This gesture warmed her heart. She looked at the smug maid who was approaching her, her hand raised high...

"Smack!"

The maid stood there, her face turned to the side, stunned, and then looked at her incredulously.

"You old hag! How dare you!"

Qin Qing raised her hand and slapped the maid across the face first, then looked at her innocently!

"Don't blame me, it was your master who wanted to hit you. I was just standing up for her. I must say, you're pretty shameless. My hand hurts from that!"

As he spoke, he shook his hand as if he was in great pain, and Xiao Muyue quickly pulled him down to blow on it, his tense little expression perfectly capturing the situation.

"Phew! Grandma's pain is gone, and my period will be fine again!"

Qin Qing smiled, and the woman beside him strode forward, her face extremely ugly!

"Smack!"

She suddenly waved her hand, and a clear handprint appeared on the maid's other face, even harder than when Qin Qing hit her!

"Useless! You can't even do this simple thing right!"

The maidservant quickly lowered her head and begged for mercy, completely disregarding the pain on her face. The woman ignored her and looked at Qin Qing coldly.

"You old bastard, you just wait!"

After saying that, the woman turned and left!

A moment later, Zhang He came out after changing her clothes. Just as she had expected, her elegant and refined temperament and gentle face complemented her perfectly.

Qin Qing was about to pay the bill, which was fortunately not too expensive, totaling twenty-four taels!

Just then, a scream came from outside, followed by a series of buzzing sounds. Qin Qing was puzzled when he saw the sky turn dark and people on the street fleeing in panic. Shopkeepers' faces changed instantly, and they hurriedly closed their doors.

Qin Qing was taken aback, then seemed to realize something and looked at the shopkeeper in disbelief.

"Those were... locusts?"

No way? That's a massive swarm that blots out the sky! Even if locusts reproduce extremely quickly, it can't be that exaggerated, can it?

The boss, with a bitter face, sat down in a chair and sighed.

"Didn't you notice? Every household in this city has metal plates installed on their doors to prevent locusts from eating them! But you don't need to worry, I thought of this problem a long time ago and have already taken care of it. It shouldn't be long before..."

Before the words were finished, a "click" sound came from the door, especially from the corners on both sides of the door.

Qin Qing placed his hand on the door with a serious expression, and stared in shock at the faint vibrations and grinding teeth sounds coming from it!

These aren't locusts! These are clearly monsters! How could locusts possibly have any abilities?

Suddenly, she realized something, her expression changed drastically, and she quickly turned her head.

"Boss, is there a back door here? Let's get out of here quickly, or we'll all probably die here."

The shop owner had obviously thought of that possibility as well. He stared wide-eyed at the door frame and noticed wood chips falling out. He felt his vision go black.

Qin Qing couldn't wait any longer, so she quickly grabbed his collar and roared at him with a grim expression.

"What are you dawdling for? The door is about to collapse!"

The shopkeeper seemed to be startled awake. He quickly broke free from her hand, opened the drawer, took all the money, and rushed towards the back door. When he saw them following, he seemed to realize something and did not stop them.

"Daughter-in-law, children, hurry up and keep up!"

Qin Qing picked up Mu Yue and followed closely behind. She never dreamed that she would encounter a swarm of locusts so soon after entering the city!

As soon as they stepped out the back door, they saw locusts everywhere. All the wooden items on the street were chewed up and destroyed. Some people even fell to the ground, covered in swarms of locusts, as they frantically tried to escape. The scene was disgusting and shocking!

She instinctively covered Mu Yue's eyes, pressing the fabric against her collar, blocking Mu Xing and Mu Yang's view with her body, her voice trembling.

"Don't look at the street, just follow the shopkeepers and walk along the right side of the wall..."

Mu Yang had already witnessed that scene, and stood frozen in place. Mu Xing looked completely bewildered, while Zhang He gagged.

Seeing that a large number of locusts were approaching the group, and they still didn't move, Qin Qing shouted!

"What are you standing there for! Let's go!"

Mu Yang suddenly realized what was happening, grabbed Mu Xing and left. Zhang He, pale with fright, walked over with trembling legs. Qin Qing suppressed her fear and quickly followed.

At the same time, her voice seemed to attract the attention of the locusts, and a dark swarm began to rapidly approach the group.

Seeing this, the shop owner panicked and walked even faster, rushing into a cellar and quickly closing the entrance. Zhang He was stunned and tried to pull it open, but couldn't, and could only turn his head helplessly.

"Mother... I can't open it."

Qin Qing also saw this scene, rolled her eyes and blurted out "mmp" in anger. Seeing the locusts gathering nearby, she steadied herself and quickly looked around.

There's a courtyard house to the north, but it's too wooden and unsafe. To the right is a blacksmith shop, but the door is tightly shut...

"Come in quickly!"

Just as she was struggling with her decision, the door opened, and an old lady waved for them to come in quickly.

Qin Qing rushed over with Mu Yue in her arms. At this time, preserving their lives was the most important thing. Zhang He quickly pulled Mu Xing and Mu Yang to follow closely behind.

In just half a minute, the group rushed into the blacksmith's shop. Qin Qing quickly closed the door, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the cellar where they had just been was swarming with locusts...

She was just one step away! If she hesitated even a moment longer, her whole family would probably become a feast for the locusts.

At this moment, swarms of locusts landed on the iron gate. Perhaps because it was difficult to gnaw on, and the blacksmith shop was mostly surrounded by iron products, the locusts quickly gave up on this place.

Qin Qing peered nervously through the small crack in the door, and only after confirming it was safe did she breathe a sigh of relief and turn to look at the old lady with gratitude.

"Thank you so much, elder sister. My surname is Qin, and my given name is Mu Qin Shi. This is my eldest daughter-in-law and grandchildren. If it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't be..."

She paused, a sense of doubt welling up inside her. Something was wrong. As far as she knew, locusts weren't carnivorous creatures; they shouldn't eat people! Yet, everything she had just witnessed seemed so real…

Could it be a mutation?

"Grandma...that person...was eaten!!"

Xiao Muxing's shocked and frightened voice came from outside. She suddenly stood up and quickly covered her eyes. She had almost forgotten that the blacksmith's window was made of iron mesh, so she could still see everything outside clearly.

"Don't be afraid, stars, Grandma will protect you!"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but turn her head to look over. Her body stiffened; the bloody and cruel scene was horrifying. At the same time, she noticed something was wrong...

Among the locusts, there seemed to be some small black creatures. These were the black creatures that had just bitten the person. The locusts had only stepped on the person and had not eaten them.

Thinking of this, she suppressed her surprise and, despite feeling nauseous, took a few more glances before confirming that the black, man-eating creature was indeed a grasshopper, a carnivorous insect hiding among locusts and looking just like one. Although she didn't know why it would suddenly attack people, she finally understood!