Doomsday Spiritual Artifact Master
chapter-23

Chapter 23 – Rainy Night in Hua City (15)

◎Found you, little thing◎

After the central eye of the formation fell into the sinkhole, the surface of Hua City became a wasteland.

Song Ke pushed Zhuang Qingyan as they swiftly moved, reaching the rooftop of a skyscraper. This was the only tall building nearby that hadn’t completely collapsed and was currently the highest point in the area.

The elevated terrain granted them a moment to catch their breath.

Looking down from the city’s highest point, in the east, south, west, and north directions, an endless tide of insects formed a black expanse.

This horrifying sight was suffocating. Song Ke deeply questioned what the top student had said earlier. Wasn’t it claimed that cockroaches had been officially eradicated? Then what were these? Where did they come from? Ah!!

Rain still fell from the sky, transitioning from a heavy downpour to a drizzle, without any sign of stopping.

The damp rainwater trickled down through their hair. Splashes of tiny water droplets scattered at their feet. Song Ke was dressed in combat gear, her posture straight like a spear. She zipped up her jacket all the way, pressing it tightly against her chin.

Perhaps this was the most dire scene she had encountered since the apocalypse began, Song Ke thought solemnly.

Even though awakeners had extraordinary abilities, there were limits to human physical and mental capacities. She could face the endless insect tide alone, but there would still be moments of exhaustion, times when her spiritual strength would be depleted, and she might not return.

However, hiding here would eventually result in being overwhelmed by the endless horde of zombie cockroaches that would overrun the entire city.

She wasn’t going to sit and wait for death. If hiding wasn’t an option, then it was time for battle!

Song Ke raised her hands and formed a tiger seal with her fingers.

“Sword cuts sight, slays ghosts, tigers, wolves, insects, and rodents, blow, pinch.”

Then, she pressed her two thumbs together and curled the index, middle, and ring fingers, while keeping the little fingers extended, forming a hand seal. The hand seals were intricate and incredibly fast.

This was the Daoist secret technique of the Golden Sword, a technique representing the divine sword for vanquishing ghosts and demons. Song Ke was that divine sword.

Of course, her execution of the technique wasn’t perfect. She couldn’t employ it in battle like Zhang Ting and Zhang Ci did. At most, she could go through the motions to stack up a psychological buff. But this was the rule of the Yue Mountain Martial Arts School, and more importantly, Zhang Ting’s rule. Song Ke had always been obedient.

Different hand seals held different meanings during formal competitions, duels, and challenges.

The hand seal Song Ke was currently forming meant – to fight to the death.

Fight only, no retreat.

With the determination to fight her last battle, she was about to take a step forward –

“Wait.” Zhuang Qingyan grabbed her hat, causing Song Ke’s foot to halt mid-air, and her momentum was greatly reduced.

Zhuang Qingyan looked at her with a bit of a headache. “Don’t be so reckless. There’s a way out.”

“What… way?” Song Ke’s round eyes widened. If there’s a way, why didn’t you say so earlier!

“I just confirmed it myself,” Zhuang Qingyan adjusted his expression, speaking seriously, “Within this batch of insect tide, there’s a ‘King’ presence.”

“Earlier, I had suspected that this wave of insects wasn’t solely a natural disaster. Do you remember? The zombie cockroaches first appeared in the western mountainous areas, then followed you all to the safe zone, and accurately traced a path from the safe zone to here. Their actions exhibited logic, completely confirming my speculation.”

“Similar to the relationships between male bees, worker bees, and the queen bee in a bee colony, the ‘King’ within the zombie cockroaches possesses commanding authority. It can command and control all its kind. So, as long as we take down the ‘King,’ the remaining cockroaches will surely become leaderless, scattered and disorganized.”

The Qinglan Institute had once conducted a secret biological research project for the Alliance known as “Plan Eternity.” Zhuang Qingyan had reviewed the confidential information of that project, which included various experimental specimens of arthropods, many of which could be considered monstrous.

Song Ke blinked and asked, “But how can we find and locate that ‘King’?”

Below, in the dark abyss, there were easily over tens of thousands of zombie cockroaches. Trying to pinpoint this ‘King’ from among them seemed like a far-fetched idea.

“Don’t worry,” Zhuang Qingyan slid forward two steps, “I’ll figure something out.”

The black tide had already overrun the surface of Hua City, crawling upward along the shattered walls and debris. If not restrained, in another ten minutes or so, they would have no escape route left and be completely consumed.

Zhuang Qingyan’s beautiful peach blossom eyes gradually deepened. The countless zombie cockroaches below seemed like faded black-and-white silent films in his eyes. His gaze swiftly swept around – north… no, east… no, south… wait a moment!

In a corner to the southeast, there was a cluster of filthy and chaotic black energy, that was it!

Zhuang Qingyan made a quick decision and deduced the direction using the remaining Bagua formation on the ground. “The sound of roaring thunder, Xunfeng advance and retreat. Third Zhen, fourth Xun, then rotate to the right and move out.”

Song Ke: “?”

Zhuang Qingyan: “…?”

They exchanged puzzled looks.

Two seconds later, Zhuang Qingyan cleared his throat lightly and rephrased, “Go east first, reach the end, then head southeast for about two hundred meters.”

Song Ke, once again: “??”

East? Where is East? And where is the southeast??

Zhuang Qingyan: “…”

He saw a bewildered look on Song Ke’s face.

Had the collective education in District D reached such a dire state?

At that moment, Zhuang Qingyan rubbed his forehead helplessly and attempted a third phrasing, “Head straight towards the 3 o’clock direction until the end, then turn right. Head towards 5 o’clock for approximately 200 meters.”

“…The ‘King’ will emit strong radiation. Pay attention to fluctuations in energy around you,” he added.

Song Ke’s face remained expressionless: “Oh.”

She thought, couldn’t he have explained it this simply earlier?

Zhuang Qingyan: … Should he feel fortunate that Song Ke can at least read a clock?

Song Ke carefully turned 90 degrees to face the east, then uncertainly glanced back at Zhuang Qingyan.

Zhuang Qingyan nodded with a deadpan expression.

Receiving confirmation, Song Ke tightened her grip on the spear with a determined air. “I’ll go and take it down.”

She leaped down from the high point.

Her tiny figure crashed into the ground and was instantly engulfed by the swarm of insects.

However, in the next moment, the long spear burst forth from the ground with an unstoppable force, flipping countless cockroaches over, their six legs flailing in the air.

With just a single person, she defied an army!

Song Ke supported herself with one hand, executed a mid-air somersault, and used her foot to kick the spear. The icy-cold tip of the spear continued its assault, the blue light almost leaving an afterimage as it shattered the oncoming swarm of insects like fragments in the wind. One person against thousands!

Song Ke had no intention of lingering in the battle. She broke through at the fastest speed, her goal being to locate the Insect King.

Near the Xun gate, the magnetic field fluctuations twisted and tangled chaotically. Song Ke’s steps abruptly halted. She closed her eyes, and her psychic power surged out, quickly sensing something amiss.

She snapped her eyes open and looked straight ahead. Within the encircling mass of zombie cockroaches, there was one with unique patterns on its back. Its body was as round as a basketball, but its head was incredibly small, like a badminton shuttlecock, and it was squeaking loudly.

Found it. Song Ke’s face lit up with a satisfied smile.

She released her grip on the spear, and like a lightning bolt, it shot toward its target. Surprisingly, fear flickered in the Insect King’s compound eyes, and it was about to turn and escape.

“Thunk—” The first shot lodged into its back. The shell there was unusually tough, and though the spear went in, it didn’t penetrate completely. Instead, it left a deep dent, followed by a gush of black fluid.

“Swoosh—” The second shot. The Insect King flapped its wings, narrowly evading the attack. Its panicked squeaks grew more urgent as it fled toward the nearest drainage pipe, intending to burrow underground.

Song Ke couldn’t let it succeed. Her spiritual power surged, and with the third shot, a blue light brimming with the force of a thunderbolt slashed forward.

“Thud—” This shot pierced the Bug King’s small head. It collapsed at the entrance of the drainage pipe, its antennae broken.

Song Ke retracted her spear and calmly delivered another strike, ensuring the Insect King’s thorough demise.

However, after the Insect King’s death, the surrounding swarm of cockroaches didn’t disperse; instead, they seemed to be provoked, converging on Song Ke from all directions.

Before she could even be shocked, she was already caught in an endless cycle of battle.

She could only curse silently in her mind, “Zhuang Qingyan, you bastard!!!”

…

High up in the skyscraper, Zhuang Qingyan quickly realized that something was amiss.

Why? Ordinary zombie cockroaches didn’t have any self-awareness to begin with. So why, when the Insect King died, did their aggressive tendencies not recede, but instead intensify?

Suddenly, a dreadful conjecture dawned on him.

Unless… there were two kings.

Not just one “King.”

Within the bee colony, fortunate larvae could occupy the royal platform, enjoying royal jelly for their entire lives, eventually transforming into Queens. However, there wasn’t just one royal platform. If two Queens emerged from their pupae simultaneously, a battle to the death between them would inevitably ensue, continuing until one emerged as the ultimate victor.

What if these two insect kings were in the midst of such a battle?

Zhuang Qingyan fell into deep thought. If he was one of those insect kings, he wouldn’t foolishly expose himself. He would hide in the shadows, using the help of these foreign creatures (humans) to eliminate his competitor, and then… proceed to eradicate humanity without any reservations.

Using others to do the dirty work, huh? Perhaps the “King” that Song Ke eliminated was just the bait it released.

The true commander of this swarm of insects was still alive.

Amidst the patter of raindrops, faint sounds of movement seemed to echo.

Zhuang Qingyan abruptly turned around. Cockroaches had already climbed up to the edge of the rooftop behind him!

So fast? They had occupied the rooftop nearly seven to eight minutes earlier than anticipated. No, not all of the zombie cockroaches had arrived. It was only a few thousand, acting like a vanguard. When did he expose himself?

These zombie cockroaches seemed even fiercer, their gray-white cloudy compound eyes fixed on him, seemingly contemplating where to strike.

At this distance, even Song Ke herself couldn’t ensure his safety, let alone save him!

Zhuang Qingyan released his spiritual energy, rapidly surveying the approaching horde of cockroaches.

None of the zombie cockroaches charging at him possessed the energy of a King?

How was that possible?

But Zhuang Qingyan, after all, was Zhuang Qingyan. He was stunned for less than a second before devising a strategy.

You’re hiding and refusing to show yourself, right? I’ll make sure you have nowhere to hide. Even a low-intelligence bug dares to play tricks with him?

Zhuang Qingyan raised a crossbow and swiveled his wheelchair half a turn, pretending to aim towards the left with apparent clumsiness. He deliberately exposed a vulnerability on his backside, while the approaching zombie cockroaches mindlessly charged forward.

Not on the right side, huh…

He feigned defeat, awkwardly turning his wheelchair rightward in a panic, pushing it as if he were trying to escape, his retreat appearing desperate and disheveled.

The horde of cockroaches behind him suddenly erupted into frenzy, collectively changing their direction to converge on him.

It’s on the left!

Zhuang Qingyan’s fingers danced rapidly, typing a series of commands on the panel. The wheelchair shot out uncontrollably. As the rooftop’s edge drew closer and a fall seemed imminent, he suddenly—swiftly turned around, his head snapping back.

Within the chaotic swarm of charging cockroaches, a smaller figure stood out. It remained stationary, wings fanned open on its back, antennae raised high, and its mouthparts buzzing rapidly as it issued instructions.

Found you, little thing, Zhuang Qingyan’s lips curled into a cold smile.

A sharp killing intent condensed into a thin line, shooting toward the smaller “King” at lightning speed.

Mental force piercing!

The tiny insect king, which had been hiding in the shadows all this time, was ensnared by invisible threads. It was suspended in midair, its small six-legged body swaying as if it were dangling. The intense and rapid mental force impacts caused its antennae to tremble violently. Finally, with a resounding “pop,” it burst open. Its components shattered and scattered, accompanied by bursts of foul-smelling viscous fluid.

With the true insect king dead, the remaining cockroaches clearly lost their sense of direction, becoming a disorganized rabble. These lower-level zombie creatures lacked intelligence, rendering them impervious to spiritual attacks. Zhuang Qingyan raised the multi-shot crossbow attached to his wheelchair, taking aim. Dozens of powerful energy arrows whizzed through the air, quickly clearing the area.

Zhuang Qingyan concluded the battle, steering his wheelchair toward the southeast. He lowered his head, gazing at the ground.

The terrifying cockroach army was rapidly retreating. Amidst the endless waves of black, standing in the distance was a slim figure. She stood on a piece of debris, gripping a spear dripping with a malevolent aura. The spearhead pointed downward, dripping a black, murky liquid. Her whole body was covered in filth, as if she had been pulled from the mud, except for her eyes, which shone remarkably through the rain.

Separated by a hundred meters, they couldn’t clearly discern each other’s expressions, yet it felt as though their gazes had locked inescapably.

For no apparent reason, Zhuang Qingyan smiled.

**TN

The sound of roaring thunder… – Zhuang Qingyan was using a mantra here for the footwork of Tiangang Bagua Step, I’m not familiar with it, but each step has a mantra