Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

“Damn it, could it be a contagious disease? I told you we shouldn’t be bringing the sick with us. Our whole team has caught the disease too!” Zhao Manyan began to panic when he saw Lingling and Guan Yu’s condition.

“It’s troublesome since we don’t have a Healer on our team. What should we do now? A few of us have fallen ill so suddenly,” Jiang Yu said.

Both Lingling and Ai Jiangtu were showing symptoms of high altitude sickness after Guan Yu, and were having difficulty breathing. They felt light-headed and sick, and they could not move, like they were overwhelmed by fatigue.

“It’s…it’s not… contagious…” Lingling said.

“Stop talking, just rest up,” Mo Fan was worried about Lingling. He did not let her speak again.

She did not even have the strength to talk properly. The whole Mailong Private Military Group only had a single useless Healer, who was clueless about the strange disease. They could not afford to place their hopes in him.

Mo Fan looked around and asked everyone how they were doing.

Apart from Ai Jiangtu, Guan Yu, and Lingling, the others did not have any symptoms for now.

Nanyu went ahead and communicated with the Mailong Private Military Group. She soon returned with a grim face.

“More than twenty people in the Mailong Private Military Group are showing the same symptoms now,” Nanyu informed them.

“Over twenty…” Zhao Manyan took a deep breath.

“What should we do now? Is the whole group going to fall sick? What the hell is causing it? Can anything other than a contagious disease take down so many people at once? We are all Mages, so we shouldn’t fall sick so easily,” Jiang Yu exclaimed.

“Isn’t Ai Jiangtu a Super Mage? Can a Super Mage even fall sick?”

“I doubt it has anything to do with our cultivation,” Mu Ningxue spoke up.

As soon as Mu Ningxue finished her sentence, a bright flame suddenly erupted in front of them. The light outlined several figures in the outfits of mercenaries. They looked fierce and angry!

“It must be them. They have spread the disease to others. The Vice Leader already told us to abandon them, yet you hypocrites insisted on bringing them along. More people have fallen ill now!”

“So what? Are you going to burn your comrades to death then, including the dozens who have fallen sick too?” Mo Fan scoffed when he saw the aggressive mercenaries.

These mercenaries were not even that strong, yet they lacked even the slightest kindness as human beings. He was relieved that he had never crossed paths with mercenaries before.

“That’s enough, behave yourself!” Kuma demanded.

“Vice Leader, we can’t afford to keep the sick members around. More people are only going to fall sick because of them. Everyone is going to die here!” The person leading the mercenaries who were throwing a tantrum was none other than Li Yu.

“We’ll split into two teams. Those who are healthy will go on ahead. If the sickness is contagious, those who are with the ill are more likely to fall sick,” Kuma said.

“But…”

“Enough talk, do as I say!”

Kuma immediately split the Mailong Private Military Group into two groups. The first group was made up of fifty healthy members. They were around three kilometers ahead of the second group. They would leave markings behind for the group who was sick.

Around thirty people in the second group were ill. Those who were healthy had to use their magic to transport them.

“Seriously, more than thirty in a group of fifty are lying on the ground. If we encounter a species like the Bone-Eating Spiders again, we are all going to die!” Zhao Manyan said.

“Our own team is sick too,” Nanyu agreed helplessly.

It was meaningless to part ways with the mercenary group now. They were all in the same situation now. They had to find the solution to it as soon as possible!

—

The number of the ill kept increasing, as expected. Around ten people in the first group began to have the symptoms of high altitude sickness. Meanwhile, five out of twenty of the healthy people in the second group had also fallen ill. Mu Ningxue was one of them.

Mu Ningxue was having difficulty breathing. Mo Fan Summoned the Flying Creek Snow Wolf to carry Lingling and Mu Ningxue.

Everyone began to panic!

How did they contract the sickness? It seemed like anyone could be the next person to fall sick!

“Mo Fan, my nose feels uncomfortable,” Zhao Manyan said.

“Uncomfortable my ass, you’re just scaring yourself. Seriously, the group is being taken out by this strange disease when we haven’t encountered a single demon creature, yet we have no clue how to treat it!” Mo Fan snarled.

Zhao Manyan was fine. It was just his mind playing tricks with him.

More than half of the group had fallen ill. When the healthy ones saw them struggling to breathe, they also felt like they were struggling to breathe properly.

The first group had turned back to regroup with the second group. It was obvious that the sickness was not contagious.

If it was contagious, more people in the second group would have fallen ill while the first group remained healthy. However, ten people in the first group had fallen ill instead!

“The ratio is almost the same,” Kuma said.

“If it’s not contagious, it must be the environment,” Warner said.

“Are you seriously telling me that you’ve only figured out the reason behind it after so many of us have fallen sick!?” Gavin snarled.

“Didn’t we discover a few dead bodies before we left the Barren Land? I think I know what killed them. They must have encountered the same situation as us. They decided to head back to town, but they all died to the sickness after they found shelter from the mudslide,” Warner spoke up.

“I don’t want to hear any more useless analysis. Just tell me how they can recover, or how we can stop more people from falling sick!” Kuma said impatiently.

“There’s a plant called the Mountain Frost Lotus in the Meadow. Rumors say these plants are the leaves of the Snow Lotus of the Scar that drifted to the lower layers when the ice melt. It can cure poison and treat certain diseases. We should be able to find them in this area,” Warner said.

“I did hear the people at the entrance mentioning the name of the Mountain Frost Lotus,” Tommy said.

“Find it then!” Kuma said.

—

Mo Fan was appointed as the temporary captain of the ninth team, and had received the order to look for the Mountain Frost Lotus.

When he went back to the team to discuss with the others, Lingling murmured softly.

Lingling was trying to tell Mo Fan that she had read about the Mountain Frost Lotus in some mysterious records. She had tried to prepare them in advance before entering the Rift Valley, but she could not find them.

“It should come in handy… Jiang Shaoxu, Jiang Yu, and I will look for it with the others. Old Zhao, you and Nanyu will stay here to look after them,” Mo Fan said.