Chapter 293: Jealousy

「.

Injecting the rodent people's bacteria-filled blood into the body to treat skin disease?

And they're born with the latent risk of bestial disease?

Who came up with this genius treatment plan? That person should be hanged!

Let me mention this briefly.

Not all rodent people have bestial disease; many newborn rodent people born under magical quarantine have their bestial disease genes become recessive, at the cost of diminished intellect.

"I know what you're thinking, Mr. Luo De, but according to those farmers, the method did work at first—many patients' symptoms were suppressed."

Said the tiefling girl, Lin Saixier.

Her face also showed disbelief:

"The Ke's Plain is crossed by the Hansen River; the mutated Sahu fish-people there are obsessed with driving away races and monsters harmful to humans, mostly to trade with the local city hall for food and equipment. That's why there are few rodent people in Ke's Plain—meaning the rodent blood in Guanbei Town has run out."

"To afford the high treatment costs, the Relief Association had to seek new blood sources. The turning point came a month ago, when a robed mage carrying a recording stone told them about an unfinished underground city now collapsed, burying countless rodent corpses."

Luo De's heart skipped.

No way.

This sounds exactly like what our rat-hunting squad did.

But before we left, Kali Site had clearly set up a purification ritual that would cleanse all bestial blood in the underground city within a day.

"So they collected rodent blood from inside?"

"Yes. Large quantities of unprocessed rodent corpses—they said they'd been dead at least one or two days."

Hearing this, Luo De immediately understood.

Shortly after they left, someone dismantled Kali Site 's purification ritual.

And that person was very likely the robed mage with the recording stone.

But why do it?

The robed mage? Luo De immediately thought of students from Bahadur Magic Academy.

Then he immediately abandoned guessing their motive.

If this was really the work of that damn academy, no need to overthink—just kill them all.

Seeing Luo De's expression turn serious, Lin Saixier asked worriedly:

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Keep going. What happened next?"

"After that, it was simpler. This batch of rodent blood had problems—it infected everyone who received blood therapy with bestial disease. One night, they all erupted simultaneously, going on a murderous rampage. The Relief Association inside the inner town panicked, locked their gates, trapping uninfected humans and bestial disease patients together in the outer district. The refugees there had already sensed something was wrong and fled early—after all, you can't hide things forever."

Luo De thought carefully.

Something felt off.

He'd encountered bestial disease patients in Ke's Plain a month ago—the hyper-male woman Zhen Na, who faced off against the Sahu fish-people.

Perhaps the Guanbei Town outbreak started earlier than they thought.

"Done."

The zombie Selina trotted up to Luo De, expressionless.

She had already completed the 【Wind Wall Spell】 ritual and activated it successfully.

A hemispherical wind wall rose, needing only enough force to block the sandstorm.

"Well done."

"My daily task quota isn't finished yet. I'm going back—before someone starts nagging."

The "task quota" referred, of course, to the daily target number of magic rings to be crafted.

Luo De shrugged:

"Don't treat me like a heartless boss exploiting workers. Today's quota is reduced by a quarter."

The first-month sales of the replica magic rings were excellent—sold out immediately.

But that doesn't prove anything yet. If after-sales and sales remain stable, he should consider increasing production.

"Wow—really? After working all morning, my quota's cut by a quarter? You're practically a benevolent benefactor, my lord."

Selina's face remained expressionless, her tone unchanged—sounding like sarcasm.

No need to listen to tone—she was definitely mocking.

Luo De didn't mind; he laughed, rubbing her head hard through her hood.

Though her facial scars had been healed, she still cared deeply about her pale zombie appearance and often covered her face.

【Jealousy +23】

Hmm.

Watching the tiefling girl provide more negative emotion points.

Honestly, Luo De was surprised by her personality.

The jealousy skill in 【Negative Emotion Absorption】 is 【Shadow Theft】—it can temporarily steal an enemy's skill, energy, or buffs; with greater expenditure, it might even permanently steal them.

But both permanent and temporary theft require absurdly high costs—Luo De never had the chance, nor the willingness, to use it.

Use Lin Saixier to farm jealousy points?

No no no—that would inflict severe psychological damage on a teenage girl. Luo De was a man of dignity; he wouldn't target a friend's disciple.

Thinking of this, he felt a little guilty toward her.

So Luo De smiled and patted the girl's head.

Lin Saixier froze, stunned.

"Mr. Luo De?"

"I'm glad you asked me for help. I feel like I haven't paid you much attention lately."

"How could you!"

She giggled foolishly, fidgeting with her fingers.

【Jealousy +201】

【Jealousy +65】

【Jealousy +134】

【Jealousy +】

Oh!

Jealousy points poured in from all directions!

From Lin Saixier's admirers!

Shiying Town is remote, so its people aren't heavily influenced by stereotypes—being a tiefling, she has surprisingly many admirers!

But probably because she's beautiful and human-like enough.

Her only obvious features were her tail and slightly reddish skin.

The spiral demonic horns grew backward, hidden among her dyed-black hair, barely noticeable.

By the way, demonic horns are highly sensitive.

After Tally reached the seventh stage, her horns glowed pink when she reached peak excitement; if you cupped them in your hand, her body would tremble and spasm differently depending on pressure—quite amusing.

So when Luo De gave head rubs, he deliberately avoided her horns.

But even when he avoided them, she insisted on nudging her horns against his palm.

"Mmm~"

Even emitting a suggestive moan.

Look—Zombie Selina turned to stare, eyes strange.

「.

Lin Saixier snapped back to awareness, stepping back quickly, her already reddish skin turning even redder.

Embarrassed and ashamed.

"No, Lord Luo De, it's not like that! I—I—"

"Sorry, I forgot tiefling horns are sensitive. I accidentally touched them. My apologies."

Luo De chose to take the blame.

After all, he was a man of dignity—he had to consider a girl's delicate feelings.

After he spoke, Lin Saixier's embarrassment eased slightly, but she dared not look at him again.

He was about to change the subject when 【Spider Sense】 suddenly warned him.

Luo De turned his head.

To the south lay an impenetrable haze of dull yellow.

But his sense clearly told him: at the edge of the farmland, three vicious men with wild animal hair had appeared.

(End of Chapter)