Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

“Humph, perhaps you are the reason they are dead!” someone immediately rebuked him.

Mo Fan ignored the comment. He walked up to one of the dead bodies and said, “The Mountain Frost Lotus is the source of the illness in the first place. Its pollen will spread in the air and cause symptoms similar to high altitude sickness to certain people.

“Many plants have fruits. These fruits are eaten by animals when they are ripe, and the seeds are spread to other places by the animals when they defecate. It’s how these plants spread their seeds.

“It’s the same for the Mountain Frost Lotus. It will make living creatures sick so they have to rely on its fruits to relieve them from the symptoms. The Mountain Frost Lotus is effective against poisons, but that doesn’t include the sickness it causes itself.

“Consuming the Mountain Frost Lotus is like eating its fruit. Those who consumed it are carrying its seeds around. These seeds aren’t discharged through defecation. They will kill their hosts and use the nutrients in their bodies to nurture themselves. The dead bodies will grow into a new Mountain Frost Lotus after some time.”

While Mo Fan was talking, he pried open one of the corpses of the mercenaries and tore the heart out.

He squeezed the heart in his fist. A huge amount of green liquid burst out of it. As everyone was disgusted by the sight, a tiny sprout with legs jumped out from the liquid like a flea and dug into the ground in a panic.

Mo Fan casually grabbed the sprout demon that had jumped out from the heart and showed it to Kuma.

The demon sprout was strong, even though it was only around the size of a little finger, and it was also very aggressive. It quickly extended its roots toward Mo Fan’s nose, attempting to suffocate him.

Mo Fan’s eyes glittered. The little creature’s roots immediately shattered into pieces.

The mercenaries were terrified. It turned out that such an insignificant creature was responsible for so many deaths!

Most importantly, the Mountain Frost Lotus which even the locals believed could cure a lot of sicknesses and poisons, had such a cruel reproductive method. It had cost over a dozen lives in the Mailong Private Military Group without alerting them!

“If you already knew what’s going on, why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Gavin yelled.

“I discovered a group of dead Hunters below a cliff when I went scouting just now. Their symptoms were similar to the dead bodies we saw at the Barren Land. I also noticed a lot of Mountain Frost Lotus down the cliff, and under them were a lot of skeletons. I also encountered a plant demon that was as big as a pine tree, so I killed it,” Mo Fan replied.

When Mo Fan went scouting, a few of the mercenaries who went with him had died to the sickness too.

Mo Fan immediately recalled what Apas had told him. He had followed the pleasant scent that the Mountain Frost Lotus was emitting and then discovered the cliff.

Before Lingling fell severely ill, she had given the samples she had collected from the dead bodies in the Barren Land to Mo Fan. He had easily figured out what was going on!

It was also not Mo Fan’s first time encountering demon plants that disguised themselves as harmless existences.

“So… those who drank the water that was cooked with the Mountain Frost Lotus…” Tommy immediately felt uneasy, especially after seeing the tiny demon sprout that had jumped out of the dead mercenary’s heart.

“Only those who are sick are suitable hosts for the sprout demons. Those who aren’t are safe even if they drank the water. They will only lose control of their emotions and do something like killing their comrades for the sake of money,” Mo Fan said.

Li Yu shuddered as Mo Fan finished his sentence. “I didn’t do it!” he argued.

“I wasn’t referring to you,” Mo Fan replied grimly.

Another mercenary fell to the ground in front of Kuma.

“I didn’t want to kill Simon. I swear, the demon lotus was controlling me. I… I didn’t…” the old mercenary almost burst into tears.

“Didn’t he list you down as his next-of-kin if anything happened to him? He trusted you so much!” Tommy let out a helpless sigh.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” the old mercenary almost bled from knocking his head on the ground.

“What about you? Don’t you have something to say?” Mo Fan glanced at Li Yu and said, “The guy called Warden on my team hasn’t returned yet. I thought he went scouting with you?”

“Li Yu, don’t tell me you actually killed Warden for the sake of the bet…” Xu Luoqing looked at Li Yu like he was a monster.

Li Yu’s face turned pale.

Kuma stared at Li Yu like a leopard eying his prey. The man finally spilled the beans after he could not withstand the pressure any longer, “He somehow noticed my intentions. I didn’t kill him. He ran away with serious injuries. Maybe some demon creatures have already dragged him into their caves.”

“Li Yu! Are you out of your mind!?” Xu Luoqing, the captain of the tenth team, snarled at him.

“I…I don’t know what happened… It’s like… I somehow lost control of myself as he just mentioned,” Li Yu said.

The group fell silent.

Kuma immediately did a headcount when she realized how terrifying the Mountain Frost Lotus was.

She found thirty-three of her men had been killed by the Mountain Frost Lotus to spread their seeds while five of them were still missing, including Simon, who was thought to be dead, and the rookie named Warden.

The atmosphere was weird in the group. Those who were not sick were mentally unstable because of the Mountain Frost Lotus. They had no clue whether the other three who were missing had died to demon creatures or one of their own!

“You did well. You’ve managed to find the truth. Tianshan Mountain… such a terrifying place… I’m considering turning back,” Kuma told Mo Fan. She had finally acknowledged the ninth team’s capabilities.

“Vice Leader, I don’t care what your men have done, but there’s one thing I won’t overlook so easily.” Mo Fan’s tone had changed.

Mo Fan sounded calm when he was explaining the truth. He was scoffing a little at those who had ulterior motives among them, yet his voice had turned cold very suddenly!

“About Gavin… I heard what he tried to do, but nothing actually happened. Gavin has also paid for it,” Kuma said immediately.

“Are you treating me like a three-year-old? Are you saying that I should forget it just because nothing happened? I’ll make it clear: you people who see yourself as elites in this group are no different from a bunch of useless dogs in my eyes. If I want you dead, none of you can leave in one piece, including you, their Vice Leader!” Mo Fan said as a dark shadow loomed over him.

The canyon was already quite dark, but it was now shrouded by a dark veil. The mercenaries who had assumed everything was fine suddenly felt like there were assassins standing behind them!

The eerie shadows behind the mercenaries were quite obvious. They could see shadows standing behind one another like executioners holding axes to their necks. It was a spooky sight!

“What…what do you mean by this!?” Kuma’s expression shifted.

“I’ll let you choose: whether you’re going to protect Gavin and have the whole Mailong Private Military Group die together with him, or you and your men will behave yourself and stand aside when I kill him,” Mo Fan stated icily.

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