The World Online

Chapter 1215 – Calamity Strikes

Many years later, people would still remember this calamity that struck in the 6th year of Gaia like it was fresh in their minds.

10th month, 10th day, Mongol grassland, north border.

On the grasslands in autumn, the knee high wild grass slowly turned yellow. Animal herders who were dressed in white were busy harvesting grass to feed their animals through the winter season.

Cylindrical haystacks the size of grinding stones were scattered around the vast grassland like guards carefully guarding this ancient grassland, protecting the scared land of the animal herders.

To the Mongol herders, this was a year of great harvest.

The storms that plagued the mid plains had no effect on the northern grasslands. Wild grass proliferated while cows and sheep grew strong. The flock of sheep that formed up were like clouds on the grassland, making one delighted.

Following which, the Empire had won a war on the west side, swallowing up and merging with the Turkish Khanate. Genghis Khan was delighted and exempted them from half a year of taxes.

Happiness came in pairs, as they were destined to have a good year.

Their faces were red, nourished, and filled with energy as they rushed to complete the harvest before winter arrived.

Just at this moment, on the horizon, buzzing sounds spread over. The animal herders straightened their backs and looked up, only to see a black cloud appear on the horizon.

That black cloud spread out on both sides, and one could not see the end of it. The buzzing sounds came from that black cloud.

“That’s weird. Why does a cloud have sounds? Is it going to rain?”

The weather in the grasslands was really unpredictable and a sudden rain was normal.

While the animal herders were confused, the black cloud charged at them at a visible rate. The closer it got, the louder the sound grew, making one numb up.

At this moment, all the animal herders looked toward the black cloud.

It was getting closer and closer.

“That- that is not a black cloud!”

Some of the sharp-eyed animal herders gazed at the ‘cloud’, their voices shaking.

“Uncle, if that is not a black cloud, what can it be?” The young herder laughed as he said that, not caring much. Evidently, he had not realized that danger had descended.

In the blink of an eye, the black cloud had swarmed over.

“Locusts; they are locusts!”

Looking at the black cloud, the uncle muttered, remembering the calamity he had faced when he was young. His face that was covered in wrinkles started to turn white. He had clearly recalled some bad memories.

The grasslands was where locust calamities happened often.

The young herders could not laugh anymore, as they could now clearly see that the so-called black cloud was just numerous locusts gathering together and dancing around.

Everywhere the locusts passed, no grass was left.

In the poem ‘Flying Locust’ written by Ming Dynasty poet Guo Dun, he described the scene that happened as, “The locusts covered the sky such that there was no color; the eyes of the elderly weeps tears of blood.”

The scene in front of them would only be more terrifying than what was described in the poem.

That was because the scale of this locust wave was simply too great. Looking out, north, south east, and west, front and back, there were locusts everywhere, like one had barged into a locust nest.

No one knew how many there were, were there 100 million, 1 billion or 10 billion?

The uncle knelt on the ground, praying sincerely to the gods of the grassland for protection. Around him were locusts that covered the sky, dancing up and down, creating a chilling sight.

When the young herders saw that, they were at a loss.

On the vast grasslands, there was nowhere to hide, so their bodies could only be swallowed up by the locust wave.

“Quick, hide in the haystack, hide.”

Some people reacted and were not willing to just stand there and do nothing. They called out to the others to fend off the locust rain and try to form the haystacks into a circle.

Only the uncle continued praying, not bothering about the surrounding locusts.

These locusts flew over from Siberia. They had just hatched from their eggs and were at the hungriest point in their lives, so they ate anything they saw.

The black cloud that the herders saw was just the vanguard.

The further behind, the more closely packed the bugs got. It was not a cloud and was more like a black wall where one could not even see a gap through.

Just as the herders were forming a circle with the haystacks, the uncle was drowned by the locust wave.

One brave kid took the risk to rush beside him to try to drag him into the circle. However, the uncle did not move and only prayed.

Seeing the bug wave get denser, the kid was helpless and could only leave.

To the herders living on the grassland, using haystacks to build a temporary house was not a difficult matter. Not only were circles of haystacks stacked up, even the roof was made of hay.

Hundreds of haystacks had formed up a close space.

The herders hid inside, using their clothes to cover their bodies as they shivered.

The heaven covering bug wave whistled across. The grassland that was filled with grass moments ago became bare and empty with nothing left.

Even those huge haystacks were being digested by the locusts at a visible rate.

Two hours had passed, and the herders who were hiding within the haystacks finally could not hear that numbing buzz. Only then did they nervously walk out.

The scene of an apocalypse laid in front of them.

All the hay that they had gathered up with their hard work was gone. Even the haystack house that was formed from circle after circle of hay was only left with a thin layer. Looking out, it was only bare land.

Not far away, the uncle laid on the ground, his life or death unknown.

Everything was like a dream.

‘Wuwu~’

Amongst the crowd, cries broke out and grew louder and louder.

“We are finished; everything is finished.”

The herders cried, crying for the hay, crying for the animals, and crying for themselves. Without the hay, the animals would not be able to pass the winter.

To the herders, the animals were their lives.

Thinking about that, everyone cried out.

And these cries were just the peak of the iceberg; it was not enough to describe this calamity.

That day, tens of billions of locusts charged into the Mongol grassland from Siberia, launching the cruelest and biggest locust calamity in history.

From the house of Ogedai in the west to Liaojin Province in the east, no one was spared.

The scare of this was unprecedented.

The entire Mongol grassland was covered by the locust wave from north to south. It was an unstoppable movement. Everywhere the locust wave went, no grass was left. Herders cried out, and lives were extinguished.

The Mongol Empire was in a state of total panic.

Genghis Khan ordered for all people to prepare for battle, treating killing the locusts as a matter of war. They would work with the herders to kill the locusts to reduce losses.

A million troops whistled across the grassland.

…

This calamity that Gaia started was naturally not restricted to the Mongol grassland.

Pretty much at the same time that the locust calamity struck, in the mid plains region, especially the Yellow River region, a similar locust crisis also started.

Especially the lower stream of the Yellow River, which was where locust crisis were common. As a result, the area was the most badly hit.

All of a sudden, clearing out the locusts became the main focus of the wilderness.

For the entire 10th month, Great Xia had a huge locust destroying operation. To protect the hay and the upcoming second harvest season, the people went crazy.

They used nets, fire, and even cooked the locusts to eat. They tried everything.

But it was useless.

The locust wave came and went like the wind, whistling across like a gust. The attacks of the people were just a small dent. The regions hit by the calamity would have their yield affected and may even have no harvest.

In ancient times, without modern pesticides, there was no way to use plains to spread the pesticides.

The upcoming winter was destined to be a cold one.

Not only China, in the 10th month, calamities occurred worldwide. In Africa, locusts were rampant, and it was much worse compared to China.

The so-called ‘It’s hot so there would be locusts’ meant that the hotter and dryer the region, the easier the locust calamity would happen. The dry Africa continent was naturally hit the hardest.

Apart from that, there were typhoons, storms, tornados, earthquakes, tsunamis, illnesses…

Any thinkable calamity in human history was released by Gaia like opening the Pandora’s box, spreading all around the world.

The game world was in total chaos.

The civilians cried out while the Lords were filled with worry.

No one expected Gaia to be so vicious to teach the various Lords a lesson – the world is unpredictable.

The so-called good weather would cease to exist.

Once the 10th month ended and the situation turned for the better, the tired civilians would start to evaluate their losses and check for what was missing with the help of local officials.

The reports handed up made the brows of all the rulers locked tight.

This calamity would have a long and drawn out impact on the global situation. The first one being the grain prices because the grain prices in the China region started to soar from the middle of the 10th month…