Chapter 1243: Grocery Store

Grocery Store

While pondering, the Red Paper Chen Ling had wrapped around the Physician also became tighter and tighter. The latter's face was flushed red from being strangled, as if he was about to run out of breath.

But Chen Ling didn't continue to increase the force.

With a flick of the Red Paper, he casually smashed him heavily against the wall like garbage. After the Physician let out a muffled groan, his eyes rolled back and he fainted on the spot, lying on the ground like mud.

An invisible python slithered out from beneath Chen Ling's sleeve and directly coiled around the unconscious Physician's neck. Following the spitting of its scarlet tongue, a segment of memory was directly swallowed into the Spirit Serpent's stomach.

Chen Ling didn't make another move. He had just entered the South Sea. If he went too far, it would inevitably attract the attention of the South Sea's official organizations. If there was a character with natural keen insight like Han Meng among them, they would likely easily guess that he was searching for a physician, thereby strengthening the protection for other physicians.

As Chen Ling's Rank reached the peak of the Fifth-Tier, he gradually became proficient with the Sixth Stage ability [Spirit Serpent]. At the very least, it was no longer the castrated version that could only steal emotions. As long as he didn't leave the scope of the South Sea Domain, this stolen memory wouldn't return to the Physician's mind in the short term.

After finishing all this, Chen Ling directly picked up Little Peach. His figure flashed, and he disappeared from the clinic.

"Great King, Little Peach's breathing is getting weaker and weaker."

Chen Ling looked down at the unconscious Little Peach. The latter's body was emitting a purple hue, and her skin was frighteningly hot.

Although protected by Chen Ling's starlight, after running around for so long, Little Peach's condition had still deteriorated to a severe extent. The reason Chen Ling was so eager to use death to threaten the Physician was because Little Peach didn't have much time left...

If he still couldn't find a suitable physician, Little Peach probably wouldn't survive past tonight.

Chen Ling's figure quickly shuttled through the streets of the South Sea Domain, his gaze constantly sweeping the surroundings, as if looking for something.

Finally,

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the signboard of a certain shop, and his figure slowly stopped by the roadside...

— Brother Wang's Grocery Store.

"Great King, we aren't looking for a doctor. What are we coming to a grocery store for?" Little White asked in confusion.

Chen Ling's gaze was somewhat complicated.

To outsiders, this was just an ordinary grocery store. But in fact, this was one of the underground liaison points planted by the Dusk Society in the South Sea Domain.

After Chen Ling had a falling out with the Red King, he never claimed to be a member of the Dusk Society again, nor did he contact the Dusk Society. He had been staying in the Integration Faction for the past half year, and he himself didn't know what the Dusk Society's attitude towards him was now.

The reason Chen Ling chose to kidnap a Path of the Physician practitioner to heal Little Peach the moment he entered the South Sea Domain, rather than directly seeking help from the Dusk Society, was because he didn't want to rely on the Dusk Society's power anymore...

But right now, he seemed to have no other choice.

After stopping at the door for a long time, Chen Ling finally stepped inside.

The space in the grocery store wasn't large. As soon as he walked in, he could smell a faint musty odor exuding from the aged wooden shelves. The shelves were filled with common daily necessities, but their quality couldn't compare at all to those carefully decorated boutiques; only the prices were slightly more affordable.

In the narrow and dim grocery store, there was only a bald Middle-Aged Man sitting behind the counter with drooping eyes. Seeing Chen Ling walk in, he casually glanced at him,

"Pick whatever you want yourself."

Chen Ling didn't pick any goods, but stopped straight in front of the counter:

"I want to buy a ray of hope."

The Middle-Aged Man's gaze focused, and the lazy and casual demeanor from a moment ago vanished without a trace.

He carefully examined the brown-clothed youth in front of him for a moment before speaking again:

"Show your identity."

Chen Ling remained silent for a moment, and ultimately still raised his empty palm. With a light rub in the void, a Playing Card appeared out of thin air like a magic trick.

— Six of Hearts.

Upon seeing the Card Face of this card, the Middle-Aged Man was clearly stunned, looking at Chen Ling with immense surprise.

"Can this card still be used?" Chen Ling asked in a deep voice.

"Of course."

After learning Chen Ling's Card Face, the Middle-Aged Man clearly became more solemn, his back straight as a ramrod. "Six of Hearts, what do you need?"

"I need a doctor capable of neutralizing Calamity toxins... It's very urgent."

"How urgent?"

"Before tonight."

The Middle-Aged Man's brows furrowed slightly, seemingly somewhat hesitant.

"Is it not possible?"

"Before tonight is a bit too rushed... I'm not sure if there's a suitable person in the Dusk Society, but I can help you try." The Middle-Aged Man took out a pen and paper from under the counter,

"How about this, give me the address where you're temporarily staying. If I find a suitable person, I will immediately have them go find you."

Seeing this, Chen Ling directly wrote down the address of a guest house across the street. He couldn't keep running around on the street carrying Little Peach; finding a guest house to stay in temporarily would be much more convenient.

After leaving the address, Chen Ling left the grocery store and directly went to the guest house across the street to open a room.

After checking in, the first thing Chen Ling did was observe the surrounding environment. After confirming that no one was following them, he closed the curtains.

"Little White, keep watch over Little Peach here, I'm going out for a bit."

"Yes! Great King!"

Little White walked out from the shadow and answered with his head held high and chest puffed out.

Little White was really getting more and more fluent at calling him Great King now; Chen Ling even had the illusion that he had really become a bandit king... He closed the door backhandedly and walked downstairs alone.

The streets of the South Sea Domain were even wider than those in the Tianshu Domain. Pedestrians hurried along the road, and the exquisite shops on both sides were scattered around, looking like a bustling metropolis. Moreover, Chen Ling discovered that there was a supermarket every few steps here, with fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as a variety of colorful desserts, making one dazzled.

Chen Ling wearing a brown windbreaker, kept a low profile and casually walked into a supermarket.

"Hello, do you only have today's newspapers?" Chen Ling pointed at several stacks of newspapers next to the checkout counter and asked.

The clerk looked at him in confusion, but still answered: "There are some unsold ones stockpiled in the Warehouse from before... Do you want them?"

"I want them, all of them from the recent period."

Chen Ling had been separated from the Human Domains for too long. He basically knew nothing about the changes in the Great Realms over the past half year, and newspapers were his best avenue to acquire new information.

Chen Ling paid and left with a thick stack of newspapers. He casually picked up today's latest newspaper and directly flipped through it under a streetlamp by the roadside.

— "Frequent Earthquakes in the Hidden Clouds Domain: Natural Phenomenon, or Calamity Attack?"

An enlarged and bolded headline right at the start directly caught Chen Ling's eye. He immediately opened the newspaper and read down carefully...

This article reported on the recent frequent earthquakes in the Hidden Clouds Domain, as well as the news of large quantities of plants inexplicably dying within the Domain. Although no casualties had been caused yet, and no traces of Calamities had been found around the Domain, some were already speculating that this might be related to the Bitter Flesh Forest.

"The Bitter Flesh Forest has set its sights on the Hidden Clouds Domain..." Chen Ling muttered to himself,

"Who will be next?"