Translator: XephiZ

Editor: Aelryinth

Mo Fan was smart enough to know that Leng Qing was implying something. He lowered his voice and asked, "Big sis, do you know something?"

"My people have access to some information, and I also spent some time investigating the identities of the first two corpses that were found after the snake appeared in the city. I didn't find anything useful, but someone seems very suspicious now." Leng Qing was fairly tall and was currently bearing a sharp gaze. Her aura was quite different from the girls with cold personalities.

Luckily, she was Lingling's sister. Otherwise, Mo Fan would simply not approach a woman like her.

"Big sis, are you suspicious about… the plague?" Mo Fan noticed something from Leng Qing's tone.

"Do you want to save the snake?" asked Leng Qing.

Both Li Tian and Leng Qing were leaning towards the side of the Totem Guardians. They had already asked Mr. Lu who was leading the medical team. He mentioned that even though the blood of the Black Totem Snake was able to resist the virus, it was not enough to cure it. It implied that the Black Totem Snake was not the true cause of the plague.

Besides, White Town was severely impacted when the outbreak took place, but the Black Totem Snake was staying at West Lake before. If he were the cause of the plague, the most serious outbreak would have happened to the people close to the lake instead.

The Elder of the Magic Court Li Tian and Leng Qing had both been investigating the incident. They had acquired some leads, but they were unable to sort out who their real targets were.

"I do, but..." Mo Fan glanced at the dispirited Tangyue sitting at on the edge of the causeway.

Mo Fan knew they did not have any convincing proof, but his instinct was telling him that the Black Totem Snake was not evil.

Mo Fan felt rather down, as he had never seen his Miss Tangyue so helpless before.

"My people have been allocated to West Fortress. I didn't have anyone to help. If you're willing to assist me, head to White Town at once and see if there's any trace of other demon beasts," said Leng Qing.

"I thought someone had already investigated it. Would it make any difference?" said Mo Fan.

White Town was the place of the outbreak, thus the government would have sent Magic Court people over. What could he possibly find there?

"If someone were purposely hiding the truth, or preventing people from finding the true cause, the government's efforts would have been in vain. I've already asked Lingling to go to White Town. You will regroup with her there. Remember, we don't have much time. Once the White Magic Falcons are driven back, Zhu Meng would surely come and kill the Black Totem Snake straight away. There's nothing we could do once the beast is dead, and it would be even harder to discover the truth," said Leng Qing sternly.

"So big sis was already investigating it. Don't worry, if there is indeed something fishy at White Town, I promise I'll find it!" declared Mo Fan, tapping his chest.

"Great, we'll move separately. Please find the truth before they return!" said Leng Qing.

"I've no clue where to start from. What shall I do first?" blurted out Mo Fan.

"I've already sent the information to Lingling. She will give you the debrief."

"Fine."

-------------

Leng Qing left quickly. Mo Fan still had no idea what important clue she had discovered a moment ago.

Either way, Mo Fan did agree that something was fishy about the whole incident. If there was more to the plague than what they were seeing on the surface, he was determined to unveil it.

Following Leng Qing's instructions, Mo Fan arrived at White Town after dark.

White Town was in a complete lockdown. Either entering or leaving the town was incredibly troublesome, very different from the situation a few days ago.

As Mo Fan was troubled trying to find a way to sneak into the town, he received a call from Lingling, who urged him to regroup with her at the main entrance.

As Mo Fan made his way toward the entrance that was heavily guarded, he saw Lingling wearing a black dress with flowers on it standing in a little corner. Her watery eyes were staring at Mo Fan, who had arrived late. Her extremely eye-catching double ponytails increased her charm tremendously. Mo Fan could not help but feel a great urge to hug her and rub her cheeks.

"I knew you wouldn't die so easily," Lingling was same as usual. She glanced at Mo Fan for a while, before a smile surfaced on her face.

"You're getting prettier," Mo Fan reached out his hand and pinched her cheek.

Lingling immediately twisted her lips. She hated someone pinching her cheeks the most. The girl who was like a little noble princess a moment ago instantly turned into a raging wild cat, reaching out her claws to scratch Mo Fan, as if she were determined to kill Mo Fan at the cost of her own life.

Mo Fan grabbed Lingling's head with his hand, preventing her arms and legs from reaching him. He chuckled and said, "Alright, time to focus on the real business."

"Humph, if you dare pinch me again, I'll chop your hands off!" Lingling squalled like a fierce cub.

"Your sister mentioned that she had given you some information. What was it?" asked Mo Fan.

"Mm, I was actually in charge of the operation, too! Around two months ago, she told me to look into a batch of blood serums being transferred around by the government. The blood serums were supplied to the rest stations, lines of defense and fortresses in Zhejiang Province. You do know that there are endless casualties from fighting demon beasts. Most hunters use a fifth of their income to buy blood serums, to prevent themselves from dying from excessive loss of blood in the wild. The rest stations, lines of defense, and fortresses are places that require a huge amount of blood serums, too..." As usual, Lingling opened her mini laptop and placed it on her legs.

The blood serums were very common yet expensive medical supplies. They were normally used as blood supplies.

Magicians with Healing Magic were less common than other Elements. The Healers could not possibly look after every injured person. Therefore, the serums invented by the Healers were extremely important. Among them, the blood serums had the highest demand. After consuming a blood serum, a Magician's ability to produce new blood was ten times stronger. Most external wounds could be treated in a short period of time by consuming the blood serum and wrapping them up in bandages, assuming the wounds were not infected.

The blood serums were rather costly. Magicians who spent most of their time fighting in the wild would spend a part of their income on them, thus the providers of blood serums could easily make a huge profit off them...

"What about the blood serums?" asked Mo Fan.

"The blood serums are refined using a special type of blood obtained from demon beasts. The entire process is supposed to be under strict monitoring, and the products have to pass several tests before they are distributed to the rest stations, the military, or sold to the hunters or traders... My sister found out that someone tried to produce blood serums using a different ingredient to replace the special blood, which ended up producing a batch of defective blood serum," said Lingling.

"Black-hearted vendors?" said Mo Fan in a surprised tone.

"The Magic Association is in charge of the blood serums, and the government would also have a supply of them. It would be a lot easier if only the sellers were involved," said Lingling.

"Huh?" Mo Fan raised his brows.

Looks like we've got vermin in the government and the Magic Association, too!