The swarm of cicadas buzzed all around Hui. He backed away slowly, his dagger out in front of him.

One of the smaller ones hurtled at him. He slashed. Black energy traced after the dagger. It slashed into the cicada. The cicada paled and withered. It fell to the ground, color drained from its body, its plump abdomen shriveled and dry. No more than a husk, it bounced over the floor.

Hui flicked his sleeve, drawing the wisp of death qi toward him. He narrowed his eyes at the other cicadas and raised the dagger. With his fiercest voice, he declared, “I’ll kill you all.”

The cicadas shuffled, wings fluttering. Hui turned slowly, taking them all in. His heart raced, and he had to force himself to slow his breath. It’s okay. Bai Xue will be here soon. Just bluff them off until Bai Xue gets here!

A terrible boom sounded out behind him. The large cicada let out a cry of pain and rushed away. “Hui, hang in there! As soon as I finish this one, I’ll be there!”

Hui bit his lip. Ah. Help… might be too far away.

Trembling, the first cicada began to cry out. One after another, the other cicadas joined their voices, all crying to the heavens. Hui clapped his hands over his ears and stumbled back, furrowing his brows against the cries as they began to sync. Without crystals to line its walls, the smooth walls of the geode reflected the sound back, redoubling it as echoes lined up with the buzz. The sound echoed in Hui’s bones and bounced in his skull. Even with his hands over his ears, he couldn’t stop it. His body began to vibrate in sync with the cicadas’ cries. Pain broke out over his entire body. Blood rolled down from his eyes, ears, and nose. He threw out a barrier talisman, but the sound rattled through the barrier.

Scowling, he dismissed the barrier. Defending won’t work. I have to attack!

He drew a stack of ice talismans and threw them out over the cicadas. They flew out in waves. Propelled by qi, some rushed deep over the cicadas, while others settled close. One hand still clapped over his ear, he gestured. The talismans activated, encasing the cicadas in ice. The cicadas beyond the reach of his talismans still screamed, but the nearest ones fell quiet, unable to move or cry any longer.

The ice cracked almost immediately. Even as he lowered his hand, some of the cicadas struggled in the ice, on the verge of breaking out.

No time to hesitate. Marshalling all his qi, Hui circulated it rapidly, tracing the pattern of the attack Zhu Diyu had granted him. Dammit, too bad I didn’t make another talisman. I’ve only got one shot at this!

Hissing sounded from his sleeve. Zhubi poked his head out. He yawned cutely, gaping his mouth wide.

“Zhubi, it’s not safe!” Hui shouted.

A cicada leaped at them, purple eyes shining with murderous rage. Hui clenched his teeth. If I grab a talisman now, I’ll disrupt the spell and lose all my qi!

Zhubi glanced at him, then leaped from his sleeve. As he plunged toward the ground, he grew larger and larger, to his full length of ten meters long. Zhubi struck at the rushing cicada. It fluttered its wings, eyes widening in fear, but too late. It vanished into Zhubi’s maw.

The other cicadas buzzed, growing slowly louder.

Hui took a breath. Right, he evolved to fourth realm! “Zhubi, buy me three breaths’ time!”

Zhubi’s eyes flashed. He reared back and spat out a dual stream of poison. One glimmered silver. The other appeared black at first glance, but within the blackness, a shimmering purple swirled.

The two poisons slammed into the waves of cicadas. They staggered back, crying out in pain. Further back, the cicadas buzzed louder and leaped forward aggressively to avenge their fallen.

“Too late! Zhubi, down!” Hui shouted.

Zhubi dropped to the ground.

Hui released the attack. Waves of force rushed out from his arms and slammed into the cicadas. One wave, two, three! The weaker ones directly exploded into gore, eyes bursting, their liquiefied guts spilling out of the cracks in their exoskeletons. The stronger ones stumbled back, hurt. Cracks burst through their armor, and purple ichor leaked out of their transparent skin.

Zhubi’s poisons rushed out with the waves of Hui’s attack. The poisons sunk into the cracks in the cicadas’ skin. In a few seconds, half of the remaining cicadas slumped, limp. The other half shuddered. The ichor leaking out of their bodies darkened. They shuddered harder and harder, then burst, sending puffs of black-purple smoke into the sky, which then infected the cicadas around them. In the space of a few breaths, three-quarters of the massive cicada army toppled over or exploded, dead.

Hui stumbled. A wave of weakness passed through his body. All my qi… that attack is powerful, but it takes a lot out of me!

He breathed in, drawing in as much qi as he could. A strand coiled into his dantian, supporting him. As he circulated it, he lifted his talismans. At least I can still fight with almost no qi. Come at me, cicadas! This small cultivator will fight until it’s time to play dead!

Beside him, Zhubi reared up and hissed. The remaining cicadas hesitated, glancing at Zhubi, unwilling to charge the creature that had just killed so many of their own.

Hui threw out his wooden talismans, picturing a cage. A dozen talismans flew toward the cicadas. On guard, they hunkered down. Purple eyes flickered, watching the talismans.

The talismans landed. Wooden pillars grew where they hit the floor, arcing together into a huge, rounded birdcage. Captured inside, the cicadas stared, then lifted off. They slammed into the pillars, but the pillars didn’t give. A small cicada slipped through, only for Zhubi to promptly snap it up. One landed on a pillar and began to gnaw. Hui aimed an ice talisman at it, and it fell back, clattering its frozen mouthparts.

One of the cicadas began to buzz. The others stopped what they were doing and began to buzz as well. The buzzing began to sync, and the first waves of the brutal sonic attack rushed out toward the walls of the birdcage. The wooden pillars shuddered. Splinters split off from their surfaces.

Hui scowled. He drew ten fire talismans and threw them into the birdcage. Two fiery tabbies burst to life, growing larger as the talismans combined, then rushed into the cicadas. The cicadas buzzed again. The fiery tabbies shuddered from the attack, but held together. They ran through the cicadas. The cicadas rushed at them, biting at the tabbies. Their mouthpieces burst into flames, but still they persisted. Latching onto the tabbies’ legs, they held them down. Cicadas fluttered into the air and dove down on the tabbies from above. In seconds, cicadas piled onto the tabbies until the tabbies could no longer be seen.

Hui made a hand sign. “Burst!”

Flame rushed out from between the cicadas. The cicadas screamed. A few fell to the ground, crisped black, while others jumped away, singed and hurt but not dead.

Hui grimaced. This is going to take too many talismans. I need to speed it up!

“Hui!” Xixing rushed to his side. “You captured them? Good! We can harvest them for parts!”

“Er, Elder Sister, I haven’t exactly subdued them,” Hui admitted, glancing at the cicadas. They stared back, purple eyes glowing with wordless rage.

Xixing chuckled. A strange light appeared in the depths of her eyes, and her smile quirked in an odd direction. “Leave the subduing to your Elder Sister.”