Versatile Mage c1-2021, page 907
When they retreated along the same path, another group was ready to receive them. It did not take the band long to break free from the encirclement of the demon creatures.
They returned to the campsite. It was getting dark, and they only had a few torches to light up the camp. The Light Mages were not willing to use their spells, since they had to preserve their energy.
"We've found the Mountain Frost Lotus. What now?" Kuma asked.
"I think we just need to boil it in water and drink it."
---
Warner plucked the petals of the Mountain Frost Lotus and boiled them with drinking water.
A pleasant aroma soon rose from the pot. Those who were ill immediately felt a lot better after smelling it. They opened their eyes and looked at the source of the smell.
"It seems to be working!" Kuma was overjoyed.
If the aroma alone was already so effective, everyone would soon recover from the illness by drinking the water!
"Be careful, the smell might attract demon creatures to us," Tommy reminded them.
"Humph, once our people recover, we'll kill every single one of them!" Kuma swore.
Chapter 1985 - The Outbreak, Part One
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
The group boiled the Mountain Frost Lotuses with water. They soon served bowls of the remedy to the patients.
"Damn it, they are only giving it to their own people. These selfish pricks!" Zhao Manyan was displeased when he saw the other teams had received the antidote first.
"Why are those who aren't sick drinking it too?" Jiang Shaoxu pointed out.
"Apparently they are drinking it as a preventive measure. The disease is pretty odd. It feels like anyone might fall ill at any second. They are afraid they will fall ill next, so they all drank the remedy too," Mo Fan said.
While they were talking, Kuma finally sent someone over to give them the remedy. She seemed to be pleased with Mo Fan's contributions at the cliff.
"Do we all have to drink it?" Mo Fan asked.
"Yes for everyone's sake," Kuma said.
They brought the remedy to Lingling and Mu Ningxue. Its pleasant aroma was energizing. Mo Fan took a sip before feeding it to them to make sure it did not have any side effects.
Apas was standing beside him. She kept staring into the bowl Mo Fan was holding.
"I think you shouldn't feed it to them," Apas said.
"What do you mean?" Mo Fan looked at her.
"Us medusae have a great sense of smell. For example, if something poisonous is placed in front of us, no matter how alluring and delicious it seems, our instincts will stop us from eating it like other brainless creatures. There's something fishy about its aroma," Apas said.
"But I didn't feel anything after drinking it," Mo Fan said.
"Of course you're fine. You're almost immune to poison because of the Black Snake Armor," Apas pointed out.
The Black Snake Armor was able to protect Mo Fan from most poisons, but it was not necessarily effective against certain Poison Spells. Mo Fan had yet to find himself a new suit of Armor.
"Oh, I almost forgot about that… but the others seem to have recovered after drinking it." Mo Fan looked at the other patients.
The guy called Parker had been the first to fall ill. His condition was the worst, but he was immediately filled with energy after he drank the remedy.
"They won't die anytime soon. You better observe them for a little longer. It's not too late to feed them the medicine if nothing happens to the others," Apas said.
Mo Fan thought about it. He believed in Apas' instincts when it was related to nature.
Apas' ability to predict danger was an innate talent of their species, and more impressive than Mo Fan's Dark Vein. They had a strong awareness of other creatures and their surroundings.
Mo Fan believed it was necessary to respect a Medusa's warning.
---
"Great, everyone has recovered!"
"This Mountain Frost Lotus is pretty useful. The patients are feeling a lot better after drinking the remedy. They even feel more energetic than before. If the Mountain Frost Locus already has such magical uses, won't the Sacred Lotus at the top of Tianshan Mountain be able to bring the dead back to life or extend a person's lifespan?" Gavin blurted out excitedly.
"Yeah, let's set out right away. We can't let something so valuable fall into others' hands."
"Let's go, there's nothing to be afraid of in the Rift Valley!"
The Mailong Private Military Group was suddenly motivated after they found the cure to the disease. They could not wait to venture deeper into the mountain.
---
The disease had slowed the group down significantly, but the Mailong Private Military Group finally continued on with its mission. Everyone's stamina had improved after consuming the remedy. Not a single person complained about fatigue.
"Team nine, send someone to scout this path over here," Gavin said.
"I'll do it," Jiang Yu said.
"I'll go with you." Nanyu was worried about Jiang Yu.
The two followed the path Gavin was pointing to. The group soon discovered a few crossroads branching off it. Kuma assigned the other teams to scout the paths.
There were too many forks along the way. The group soon discovered a few more unexplored canyons.
The group was further split up. The ninth team only had a few members left. Some of the patients on the team still had not recovered. Mo Fan had no choice but to ask Zhao Manyan to keep an eye on them.
---
"It's too inconvenient like this. Should we let them drink the medicine too? It doesn't seem like there's any problem after so long," Zhao Manyan asked Apas.
Zhao Manyan and Apas had stayed behind to look after the others.
"Walden, don't just sit there and do nothing. Go patrol the area with those guys and make sure there isn't any danger nearby," the captain of the tenth team said.
"Oh, got it!" Walden nodded. He immediately rose to his feet.
As a rookie, patrolling under someone's lead was a great way to gain experience. However, Walden noticed the gorgeous girl staring at him in a weird way. He blushed when their eyes met.
---
Walden followed four other mercenaries to scout the path that was opposite the direction of the wind. They were soon over a kilometer away from the group.
"Walden, go check out the cave down there," Li Yu said.
"There's nothing in it."
"I said check it again!" Li Yu demanded.
Walden did not dare oppose the old mercenary, and went into the cave. It was pitch-black, even the faintest light devoured by the darkness. Walden purposely looked Li Yu in the eyes. He noticed a strange look in them… Walden immediately recalled the way the little girl was looking at him before he left.
"Was he trying to..." Walden felt a great chill behind him.
Walden turned around and saw black gas rising from Li Yu's body, whose eyes were glittering like a ferocious beast. Walden immediately felt his hair standing on its end!
The man was trying to kill him!
---
---
Many people had now moved away from the group. Only a few had stayed behind to keep a lookout for demon creatures.
Mu Ningxue was lying in her tent, breathing with difficulty. She had no clue why Mo Fan had not let her drink the medicine, but she believed in his judgment.
She was still fully awake when she heard footsteps outside the tent.
They did not belong to Zhao Manyan or Apas. The footsteps were heavier, and were accompanied by a strong presence.
Chapter 1986 - An Outbreak, Part Two
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
A figure suddenly rushed into a tent. Mu Ningxue slowly opened her eyes. There was no sign of panic in her eyes.
"I must say, even if I have to pay them money instead of winning seven times what I've bet, I'm willing to do it as long as I can have an enjoyable night with you. You are seriously the most attractive woman I've ever met." Gavin stood there admiring Mu Ningxue, who was lying inside the tent.
He was looking at her beautiful face, her fair and long neck, and her delicate body.
"Didn't your Vice Leader tell you anything?" Mu Ningxue sounded a little weak.
"Her? What could she say? That woman… to be honest with you, when she was still attractive around ten years ago, she was also a plaything in our group. The old mercenaries all have their own stories of how they fooled around with her after some drinks. If she hadn't been lucky enough to become a Super Mage a few years ago, there's no way she would have been appointed the Vice Leader," Gavin said while stepping closer to Mu Ningxue.
"Three steps," Mu Ningxue said.
"What did you say?" Gavin smiled. He added, "I've made sure there's no one around. Don't worry, it's only us now."
The mercenaries enjoyed gambling, but everyone who took part in the bet knew it was Gavin who had suggested the bet related to Mu Ningxue.
The more Gavin thought about how such a beautiful woman was with an insignificant young man, the more he wanted to show his manliness.
"One last step." Mu Ningxue stared at Gavin.
"Don't be afraid, we'll be zero distance from one another… oh, my bad, it should be negative distance," Gavin grinned.
Mu Ningxue's eyes flickered with disdain. She closed her eyes as an icy glow rose from her fingers.
A lunar-white gap appeared behind Mu Ningxue, like something connected to another world. A howling gust of icicles burst out of it and knocked the shocked Gavin into the air.
The icicles stabbed into Gavin. His blood squirted out as he flew over sixty meters and slammed into a wall.
The impact shocked everyone. It felt like the roar of a powerful creature from close by.
"What just happened?"
"I heard a loud roar!"
"Colonel!"
Several mercenaries quickly followed the sound and saw Gavin lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
Gavin was as furious as a lit fuse. He was glaring at Mu Ningxue in the distance.
Mu Ningxue had already risen to her feet. Even though she was struggling to stand properly, a powerful Aura was circling her like a living beast.
"You dare attack me!" Gavin yelled.
Mu Ningxue did not respond. The man was as good as dead in her eyes. There was no point in talking to a dead man.
"Colonel, maybe we should just forget it..." Xu Luoqing advised.
"Humph, I'm in charge here!" Gavin snapped.
Xu Luoqing clearly knew what Gavin was up to. He should just bear with it since he was injured and had been discovered. Otherwise, he would not be able to explain himself once the rest of the members of the ninth team returned.
"That woman dared to attack me. What are you all waiting for? Get her!" Gavin ordered the others around him.
"Colonel, I don't think that's a good idea. Let's wait until the Vice Leader is back."
"You're not going to listen to your colonel!?" Gavin was enraged.
They had poked Gavin's sore point when they mentioned Kuma's name. A blazing red flame engulfed him. He was using it to conceal his Star Constellation.
The mercenary beside Gavin suddenly spat a mouthful of green matter onto Gavin's face as he was about to complete his Star Constellation.
"Do you want to die!?" Gavin was infuriated. He glared at the mercenary as if his eyes were set aflame.
The mercenary fell to the ground before Gavin had the chance to do anything. His body was twisted in an odd way, like he was suffering from a stroke.
A few mercenaries nearby had the same symptoms. Their noses were blocked with the same green matter. It erupted from their stomachs when they tried to wipe their noses.
Only their nose was blocked at first, but their mouths were soon clogged too. The tense atmosphere suddenly felt weird when five mercenaries were having the same symptoms.
The afflicted mercenaries all fell to the ground. Even Gavin was lost for words. Why did it feel like everyone had been poisoned all of a sudden?
"Colonel, colonel, Parker… he's dead… my gods, what's happening to everyone!?" Tommy came over to report something when he saw the mercenaries falling to the ground.
"I...I have no idea," Gavin was dumbfounded.
"Colonel, they are dying too," Xu Luoqing blurted out.
"They are the ones who fell ill before!" A mercenary quickly noticed the connection between those who were having the symptoms.
"Didn't they recover?"
---
The others who went scouting returned to the camp after receiving the news.
When they made it back to the camp, they saw over a dozen dead bodies on the ground, each with green matter pouring out of their eyes, noses, mouths, and ears.
Even Kuma was shocked. So many of her men had died so suddenly!
"It seems like only those who were ill before have died..." Warner murmured.
"You assh***, didn't you say the Mountain Frost Lotus could treat them? Why are they all dead now!?" Kuma snarled. She almost had the urge to feed Warner to her Man-Eating Flower.
"I have no clue either! Nothing on Tianshan Mountain makes any sense!"
The mercenary group was troubled by the strange deaths. It was scarier than the sickness that had been troubling them previously. Not a single person who had fallen ill before had survived, including those with outstanding cultivation.
"By the way, Vice Leader, not one of the members on the ninth team has died," Tommy noticed.
Kuma led her men over to the ninth team. Ai Jiangtu, Lingling, Mu Ningxue, and the others were alive, but they had yet to fully recover from the sickness.
"I need an explanation!" Kuma glanced at the ninth team coldly.
"I'll give you one," Mo Fan had just come back from a trip into a deep canyon, and had a hard look on his face.
Chapter 1987 - Condemning the Mailong Private Military Group!
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.
