Another middle-aged woman had almost no healthy flesh left on her exposed skin.
Human-face sores merged together, bulging slightly above the skin to form clear facial reliefs with varying expressions.
Some seemed to be weeping, some sneering, and others were fixed in a mask of total despair.
As the woman breathed weakly, these sores even writhed slightly.
This sight caused the crowd, which had originally gathered with a curious mindset, to gradually feel uneasy.
Lord Rat stood with his arms crossed, watching coldly with a flash of disgust in his eyes.
He cursed under his breath, "Damn it, it never ends."
This scene always reminded Lord Rat of those unbearable years in Tianchi Province.
Similar plagues had spread across the fiend lands, with corpses covered in human-face sores piled high as mountains.
He subconsciously ground his teeth; his keen sense of smell was not mistaken.
This was definitely the filthiest corruption from a corner of his homeland—the damned Plague-Eating Stove.
Watching more and more unconscious people being laid out outside, Ku Chan's face finally hardened.
He chanted a Buddhist name and gave an order to the bone ghost servants guarding the entrance: "Amitabha. Saving a life is a virtue greater than building a seven-story pagoda. Bring them all in."
He was clear-headed about the situation.
With a plague outbreak of this scale, if Heart's Desire Hall stood by and watched people die, the image of a savior they had worked so hard to build would collapse instantly.
That wouldn't be forming a fated bond; it would be making enemies, which would be extremely detrimental to the Bone God's plan to spread his faith.
The skeletons quickly executed the order, carrying the unconscious patients one by one into the front hall of Heart's Desire Hall.
Soon, there was almost no room to step in the hall. The thick smell of medicine and the foul stench of sore poison mixed together, creating a suffocating atmosphere.
Representatives from almost all the prominent families in Lantao City had arrived. Looking at the patients from each other's households, their faces were filled with shock.
"Brother Wang, your family too?"
"Sigh, don't even mention it! Brother Li, your family as well?"
"A few days ago, it was just a few small red dots. I thought they were insect bites. Who would have thought it would suddenly worsen last night and rot into this ghostly state!"
"It's exactly the same! My third son is in the same condition!"
After a brief comparison, everyone discovered to their horror that these malignant sores had concentrated and broken out overnight, then rapidly worsened.
Lord Rat, irritated by the chaotic scene, barked at Shitou.
"What are you standing there for? Feed them the soul-shaping pills and see if we can wake a few of these people whose brains are clouded by plague qi!"
Shitou followed the instructions and began feeding the medicine to the unconscious patients one by one.
As the pills entered their mouths, the power to stabilize the soul within them dissolved.
Sure enough, before long, people began to groan and slowly open their eyes.
"They're awake! They're awake!"
"Thank you, Great Master! Thank you, Lord Rat!"
The members of the various families were overjoyed at the sight and repeatedly expressed their gratitude.
Although the sores remained on those who woke up and the pain was unbearable, the fact that they were at least conscious was wonderful news.
Lin Zhixue's brow was tightly furrowed as he whispered to the head of the Zhang family beside him.
"Brother Zhang, this plague is coming on strong. It seems to be out of the ordinary."
"My Lin family is willing to clear those few acres of Yellow Grade spirit fields we own and replant them entirely with pure lotus root and detoxifying purple bamboo. The medicinal materials produced will be supplied to all families for free as an emergency measure."
Hearing this, the head of the Zhang family felt a surge of respect and immediately stated, "Brother Lin's righteousness is high! My Zhang family has an ancestral Green Wood Growth Disk that is quite helpful for the growth of spirit plants."
"I will personally lead men to deliver this treasure to your manor later to lend Brother Lin a hand!"
"My Zhao family supports two guest wood cultivators who have some experience in nurturing spirit plants. They can be sent to the Lin manor immediately to help!"
"The Qian family has one as well!"
"The Sun family can provide some manpower to handle the daily care of the spirit fields."
Patriarchs of other mid-sized families spoke up one after another, offering money or labor.
At this moment, everyone understood they had to work together to curb the spread of the bizarre sores first; otherwise, any of their families could be the next victim.
Just then, another youth who had taken a soul-shaping pill woke up. He was Zhang Mingyuan, the youngest son of the Zhang family head.
"Mingyuan, my son, how do you feel?" Patriarch Zhang hurried forward and asked anxiously.
Zhang Mingyuan blinked weakly, his voice faint. "Father, my body hurts so much. Other than that, I'm okay..."
He paused, seemingly trying hard to remember. "It's just, I feel like I had a dream."
Lin Shaobin, who had been standing quietly to the side, turned around and spoke in a deep voice, "You had a dream too?"
This single sentence immediately triggered a response from other patients and their families nearby.
"That's right! My spouse also said they had a strange dream after waking up!"
"My son too!"
"It seems... we all dreamed of being with people?"
Lin Zhixue sensed something unusual and looked at his son. "Shaobin, what's going on? You were dreaming the whole time you were unconscious before?"
Lin Shaobin nodded. "Yes. During those few months of slumber, I seemed to be having the same dream repeatedly.
"In the dream, I was with many people—many, many people—crowded into a very large, empty hall. The surroundings were misty, and I couldn't see clearly.
"It felt very crowded, yet very aimless.
"I remember there was a person holding a lantern, always walking ahead of us, as if they were leading the way."
He tried to describe it further: "Normal dreams are forgotten quickly after waking up.
"But this dream is very clear. Except for the specific faces of the people I was with, I remember many details.
"For example, the path beneath my feet felt very soft, and the surrounding walls were a very deep color..."
Just as he finished speaking, Xing Yue, who had been standing silently in the corner trying to minimize his presence, suddenly snapped his head up.
All color drained from his face as he subconsciously blurted out, "The City Lord?"
Xing Yue's volume wasn't high, yet it instantly drew everyone's gaze.
The patriarchs only then noticed that there was someone in Heart's Desire Hall with his face covered by a tattered cloth.
"You are... a Blackwater Guard?" A sharp-eyed patriarch recognized his attire.
Xing Yue's mind was a mess. Lin Shaobin's description matched the details of his nightmare in the Blackwater Dungeon perfectly!
The man with the lantern, the crowded people, the soft path, the deep crimson walls...
Was that not just a dream?
He struggled internally, a war raging within him.
Revealing the dream meant exposing his identity as a fugitive.
But if he didn't speak, the bizarre plague and the collective dream likely hid an even deeper secret.
It might concern the survival of the entire Lantao City.
He alone might be powerless to change anything, but what about all these heads of prominent families?
Did Deputy Commander Zhao release him just so he could live like a coward?
Taking a deep breath, Xing Yue suddenly ripped the cloth from his face, revealing his true features, and said solemnly.
"Correct, it's me, Xing Yue. I've had a similar dream. In the Blackwater Dungeon, the person leading the way in the dream was the City Lord."
He briefly recounted his experience of that bizarre dream in the Blackwater Dungeon, including the horrifying details of the City Lord leading the way with a lantern and the prisoners turning into white cocoons to follow.
For a moment, Heart's Desire Hall was dead silent.
Everyone's expressions became extremely grim.
"The City Lord..."
"Speaking of which, it's true that the City Lord hasn't been seen in public for several months."
"Such a serious plague has broken out in the city, yet the City Lord's Mansion has shown no movement whatsoever. There isn't even a single notice to reassure the people?"
"And those two primary medicinal ingredients, pure lotus root and detoxifying purple bamboo, just happened to go out of stock citywide at this time. This is far too suspicious!"
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