While various factions within Lantao City were tensely carrying out their operations, the Qian family head led a team to Wolong Abyss on the outskirts of the city at maximum speed.
The team consisted almost entirely of Qian family elites and direct descendants to ensure that everything went off without a hitch.
Wolong Abyss had been the lair of a Blood Jiao hundreds of years ago until it was collectively exterminated by the ancestors of Lantao City. It was said that after the battle, an auspice descended from the heavens—a Wanshou Tortoise favored by heaven and earth chose to reside there.
The Wanshou Tortoise breathed in spiritual resonance and protected the region, gradually transforming this once-deadly site into a place of fortune and a spiritual anchor for the people of Lantao City.
However, when the Qian family head and his party arrived at the mouth of the abyss, the scene before them was not what he had expected.
Usually, many birds and beasts would come to the water’s edge to drink and play, but now there was a deathly silence; not even the chirp of an insect could be heard. The massive, smooth blue stone where the Wanshou Tortoise usually lay to absorb the essence of the sun and moon was now empty.
The auspice was gone?
That shouldn't be. An auspice was a gift from heaven, and while its flesh was a great tonic for demons, it would never leave of its own accord under normal circumstances.
Could it be in the pool?
"Elder Tortoise?" Unease welled up in the Qian family head's heart as he stepped forward, scanning the surroundings.
There were many messy drag marks left on the ground, quite deep. The marks were wide, not looking like the work of an ordinary beast, but rather as if something like the roots of a giant tree had been forcibly moved across the ground. On the blue stone, there were also fresh mud prints, damp and chaotic, as if there had been a struggle that wasn't particularly intense.
On the soft earth, several withered pine needles had fallen, stained with blood to the point where their original appearance was unrecognizable.
The Qian family head tried to approach the edge of the pool. Holding his breath, he took out the prepared animal sacrifices and family tokens, arranging them respectfully. Then, circulating his spiritual power, he spoke in a loud, sincere voice.
"Qian Baiwan, current head of the Qian family of Lantao City, brings the tokens and prayers of the major families to respectfully request the appearance of Elder Tortoise!
"Currently, Lantao City is facing a great catastrophe; a plague is rampant, eerie things are causing chaos, and the lives of the entire city are in peril. I implore the elder to consider the innocence of the common people, manifest your divine powers, and drive away the evil to save Lantao City from this fire and water!"
His voice echoed through Wolong Abyss, but it was like a stone sinking into the ocean, receiving no response whatsoever.
There was only a deathly silence.
Only the water in the abyss seemed to ripple slightly in response to his voice.
As he continued his prayers, the sky unknowingly darkened a few shades, and the earth seemed to become viscous. Everyone felt a wave of groggy drowsiness, their eyelids gradually growing heavy...
In the next moment, a sudden change occurred.
The pool water, which had been crystal clear and filled with spiritual energy, became murky and foul in the blink of an eye. A layer of oily, dark-red froth floated on the surface, carrying a fishy stench as if it had been soaked in some filthy substance.
The spiritual energy in the air vanished without a trace, replaced by a faint smell of decay.
A chill crawled up the Qian family head's spine.
The auspice was missing, the spiritual energy was gone, and the marks were bizarre. Every sign pointed toward extreme misfortune.
Just as alarm bells rang in his heart and he was about to order a retreat to make other plans...
Gurgle... gurgle gurgle...
A series of massive bubbles suddenly rose from the center of the murky pool. The bubbles burst, releasing an even stronger stench. Immediately afterward, piece by piece...
No, it was slabs of unnameable flesh that slowly emerged from the pool water.
It was composed of countless swollen, ulcerated human-face scars that oozed pus and blood. The flesh had no fixed form, like living sludge, writhing and stretching as it rose from the water. On those human-face scars, the features were blurred and pained; mouths opened and closed silently as pus dripped into the pool, making a sizzling corrosive sound.
"On guard!!"
Qian Baiwan was, after all, a figure who had experienced many storms; though shocked, he did not panic. He shouted sharply, his spiritual power exploding instantly as he drew his sidearm.
The family elites brought by the Qian family were all skilled. Although some were shaken by the terrifying sight, they quickly formed a circular formation. Spiritual light shone, blades were drawn, and a protective barrier was formed.
However, the plague-flesh moved faster than they imagined.
Several clumps of rotten meat suddenly shot out from the pool like predatory pythons, lunging toward the crowd on the shore. Before they even got close, the infectious breath of the plague hit them full in the face.
The rotten meat slammed into the barrier. Instead of being repelled, the pus flowing over it began to constantly corrode the spiritual power barrier.
"Watch out! Don't let them touch you!"
Qian Baiwan swung his sword, sending out a blade of qi that sliced an opening into the foremost clump of meat. Dark red pus sprayed out, and more tiny flesh buds, resembling maggots, surged from the wound.
"Ah—!"
A direct descendant who failed to dodge in time was splashed on the arm by a few drops of pus. The pus acted like a living thing, rapidly corroding his clothing and burrowing into his skin!
Almost in the blink of an eye, red spots began to appear on his arm, swelling and ulcerating at a rate visible to the naked eye. Clusters of human-face sores formed.
The descendant screamed in agony, falling to the ground and rolling as the sores continued to spread across his body.
The rotten meat sliced apart by Qian Baiwan did not die upon hitting the ground either; instead, it continued to writhe, crawling toward the person rolling on the floor. In an instant, a living person was forcibly corrupted into the same scarred, rotten meat.
"He's infected! Be careful!" The formation was instantly broken.
"What... what kind of ghostly thing is this?!" someone shouted in terror.
Some remained relatively calm, immediately tightening the defensive line and moving closer to Qian Baiwan.
More rotten meat crawled out of the pool, and the battle became extremely brutal. Qian Baiwan led the elites in a desperate struggle. Blade qi, talismans, and spells—all sorts of spiritual lights flashed continuously, shattering and blowing apart the lunging clumps of plague-flesh.
But those clumps seemed endless, constantly surging from the water. Moreover, they seemed to have a certain resistance to physical and magical attacks. Even if blown to pieces, they would crawl on the ground; a single touch meant death, making them incredibly difficult to eliminate completely.
What was even more despairing was that once someone was injured—even if just splashed by the flying pus—they would soon be infected by the human-face sores. They would lose their combat effectiveness in extreme pain, then be consumed by the following tide of meat, becoming part of the horrific collective in the pool!
Another Qian family descendant was infected. Before completely losing consciousness, he could only watch helplessly as his arm twisted and deformed, merging into the rotten meat. The new clusters of human-face scars on the meat were unmistakably his own agonized face from the moment of death.
Qian Baiwan's eyes were nearly bursting as he watched his loyal clansmen being infected amidst screams, joining the tide of flesh in the pool. The hand holding his sword had begun to tremble; his spiritual power consumption was massive.
Staring at the seemingly bottomless, murky pool and the unending surge of horrific flesh, Qian Baiwan felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness. The viscous, blood-colored pool had already become a massive breeding ground for the plague, as if it wouldn't stop until everyone was completely consumed.
"Retreat! Cover each other and get out of Wolong Abyss!"
Not only had they failed to enlist the auspice on this trip, but they had also encountered such a horrific ambush and suffered heavy losses. Was the plague of Lantao City truly something human power could not oppose?
...
Time flew by, and when the sunset finally sank completely below the horizon, an ominous night shrouded Lantao City.
Inside the center of the temporary medical area, Lin Zhixue was restless. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and said to the equally somber Master Zhang beside him, "Brother Zhang, Brother Qian has been gone all day. Why hasn't any news come back yet?
"Wolong Abyss isn't that far from the city. Given Qian Baiwan's speed, he should have returned long ago."
Master Zhang forced a smile and consoled him, "Brother Lin, I think you're just worried. Perhaps he was delayed by something on the road, or he spent more time communicating with Elder Tortoise. Relax; although the plague is rampant in Lantao City, the powerful demons in the surrounding areas were mostly cleared out years ago. Nothing major should happen."
Even as he said this, Master Zhang himself was uncertain. The sky was pitch black and the man hadn't returned; this was not a good omen.
As the two were talking, they both suddenly felt a wave of intense drowsiness. Their eyelids became so heavy they almost closed immediately. But the feeling came and went quickly, as if it were only a momentary lapse. When they regained their senses, it was as if nothing had happened.
"Strange..." Master Zhang shook his head. The sense of unease grew stronger as he stood up. "Brother Lin, you stay here. I'll go patrol the perimeter again to see how those kids from the Zhang family are managing the sleepwalkers."
Just as he stepped out of the temporary command tent, Lantao City under the night initially seemed no different from usual, only quieter. But soon, bad news arrived from the family guards and temporarily recruited lone cultivators he had stationed throughout the city.
In some areas that had not yet been effectively controlled, scattered sleepwalkers began to appear in the streets and alleys. They ignored all shouts and obstructions, merely wandering aimlessly. The strange halo on their bodies was exceptionally conspicuous in the darkness.
"Stop them! Try not to have any conflict; guide them to the designated quarantine zones!"
Master Zhang immediately gave the order, personally leading a team to the market district where the situation was most complex.
A simultaneous change was occurring within the medical area.
Some of the human-face sores patients placed here had originally regained consciousness after taking the soul-shaping pills. But as the night deepened, all the patients suddenly began to grow restless.
"Hrr... hrr..."
"Light... the light..."
"Go... must go..."
Fragmented murmurs came from the mouths of some patients. Their eyes began to lose focus, their bodies twisted unconsciously, and their hands clawed aimlessly in the air. It was as if they were trying to break free from their restraints to go to some unknown place.
"What's going on? Hold them down! Be careful not to touch the sores!"
Lin Shaobin wore a mask and, together with Zhang Mingyuan, held one of them down. Seeing this, the other servants also stepped forward, working in pairs to pin the patients down.
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