Chapter 53: The Thunder of Heaven

Under the sky full of thunder, a magnificent scene began to unfold in the valley.

In the sky, there was golden lightning, but in the valley, there were purple lights that rose up, like stars in the night sky.

What are those purple lights? They are the larvae that emerged after the bug was smashed. They look so beautiful, but this beauty is the witch’s smile, and behind it hides endless evil. Therefore, the golden lightning did not hesitate to tear it apart.

On the other side, the mother insect in the sea of thunder tried to fly up again and again, but every time it was smashed to the ground by the thunder. It looked like a great pleasure, but in fact, we all knew that the thunder did not cause any harm to the mother insect.

The thunderstorm continued, and after half an hour, all the larvae were completely destroyed by the lightning, including the eggs and larvae we collected from the village, which were also thrown into the Thunder Sea by Uncle Chen and completely destroyed.

Over there, the old monster with the big belly seemed unaffected by the lightning, just praying incessantly. At this moment, he had transcended the human realm, and the lightning that struck him did not even cause him any harm.

I don’t know if it’s my illusion, but I always feel that the old monster’s belly has grown a little bigger. Is he about to give birth?

Wiping the rain off my face, I stopped my disgusting thoughts. Uncle Wang, however, came up to me at some point and, looking at the old monster who was kneeling and praying under the searchlight, said to me, “Chengyi, do you believe that the old guy is actually dead?”

“Ah?” I looked at the old monster who was still kneeling and praying, and I found it hard to accept this statement. A dead man is still praying and kneeling?

“He was really dead, not long after he started praying. I’ve been watching him, and I’ve been paying attention to the prayers he’s been saying. You know, I’ve done some research on witchcraft, and the prayers he’s been saying aren’t in the category of witchcraft, Taoism, or any other kind of magic. That’s… that’s…” Uncle Wang’s voice got lower and lower as he talked, and he didn’t say anything for a long time.

Instead, after a long silence, he took two damp cigarettes out of his bag and handed me one. After we both struggled to light them in the rain, he said, “Anyway, that’s not his power, his language. Wait a minute, only when your Uncle Chen performs a major operation to solve it, you see that your master didn’t deliberately manipulate the thunder to strike him, because it’s useless.”

I took a deep breath and didn’t ask any more. I always knew that the previous generation, including my master, had always kept some secrets, and they kept them a secret from the younger generation.

However, the old monster was already dead, and I felt inexplicably sad. Didn’t he say that he wanted to revive the Black Smoke Village? Wasn’t he full of wildness? After living with the worms in the cave for so many years, he died so inexplicably. I don’t know if he had any regrets!

This also reminds me of my master’s words: you can never get a new life, you are only making a wedding dress for another life.

I was a little moved by this. My master had understood this long ago, but those people would not necessarily listen to things that ran counter to their ideals. It was just their own choice, and their fate was sealed. But the human heart can be changed at the fork in the road. It’s just that he took the wrong fork in the road and chose the wrong turning point.

So it is predestined because one’s inner heart and character have already been set, and you will always choose that way. To break free from fate and embark on a new tributary, you must first break free from the shackles that you yourself have brought upon yourself.

After a long silence, I said to Uncle Wang, “It’s been almost forty minutes since the thunder struck, and all the larvae have been destroyed. How long will it be before the mother dies?”

Uncle Wang looked at the female insect struggling to fly and said, “I don’t think it’s going to be easy. It’s not easy to produce a true thunderstorm in the midst of so many thunderstorms. It looks like the only way to hurt it is to guide the true thunderstorm to it. These thunderstorms can at most prevent them from fully recovering.

“If the thunder does not occur, will it be split endlessly?” I glanced at the master in the center of the formation. His expression was obviously a bit tired. After all, it was the source of the injury.

“Endlessly splitting them down? If this works, it’s fine, but what level of life are these female insects? They will adapt to these thunderstorms, and then it will be trouble!” Uncle Wang’s face was full of endless worry, and I felt heavy in my heart.

“So, when will the thunder be generated?” I asked worriedly.

“Our Taoist sect is declining from generation to generation, just like a thing that will always go from prosperity to decline, and after hitting rock bottom, it may rise again. Now the Taoist sect is on the decline, and there are almost no Taoist priests who can truly manipulate the heavenly thunder. With this great array, we can only rely on luck. Heavenly thunder will always be there, but how many people have no guarantee!” Uncle Wang sighed and said.

I am a Taoist, a Taoist family member, and I have an indescribable feeling of frustration in my heart. When will we rise again?

Just when I was feeling a little sad, Uncle Wang suddenly laughed and shouted, “Good, it’s here, the heavenly thunder is here!”

As Wang Shishu shouted, my heart began to stir. Is there a thunder? In this sky full of thunder, I didn’t know which one was the thunder. After all, Wang Shishu was the successor of the Xiangzi School, and Fengshui was his strong point. He must be able to identify the thunder.

Uncle Wang said that the thunder had appeared, and I looked at the master excitedly. I saw that the master, who had originally been in the eye of the formation with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and then muttered, guiding a bolt of lightning to fall on the most active female insect.

That bolt of lightning was not much different from ordinary lightning, and was even thinner than other lightning that had been drawn down. But from the moment it fell, I stared at it, and my heart involuntarily trembled. Is this the power of the heavenly thunder?

As the bolt of lightning fell, the most active female insect let out a neighing sound that was similar to a wail for the first time. It shook everyone’s ears, and it was the first time I had seen the female insect’s body split apart and smoke billowing out. I saw half of its wings torn apart.

This was a truly heart-warming sight. I don’t know who it was, but the first person to cheer was me. Then, one after another, cheers rang out from the crowd. People were shouting with joy. After all, the great formation had been activated for so long, and this was the first time that the female worm had been injured.

With the first thunder, there was a second. Time passed quickly in the sound of thunder, and in the blink of an eye, four hours had passed!

The rain had already stopped, but there was still a little drizzle from time to time. The thunder continued to sound, and in the four hours, there were seventeen or eighteen thunderclaps. Under the guidance of the master, four female worms were killed, one was seriously injured, and one was slightly injured.

Chengxin sat next to me and had no interest in teasing the girls. He just listened to Uncle Wang tell some interesting stories with me. Seeing this situation, Uncle Wang couldn’t help but comment, “The heavens have also made up their minds to destroy this village. The short time it took for the Wanlei Array to fall eighteen times is proof. According to estimates, it is simply impossible to have so many.”

“It’s just that…” Wang Shishu glanced over at the great formation, and a hint of worry appeared in his eyes. It had been more than four hours, and even ordinary people couldn’t stand it for that long, let alone the fact that they had to keep outputting their power to maintain the formation. At this time, everyone in the formation was extremely exhausted.

Chengxin also noticed Wang’s concern and said carefully, “Uncle Wang, there is no other way. I gave them a pill an hour ago, and they have already swallowed it. They must not eat more, or they will have very serious consequences due to excessive stimulation.”

What kind of medicine is it? It’s the one I swallowed in the wormhole. I know how stimulating it is, and I can’t imagine what would happen if I took two in such a short time!

Facing Chengxin’s words, Wang Shishu asked with concern, “I don’t understand the medical terms, so please tell me. According to your estimation, how long can the medicine last?”

Chengxin honestly replied, “It can support until 4 a.m. at the most.”

I looked at my watch, and it was already past 2 a.m. If we were lucky, there might be enough thunder to kill the mother before 4 a.m. If we weren’t lucky, I didn’t dare to imagine what would happen…

Uncle Wang heard this answer, looked at the watch, and finally sighed and asked, “What about my brother Jiang? Did he take the medicine?”

As Wang Shishu spoke, another bolt of lightning fell, killing the seriously injured insect!