Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 601 - 600 Strange Insects Overrun

Listening to the description from the waiter, these strange insects sound something like locusts.

In the village, chickens and ducks like to eat insects, so one would assume these creatures should also be edible.

"Why not raise more chickens and ducks, and have them eat the strange insects?" Tian Peng suggested.

"We thought about that, but the shells of these strange insects are particularly hard, especially the big ones. Ordinary chickens and ducks have no way of eating them. The only option we thought of is to chop them up, but just looking at these strange insects is frightening, so hardly anyone dares to do it," said the waiter.

Tian Peng did not understand what there was to be afraid of, "You all are worried about so many things. It’s the chickens and ducks eating them, not you. Just close your eyes and chop them up, anyhow. Solving a little bit is better than letting it get out of hand."

"These creatures look extraordinarily strange, not just strange, but after you chop them up, they ooze yellow blood, which is extremely disgusting. You’ll understand when you see it."

Tian Peng found the waiter’s words quite amusing. He clearly offered a suggestion, but the other party did not appreciate it.

"So according to you, we can only let the strange insects overrun the place?" he asked.

"Not exactly. The officials have already reported it to Chang’an. The court should come to our aid soon. In any case, there’s no need to rush. As long as the court sends people, this issue will definitely be resolved properly," the waiter responded.

This scene felt oddly familiar to Tian Peng; it was very much like the situation he encountered in Huang’an Town.

But it’s better to rely on oneself than to wait for help from others. Some things cannot just depend on others to be resolved; they also require their own efforts.

Tian Peng was originally willing to help them, but judging by the waiter’s attitude, he could imagine what the others’ attitudes might be like.

Since they were not taking care of it themselves and only seeking help from others, Tian Peng lost interest in helping as well.

He grabbed his own dried food, planning to eat and then head upstairs to rest.

Suddenly, he heard a loud howl from outside. Tian Peng’s expression turned solemn—it was his horse.

He hurried outside and walked over to the stable to check.

His horse was still standing in its original spot, but constantly howling and lifting its hooves as if something was poking its feet.

Tian Peng stepped forward to inspect and found a dark object next to the horse’s hoof, clutching onto the leg with pincers.

Tian Peng thought about approaching but realized that given the horse was spooked, he could not get close. He could only take out his Nine-toothed Rake, scrape the thing away from under the horse’s hoof, and then examined it closely.

The creature was red, with two large claws, which were unusually numerous. At first glance, it resembled a crab, but it wasn’t one.

In an instant, Tian Peng thought that this creature seemed to be one of the strange insects the waiter described.

It seemed the infestation was indeed severe; otherwise, such a thing wouldn’t have appeared inside the stable.

The waiter rushed out, and upon seeing Tian Peng’s actions, quickly said, "Oh no! What’s happening? We’ve already cleaned up thoroughly; how can there still be one?"

"Dear guest, please don’t be angry. I’ll clean the stable again right now, and I absolutely won’t let your horse be frightened again," the waiter reassured.

With the waiter expressing himself this way, even if Tian Peng was angry, there was nowhere to vent his anger. He said nothing, simply nodded and let the waiter clean up.

After the strange insect was removed, the horse gradually calmed down. Taking advantage of the lingering light in the sky, the waiter quickly began to tidy up inside.

Tian Peng watched for a while and thought to himself; it seemed the strange insects really were everywhere. In just a short while, he had discovered so many.

"I heard that these creatures breed in water?" Tian Peng inquired. This place was near water, which could explain the abundance of these creatures. If it weren’t for water, they probably couldn’t survive for long.

"Yes, there is a stream nearby, which several towns in the vicinity rely on for their livelihoods. Unexpectedly, this thing appeared in the stream, causing everyone to prefer going further to fetch water from the wells rather than using the stream’s water."

"But later, the wells were contaminated too. People had no choice but to continue using the well water. Fortunately, nothing happened, or we would have been doomed," the waiter sighed.

This thing seemed to have really caused a great disaster in the area.

Tian Peng decided to check it out as soon as it was daylight. This matter didn’t look simple; he needed to investigate whether it was the doing of a demon.

If not, then it probably grew there naturally.

With these thoughts, Tian Peng settled down for the night in the inn.

Before it was fully light outside, a succession of screams erupted. Tian Peng got up from the bed and found that the creature had made its way into the room.

Last night, several guests who were too exhausted to continue on had been forced to stay at this post station. Little did they expect that the creature would crawl in during the night.

Thankfully, although the creature was frightening, it wasn’t very big, nor was it tiny. At least there was no need to worry about it crawling into one’s ears while sleeping.

Tian Peng got dressed, opened the door, and walked out.

Several guests were already in the main hall, lodging their complaints to the waiter, who was nodding and bowing as he apologized to them.

The infestation was worse than a wildfire; even with a desire to eliminate it, they couldn’t manage to do so. They could only clean up often, but no amount of diligence was enough to prevent nighttime invasions.

"Waiter, didn’t you assure us time and again that you had taken care of this problem? Then why did it crawl onto my bed this morning?"

"Exactly! Crawling on the bed is one thing, but I was sound asleep when I suddenly felt pain in my ear. When I opened my eyes, I saw this thing pinching my ear. Thank goodness I woke up in time. What if it had gone unnoticed and cut off my ear? Could you compensate me with a new ear then?"

The man spoke with great agitation. The waiter quickly tried to soothe him, "Esteemed guest, please do not be angry. This creature can indeed pinch, but its strength is not great, and it absolutely will not clip off your ear."

"Hey! What do you mean by that? Are you saying that I’m exaggerating?"

Upon hearing the waiter’s words, the guest was touched off, "It’s clearly an issue with your inn, and now I can’t even speak up? No way! I want a refund. Give me back my money!"

"Oh dear, esteemed guest, please don’t be angry. I am not good with words, please don’t take offense," the waiter hurriedly responded.

There were quite a few customers who came to create trouble. Both the waiter and the shopkeeper were dealing with the situation. Tian Peng watched for a moment and then left the inn.

He led his horse out of the stable, preparing to visit the village to see exactly what had happened.

If even the post station at the edge of the town had problems, the situation in the village could only be worse.

He rode his horse around the village, and sure enough, the ground was crawling with the creatures. Just seeing them made Tian Peng feel nauseous.

These things looked very strange, their bodies entirely red with two pincers, and many legs crawling on the road, tumbling in the dirt, and even climbing trees and walls.

Wherever the eye landed, these strange insects crawled about, looking both disgusting and terrifying.

Tian Peng rode around the village, and indeed, it was overrun by these creatures. The fields were crawling with them too.

They couldn’t even farm if they wanted to, and what they grew was all rice, which just happened to be the very thing these strange insects thrived in water.

This led to the rice fields being overrun with these creatures, not only destroying the crops but also bringing disaster upon the people themselves.