A single tear drop fell from Yang Changtian's misty eyes , landing on the lotus charm he was clenching hard. " I was right …. She's still alive " Yang Changtian finally managed to breathe out.
Mo Ling was still looking at Yang Changtian with a complicated look , but soon his own eyes got misty as he felt his eyes welling with tears . He quickly wiped his eyes , and fought back tears. Mo Ling stood up and walked over to Yang Changtian , he tapped Yang Changtian on the shoulder, " Brother Yang , we don't have time , we need to get back to camp before sun down."
Yang Changtian broke free from his trance , and looked at Mo Ling before nodding . He tightly clenched the lotus charm again before hanging it on his sword again. He then composed himself before instructing the others to move out and return to camp.
Maybe luck was finally on their side , as they did not encounter any more Crazies in the upper levels. They quickly mounted their horses before leading them back to camp.
Yang Changtian glanced back at the cave once more before rigging his horse to gallop faster .
After resting Liu Ying and the others parted ways to get some rest , they were going to regather in around an hour to discuss the issue about the medicine.
Liu Ying suddenly felt her hands and eyes heating up. Jumping up to a tree nearby she settled down on a spot that hid her well , as her eyes and hands were now emitting a blue light , her protection spell was activated , she quickly pulled out a needle. She used the needle to prick her finger , just enough to draw a few drops of blood. She immediately closed her eyes and began to mumble something ,and the blue light in her hands began to grow brighter .Using her other hand she conjured up a single blue lotus petal , she dropped her blood on the petal before opening her eyes and looking into the blood drop.
On the blood drop , the scene where Yang Changtian was overwhelmed by Crazies , but saved by her protection spell was shown to Liu Ying. Breathing a sigh of relief , she watched Yang Changtian get away safely.
Yang Changtian and the others couldn't sense her mana before , as she was masking it , but now that the protection barrier was activated , her disguise was now breaking . Liu Ying clenched her hand , crumpling the petal with her blood up , when she opened her hand , the blood and petal were reduced to some ash , she blew on the ash , scattering it with the wind.
Liu Ying had to put up her disguise again , but she had to send a decoy , to distract the others and renew her disguise before the others discover her mana. She pulled a small knife out , and she slashed her palm. She pulled out a blank paper , she drew a small figure on the paper , she then conjured another lotus petal up before infusing it with some of her mana . The petal landed on the talisman before being absorbed into it.
Liu Ying looked around before throwing the talisman . The wind carried the talisman far away.
The wind carried the talisman far away , it crossed the border into the northern desert.
Liu Ying quickly pulled out a small gold bottle from her robes , opening it , she took a pill out and swallowed it. This pill was called the pill of a thousand identities , it allows the users to change their identity and hide their original mana and power , disguising them completely .
Liu Ying then pulled out another smaller gold bottle , opening the cap , she applied some of the oil inside to her body , this was jasmine oil , it was to mask the subtle lotus and gardenia scent she began to emit when her disguise broke down.
Just as she finished , she spotted Li Cheng's tent opening.
Li Cheng was just lying on his bed , when he suddenly caught a faint whiff of lotus and gardenias , he immediately sat up straight , before sniffing again just to be sure he wasn't having an olfactory illusion. When he smelt the familiar scent again , he immediately rushed out of his tent. He looked around but he didn't see anyone , he tried sniffing again to locate the source of the scent ,but to his dismay, the scent was gone.
He heard a rustle , when he turned around he spotted Liu Ying coming out from the medic tent. Liu Ying saw him and walked over , " Mr. Li , we should probably discuss the medicine issue now . I just checked the patients , 2 of them are doing very well , similar to how they were in the morning. The infection stopped completely , it's almost like it's frozen in place because of the honey. But the other's condition is turning bad, they managed to break his fever , but the spread of the infection hasn't stopped yet."
Li Cheng felt a headache coming , nodding at Liu Ying , he called over a disciple to go get Jin Wei and Zhou Zilong. " Tell them to come meet us here."
Li Cheng led Liu Ying near the stream and he placed a rock for Liu Ying to sit on, before sitting on one himself. Jin Wei and Zhou Zilong soon joined them.'
Liu Ying explained the current situation to them.
" I think we should give the medicine to the person who has the greater chance of recovering ." Jin Wei spoke out after a while.
Li Cheng shook his head , " I think we need to treat the most severe case first, the other two are almost completely healed , we can even transport them back , but the other's infection is still spreading."
Zhou Zilong intervened , " I actually agree with Jin Wei on this Brother Li. We should dedicate the resources we have to the people who have the best chances of recovering ."
Li Cheng turned to look at Liu Ying.
While they were discussing , Liu Ying had zoned out staring into the distance. " What do you think of Ms.Liu ? " Li Cheng's voice interrupted Liu Ying's thoughts. She shook her head slightly before turning to face Li Cheng.
" I agree with Mr. Li , we need to focus on the person with the worst condition."
" But Senior , he obviously has a lesser chance of surviving than the other two , we're practically throwing away a chance to save the other two if we use all the medicine on him," Jin Wei began to protest. Zhou Zilong was nodding along with him.
Liu Ying stood up and walked up a small hill , she stared at a mountain that rises up to the clouds imposingly further away , the very mountain she saw the flash at yesterday.
Liu Ying turned her head slowly," No , let's give the medicine to the severe patient. As for the other two … I have a plan but I need to discuss it with Mr. Yang first." She turned back to look at the mountain again .
Li Cheng stood up , he was just about to go join Liu Ying , when he heard a disciple yelling out , " Senior Brother ! ".
The disciple ran up to them , " Senior brother , Senior Mo and the others are back."
Liu Ying heard this , and walked over , " Let's go."
Everyone nodded and followed her to the village center.
Yang Changtian and the others rode their horses right into the city center , they saw Liu Ying , Li Cheng and the others , walking over to them.
Yang Changtian dismounted his horse , he strode up to Liu Ying." Ms. Liu , I understand that you weren't sure about your assumption , but I would appreciate it if you informed me of such things early . We almost had multiple casualties today." he reprimanded Liu Ying , his voice stern.
" Ms. Liu , I was almost ripped to shreds because of the Crazies." Mo Ling chirped in.
Liu Ying stared at Yang Changtian for a whole , she then turned slightly to look at Mo Ling , " Did I not inform you to be careful ? " she asked him with an eyebrow raised.
" Ms. Liu , that doesn't matter . You should've still informed us beforehand." Zhang Anying began , but he was rendered speechless when Liu Ying's eye fell on him.
" I did inform you beforehand , and I had taken all the necessary precautions for you all too. Besides I'm sure that you all did something to provoke the Crazies . "
Yang Changtian stared at Liu Ying for a while. " Why do you think we provoked the Crazies ? "
Liu Ying turned back to look at him , " Well for starters , the zombie fungus becomes lethargic when it's close to the origin source , so they are in a relaxed state. Therefore there must be a catalyst that sets them off. And I'm assuming one of you was screaming." Liu Ying's eyes briefly flashed on Mo Ling and Zhang Anying. Mo Ling felt his face heating up , " It wasn't me , Zhang Anying started it." he protested.
Yang Changtian sighed, shaking his head. " Ms. Liu , next time , please do tell me beforehand if you suspect something."
Liu Ying stared at him for a moment before nodding , " I do apologise of the inconvenience I caused Mr. Yang." she apologised. " Speaking of that Mr. Yang , I have a proposal."
" A proposal ? " Yang Changtian asked incredulously.
Liu Ying nodded .
" About what ? "
Li Cheng stepped forward to explain , " It's about the medicine. We only found enough to either treat the 2 patients who are recovering well , or the patient whose state is severe."
Yang Changtian felt his head ache, nodding , " Li Cheng , Ms. Liu , let's go to my tent to discuss this."
Li Cheng and Liu Ying nodded before following him.
Once in his tent , Yang Changtian asked a disciple to get him a bowl of water to wash his face.
" Ms. Liu , what do you think ? " he finally asked Liu Ying.
" I think we should treat the patient whose condition is severe first."
" I think the same." Li Cheng interjected.
" But the other two have a greater chance of recovering completely ." Yang Changtian replied .
" They are doing very well , we can even transport them back to Jingxi without any issues." Li Cheng explained.
" That is if it comes to that, " Liu Ying interrupted.
Yang Changtian and Li Cheng both turned to look at Liu Ying.
" What do you mean Ms. Liu ?" Yang Changtian asked.
" I want to lure those people out." Liu Ying simply replied.
Yang Changtian understood Liu Ying immediately. " You want to seek those people out , they ought to have medicine with them."
Liu Ying nodded.
" What people ? " Li Cheng asked curiously.
" Ms. Liu thinks there are people hiding in the big mountain there." Yang Changtian replied.
" I don't think so , I'm sure, " Liu Ying answered confidently. With this she stood up before waking to the entrance of the tent , sticking her head out , she whispered something to a junior .
Moments later the junior returned with a set of scrolls . Liu Ying took them and returned.
She spread the scroll out , and pointed at a red dot , " This is where we are currently." She then moved her finger around , before settling on a brown triangle inside a circle marked on the map. " This is that mountain. I had my informants draw this map and it includes all geological features in this land. And this map shows a circle and a triangle together , meaning there is a cave system in that mountain. " she then pulled out a smaller scroll. It was a letter written by scouts of the northern army 5 years ago when they surveyed the area. " Here , they mentioned that the cave is an ideal place to hide , as it is easy to defend it. They also mention that the mountain is rich in edible and medicinal plants. See , it's the best place to hide from the Crazies , the higher altitude also means that the Corpse miasma can't reach it."
Li Cheng and Yang Changtian stared at the letter and map , before finally looking up at Liu Ying.
Liu Ying's conclusion was reasonable.
" Okay let's say you're right. But it also means it's going to be impossible for us to enter their territory , even if we send a scout , they'll either kill him , or they'll evade him easily. " Yang Changtian pointed out.
Liu Ying nodded , " Yes . That's why I said we should lure them out ."
" How ? " Li Cheng asked.
A small smirk began forming on Liu Ying's lips , " I have the perfect plan."