Chapter 72: Worsening

Lord Han did not elaborate to Lin Ling about the Soul-Eating Pill being taken by Divine Doctor An as payment, or about Fang Yue's plan to count the surrendered Soul-Eating Pill as merit, to be settled together with tonight's accomplishments as a reward.

Listening to Lord Han's words, Lin Ling's emotions were complex, his mood rising and falling.

Finally, he took a deep breath, eyes red, and stared straight at Lord Han: "I understand. I will investigate this thoroughly and uncover the traitor within the village!"

"Mm. The only people I can truly trust are you captains and a few others like Xiao Ye. It's a pity Chen Captain is already…" He sighed.

Lord Han sighed again, thought for a moment, then added: "We cannot rule out the possibility that the anomaly has already possessed someone, disguising itself as a human and hiding in the village. So be extremely cautious, and do not alert anyone—don't scare the snake away. After this, tell Xiao Ye what happened and have him assist you. I will also select a few more trustworthy individuals to aid the two of you."

"Lord Han, rest assured—I know exactly what to do!"

Seeing Lin Ling accept the task, Lord Han no longer spoke of it, and instead asked: "By the way, how is Hua Wuye?"

Lin Ling froze, clearly surprised by the sudden shift in topic. He seemed to recall some image, his face slightly flushing, his voice dropping several tones.

"She… she's fine. After changing her medicine, she's no longer in life-threatening condition. With two or three months of rest, she should recover fully."

"That's good."

After all, she is a martial practitioner, and not some novice like Fang Yue who just entered the Martial Dao.

Hua Wuye's foundational training is solid, her physical condition robust, and her recovery far faster than an ordinary person's.

Even so, she still needs two or three months of rest to fully recover.

If Chen Mu were still alive, losing one captain would be problematic, but the village could still manage.

But now…

Lord Han thought for a moment and said: "I originally planned to have Xiao Ye take over the captain's duties later. But given the current situation, tomorrow you will train Xiao Ye and have him assume the captain's responsibilities. Once he's settled, you two can discuss among yourselves who takes the day shift and who takes the night shift. When Captain Hua recovers, we'll restore the three-captain rotation system… What do you think?"

Since Lord Han had spoken thus, Lin Ling naturally had no objections.

Afterward, Lord Han discussed several details with Lin Ling before turning back.

By then, the sky had brightened, warm morning sunlight pouring down, dispelling Cold Night and bringing light.

Lord Han calculated the time and felt Divine Doctor An had likely already cured Fang Yue.

When they returned to the room, both froze in place.

There, Fang Yue's right arm had lost a large chunk of flesh—the hollowed area was visibly rotting like a corpse, emitting a foul stench.

"Is this… worsening?"

Lord Han and Lin Ling, whose face still wore a look of relief, exchanged glances.

"Uh… Lord Han, don't misunderstand! I heard that when someone is cursed, this kind of symptom means improvement!"

Lord Han shook his head: "There's no such thing. This is clearly wound deterioration."

They entered the room. Divine Doctor An, frantic, was inserting acupuncture needles into Fang Yue's hollowed right arm.

To an outsider, it looked like a human model—thickly studded with countless long needles, making Niu Niu's heart race with fear.

"Divine Doctor An, weren't you just saying everything was under control? How did Ye Ge suddenly…"

"How should I know?!"

Divine Doctor An shouted, frustrated.

Everything had been going smoothly until about half an hour ago—around when the morning sun rose—when Fang Yue's curse suddenly and visibly spiraled out of control: rotting flesh popped out, and the wound's surroundings immediately decayed and stank like a corpse, almost as bad as Niu Niu.

How could this 【curse】 worsen so suddenly? Faster than a rainy day changing its mood!

Divine Doctor An immediately rushed to contain it, but the crisis came too fast—he fumbled for a long while, and only now had he stabilized the 【curse】's deterioration.

Fang Yue's face was grim.

Daylight had come. The Night God of War was offline.

The side effects of the 【Night Breathing】 suppressing the 【curse】 surged forth like a tide, terrifying him into thinking he was about to die.

Fortunately, Divine Doctor An's medical skill was truly powerful—he pierced Fang Yue's arm with countless needles and halted the rot's spread.

The square chunk of flesh that had fallen off was now soaked in strange crimson medicinal fluid, occasionally bubbling with blood, making it look deeply unsettling.

"Divine Doctor An? Xiao Ye is…"

Only now did Lord Han speak up.

"Something unexpected happened. You two leave—take Niu Niu with you. Don't let anyone disturb me. I must focus entirely on treating Yeye!"

Divine Doctor An said, his expression grave.

Lord Han and Lin Ling obeyed, took Niu Niu out, and the room was left with only Fang Yue and Divine Doctor An.

Honestly, when he was treated before, Fang Yue had been utterly relaxed—like getting a massage, feeling nothing at all.

Now, his right arm burned with sharp pain; the rotting flesh slowly peeled away, visibly disgusting.

"Divine Doctor An… my 【curse】 can still be cured, right?"

Fang Yue's confidence was wavering.

Divine Doctor An glared at Fang Yue.

"Shut up!"

"I say one number—I can cure it!"

"Two hours. Cooperate fully—I guarantee complete recovery!"

"Understood?"

Fang Yue nodded vigorously.

Then Divine Doctor An resumed needling, spreading from the right arm to half his torso, then having Fang Yue swallow multiple pills at timed intervals, occasionally ordering him to circulate his Internal Breath to coordinate with the doctor's own energy flowing through the wound.

It was tedious, uncomfortable, the pills tasted awful, and coordinating his Internal Breath with Divine Doctor An's energy triggered painful stimulation of acupoints—pure torment.

If before, treatment was like idling in a game and healing automatically, now he had to endure pain and painstakingly cooperate to advance the healing.

But fortunately, all the suffering was worth it.

When the sun reached its zenith, the hottest moment of the day, Divine Doctor An finally pulled the square chunk of flesh from the crimson medicinal fluid, pressed it back onto Fang Yue's body, and stitched it in place with special thread infused with internal energy.

Having completed this step, Divine Doctor An wiped the sweat from his brow and finally let out a long, relieved breath.

"Alright, the 【curse】 has already been expelled from your body. You've basically recovered your health."

"Also, the stitches on your arm will be absorbed into your flesh and blood on their own. Not only will they be fine, they'll actually have a slight effect of replenishing Qi and restoring blood."

"I really went to great expense this time. If Lord Han hadn't backed me up, don't even dream of getting this kind of treatment."

Listening to Divine Doctor An's rambling words, Fang Yue's face lit up with joy.

Finally done!

After being put through all this by Divine Doctor An, he felt like his arm had basically had a minor surgery — the kind without anesthesia, the kind that was pure torment.

Open the status panel.

(End of this chapter)