Chapter 159: The Damp Cave and Eczema

Rongdi gave a cold snort, retracted his wings, and quickly disappeared, but Nan Qinghuan was very panicked—Rongdi would not say these things for no reason, could it be... She took off running, not caring that it was still raining outside, and by the time she and the wild wolf ran back to the Cave, faint voices came from inside.

It seemed to be... "Omu, you're back at last."

She saw it was Dashan and hurried in, "Why have you come, has Axi's illness gotten worse?"

"Omu, Axi has come down with a strange illness, and it's not just Axi—A Mu and many other tribespeople have gotten sick too, so I came to report to Ying and see what can be done."

"Qinghuan, they've come down with a strange illness, it's very troublesome."

Ying hurried forward and grabbed her arm. Nan Qinghuan thought of what Rongdi had just said—good heavens, it's come this fast? "Let's go, let's take a look."

The heavy rain outside gradually subsided as well, and the forest air after the rain was extremely fresh.

On this day, a hazy mist hung over the Tribe.

At the hilltop, Rongdi stood gazing at the Ying Tribe. Today not a single person from the Ying Tribe could be seen; normally they would have gone to farm the fields by now, but there was no one in the fields. He knew—they had already fallen ill and could not come out.

"Chief, news just came: people in several Caves of the Ying Tribe have fallen ill."

Hearing the report from the person behind him, Rongdi's gaze gradually darkened. "The Rainy Season is approaching; living in Caves will bring them trouble. Hmph, let's see how long Nan Qinghuan can hold out this time."

"Chief, why not let me go capture Nan Qinghuan? Why waste more time here?"

The speaker was Rongdi's subordinate Lone Wolf. Lone Wolf had always worked in the Rongdi Tribe, but only this time did he infiltrate the Ying Tribe alone with Rongdi. They knew full well that the Ying Tribe's defenses were strict, and they had barely managed to evade Ying's people.

Rongdi did not want to capture her. "If I capture her, she'll still run away. This time I want her to come back with me willingly."

Lone Wolf did not understand. "Willingly?"

I'm afraid that's impossible!

"The medicine for treatment is all in my Tribe. No matter how capable she is, she cannot save the people of the Ying Tribe."

Rongdi naively thought that once Nan Qinghuan realized her tribespeople were beyond saving, she would abandon Ying and the tribespeople and go with him to save her own life.

So he waited.

Waited for her to come tomorrow and beg for mercy, begging him to take her away from here.

Inside the dripping Cave, it was leaking rain just like the Cave where Nan Qinghuan and the others lived. There was a Bonfire in the Cave, but everywhere was dripping and very damp.

When Ying and Nan Qinghuan arrived, the tribespeople hurriedly tried to rise and bow to them, but Ying just waved his hand. "Alright, none of you need to get up. What exactly is going on?"

Now that the Tribe's Shamaness A Yue was already dead, only Nan Qinghuan knew how to treat illnesses.

"Axi, Axi, wake up?"

Dashan helped Axi sit up. "Omu, look at Axi, she's the most serious."

Nan Qinghuan hurried to Axi's side. Axi was lying on the wet ground, and seeing that her Hemp Robe was soaked through, she was very worried. "You can't lie on the wet ground. Quickly, stoke the Bonfire higher to dry your clothes."

Everyone started to do as she said. Nan Qinghuan hurried to examine Axi, and Ying was not idle either, helping with the work. Though he did not understand medicine, he also wanted to know what illness this tribesperson had contracted.

The blazing Bonfire rose up, but the Cave was still so dripping and damp that it was very uncomfortable. Nan Qinghuan's skirt was also covered in mud, very dirty.

She had no time to worry about herself right now. Axi's body was covered in external wounds, and when she sensed someone touching her hand, Axi opened her weary eyes.

"Qinghuan, my body is so itchy."

"Axi, don't rush, let me take a look."

She had Dashan turn around and not look, but Dashan seemed to have already seen it long ago and gave a chuckle. "Omu, it's fine, I've already seen Axi's body before."

"You've seen it before?"

She was a bit dazed. She had to admit, these primitives were really open-minded.

Now was not the time to fuss over such small details. She had the tribespeople turn their backs, then removed Axi's clothes and found that her belly and thighs were covered with many red rashes, some already scratched open and still oozing beads of blood.

But Axi was still scratching.

"Qinghuan, it's so itchy, I want to scratch the skin off, but it's still so itchy?"

Axi had some external wounds on her body, but she did not care about them at all. What she cared about were these red things—they were unbearable, and they had come again.

"Stop scratching. Are the others the same?"

"Omu, our bodies are uncomfortable too."

Very soon, Nan Qinghuan examined the other tribespeople. After she finished looking, she understood—so that was it.

Suddenly, a child ran toward her and threw his arms around her leg.

"Divine Sister, my foot is so itchy. A Mu said she's going to chop my foot off."

"A Tu?"

Nan Qinghuan recognized this child—she had saved him when she first arrived. She hurriedly scooped A Tu up. The child had actually grown a bit taller. Looking at A Tu's face covered in mud, he looked utterly pitiful.

The tribespeople were the same, every one of them scratching at their bodies, looking very miserable.

"Divine Sister, am I going to die? Last year I couldn't bear it either, and A Mu chopped off one of my toes, but now it's grown back. What do I do? It's so itchy, I don't want to lose my toes again."

"Chop off toes?"

Nan Qinghuan drew in a sharp breath. Only then did she notice that A Tu's foot was missing a toe. Good heavens, what had they done? "A Tu, be good, this year no more toes will be chopped off. I'll find a way to treat all of you."

"But it's so itchy."

A Tu was so miserable he wanted to scratch his foot, but Nan Qinghuan quickly reached out and stopped him. "Stop scratching, you'll break the skin. I'll spray some medicine on it for you in a bit, and it'll be better soon. Be good."

"Us too, Omu. The Rainy Season is almost here, this is the Rain God's punishment arriving. Every year we are afflicted by the Rain God's Curse. Those who can endure it just scratch their skin raw, those who can't would rather be dead than alive and wish they could chop off their own hands and legs."

"Chop off hands?"

"Goddess."

Youchao Xuan had also come from outside; he had gone to check on the situation of the people in the other Caves as well. "I'm back."

"How is it?"

Youchao Xuan found it somewhat difficult. "They've grown a lot of red things on their bodies, both itchy and painful. Some couldn't bear it and used fire to burn themselves, scorching their flesh bloody and mangled."

"What?"

"Qinghuan, can you think of a way?"

Ying knew this was a situation that occurred every year—as long as the Rainy Season was approaching, the tribespeople would fall ill. This was the Rain God's punishment. Could it be because... "Clan Leader, we should still offer a female for the Ritual. Last year we did not hold the Ritual, and so the Rain God punished us. This year..."

Ying straightened his back, his gaze sharp. He looked at the tribespeople; everyone watched him with a hunger for life. In truth, he too did not want his people to suffer like this every year.

If only a Ritual could resolve it, then... so be it.

"Dashan, go find a clean-bodied female and bring Shiva out. Tonight we will conduct the Ritual and make offerings to the Rain God."

"Yes, I'll go take care of it right now."

"Wait."

Nan Qinghuan immediately stopped Dashan and looked at Ying. "Ying, don't do this. They just have eczema, caused by the Cave being too damp. It's not some Rain God's Curse. Trust me, don't kill anyone."