Chapter 131: The Black Death

  Due to the scorching heat, the soldiers had exhausted their physical strength, so Leizhe ordered them to set up camp early. Although it was a tiring day, fortunately, there were no accidents, and those strange-shaped Titan Alocasia only provided some conversation topics for everyone.

  Setting up camp is the soldier's specialty, and these things don't need Lei Zhe to command. Soon, a military camp of considerable size appeared, with the Cow Head Monster, Evil Eye, and other captives arranged in the center, surrounded by the tents of the soldiers of the Storming Legion. Those who should be on sentry duty were on sentry duty, those who should be patrolling were patrolling, and those who should go out to scout went scouting. Everything was in order.

  Han Jin accompanied Xian Ni'er for a walk around the area, and after returning, he practiced again before going to bed. He slept until the second half of the night when Lei Zhe's voice suddenly came from outside the tent: "Raphael? Raphael!!"

  "What's going on?"

  "Something's wrong, can I come in?"

  Han Jin quickly got dressed and walked to the entrance of the tent, lifted the curtain, and Lei Zhe slipped in. Han Jin found Lei Zhe's expression difficult to describe, and he knew it wasn't a small matter: "What's wrong?"

  "The plague has broken out in the camp, it's the Black Death!" Raphael hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Raphael, can you... accompany me to take a look?"

  "Black Death? Is it infectious?"

  "Yes, otherwise it wouldn't have knocked down over a dozen soldiers at once."

  "Let's go, we'll go together." Han Jin turned around and walked towards the entrance of the tent.

  "Raphael, I shouldn't be bothering you with this, but there are only three auxiliaries in the army and they're completely useless against the Black Death, so I..."

  "Let's go. No more nonsense." Han Jin said with a smile.

  Lei Zhe let out a sigh. The Black Death was the most ferocious plague. Although high-ranking professionals had strong resistance, generally no one wanted to take risks. Lei Zhe really had no choice. He had asked those few assistant priests to examine Gwala's injuries before. They all acknowledged that Han Jin's healing technique was extremely effective, far surpassing theirs. Now he encountered another situation where those assistant priests were helpless, and naturally thought of Han Jin.

  The sick soldier was placed alone in a corner. Several tents stood isolated in the center. There was nothing around. Hundreds of meters of empty space were left out. The surroundings were heavily guarded. There were about 100 soldiers responsible for guarding this place. They not only had to prevent other soldiers from approaching the patient, but also had to prevent the patient from running out. If the patient tried to rush out, they had the right to kill on the spot. No matter where, endangering public safety was an unforgivable act!

  "General, you can't go in!" Seeing Lei Zhe and Han Jin walking shoulder to shoulder, several soldiers hastily blocked the way.

  Lei Zhe's heart was anxious. His movements became somewhat rougher. He stretched out his hand and pushed the soldier, who stumbled backwards. Then he rushed ahead and passed the sentry post. The other soldiers were stunned. By the time they came to their senses, Lei Zhe had already approached the several tents. Those soldiers felt a bit panicked and hastily dispatched a few people to inform the rest of the generals.

  A mournful cry echoed from the tent. Sometimes it was one person wailing, sometimes several people howling together. Lei Zhe's footsteps suddenly stopped. He said in a low voice, "It's the Black Death. Are you sure?"

  "Let's see." Han Jin released two talismans, one for himself and one that hit Lei Zhe's body. The Daoist scripture was not to be looked at in vain; even if he couldn't cure this disease, at least he could protect himself and Lei Zhe.

  In the first tent, four patients were lying down, and a deacon stood stupidly on one side. Although Han Jin and Lei Zhe had already prepared themselves in their hearts, when they saw those patients, they were still frightened. It was too miserable! The faces and bodies of the patients were covered with black spots, and there was thick liquid flowing out of the spots. Moreover, those spots were very soft and fragile. They watched as one patient painfully rubbed his face with his hand, and accidentally inserted his fingers into the black spot. His cry suddenly became even more mournful, making Han Jin and Lei Zhe feel their scalps numb.

  "Is there... is there a way?" Lei Zhe asked in a low voice.

  "Let's talk about it later." Han Jin sighed lightly, no need to look at him, who would have a way with such an illness, to be precise, the bodies of these patients are rotting away, if he had completed his foundation building, he could try, now, he can only choose to watch.

  Lei Zhe's heart sank, staring blankly at the patient. After a long while, until Han Jin pulled him hard, he came to his senses and silently followed Han Jin out of the tent, with the assistant priest also following outside.

  "Have you ever seen the Black Death before?" Han Jin asked the deacon.

  "No, sir." The deacon smiled wryly: "If I had seen the Black Death, I wouldn't be standing here now."

  "I... always feel like something is off." Han Jin said with a frown.

  "Raphael, you said, is it that they were affected by the Titan Devil's Breath?" Lei Zhe suddenly said. If this reason holds true, then they're really done for. Almost all of the soldiers have smelled the scent of the Titan Devil's Breath before, and perhaps, they will become the first army to be consumed by disease.

  "It's impossible." Han Jin shook his head and said, "I also smelled that smell, how could nothing have happened?"

  "Because of your strong resistance."

  "What about Qili?"

  Lei Zhe was taken aback, Hui Li had been in good spirits the night before, and these patients were already complaining of discomfort last night, but he didn't take it to heart at the time, and didn't expect things to turn out like this later. If it was really because of the Titan Devil's Orchid, Hui Li should have also been affected.

  "General, you... why did you run inside?" a general shouted anxiously outside the sentry post.

  "General, come out quickly!"

  Those soldiers, in a state of panic and confusion, called out all the generals they could think of. Leiz is the successor to General Konrad, the former commander of the vanguard, and is also the spiritual pillar of the entire army. The generals rushed over, almost going crazy. "We can't let the young marshal come out!" a voice said timidly.

  "Who said that?!" The generals collectively burst into rage.

  "This is... This is Young Marshal's order!" The soldier, under the gaze of the generals, was on the verge of collapse, but still managed to squeeze out a sentence.

  "General! General!!" The sudden shout came from afar and drew near. That general named Paul strode over with big steps.

  Just then, the moonlight suddenly broke through the clouds and fell evenly on every inch of land. The quarrelsome voices stopped abruptly, and everyone's eyes focused on Paul. People could clearly see that Paul's face was covered with black spots, although those spots were only half the size of a small thumb, but they were slowly expanding at a rate visible to the naked eye.

  "General, how could the Black Death suddenly break out?" Paul only noticed something was off at this time: "What are you all staring at me for?"

  "You..." A general stretched out a trembling hand, pointing at Paul.

  "What's wrong?" Paul cried out.

  It was as if they could see Paul's spittle flying everywhere, the generals let out a loud shout and dispersed outward, those soldiers responsible for guarding also retreated far away. The prestige of the Black Death far surpassed that of Butcher Zagunede. If you are willing to be a slave, Zagunede may not necessarily harm you, but with the Black Death, there is no possibility of compromise.

  "What's going on?" Paul shouted angrily, then suddenly covered his forehead with his hand, swayed twice, and fell to the ground.

  "General Paul has also contracted the Black Death!!" The deacon cried out in a trembling voice.

  "This isn't the Black Death!" Han Jin strode over, finally understanding what was off. The disease should have been caused by a virus, but no virus could spread this fast. The black spots on Paul's face were expanding at a rate visible to the naked eye - there had to be something wrong here.

  "Raphael is right, this is not the Black Death." Guevara suddenly appeared, looking down at Paul's face, an indescribable aura of intimidation emanating from his lean body, causing the rustling leaves, floating breeze, and swaying grass around them to come to a sudden halt, including the still-beating hearts of those generals. When Guevara spoke again, the generals came back to their senses, stumbling backward several steps, feeling only one heart pounding wildly in their chest, as if it was about to jump out of their throat.

  "This is a curse!" Guevara's voice was full of murderous intent.

  "A curse?" Lei Zhe was stunned.

  "It seems that Zagunov has other helpers. Gwala said in a low voice: "Some guys... really think I've become disabled, good..."

  "Sir, can you save them?" Leizhe asked urgently.

  "I'm a knight who wants to lift this curse, at least find one cardinal, but time is already running out." Gwala shook his head slightly.

  "What kind of curse is this?"

  "Corrosive Touch, one of the most skilled curses of the Deep Ones."

  "But... if there really are enemies lurking in the shadows, how can they curse so many people?"

  "This is exactly what I want to figure out." Guevara said slowly: "You all stay in the barracks, don't wander around, I'll go take a look around."

  "Sir, General Paul... is he really beyond saving?" Lei Zhe still didn't give up, calling out to Guevara's back.

  "If you really want to help him now, kill him." Guevara's voice came back faintly.

  Paul didn't know when he slowly came to, struggling to sit up, perhaps because he wasn't clear how he ended up on the ground. He opened his mouth to say something, but the movement pulled at the black spot, and in the next instant, a pained hiss shot out of his mouth.

  Yesterday, the internet fee expired without any notice. I didn't realize it until midnight when I finished writing and was about to post, but couldn't get online. It's really frustrating. But I didn't waste my time, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to post three chapters at once. If I add one more chapter, I should be able to make up for the owed ones.