“Done!”
The old woman let out a long sigh of relief and finished the final stroke. Her originally strangely black hairs turned white all of sudden. Then, when she got up, she staggered. It seemed like she could no longer support herself from standing. The young woman quickly got up and helped her to sit down.
Her appearance started to wither at a scary speed. She might look like an ordinary old lady before, but now she looked like a complete mummy.
That blood red talisman she made cost her everything.
The old woman picked it up with her trembling hands, blood began to appear on the corners of her lips. However, there was a sign of relief on her face.
“This is the most difficult Chu Clan’s Talisman Mrs. Chu has taught me. Mrs. Chu said that nobody could draw it. Nobody… She said that, as long as we know how to draw it, it will prove that our Chu Clan’s methods are not a heretical practice, and Shigong – the grand master of Chu Clan’s Knowledge, who was also Mrs. Chu’s dad, would be able to rest in peace…”
“Nanny, stop… you…” The woman was holding the old woman tightly, tears fell from her face onto the old woman’s grey hair.
The old woman struggled to put the “Chu talisman” onto the bow, it seemed like she lost all her strength.
“Nanny is old now, Nanny is useless… Qian Er quick, use the method nanny taught you to cast it on to the bow, quick…” the old woman said in a weak voice.
“Okay, nanny…” the young woman wiped off the tears from her face and took over the talisman that the old woman used her life to make. She then quickly used the sword gesture while reciting a Chu Clan’s incantation.
The talisman was slowly lifted up in the air in a swinging motion. As the young woman finished the incantations, the talisman instantly burst out bright light and flew towards the bow.
The bow also glowed in bright light for a few seconds before it went completely silent.
The old woman held on to the young woman’s wrist tightly and said, “Qian Er, you have to remember that this talisman can only break the connection between the bow and that person temporarily. You must not let the bow get too close to that person. Otherwise, if the person is in its ‘True Body’, no one can stop it. Nothing can stop it. It may even ‘betray’ you immediately! Do you understand?”
“Yes, nanny, don’t worry. No one will be able to take it away from me!” the young woman nodded her head, and her eyes were filled with a cold and vicious gleam.
Although the young woman said that, the old woman was still worried. She slowly took out a rectangular shaped jade from her pocket and carefully placed it in the palm of the young woman and said in a weak voice, “Qian Er, this is our Chu Clan’s Founder Token. Mrs. Chu gave it to nanny before she passed away. Now nanny is passing it onto you. In the future… Future… Take the disciples, who I taught for years with you when you go there. If they can do it. Just let them do it. You need to stay away from that person… stay away…”
The young woman nodded her head. After she took the jade token, and the bow, she kowtowed to the old woman three times before she left the room.
The old woman let out a long sigh and murmured, “Qian Er, Nanny did not know if Nanny helped you or…”
……..
“Have the people from the Academy of Sciences still not arrived yet?” Zhang Zhexiu asked anxiously.
“Captain, the best biologists, and analytical equipment are already on the way. They will be here shortly. The General Administration Department and the military have agreed that we must stall the insects until the biologists arrive. They emphasized that this is not a ‘suggestion’, but an ‘order’!” A civil servant beside him quickly replied.
“Order, order… All they know is order! Do you know what we are dealing with? A fucking purple flame monster! What do I have? How can I stall it? Keep requesting for more reinforcements from The General Administration Department! We need at least Rank A energy practitioners here or master Fan’s disciples. Just with our unit, we can’t do anything,” Zhang Zhexiu’s forehead was covered with cold sweat.
“We have already requested. They will all be here soon,” the civil servant nodded his head.
Zhang Zhexiu frowned. The insects in the binoculars were still rushing forward. He had used everything. The female journalist had told them the negotiation condition already. However, after the request of removing the underground energy field was declined, the seven insects immediately changed their tactics. It changed from negotiation to trying to flee the city while using the hostages as their shield…
If the fact that insects knew how to “negotiate” with human beings had a great impact on his worldview, then a red-shelled insect could even command a purple flame monster completely made him lose his mind.
………..
Since the beginning of the apocalypse, the collection of the various intelligence about insects had proven that a purple flame monster was many levels higher than a red-shelled insect in the insect’s social structure. So how could such an absurd thing happen to a rigidly stratified race?
However, the fact was right in front of him. After receiving the insect’s bizarre negotiating request, The General Administration Department and the military had unprecedentedly and unanimously agreed to dispatch the best biological experts and equipment in Hong Kong to communicate with the insects.
Many high-level Hong Kong government officials and influential scientists believed that it was a golden opportunity. Perhaps they could find the opportunity for temporary peace. They really couldn’t afford more wars. They needed time to breathe and recover.
Since the invasion of insects, those aliens had never actively communicated with the human race in any way, except slaughtering human beings.
In the beginning, many scientists in Southern China and Hong Kong suggested that insects were just a group of low and bloodthirsty creatures. Later, they gradually discovered that they were as smart as human beings.
Only when they discovered that did they attempt to communicate with insects, hoping that it would bring peace between the two races.
In fact, trying to communicate with insects was a nice way to put it. To be more exact, they were actually begging for peace.
However, no matter how many times and how hard the scientists in Hong Kong had tried, the insects in the creep area outside Hong Kong did not respond at all. There were only killings after killings.
And then, large-scale war between the insects from the creep area and the insects from the spore forest broke out in the north of the insect’s creep area. The pressure in Hong Kong was greatly reduced all of sudden. With the fierce fight between them continuing to grow in intensity, the insects in the creep area had also stopped attacking Hong Kong. However, they still did not retreat. They just surrounded Hong Kong.
At that time, the insects in the creep area were in a bad situation, because it had to deal with human beings in the south and the spore forest in the north. So based on how normal intelligent creatures would think, the scientists in Hong Kong thought that the insects in the creep area probably would accept the negotiation. Therefore, they sent out a “diplomat” in attempting to talk to the insects in the creep area. However, before the “diplomat” even entered the creep area, he was killed by the insect.
The scientists in Hong Kong were baffled by the insect’s behaviors, they did not know why the insects in the creep area would refuse to communicate with human beings. There was once that they were losing so badly that they were pushed all the way near Hong Kong. But even then, they still did not want to talk to human beings.
That was why, when Zhang Zhexiu – the captain of the second unit of the energy practitioner department and the regiment commander Gu Feng separately reported to the General Administration Department and the military headquarters about the insects requesting for a negotiation, it instantly caused a huge stir in the high-ups of Hong Kong.
The heads of The General Administration Department and the military were quickly brought together to discuss the previously abolished “peace” plan. On the other hand, many scientists had already prepared everything for this unprecedented negotiation.
Many pieces of equipment, scientists and government officials were sent to the place where they discovered insects quickly. The entire Hong Kong city was stirred up.
………
Looking at the edge of the city was getting close, Chu Yunsheng was very excited. As long as they got out of the city, they might be able to dig into the ground again. At that time, the so-called negotiation would no longer be important.
However, with his insect’s unique sensing organs, he suddenly detected a large number of human awakened warriors trying to surround them.
Not only that, in a place far away from them, he could see many new types of tanks and combat vehicles as well as armed helicopters that were hovering in the air.
‘Are they going to start a fight?’ Chu Yunsheng thought. But it couldn’t be. Even if the higher-ups of Hong Kong did not care about the dozens of lives in his hands, there was no reason to attack them at this point.
None of them had killed any human beings yet. All he requested was to leave the city. He had shown them enough sincerity that they were not here to cause any trouble. Besides, what was the point of killing seven insects? It would only cause more people to die unnecessarily. Chu Yunsheng was baffled.
“Mr. Insect, I think they want to communicate with you,” Mani White said loudly when she saw Chu Yunsheng, this red-shelled insect seemed a bit restless.
She was initially scared to death. However, when she found out that those insects not only did not suck her brain, but they also took her as a hostage to request a negotiation! Her brain went blank for almost ten minutes at the time!
When she finally accepted the fact, she was stunned by Chu Yunsheng’s human-like behaviour again. And now? She felt like nothing in this world would be able to surprise her anymore. But soon, her unique professional sense told her that this moment would be permanently recorded in human history. Of course, if the human race still existed in the future.
Mani White was beside herself with joy. As a journalist, this was the moment she dreamed of. So when she learned that those insects understood human language and they were not going to hurt her, she was constantly trying to find topics to talk to those insects.
‘Communicate? With me? What for?’ Chu Yunsheng was confused. They had already declined their request. What more they wanted to talk about? But he quickly stopped thinking about it and started to plan for the worst while trying to find out which way they could break out the fastest.
‘Maybe we can make a few noises to call for help?’ Chu Yunsheng thought. He clearly remembered that before he dug into the ground. The man called Wang Dafu told him that there were insects outside Hong Kong.
So he quickly decided that if human beings really started to attack them. He would immediately ask Little Green to fly away to call for help.
“Are you sure that they understand us?” A man in his fifties, dressed in a black uniform and heavily armed, asked sternly. He was protected by several energy practitioners who were also wearing strange armors.
“Yes, but it is better to speak Mandarin,” Zhang Zhexiu changed his dissatisfied expression and said sternly.
“Okay, you did a good job. Now, let me talk to them,” The man nodded his head gently and then asked for a megaphone. He paused for a few seconds before shouted to the insects that were getting closer and closer to them, “Hello. I am Huo Jiashan, the first deputy chief of the General Administration Department Of Hong Kong. First of all, on behalf of Hong Kong, I can guarantee your safety…”
