Chapter Fifty-Five: Crimson Eyes

In that instant, the tent exploded. With a single thought, Scholar Liu conjured a piece of parchment in his hand, and countless ripples appeared in the air, forming circles that drew in any locusts near him, sending them into another space, vanishing without a trace.

“The Grand Concealment Art!” This was Scholar Liu, expending ten years of cultivation, unleashing the power of his cursed treasure, the parchment.

Yet after only five breaths, Scholar Liu’s face turned pale. He hurriedly retrieved a decade-old polygonum from his robes and swallowed it, his complexion quickly regaining its rosy hue.

After consuming the herb, his inner cultivation slowly restored itself to the level of thirty years. Nearly ten thousand locusts had already been destroyed by him.

After ten breaths, Scholar Liu withdrew the parchment and said urgently, “We’ve fallen into an ambush. I’ve wasted a curse. We must retreat at once!”

Now, only a few hundred locusts remained in the sky, scattered and hesitant, intimidated by the force and unwilling to advance.

The woman riding the old donkey gave a cold, sinister laugh. “If you wish to confront me, you must be prepared to die!” With a gesture, the sky shifted from darkness to brightness, and at the horizon where heaven and earth met, a pair of eyes seemed to open.

They were blood-red eyes, and as they appeared, a chilling wind swept through, ghosts wailed and howled, and even the distant locusts, caught in its gaze, crumbled to ash.

This was the blood-red eye, her cursed treasure.

Yan Yunfei and Second Madam sensed the immense power of the blood-red eye, far surpassing ordinary cursed artifacts. Together, they shouted, each consuming ten years of cultivation, and summoned their treasures.

Yan Yunfei wielded his Dragon-Serpent Sword, imbued with the aura of both dragon and serpent, born of wild plains but harboring the fate of the world, raising a storm of snow and charging at the blood-red eye. Second Madam summoned her Flying Crane Needles, cloaking the four of them in a misty shield, forming a defense.

Suddenly, the blood-red eye blinked, closing and opening. The Dragon-Serpent Sword’s aura was instantly devoured, and the power of the Flying Crane Needles was entirely neutralized.

Scholar Liu’s expression changed drastically. He once again brought forth the parchment, transforming it into a mighty whirlwind that blew the power of the blood-red eye away.

After ten breaths, he put away the parchment, and though he took a decade-old lingzhi from his robe to restore his cultivation, his face was greatly altered.

A cursed artifact could be used only three times in one day; a fourth would provoke its backlash. Scholar Liu’s artifact was bronze-tier, a level higher than Yan Yunfei’s and Second Madam’s, but it was incomplete, giving him only two uses.

This meant Scholar Liu now had no means to protect himself.

At that moment, the old woman shouted harshly, “You three possess only thirty years of cultivation, while I have fifty years of demon magic. And your only bronze-tier cursed artifact is incomplete. On what grounds do you dare challenge me?”

Once again, she pointed at the horizon, and the blood-red eye opened anew.

Though its power was weakened compared to before, its ferocity still filled the world with dread.

Second Madam and Yan Yunfei pushed themselves to their limit, unleashing ten more years of cultivation. The Dragon-Serpent Sword and Flying Crane Needles soared, but their treasures were once again swallowed by the blood-red eye.

Scholar Liu was plunged into despair. As the blood-red eye drew within a yard of him, he could no longer hesitate, disregarding the risk of artifact backlash, and invoked the parchment for a third time.

The parchment gleamed with a crystalline silver light, piercing heaven and earth like a rainbow shooting across the sun, striking the blood-red eye directly.

The blood-red eye, as if struck by lightning, shuddered violently and vanished. At the same time, the old woman trembled as though grievously wounded.

Almost simultaneously, the parchment was consumed by an invisible fire, as if a curse awakened within it. A crystalline flame erupted, and within the fire, a demon emerged and swallowed Scholar Liu whole.

With a scream, Scholar Liu’s body and soul were obliterated, vanishing instantly.

As he perished, the demon’s gaze grew vacant, and at last, both it and the crystalline fire faded to nothing, the parchment burning to ash.

Witnessing this, Yan Yunfei and Second Madam were filled with fury, shocked by the strength of the artifact’s backlash. Together, they leaped toward the old woman.

She sneered and disappeared, and suddenly, the surroundings were filled with thousands of golden-armored locusts, each more ferocious than demons, encircling Yan Yunfei, Second Madam, and Yang Ridan.

These locusts were dozens of times stronger than those before—the elite of their kind.

Previously, Second Madam could barely handle a hundred of them at full power. Without their cursed artifacts, to kill all these golden locusts was nearly impossible.

Yan Yunfei and Second Madam found themselves unable to advance another step.

Then the old woman said coldly, “I’ll keep you trapped for a day. Once I have absorbed the power of the parchment, let’s see who can stand against me!”

Her voice faded into the distance.

The thousand locusts she left behind were formidable, refined over decades and arranged in formation, leaving Yan Yunfei and the others powerless to break out.

They now had only one use of their cursed artifacts left; to break both the locusts and the formation was nearly impossible.

Yan Yunfei shouted angrily, “Locust demon, you old witch, dare you face me in single combat!”

His voice echoed for miles, but there was no reply.

Second Madam shook her head gently. “If the locust demon absorbs the parchment’s power, she’ll be even harder to defeat. With the locusts sealing us in, all means of seeking help are cut off. We can only remain trapped here. Still, we’ve bought another day—perhaps tonight’s Locust Literary Gathering might bring a miracle.”

Yan Yunfei spat and said, “Locust Literary Gathering? Those are nothing but rotten scholars, not a single one with a backbone. How could they possibly compose poetry with true literary spirit?”

“Perhaps one person might,” Second Madam’s gaze revealed hope.

“Chu Talent?” Yan Yunfei paused, then shook his head. “Though he has established his Dao heart, he has yet to reach the snow-capped summit. He’s in no shape to deal with these locusts!”

Second Madam sighed, “Indeed. I hadn’t expected the locust demon to possess fifty years of cultivation—far stronger than we imagined. It seems this locust disaster is inevitable…”

Yan Yunfei and Yang Ridan fell silent.