Chapter 326: The Poisonous Palm and the Arrival of the Plague Catastrophe

It was not until the next day that the reinforcements of the Shaman Tribe found this place.

A ground covered in shattered bone flutes and clay whistles made clear the reason for the severed communication.

The wounded lying on the ground were covered in the corpses of poisonous insects; clearly, they had not sat waiting for death, but had actively expelled the potent poison from their bodies to save themselves.

This action was very effective; at the very least, not a single one of the hunters died, and they held on until the rescue arrived.

"In which direction did the Poison Man go?"

Ge Erbudan spoke with a tone of hatred, pointing in one direction, "You must be careful; the Poison Man is treacherous and cunning. It is possible he is setting a false trail, leaving in front of us only to quietly head in another direction."

"Do not worry about that; we have brought a Gu Insect for tracking. Even if he goes to the heavens or dives into the earth, he cannot escape."

Speaking of Gu Insects, the Poison Man has Gu Insects too!

"What, Gu Insects? The Poison Man is a person from Zhong Yuan; he also has Gu Insects."

"Abominable! These martial artists are simply shameless, actually stealing the precious secret arts of us Shaman people and using them without a shred of shame."

The group of reinforcing hunters, upon learning of Zhou You's abilities, were both shocked and furious.

Suddenly, a voice rang out, "The Poison Man overturned 6 of you and abducted 1 Shaman Beast, yet was still able to retreat unscathed."

"Is he too powerful, or are you all trash?"

The noisy scene instantly became quiet.

Blood rushed to Ge Erbudan's face, and just as he was about to retort, he saw who had arrived and instantly wilted, "Brother!"

The person who arrived was also a hunter, riding a Shaman Beast with a wolf's body and a crocodile's head; walking stiffly beside him was a Fist Intent Puppet.

This Shaman was none other than an elite hunter at the level of an Intermediate Martial Master, Ge Erbudan's older brother, Ge Er Bu Han.

Ge Er Bu Han glanced coldly at his younger brother, "Trash!"

Ge Erbudan dared not retort; seeing his older brother was like a mouse seeing a cat; he did not even dare to squeak.

"Brother, we must kill the Poison Man to uphold the dignity of our Shaman Tribe."

Ge Er Bu Han raised his hand, "You lot stop going for now. With the Poison Man's methods, you are even worse than this trash; going over is just throwing your lives away. Let me go and meet the Poison Man."

"Within 3 days, I will return in triumph with the Shaman Beast and the corpse of the Poison Man."

"Before then, take the wounded back to the tribe and ask the elders to use the Insect Array to extract the potent poison and treat them."

Having finished speaking, Ge Er Bu Han nodded toward the Fist Intent Puppet, "Please!"

Qi and blood churned in the eyes of the Fist Intent Puppet, condensing into two extremely scorching red dots, and with a sudden burst, it pulled a trail of dust and vanished from where it stood.

The Shaman Beast beneath Ge Er Bu Han roared twice, looking upward, and gave chase.

"When will I be able to be like Brother!"

Ge Erbudan watched his older brother's retreating back, his nose felt hot, and a torrent of nosebleed gushed out, unable to be stopped no matter what.

Several wounded came from different tribes and were sent home according to their affiliation; as for those sacrificed poisonous insects, according to custom, they also had to be sent to the tribe's altar for cultivating poisonous insects, the 'Belly Burial', to become food for newborn poisonous insects.

Very quickly, with the help of the Shaman people, the wounded all returned to their tribes and received excellent care.

"The Poison Man's handiwork?"

An elder, so aged that their gender was indistinguishable, held a colorful spider on their head while examining Ge Erbudan's blood.

A small half-bowl of blood sat there, with several strange-looking poisonous insect corpses floating in it.

Ge Erbudan nodded, "That's right. His toxicity is weaker this time; I wonder what happened?"

"The Zhong Yuan poison arts originate from our Shaman Tribe's 'Transformation of Ten Thousand Wonders Book'. The principles are the same; poison does not come from nothing and needs to be replenished at all times."

The elder analyzed, "Our tribe has altars and Insect Arrays to raise poisonous insects and Gu Insects. He is an outsider being hunted by elites from all sides; even if he has potent poison, it has been consumed almost entirely."

"After a few more days, he will be like a poisonous bee that has had its tail stinger pulled out, unable to cause disaster ever again."

"Today I am bleeding you to remove the poison; tomorrow I will use the Heart Reflecting Gu to open your abdomen and chest, cutting away the necrotic internal organs. As for the remaining skin, flesh, and bone marrow, your body as a Martial Master will be enough to heal itself."

The elder sighed, "The poisonous insects on your body are all dead; this battle must have been fierce." On the altar not far away, Shaman people were pouring out poisonous insect corpses, raining down piles of shattered insect eggs everywhere.

This was a breeding ground for hatching larvae, filled with chopped-up animal limbs, and even a few remaining skulls.

Countless poisonous insects squirmed over the food, devouring it in the blink of an eye, a sight that made one's scalp tingle.

The poisonous insect corpses falling from the sky were also excellent food, capable of replenishing shells and toxins, and were one of the larvae's favorite delicacies.

*Rustle, rustle, rustle*—the sound was just like silkworms gnawing on mulberry leaves.

Within a few breaths, the brought-back poisonous insect corpses were completely divided up.

"I heard the Poison Man's potent poison is infectious; why pour it into the altar without distinguishing it?"

"Sigh, there is already a conclusion regarding that last incident. It was the filth of Zhong Yuan dust; what was transmitted was not the toxicity, but the filthy disease-Qi carried on the Poison Man himself, which the elders had long since purged clean."

The sound of conversation echoed above the altar...

Amidst the tide-like poisonous insects, a simple-looking larva chewed on a poisonous insect carcass, a flash of gray Qi flickering in its mung-bean-sized eyes.

The gray Qi flashed and vanished, yet it did not dissipate into nothingness.

Successively, the surrounding poisonous insects also occasionally flashed with gray Qi, for just a fleeting moment, not lasting long.

As time passed, Ge Erbudan gradually recovered; he could go out and walk, restoring his bodily functions.

For some reason, he always felt the tribe's sky was gray and murky, as if covered by a layer of gray gauze, yet it did not look like an overcast day.

Walking through the tribe, the faces of the Shaman people he saw all seemed to be shrouded in gray Qi.

The Shaman Beasts crouching beside stones, and the poisonous insects drilling in and out of bone piles, were also leaning toward a grayish color.

Something is wrong, this is absolutely wrong!

"Where is the elder? I need to find him."

When Ge Erbudan saw the elder again, he finally knew what was wrong.

Beside the elder were already hundreds of Shaman people who had died from severe illness; they were all those with weaker constitutions or existing ailments.

"The infectivity is extremely strong; although it is not fierce, it targets the old, the weak, the women, and the children."

The elder had become crazed and demented, dissecting one corpse after another, "That's it, the Poison Man did it on purpose. He traded toxicity for extreme infectivity, creating this sweeping Plague."

"Ge Erbudan, the deadly poison you brought back has spread and turned into a Plague."

Within the Shaman Tribe, although there are many experts, such as Rangers and Great Shamans, the majority are Shaman-folk who are like Commoners.

Facing this Plague, these Shaman-folk have absolutely no power to resist.

The only way is for Rangers like Ge Erbudan to use their Qi and blood to disperse the sickness, saving the tribespeople one by one.

Although this method is slow, it can save lives.

But because of this, the experts of the Shaman Tribe cannot spare themselves, and they can only choose to save people rather than hunt down the poison-user.

"Vicious, too vicious."

Ge Erbudan wished he could crush his teeth; he looked toward the direction of several other tribes, knowing the same scene must be playing out there as well.

It is not just him; other Rangers who returned to their tribes injured must have also brought back the Plague.

What is even more desperate is that the Rangers who subsequently went to rescue them are greater in number and spread across a wider range of tribes.

A catastrophe is about to arrive.

(End of chapter)