sbdcsierra Chapter 113 Natural Disaster, Plague, Ghosts, and Man-Eating Demons; 3-Player Competitive Mini-Game
Chapter 113 Natural Disaster, Plague, Ghosts, and Man-Eating Demons; 3-Player Competitive Mini-Game
The group showed their travel documents to the innkeeper, who registered their names and origins. They then paid and checked in.
Many merchants stayed overnight in Gancaobao, almost one after the other.
The Gancao Inn was already full.
Inside the room, the core team was gathered.
Zhou Qingfeng pondered for a moment and said, "Jin Wei, send out men to investigate whether there is really a famine in the city, and what the cause of the famine is, whether it is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, and find out."
Being in an unfamiliar place, intelligence work must be done thoroughly.
Only with detailed intelligence can one control the situation and act flexibly.
Moreover, now that I bear a heavy responsibility and possess the treasures of the Western Paradise, I should act with even greater caution.
Gancaobao is currently suffering from both plague and famine, and I must find out the details.
If it's a natural disaster, then it's fine.
If it is a man-made disaster, it can be prevented in time.
"Yes, young master." Jin Wei accepted the order and left, sword in hand.
Zhou Qingfeng said, "Before it gets dark, Lao Ye and Lao Xiao, you two go and investigate what's going on with the plague. Master Chen, you are skilled in medicine, so assist them. Come back and gather in half an hour."
Ye Tingxiu, Xiao Hongyun, and Master Chen rose, clasped their hands in greeting, and then left together.
At this moment, only Zhou Qingfeng and the old cripple remained in the room.
The old cripple smiled and said, "And what about me? What am I supposed to do?"
“Mr. Liao, since you have trouble walking, you don’t need to run around. Just wait here with me.” Zhou Qingfeng took out the prepared meat patties and water from his storage bag, took a bite of the meat patty, and handed one to the old cripple.
Although Zhou Qingfeng's current physical body is capable of fasting and not dying, he will still feel hungry and thirsty when he needs to. Moreover, his vital energy will gradually decline if he does not eat for a long time, making him emaciated.
"It's just for one night, what are you worried about?" The old cripple smiled as he took a warm meat pie, put his cane aside, tore the meat pie into small pieces, and chewed it slowly, bite by bite.
Zhou Qingfeng took out the "Records of Gods, Ghosts and Demons" to read, learning about the characteristics, habits and weaknesses of demons and monsters. Holding a meat pie in one hand, he ate it with relish: "Better safe than sorry, lest I capsize in a ditch."
Half an hour later, Jin Wei was the first to return and report.
Jin Wei entered the room, casually closed the door, then bowed and clasped his hands, saying, "Young Master, we've found out."
"It is true that there is a famine in Gancaobao. The cause is that the two villages that supply daily necessities had a poor harvest this year, which made them unable to supply Gancaobao with daily necessities."
"It is said that the grain reserves of Gancaobao have been running out seven days ago. The garrison general has reported this to the city lord of Handong and requested that he send people to transport grain for disaster relief. He is also trying to borrow grain from nearby grain stores to help with the emergency. The famine should be over soon."
Zhou Qingfeng asked, "Has the news been verified? Is it confirmed to be a natural disaster?"
Jin Wei stood with his hand on his sword and nodded solemnly: "Young Master, Jin Wei has verified this from multiple perspectives."
Zhou Qingfeng tapped the book's surface with his fingers, lost in thought. Then he got up, opened the window, and looked at the crimson moon that had already risen in the sky: "Why haven't Lao Ye and the others returned yet?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the door was pushed open, and Ye Xiaochen and the other two returned together.
Seeing this, Jin Wei stepped aside.
After Ye Tingxiu returned, he stood silently in the corner, hiding himself in the shadows, and then quietly took out some dry rations to eat: "Old Zhou, don't ask me anything, I'm always in a hurry when I speak."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng didn't say anything. Through their reminiscing, he had learned that Ye Tingxiu had been placed under a three-word silencing spell by his master, Ye Xiao, and could only speak three words at a time. If he spoke more, he would suffer excruciating pain.
It must be said that although the owl's method was simple and crude, it was very effective.
Xiao Hongyun walked into the room, found a place to sit down and said, "Old Zhou, I have successfully completed my mission. The origin of the plague has been found. It is indeed not an ordinary plague, but a calamity-level plague demon has infiltrated the castle and is spreading the plague."
"People who get infected will start by coughing unconsciously, and then the cough will worsen."
"Patients with moderate symptoms will have a persistent high fever and feel as if countless needles are pricking their bones and muscles, causing unbearable pain; those with severe symptoms will start vomiting blood, unable to breathe, their lungs will dissolve, and they will die suddenly."
"The garrison commander of Gancaobao has moved all the moderately and severely ill patients to the 'Tianyao Hall' for isolation and treatment."
“We went to check it out, and there are already as many as 160 or 170 critically ill patients inside the Tianyao Pharmacy.”
"Medicines and food are scarce, and there is only one doctor and two apprentices to take care of the situation."
"They say it's centralized isolation and treatment, but in reality they've given up on it, letting them infect each other, causing their conditions to worsen, which is no different from waiting to die."
At this point, Xiao Hongyun's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, as if recalling something unpleasant: "In addition, I personally witnessed doctors dismembering people who had died of illness into eight pieces and boiling them into broth to feed to patients to prolong their lives."
Zhou Qingfeng frowned deeply, not expecting that the food shortage in Gancaobao had reached such a point. Having experienced the great famine escape on foot for two hundred miles, he knew all too well how crazy people would do when they had no food.
However, these things are not my concern.
But plague demons, those kinds of vengeful ghosts, are rare indeed.
Disaster-level plague demon, as described in "Records of Gods, Demons and Monsters".
[Plague Demon, ranked as a disaster.]
[Some people suffered greatly from the plague and died in despair during their lifetime, and unexpectedly became vengeful ghosts after death.]
The plague demons love to stay in filthy environments and instinctively seek out those who don't wipe themselves after defecating, are unhygienic, have filthy bodies covered in grime, and suffer from disease to spread the plague.
The plague demons have little interest in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness. Generally speaking, they will not attack people with obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness unless provoked.
Spreading plague and causing death is the plague demon's only pleasure.
Without the intervention of high-level cultivators, the plague demons could easily cause the deaths of tens of millions of people, or even lead to the extinction of a race or the end of a civilization; they are veritable walking calamities of death.
The power of the Plague Demon is such that even cultivators at the Calamity Realm are not immune to its plague attacks.
However, although plague demons are dangerous, they are invaluable treasures for cultivators at the Catastrophe Realm, possessing numerous wondrous uses and making them a highly sought-after superior cultivation resource.
Firstly, plague demons are a necessary ingredient for refining the calamity-grade elixir, the 'Plague Pill'.
Secondly, the Plague Demon is one of the essential main spirits required to forge the magical artifact 'Three Calamities Annihilation Banner'.
Thirdly, soaking the body in a potion made from melted plague demons can repair and strengthen one's foundation.
Fourthly, plague demons are superior cultivation resources for cultivators in the Calamity Realm; consuming them greatly enhances their magical power.
Zhou Qingfeng stroked his chin: "Interesting, I didn't expect to encounter a plague demon here."
Xiao Hongyun understood the implication: "What, you want to catch it?"
Zhou Qingfeng smiled and said, "Why not capture it? It's just a side effect. Such high-quality cultivation resources are beneficial whether we capture them for alchemy, weapon crafting, or simply eat them."
Xiao Hongyun licked his lips: "There's only one, how are we going to divide it?"
Zhou Qingfeng pointed to the scarlet moon outside the window: "Before dawn, it's up to each of us to see who catches it and keep it. We haven't seen each other for a year, so let's treat this catching of the plague demon as a little game between us. I'll see if you've made any progress."
Xiao Hongyun grinned: "No problem, Lao Ye, just say the word, are you in or not!"
"Let's play!" Ye Tingxiu quietly emerged from the shadows.
Xiao Hongyun said, "Then it's settled..."
Before Xiao Hongyun could finish speaking, Ye Tingxiu silently drew his sword and leaped out of the window.
Xiao Hongyun: "..."