It's so painful! So hard! So difficult!

Listening to Xiao Nuo's doubts, the poet did not find it difficult to understand. She glanced at him casually and replied

"It's nothing serious. I'm traveling light so I don't get too tired before I start dealing with the real business."

After saying this lightly, under Bai Lin's somewhat surprised gaze, the poet took Bai Lin's hand very naturally. And said to Bai Lin,

"This is a hard-earned break, and a rare opportunity to relax during this journey. Don't be too nervous. Remember to enjoy it, Holy Son."

After receiving such a reminder, Bai Lin was a little confused, but she reacted immediately, grabbed Xiao Nuo's hand next to her, raised it high, and replied,

"Okay, let's enjoy it!"

"Hey! Don't grab my hand so suddenly, seriously."

Xiao Nuo was clearly still a little shy and pulled her hand back. Bai Lin waved her hand away without a care. She put on a straw hat that didn't quite suit her and mounted the horse the poet had gotten from nowhere, claiming it was the only one capable of crossing the fenced forest between land and sea. She rode the horse with ease and said,

"Don't make any noise. Ladies, please get in the car."

As he spoke, Bai Lin pointed to the wooden cart pulled by the horse and extended a warm invitation. Xiao Nuo said,

"What are you doing with all this expressionlessness? One moment you're scolding me, and the next moment you're role-playing? Obviously, the groom should take the young lady to the carriage first, and then get on the horse himself, right?"

"Tsk, you're the only one who wants me to serve you well and give you face?"

Bai Lin was not polite at all and immediately switched back to his previous attitude. Xiao Nuo had been with Bai Lin for so long and she must have learned some cleverness in her words. She showed a cunning look and said repeatedly,

"Well, I'm not worthy, but as a poet, you have to treat me well, right?"

"This...is true."

Bai Lin replied, then pursed his lips and said with a smile,

"But look, isn't she very satisfied with my service? Even the poet, a real lady, doesn't have a bad temper. You better calm down and get in the car quickly."

When she regained consciousness, the poet was already sitting quietly in the carriage. She remained silent, and no one could see the expression hidden beneath her mask. A dark mask, an icy silence. But as the warm sunlight shone on her shoulders, she had already merged with the prospect of the journey that was about to unfold, amidst the chirping birds and fragrant flowers.

Chapter 954 Butterfly

She was probably smiling and enjoying it.

It seems that Xiao Nuo's cleverness is not so clever now. She scratched her head awkwardly and got on the car. Bai Lin did not say anything more, and drove the horse forward.

"Let's go!"

Facing the rising sun, they began to move along the field path with golden rapeseed fields on both sides.

The wild butterflies on the roadside were fluttering, moving freely in the morning light. It seemed that there were also melodious songs, accompanying their journey, gradually rising -

Every time I think of you, it's like the sun is shining after the rain.

Saw a butterfly flying over the ruins,

It's so beautiful like a miracle,

Let me stand up from where I fell,

Woo....As soon as I get close to you,

I feel at ease.

You looked into my eyes without doubt,

Your trust in me,

Let me be reborn again,

No matter how cold the world is, I still have you.

I have you.

Butterfly by David Tao

-

The so-called fenced forest didn't seem particularly special to Bai Lin and the other two. As far as forests go, its terrain was so smooth it could only be described as "extremely safe." Much of it was even open enough for a carriage to pass through naturally, a rare condition in a natural forest.

Although their large size and slower travel speed than Bai Lin and the others' on foot easily attracted wild monsters, they handled them with relative ease. They encountered no targets worthy of special mention. Even the three of them showed no signs of combat.

Only the faint fading bloodstains and scars left on the carriage wheels in the muddy ground could tell that they were not out for travel.

"Do you feel it, Holy Son?"

When the carriage reached a certain point, the poet suddenly asked this question. Bai Lin also raised a hand symbolically, nodded, and replied,

"Ah."

She pulled the reins, bringing the horse to a slow halt. Within the halo of the forest before her, a light like sleep lines began to appear, and from that moment on, a large number of figures gradually emerged.

Their clothing was uniform, light, and simple. It didn't clash with the forest at all, like nature spirits from a fantasy novel. Scales, a symbol of their status, could be occasionally glimpsed around their necks, behind their ears, on their faces, or on their exposed wrists and arms. However, Bai Lin was somewhat surprised to see that they had actual feet.

Most of them have sea-blue hair, rose-red eyes, and pointed ears similar to Bai Lin's current ones. If you ignore their murderous expressions, you can probably tell they look cute.

Obviously, these people are the main fish people we came here to meet.

At this point, Bai Lin raised one hand, then turned to surrendering with both hands. While holding it up, she said in a serious tone,

"Don't do it, don't do it, I don't have any ill will towards you."

As she spoke, she tilted her body slightly, revealing the poet on the cart, and said,

"Look, this person over here is from Stella Pulgerd. Their identities are quite credible, right?"

After spending so much time together, Bai Lin actually understood everything. While the Saint's Son might not be useful everywhere, the poet seemed to hold a very high status. In the city they had just returned to, revealing the poet's race was the final blow that broke through the city's upper echelons' defenses.

At this moment, the other party who had been silent all this time suddenly changed his expression. After a moment of confusion and thought, the person standing closer to the front replied directly,

"Hmph, you fortune-tellers who have been doing nothing. You are also responsible for the current state of this continent. You allowed the Perfect Man to act recklessly, and now they have come to our Qingtan City. What do you want to do? I will not discuss it for now."

"It's you! You seem to have a human aura, but also a strong, unidentified odor, and you're deliberately disguising yourself as an elf. Why are you driving a carriage and representing the fortune-tellers? You and your group are truly suspicious!"

Hearing this, Bai Lin couldn't help but look a little confused. She walked to the back and asked,

"Poet, do I smell bad?"

Regarding this topic, the poet responded to Bai Lin very seriously.

"Not physically. It's just that they are extremely sensitive to certain auras. For example, Miyu and Kronos, who are living in you, are close to the wild gods, and are heroes of the dwarves. They can detect some unusual sightings and some substantial changes, distinguishing them with their unique senses."

"Oh, I see."

Obviously, the other party was not as patient as these two. The one who had just spoken looked even more gloomy, with a red light in his eyes. He stretched out his hands, ready to attack.

"No matter what your intentions are, take them first and then judge."

Damn, you dare to capture a poet, what kind of power do you have?

Such a thought flashed through Bai Lin's mind. But the scene before her quickly made her realize something was amiss. The other person raised her hand, and a massive amount of black energy emanated from it as her claws danced, slashing through trees. This destructive display, how could it possibly be described as a "spirit of nature"?

At the same time, the fishmen around her seemed to be affected by her. The strange feeling also surged. Four or five figures rushed towards Bai Lin with the force of thunder. Bai Lin sighed, then waved frivolously to Xiao Nuo behind him.

"Watch carefully and learn well. I will only teach you once."

In the blink of an eye, Bai Lin disappeared from the carriage. The next moment, she was behind one of the attackers. She raised her hand and struck him in the back with her elbow. The muffled sound of drumming could be heard clearly.

Like the hum of light sweeping across the water, the gloom on the fishman's face vanished in an instant, and her eyes became incredibly clear. The next moment, she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

It fell...it fell all of a sudden?

Those who hadn't made a move seemed unsure how to react when they saw this scene. Bai Lin's figure flashed by in an instant, and the people who had rushed forward all lost their original surging momentum and gained a good sleep like a baby.

After doing all this, Bai Lin clapped his hands, turned around and asked casually,

"Did you see clearly?"

"Tsk, you're really good at bullying weaklings."

Chapter 955: Filthy Mark

"Besides that, you both traveled to various places before. After you two came together, you also left your footprints in many places. No wonder, I was wondering why a fortune teller and a human like this would suddenly find you."

Obviously, as time went on, the reputations of Bai Lin and the poet gradually began to spread. Even the more closed-minded races like the fish people had heard of them. Bai Lin shrugged and replied,

"Actually, there are people who don't treat us that way. After all, whenever we show up, there's likely to be some kind of chaos going on there, so it's understandable that we'd be seen as something ominous."

Ling Qing completely disagreed with Bai Lin's half-joking statement. She shook her head and replied,

"But fundamentally, you offered your assistance because you anticipated the problem. So, at least we sincerely welcome your arrival."

"Yeah. So, what's your problem?"

Bai Lin asked directly. Ling Qing's expression was obviously more serious. She pointed to the door and said,

"Please follow me, I'll explain as we walk. It might be faster. However, there are treatment facilities in the corridor, so please keep your voice down."

Bai Lin nodded gently and walked out of the modern-looking office, leading the poet and Ling Qing in front of him. As they stepped outside, the ominous feeling seemed to intensify. This place, resembling a hospital, gave Bai Lin a vague feeling of unease and strangeness.

"We, the people of Qingtan, are innately sensitive to the scent of living things. Because our entire tribe shares common survival needs, we have always conducted business with outsiders."

As they walked, Ling Qing introduced

"Simply put, we can heal... or, more strictly speaking, cleanse others of illnesses or curses. Our gifts allow us to more easily identify the causes of illnesses. While our medical skills may not be advanced, we can generally provide relief or point the way to a cure, especially for unusual or unsolved illnesses. Furthermore, our city of Cheongdam is open to the public as a health resort."

The environment here is indeed nice. Even though an ominous atmosphere permeates the entire town, it does not affect Bai Lin's imagination of how beautiful this place is. Of course, the point is not here.

"However, recently, we have encountered an unprecedented situation."

Ling Qing paused as she spoke. She saw patients lined up at the entrance of a nearby clinic, waiting to receive their medication. Each clinic had three gates, each one secured by a solid iron door.

Outside the outermost door, a long line of patients formed. Many armed medical staff, more like security personnel on watch, were stationed outside. They were handing out disposable thermometer-like testers to patients, presumably for temporary self-testing.

The small dark room between the two gates played music and displayed some images, and seemed to be equipped with some corresponding detection systems. Only by passing through that side could one see the doctor one-on-one.

Rather than calling it a clinic, the treatment of these patients is more reasonable than that of prisoners. They are being stared at too severely. Bai Lin couldn't help but think so.

Seeing Bai Lin frowning slightly, Ling Qing naturally knew what she was thinking. She sighed and said,

"Do you still remember the person who just attacked you? Actually, that wasn't simply out of hostility, but rather an infectious disease."

"Infectious disease? I thought I was just being mean, hahaha... I used to be attacked by people of all races straight away, so I'm kind of used to it."

"What have you been through?... In short, the patient's mental state often shows extreme abnormalities."

Ling Qing took a breath and continued,

"After contracting this disease, each patient will experience different symptoms, but the common symptom is primarily mental disorder. Sometimes, they will become extremely irritable, harm their loved ones, and even cannibalize their own kind. However, although they have lost consciousness, they still retain some of their memories, although not much."

Ling Qing led the two forward. In some surgical clinics, unusually crude and brutal surgeries appeared to be underway. Black lines, resembling bumps or characters, appeared on the patients' exposed skin, yet were indecipherable. Large areas of their skin, centered around these lines, began to take on a similar color.

"Once the symptoms progress from the early stages to the middle stages, they can seriously affect normal life. Those in the queue ahead already have relatively mild symptoms. Those in the middle stages will most likely develop ulcers, starting with their limbs."

As she spoke, Ling Qing pointed at the black lines.

"We've ruled out the possibility that the virus isn't transmitted through the air, blood, or droplets, but the exact mode of transmission isn't clear. However, one thing is clear: direct contact with the filth marks will inevitably lead to the middle stages of the disease in a very short period of time."

Bai Lin recalled repeatedly, wondering if she had touched the weakling while bullying him. Fortunately, she thought carefully and realized that her hands were not dirty. Besides, she had a high resistance to poison, so it should be fine. She asked Ling Qing,

"Roughly how many days are there between the early and middle stages? I saw that the people who attacked me just now were probably in the early stages, so why did they suddenly run into problems? If they were already approaching the middle stage, you wouldn't have stopped them from working."

Ling Qing shook her head and replied,

"There's no pattern to the timing...some are even in the late stages right from the start. It all happened so suddenly, we didn't have time to find the cause. Besides, we're already very short-staffed. Medical staff are also starting to show symptoms, so we have to keep using those with mild symptoms for now."

"Because his mental and medical conditions are unstable, unexpected incidents occur from time to time in this city. For example, murders and explosions. We have tried our best to keep them to a minimum, but—"

As she spoke, she shook her head again, as if she was helpless, ending her complaint. As she spoke, she pointed to the room.

"For larger scars, we'll perform local surgery, but it's just a rough excision. Because our regular operating rooms... are completely overwhelmed, we can only use minimally invasive procedures."

Chapter 956: Can’t Touch Water

As he spoke, the bright red flesh was completely cut off. Even the remnants of the bone were completely removed. And these excised materials were gathered together and gathered in the same place.

"After the operation is completed, we will discharge all the filth into the clear pond."

Qing Ling said something that shocked Bai Lin without changing her expression. Her thoughts on the blue ocean instantly vanished. She asked,

"...Won't that cause pollution?"

"The Qingtan Pond has a pure, purifying function, so it won't be affected at all. Furthermore, at the bottom of the Qingtan Pond, there's a channel where all the impurities will eventually flow, so there won't be any remaining blood or flesh in the Qingtan Pond."

"To the room?"

Ling Qing also patiently introduced these specialized terms.

"Simply put, it's a place where all the world's imperfections remain, and it's also a taboo for our tribe. It's located beneath the vast ocean, suppressed by our city and Qingtan. It's the other extreme of purification."

If such a big thing happened, it must be that there was something wrong with this room. It sounds like a collection of problems. Bai Lin couldn't help but think so, but she also noticed some other strange places.

"Wait, you just said this clear pond has a purifying function, so why don't you let living people soak in it directly? Why do you have to cut it off?"