All of a sudden, I felt something piercing my chest. It wasn't stabbed but something must've stuck itself there to give me an intense internal pain. It felt uncomfortable at first. After all, it's been sometime ever since I felt a sting in my organs. Pain reduction was also one of the perks of being a cultivator so feeling pain would probably take me sometime getting used to it as I am now.
First, it was my heart. The feeling of being stabbed made my heart beat rapidly, making my blood rush in all corners of my body. I didn't know I lacked blood circulation so something was definitely wrong with my body. Then, my lungs came a close second. It was wringing itself dry as if my ribcage was closing in on them. It tightened so hard that I felt it extremely difficult to breathe. No matter how hard I tried to regulate my breathing, my lungs wouldn't listen to me as it tightened even more. The it would loosen, and tighten again.
After that, an intense throbbing headache shot through my head, making me almost keel over sideways. Once again, the pain was indescribable that even my pain tolerance couldn't handle it at all.
When I almost fell on my side, it cause Natalia to unhinge hear jaws and let go of me. She fell on the ground, butt-first, but she stood up in a split second without saying a single word. I found it weird since usually, Natalia would mutter 'Ouch!' every time she was hurt before, even if it wasn't anything major.
That's when I saw it. The sight of it almost made me faint that for a split second, I thought I was imagining everything. So I squinted my eyes and stared at it again...
... but it was all for naught. The sight was still the same— horrifying.
A big hole laid bare on Natalia's stomach, showing off her innards that dripped down from her lower ribcage. Since it was still fresh, blood continuously cascaded down her stomach as her intestines spilled all over, forming some sort of tentacles coming out of the hole.
That wasn't the worst part.
Her cheeks were torn as well, making her mouth literally extend from one end to the other, giving her a creepy and ghastly look as her mouth gaped open. Her eyes were also hanging from her eye sockets by a thin strand of flesh. It dangled as she walked nearer towards me.
Natalia, who was the epitome of vibrance, now resembled a corpse. Moreover, her once sweet scent was clouded with a foul-smelling one that wafted in the air. It was that drastic change in her that made me take a step back.
The realization slowly sank in as Natalia sluggishly strode towards me. For one, the rabies was real and it was some sort of virus that infected humans; Two, my disciples were telling the truth and I was the stupid one for not believing in them; and Three, I was bitten and it's just a matter of time before I turned into a rabid human just like them.
Another horde of those infected by the outbreak trudged towards me but I immediately blew them away. Without wasting a single second, I approached the only uninfected disciples in my Sect, hoping that they would forgive me if I bow.
After kneeling and prostrating myself (doing a dogeza) in front of them, I apologized. "My dear disciples, forgive me of my for my shortcomings and shortsightedness. I should've trusted you when you spoke those words." I began, hoping that they won't unleash their fury on me.
Because just as I expected, my remaining disciples could be counted on one hand.
"To atone for my mistakes, I will act on my utmost capability to aid you in your escape from here. I know I can't revert everything that's happened and that we have to abandon the Sect as well as our fellow cultivators, but I assure you that I will do everything I could possibly can to get you out of here alive."
Their reaction was one that I wasn't expecting at all.
Before I knew it, tears streamed down my disciples' cheeks as they sniffled. Snot came out of their nose and they were kneeling on the ground just as I was. I didn't want to get overly emotional so I turned around and wiped a stray tear from my face. Then, mustering my courage, I faced them once again.
Still, my disciples were willing to forgive me even after all that. Their loyalty is through the roof, I'd give them that.
"Let's get out of here," I said without further ado.
Another wave of those rabid humans slowly surrounded us but I wouldn't allow them to bite another disciple of mine. Not on my watch!
"Gust of Fei Lian!" I exclaimed as I condensed winds in my palms and shot them all around me, blowing almost all of the zombies in the vicinity.
After doing so, I motioned for my disciples to follow me as we tried getting out of the densely populated area of the city. My plan was to lead them somewhere out of the city so they will have better odds at survival. I'm about to turn into an infected so I was pushing them to hurry up so we could make it in time. The only thing I'm hoping for is that the Tang Sect would live on even after I succumbed to my death.
Well, it was a simple and yet complicated plan since everywhere I looked, I was greeted by an overwhelming amount of rabid humans on all sides. It wouldn't take long before they cut off all our escape routes so I decided to clear another path. This time, I activated my Qi Core and used the Fire Element. "Firestorm!" I commanded as a heavy barrage of flames erupted from my fingertips and burnt everything in its path.
"Hurry!" I screamed, looking back and seeing my disciples...
... or what's left of them, I guess.