SFS Chapter 133 Locusts
Chapter 133 Locusts
After Lu Tianming saw that it was a locust, he shouted:
"Everyone, quickly cover up the food and protect the children!"
The locusts were very fast and had already fallen before Lu Tianming could finish speaking.
Swarms of locusts fluttered down onto trees, the ground, and even people, eating everything they saw.
In the sky, a large group of locusts continued to fly forward.
The locusts that fell were very fierce and would charge towards people and livestock.
The livestock were frightened after being bitten and began to kick their hooves and try to run away.
Those who had livestock hurriedly grabbed the reins, and the rest of the people quickly covered the grain bags with whatever they had at hand.
Qin Lang grabbed the frightened cow hard to prevent it from running away.
Lu Qingqing took out a straw mat from the carriage and covered the cow with it. The cow calmed down after it stopped being bitten.
In the team, Erya was bitten by a locust that fell on her body, and she was so scared that she burst into tears.
Aunt Lu quickly carried the child onto the cart and covered him with a sack and clothes.
The king's father then took out some large cloth bags from the ox cart and handed them to his two sons, and the three of them began to catch locusts.
Seeing this, the old village chief also shouted loudly:
"Everyone should catch more locusts. If we run out of food, we can use them as food."
Lu Tianming didn't react at first, but after he found out that this thing was edible, he also picked up the sack and caught it.
Tian Fu Niang was frightened and stopped, shouting:
"You can't catch it! It's sent by the Locust God. If you anger the Locust God, he'll bring disaster upon you!"
Seeing Tian Fu Niang trying to stop him, the old village chief cursed loudly:
"What locust god! These bugs are flying all the way here, destroying so much food. If you don't catch them, they'll eat it all up!"
Tianfu Niang cried and said:
"It's really impossible to catch it!"
In ancient times, people believed that locust plagues were a punishment from heaven and that locusts were sent by the locust god. Many people did not dare to catch locusts.
Many ancient people believed that only through pious sacrifices could the wrath of the locust god be appeased and the locusts would disperse.
Even today, some people say that locusts are poisonous after a plague and can kill people if eaten.
Locusts do produce toxic substances after a plague, but it would take hundreds of thousands of locusts to kill a person.
There is a saying that it is irresponsible to talk about toxicity without considering the dosage.
Lu Qingqing ignored Tian Funiang and took out a bamboo hat with a curtain from the carriage, and also took out a pile of sacks.
After putting on their hats, the two men began to catch locusts.
There are locusts in piles now. You can catch a lot of them by opening the mouth of the sack and covering it with the locusts that are flying towards you.
When everyone saw Lu Tianming and the others starting to catch locusts, they stopped hesitating and started catching locusts with bags.
During the journey of fleeing famine, everyone realized the importance of food.
Even if there is no shortage of food now, they will not miss this free food.
Seeing that she couldn't stop others, Tianfu Niang grabbed her son and daughter-in-law and stopped them from catching locusts.
She knelt on the ground, muttering words like "Please forgive my sins, Locust God."
Shi Xiu'er was very anxious when she saw that other families had already caught half a bag.
Lu Tianfu believed what his mother said in his heart, but seeing other people catching fish enthusiastically, he always felt that he would be at a disadvantage.
There were too many locusts at this time, and some were even mating. Many locusts were concentrating on eating and were not afraid of people at all.
Even if people try to catch them, they won't fly away.
After eating the area on the ground, it flew forward half a meter and then came down to continue eating.
There was a rustling sound of chewing things all around, which made people's scalps tingle.
Lu Qingqing took a sack and spread it on the ground, then used the sack to scoop things out.
There were so many locusts that before long, Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang had caught several sacks of them.
The village head's wife shouted to her daughter Lu Yuanyun:
"Yuan Yun, bring me two more bags! I can't fit any more!"
Aunt Lu had just filled a bag and saw that there were many locusts at Wang Dashan's place, so she ran there with her empty bag.
Tianfu Niang saw that they were catching more and more, so she knelt on the ground and cried and shouted:
"You can't catch them! They're sent by the Locust God. You'll get sick if you eat them!"
Her shrill cries actually made several women stop what they were doing. After hesitating for a moment, they continued to catch her.
Shi Xiu'er was extremely envious when she saw other people catching locusts in sacks.
If you have nothing to eat in the future, these can save your life.
Shi Xiuer couldn't help it, so she pulled her mother-in-law's hand away, found the bag from the car and ran towards the area where the locusts were densely populated.
Tianfu's mother wanted to pull her back, but Xiao Shitou started crying.
It turned out that he heard the sound, stuck his head out to see, and was bitten by a locust.
This cry successfully stopped Tian Funiang in her tracks.
For about two quarters of an hour, the team was catching locusts.
The ground was covered with locusts, and you could kill several of them with every step you took.
Everyone started spreading sacks on the ground and sweeping inside.
Lu Qingqing thought that even if people didn't eat the locusts, they would be good for feeding chickens.
He then took out many sacks from the carriage and he and Qin Lang kept sweeping locusts into the bags.
If this area is empty, go to another place.
It was not until a quarter of an hour later that most of the locusts flew away, leaving only a few scattered on the ground and trees, and then everyone stopped.
After the locusts passed through, all visible green disappeared.
The wild vegetables, leaves and even tree bark that could be seen on the road before are gone.
Looking at this scene, everyone couldn't help but feel fortunate that they caught locusts.
Before, when we ran out of food, we could still eat wild vegetables, but now even wild vegetables are gone.
After catching the locusts, everyone was so tired that they sat down on the ground.
Everyone who caught locusts had their bodies and heads covered with locust mucus or green locust feces, which gave off a foul smell.
Fortunately, everyone in the team is the same and no one looks down on anyone else.
Shi Xiu'er caught four bags of locusts by herself and was now dragging them towards the cart.
Seeing that she was having difficulty dragging the things, Lu Tianfu hurried over to help.
Tianfu Niang stepped forward quickly, pushed the bag away, and said in a crying voice:
"Xiu'er, we can't eat these locusts. The locust god will punish us!"
Shi Xiuer silently picked up the bag, looked at her mother-in-law and said:
"Mom, before Xiao Shitou and I met you, we were starving for several months. The feeling of hunger is so unbearable. When we really run out of food, these locusts can save our lives. If there really is a locust god who wants to punish us, let him come to me!"
Tianfu Niang stopped talking for a moment.
Yes, if people can’t survive, will they still worry about whether they will be punished or not?
Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang moved the packed locusts into the carriage one bag at a time, actually putting them directly into the space.
Everyone loaded the caught locusts onto carts, and almost every family's cart was piled high with bags of locusts.
After tying up the car, the team continued on their journey.
On the way, there were many refugees catching scattered locusts on the ground.
Most of the refugees carried the caught locusts on their backs or pulled them on carts. Most people would not miss this free food.
In the team, everyone was discussing how to preserve the locusts.