Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

A strange blood-red and black glow started to appear slowly on Mo Fan's body. His dark-brown eyes gradually turned hollow and cold. Even Mu Ningxue could sense an unfamiliar aura encapsulating Mo Fan's figure.

"Mo Fan, what are you doing?" Lingling's voice suddenly came from the communication device.

"Mu Ningxue has contracted the poison. I no longer have time to waste with these scum," Mo Fan's voice sounded rather disdainful.

"Don't do anything stupid, considering it's the Black Vatican. If they knew who you are, not only will they not give you the antidote, it will even make the situation worse! Even if you managed to get the antidote, no one can possibly save you. We aren't at the Dongting Lake, or at the Kingdom of Undead, there's nothing you can kill recklessly to pay the price for using the power… this island only has around seven hundred thousand people. Are you sure you will be able to keep your calm and not harm them when you let the Demon Element took over?" scolded Lingling.

Mo Fan's bloodshot eyes recovered slightly when he heard Lingling's words.

When Mu Ningxue's life was in danger, the only way Mo Fan had was demonizing. It would grant him the power to defeat the people of the Black Vatican in the shortest time possible, and the poison would have no effect on him once he demonized.

However, when Lingling finished her last sentence, Mo Fan subconsciously shuddered.

She's right, there wasn't a horde of demon creatures or a nest nearby. There were only a few hundred thousand residents on Chongming Island.

The consequences of using the Demon Element did not only involve the degradation of his cultivation, but also the vast amount of blood needed for the sacrifice. The Demon Element fed on souls. Mo Fan had already experienced the pain at Dongting Lake. It would only turn him into a killing machine. He would be no different than the failed subjects of the experiment conducted on the Demon Element...

Not only would he fail to save Mu Ningxue, it would result in a greater disaster!

"Mo Fan!..."

"I understand," Mo Fan interrupted Lingling's words.

Mo Fan took a deep breath, trying his best to calm down the restless Demon Element. If he relied too much on the Demon Element to settle his problems, he would actually turn into a real demon!

"It's more dangerous if someone else contracts the poison. It's less terrifying for her, as she can freeze herself with her Ice Domain, slowing down her blood flow..." explained Lingling at a quick pace.

"She already did," replied Mo Fan.

"That's good, she's calmer than you are, and you call yourself a Hunter Master! You should stop being so hot-headed every time!" chided Lingling.

Mo Fan was left speechless. Did he really just get scolded by a girl who was just over age of ten?...

"Have you found the cure to the poison?" asked Mo Fan.

"No."

"..." Mo Fan really had nothing to say.

"But I made an extremely important discovery," said Lingling.

"What discovery?"

"I managed to connect my database. After digging around, I realized that the poison is somehow related to a quest we did before," said Lingling.

"You mean we've encountered something similar before?" asked Mo Fan in astonishment.

"Do you remember the Mother Scale Skin Phantom, the parasitic creature that can turn living humans into monsters after sucking their blood? Even though that thing isn't a high-level creature, it is still considered an extremely dangerous creature, as it can cause a huge number of casualties within a short period of time.

"The tea that we drank during our stay here at the manor contains a very tiny poisonous worm. The poisonous worm is able to stay inside a human's body. If it doesn't receive any signal from the queen, it will eventually die inside our bodies. However, if the queen sends out a specific signal, the poisonous worms will start destroying our body, including our blood, organs, muscles..." said Lingling.

"Poisonous worms, queen? So you're saying that if we can find the queen and kill it, the poisonous worms in everyone's body will die, too?" exclaimed Mo Fan in surprise.

Mo Fan clearly remembered that the Mother Scale Skin Phantom was the source of the mutation. When the Mother Scale Skin Phantom was killed, everyone in the auditorium was able to return to normal.

If it was exactly what Lingling said, that everyone had drunk the tea containing the poisonous worms that were controlled by the queen, everything would be fine once they were able to kill the queen!

"Exactly, the queen is the key. By the way, I also learned that the worms have a scarier ability!" Lingling slightly lowered her voice.

"You're telling me...that killing people with the poison isn't the scariest ability?" Mo Fan was stunned.

----

The main building, in the room in the middle of the third floor, Lingling grabbed her laptop and jumped down from the chair. She hurried over to the window.

She pulled the curtains aside. The view was rather wide from her room. She was able to see the entrance of the ranches from her angle.

Lots of scorched corpses were lying still on the fields, which looked quite eerie under the street lamps along the ranches.

The cold breeze continued to blow, sweeping the black ashes from the skin of the corpses into the air above the ranches...

Many people would assume that the corpses would slowly turn into dust. After all, their bodily structure was completely destroyed by the poison. However, after learning that the poison was similar to that of the Mother Scale Skin Phantom, Lingling would look out of her window every five minutes.

Death was already considered the worst outcome for those who had contracted the poison. Lingling desperately hoped that the Black Vatican was not as insane as she thought, yet the truth simply proved to her that the Black Vatican was madder than she could ever imagine!

The dried skin of the corpses began to crack after being blown by the cold breeze. The pieces slowly fell to the ground as the cracks spread throughout the corpses...

New skin appeared under the cracks, but if anyone thought it would look smooth and pale like that of a newly born baby, they would be so wrong!

The skin of the Hunter that died to the poison first started to peel off, revealing a reddened, rough, slimy, and hideous skin under it!

The dead had risen from their sleep. They sat up amid the piles of black dust. Pairs of glowing blue eyes were staring ahead, adding a hint of eeriness and disbelief to the already terrifying night!