The Investiture: Unlimited Blade Works Nezha
Chapter 70: Strange Insect People

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Strange Insect People

Huang Feihu and his father Huang Gun looked at this group of soldiers who had died horribly. Even for veterans like them, who had faced many years of battle, the sight took their breath away.

Their armor and bodies seemed to have been gnawed by some unknown insects, with various holes chewed out of their bodies. The unknown insects had used the soldiers as a nest, with tiny bugs crawling in and out of the corpses, which was extremely unsettling.

Huang Feihu immediately ordered the corpses to be burned and also commanded the army to retreat. Faced with a situation beyond his capability, he would not act recklessly.

That same day, the army lit torches to disperse the insects and quickly retreated.

Unfortunately, although Huang Feihu reacted quickly, the enemy was just as swift.

From the Ten Thousand Mountains emerged these ’Insect People,’ each adorned with leaves, some wearing insect-like shells, others with arms shaped like mantis blades — all sorts of bizarre forms.

The leader was particularly striking, standing two meters tall with strange antennae on its head, eyes that were dark green like beans, and a mouth fully formed of insect parts. Its entire body was a dark green-black, a terrifying creature seemingly composed of various venomous insect organs.

Knowing something was amiss, Huang Feihu remained behind to guard the retreat, delegating his father to lead a swift withdrawal.

The creature waved its hand, releasing a dense swarm of insects from its subordinates, like a storm of darkness surging towards Huang Feihu’s troops.

Huang Feihu commanded, "Set fire!"

They left prepared materials—tents and other dry flammables—behind, igniting them to create a massive wall of flame.

Under the creature’s command, the swarm directly attacked the flames, which were promptly extinguished by the sheer numbers of the swarm.

Huang Feihu used a spell to strike the swarm, but it had little effect. As he watched the densely packed, cloud-like swarm, he thought bitterly: My fate is sealed.

At that moment, a voice came, "Father, don’t fear, I am here!"

A valiant young man appeared, drawing a fan which he waved towards the swarm, instantly unleashing an overwhelming wave of flames.

The creature let out a strange, insect-like shriek, and the swarm, as if receiving orders, flew back into the bodies of the Insect People, who then charged forward with large pincers, huge tongues, and massive cleavers.

Huang Tianhua, unsure whether these beings were human or demon and fearing friendly fire, dared not use his Magical Treasure recklessly. Instead, he protected his father as they retreated, taking time to burn the fallen soldiers’ bodies to prevent them from becoming nests after death.

With the initial danger past, Huang Feihu finally had the chance to bond with his son. However, Huang Tianhua’s feelings for Huang Feihu were quite indifferent. Huang Feihu patted his son’s shoulder repeatedly, trying to talk earnestly, nearly moved to tears.

Yet Huang Tianhua remained calm and said, "Father, besides coming to rescue you, I have another mission — to assist Zhou in the war against Shang."

With that said, he seemed ready to leave.

Huang Feihu was a bit incredulous, "Son, aren’t you going to Nanchang to see your mother? You must know..."

Huang Tianhua interrupted, "The master’s orders cannot be disobeyed, and the situation in West Zhou is urgent, so I shall depart now!"

With that, he turned and left.

Feeling deeply upset, Huang Feihu still pursued him, shouting towards the horizon, "Son, if things don’t go well in West Zhou, you can come to Nantang!"

Huang Gun, who had been hiding in the back without appearing, also felt uneasy as he secretly watched Huang Tianhua’s departing figure.

The news from the Huang Family quickly reached Nanchang through Nezha’s tools.

Meanwhile, King Su was hosting a banquet for Yu Yuan, who had come for his apprentice Yu Hua, with many others in attendance as well.

Daji and Yu Yuan were not unfamiliar with each other. Although Daji had sometimes been disdainful of Yu Yuan for monopolizing Nezha, their relationship was actually quite good.

Yu Yuan had always treated Daji with the attitude of an elder, even teaching her some rare spells back then.

Now, seeing the nobly attired Daji, Yu Yuan couldn’t help but sigh internally, thinking how others seemed to achieve such status during his retreat, while his incapable junior brother could only become a Grandmaster after all these years at court.

No matter how noble you are, Yin Shang isn’t your family.

Daji’s close maid discreetly handed her a letter, then bowed to those present and stepped back.

Upon reading the letter, Daji couldn’t help but frown. In normal warfare, Li Tang had no fear, but matters like this were tricky, as the lineage of Nuwa had too few allies to rely on, and Nezha was absent.

There were only a few among them who had achieved Immortal Ascension, which was indeed a problem.

She passed the letter to Deng Chanyu and Li Jing, each of whom looked displeased; no one knew what kind of monsters these flying insects were.

Yu Yuan, sipping his wine, said, "Great King, if there’s a difficulty, why not let me take a look?"

The young maid handed the letter to Yu Yuan after seeing Daji nod.

After reading, Yu Yuan patted his chest confidently and said, "Just a bunch of insects, leave it to us master-apprentice duo as a return for your care of my apprentice."

Knowing Yu Yuan’s capabilities and without any better ideas, Daji agreed.

Yu Hua, once captured and brought to Li Tang, didn’t suffer much, thanks to the respect for the inexperienced, the antidote for the Flower Fox Weasel’s toxin, and the proper treatment of his wounds. He was detained with his mana sealed, but the environment was rather decent.

King Ji, influenced by Lady Yin, knew well how to maintain her family’s man’s dignity, which is why Yu Yuan had no hard feelings.

That night, Yu Yuan, with Daji’s Five Fire Seven Bird Fan and Yu Hua, set out to aid Huang Feihu.

The pair moved swiftly, soon reaching their destination. Yu Yuan had met Huang Feihu a few times before, handing over Daji’s Five Fire Seven Bird Fan to him and starting to inquire about the Insect People.

Huang Feihu described the situation in detail, but Yu Yuan was also puzzled, unable to grasp the origin of these Insect People.

At nightfall, the camp was filled with the droning hum of myriad insects flapping their wings. Huang Feihu quickly grabbed the fan and wildly waved it at the sky. One advantage of the Five Fire Seven Bird Fan was that it required no mana to use, though its power depended on the quality of the feathers used in its making.

This fan was slightly weaker than the one Huang Tianhua had, but it sufficed.

The flames illuminated the camp and surroundings, burning countless insects that dropped with an odd smell, revealing the insect army.

The leader was still that same creature.

Yu Yuan showed no fear, stepping forward and shouting, "What demon is causing trouble here?"

Having been captured for so long, Yu Hua evidently wanted to regain face. He activated the Slaughter Soul Banner and targeted the creature, striking it with a gray beam from the banner.

The creature clutched its head, emitting various bizarre insect cries, while the swarm of insects, initially driven back by the flames, launched a frenzied assault once more.

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