passed through, they would inevitably leave behind a large number of insect eggs. Li Xiangming ordered the government to issue a document informing the villagers of how to identify the insect eggs and requiring them to dig up the soil, remove weeds, and drain the water from the affected farmland to find the insect eggs and kill them.

The villagers in each village were heartbroken and indignant about the disaster that had struck them.

They had long hated the locusts, the culprits, and responded to the government's call.

In just seven or eight days, the locusts in the two townships had nowhere to hide and were basically wiped out.

"Uncle Qianfu, has the grain arrived at home?"

Li Xiangming asked, after killing locusts for a few days, he sent Li Qianfu to Tailai Peak to transport a batch of grain over.

"It has already been delivered to Xixiang City."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming nodded. Although the two townships had only been affected by the disaster for a few days, grain prices had already soared, especially in the western township, where grain prices had risen by nearly 50%.

In fact, the locust control efforts in the two townships are progressing well. The rise in grain prices is just a temporary panic that won't last long.

Even knowing this, Li Xiangming couldn't ignore it. What if unscrupulous merchants colluded and refused to lower grain prices?
To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Xixiang City needs to stockpile a batch of grain to suppress grain prices. Just then, Jiang Liang came to visit.

"Manager Li, I will be returning to Lingwu Sect soon, so I am writing to take my leave."

Li Xiangming raised an eyebrow, then relaxed and patted his arm: "We are grateful for Fellow Daoist Jiang's help these past few days. The Li family will remember it forever."

"Oh, it's all a small matter, nothing to mention. I also come from a farming family, and I can't bear to see people suffering from disaster."

“Fellow Daoist Jiang has a great sense of righteousness, which I admire. How about staying for two more days? I’ll go to the accounting office to prepare a farewell banquet for you.”

"We cultivators are not concerned with formalities, but I thank Steward Li for his kindness."

Jiang Liang shook his head.

"Very well, there's plenty of time in the future. We'll entertain Fellow Daoist Jiang all at once later."

As he spoke, Li Xiangming personally saw Jiang Liang off from Xixiang City: "News came from Pushui Market that Pucheng has also been hit by a locust plague, and locusts have even appeared in Qingju Mountain, which is far to the west."

"It can be said that this locust plague has spread throughout Pu County, and there must be a powerful demon behind it. Fellow Daoist Jiang, you must be careful on your trip."

Locust plagues have appeared in both the north and the west?
Jiang Liang was secretly alarmed. If what Li Xiangming said was true, Pu County was in chaos.

If there really is a great demon
Jiang Liang was worried. Daishan was the first place to be affected by the disaster, and Daishan was also close to Puyin Mountain.

He couldn't help but wonder if the great demon might be hiding in Puyin Mountain.
If a great demon is born in Puyin Mountain, then Dai Mountain and Danggui Mountain will be the first to be affected.

Lingwu Gate, located between two mountains, is also in a difficult situation.

Just as he was lost in thought, Li Qianbo flew over in a hurry.

"Sir, the locusts are here again!"

"Again?"

Li Xiangming's expression changed, and without paying any attention to Jiang Liang, he immediately flew away.

Li Qianbai and Li Qianfu followed closely behind.

Seeing this, Jiang Liang hesitated for a moment and then followed.

Although he longed to return to Lingwu Sect, Changtai Township was attacked again. In this time of crisis, his choice to leave was hardly a morally right act.
Before long, Li Xiangming arrived more than ten miles away.

This place is in complete chaos.

The locusts were originally crossing the border with great enthusiasm, but they were stopped at waist height by the monks who had received the bounty from the Service Bureau.

Despite the generally low cultivation level of the cultivators in the Service Academy, the locusts, mostly of mortal form, were extremely vulnerable to magical attacks, especially fire magic, and fled in panic.

Only a few exceptionally large locust demons can pose a threat to cultivators.

At first, the monks of the Service Academy could only fight and retreat as they faced the vast swarm of locusts. However, as more and more fellow cultivators arrived, the command of the locust swarm clearly lost its rhythm.

Countless locusts veered off course, flying about in a chaotic and panicked manner.

This was the situation that Li Xiangming arrived at.

"Follow my lead."

Li Xiangming shouted loudly, made a hand seal, and several fiery tornadoes flew out.

Although he was a water cultivator, he possessed a fire-type spiritual root, and since the Li family primarily inherited fire magic, he had naturally learned many fire-type spells.

With his Qi Refining Level 8 cultivation, the fire tornado he unleashed was incredibly powerful, burning locusts upon contact.

Ordinary torches may not be able to deal with flying locusts, but the spells used by cultivators in combat are remarkably effective.

With the addition of Li Xiangming, Li Qianfu, and Jiang Liang, three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, the locust swarm became listless.

These locusts were actually quite weak; what was truly disgusting was that they harbored locust demons among them. These locust demons, the size of human heads, swarmed in, and ordinary people would avoid them at all costs, daring not to resist. This was the reason why Changtai Township was swept away.

However, with cultivators in charge, they would find it difficult to act recklessly.

In less than fifteen minutes, the place was littered with locust corpses.

The remaining locusts could not break through the Li family cultivators' defenses and had no choice but to turn around and scatter.

Li Xiangming arranged for several high-level cultivators to pursue and kill them before returning to Xixiang City.

"If there's one, there will be two; I'm afraid these locusts will come again."

Li Qianbai said with concern.

Although the Li family successfully dealt with the locust infestation this time, the monks of the Service Institute can't stay near the two villages forever, can they?

(End of this chapter)