Chapter 202 The Strange Gray Bird in the Dormitory
Magic surged, and tender buds broke through the soil. In the blink of an eye, one tree after another rose from the ground. With a rustling sound, the branches swayed and the leaves stretched out. The lush and huge canopy outside the pure white high wall seemed to be a green flame burning with rich vitality.
A large expanse of shade descended, and the flower fairies looked up somewhat bewildered. The rays of sunlight filtering through the leaves were no longer scorching and dazzling, but had become much cooler and gentler.
The silence, seemingly frozen into a solid, was broken. Soft, fragmented voices drifted out like a gentle breeze. The flower fairies, in the shade, lowered their voices and began to whisper among themselves:
"Is this a magic tree? Why is a magic tree growing outside the city?"
"What a huge house! Is that the Flower Castle?"
"But with so many flower fairies, how can three flower castles not be enough to house them all?"
"What? I asked the patrol team, and only that one is the Flower Fairy!"
"Yes, yes, I asked that too. All the other adults are elves!"
Under the subtle, almost imperceptible, admiring glances of the flower fairies, Shu Xin calmly put away her magic wand—she hadn't cast any spells at all; the wand she had raised was merely decorative in relation to the growth of the Tree of Life…
Looking at the three towering trees that seemed to reach the clouds, Shu Xin nodded in satisfaction. She had to admit that magic was indeed useful. These three large treehouses were built to the specifications of a school building. Small wooden beds were placed where small desks used to be, and the original large classrooms were transformed into spacious dormitories.
Although these hastily constructed dormitories have no furniture other than enough beds, they should still serve as a temporary resting place.
Shu Xin entrusted the task of organizing the disaster victims to rest in the large treehouse to the administrator, Duoduolin. She concealed her presence and, under the influence of shrinking and confusion magic, blended into the large group of disaster victims.
After randomly selecting a dozen or so flower fairies for careful questioning, Shu Xin discovered that none of their hometowns had experienced an outbreak of this contagious new fever. Even on their journey to the Land of Sin, they hadn't encountered any patients with the disease. Shu Xin confirmed this with the Tree of Life, which gave her a somewhat unexpected answer—
This new infectious fever has indeed only appeared among the disaster victims near the land of evil!
Shu Xin had initially guessed that the fever was caused by the drought, but if it was caused by high fever and lack of water, it would be impossible for the disease to only occur in one place, not to mention that the drought in the Land of Sin had been brought under control. Shu Xin had a conspiracy theory and wondered if the Land of Sin was being targeted.
If this was indeed a scheme specifically designed for the Land of Sin, it was incredibly malicious but also quite effective. After all, if it weren't for Kikik's timely discovery and the correct measures he took afterward, coupled with the fact that the Land of Sin not only had a group of disease-free elves and demons who could work, but also the Giant Bamboo Building as a dedicated quarantine area, this acutely contagious fever would probably have already spread throughout the Land of Sin!
As the disaster victims, guided by their elven servants, flew one after another into the large treehouse that served as temporary dormitories, Shu Xin noticed that the demons had also brought food and water. The unique fresh and sweet fragrance of moss water cakes filled the air.
Shu Xin withdrew her gaze and turned to look at the large group of patients who had fainted under the sunshade. Several elven servants were carefully feeding water to the unconscious flower fairies.
They called it feeding water, but in reality, it only moistened the lower lips at most. They hadn't yet developed a magic potion to treat the illness, and there had been previous incidents where attempts to transfer patients resulted in their bodies catching fire. The elves dared not touch these poor flower fairies suffering from strange fevers. They could only pinch the thin moss leaves with their fingertips, dip the tips of the leaves in water, and then drip the tiny droplets onto the patients' lips.
Just as she was about to fly over to check on the patient's condition, Shu Xin suddenly noticed that a number of gray birds had landed on the ground outside the sunshade. They seemed a little afraid of people and kept a distance from the sunshade, but none of them flew away. Instead, after the elven servants walked a little further away, they would tentatively hop forward, as if they couldn't wait to go under the sunshade to cool off.
This is so strange! Gray birds aren't that heat-resistant! With the air and ground temperature outside the white wall, eight out of ten gray birds would die from the heat, and the remaining two would be half-dead. They couldn't possibly be this lively!
Shu Xin almost immediately thought of the group of peculiar gray birds with super flying abilities that the merchant had brought with him before.
After Qiqi Ke arrived and reported the information about the fever, Shu Xin asked the Tree of Life to investigate more information about the disease. However, the Tree of Life has not provided Shu Xin with any further information so far, which means that the Tree of Life has not yet been able to find the source of the fever. Shu Xin was somewhat prepared for this; no matter how intelligent a smart search engine is, it is still just a "search engine" after all...
"How many of these fever patients are flower fairies who had contact with that flock of gray birds?" Shu Xin asked the Tree of Life.
The Tree of Life immediately provided the answer: 22.
Shu Xin continued to ask: "Of the remaining fever patients, how many are not related to these 22 flower fairies by blood?"
The Tree of Life's answer is 0.
A total of 116 patients were identified, 22 of whom had been in contact with the strange gray birds. The remaining 94 patients were clearly members of the families of the 22 flower fairies. Given that the fever broke out in family units, the answer was obvious—these strange gray birds were the vectors of the acute infectious fever!
Flying under the sunshade, Shu Xin carefully examined the condition of the patients. Every flower fairy lying unconscious on the ground had chaotic magic, rapid breathing, and their exposed skin was burning red. Apart from that, there were no other symptoms.
Shu Xin also went to check out the underground cave that the officials and servants had dug. The only flower fairy who had been moved there was sleeping soundly on a straw mat woven from moss leaves. Although he had lost an arm, he looked much better than the patients on the ground. Not only was his magic stable, but his breathing was also very gentle, and even his skin color was normal. If Shu Xin hadn't been able to sense that his body temperature was still a bit high, she would have thought that he was just an ordinary disabled flower fairy!
But dried bloodstains remained on the ground, and the ashes from the other person's burned arm were piled up next to the straw mat. The small clump of grayish-red powder felt to Shu Xin like magic powder.
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Author's Note: Oops! It's already 5 o'clock without me even realizing it! My typing speed is terrifying...
I took time off to take my cat to get spayed/neutered. Male kittens are usually spayed/neutered faster, but the one I bought for free had cryptorchidism, which made things a bit more complicated. However, the surgery was still completed smoothly!
I asked the doctor if I should get more supplements, and the doctor said: "Just feed him normally, no need for special supplements, just feed him normally!"
Okay, okay, I'll follow the doctor's orders. I'll get more cupping therapy after the stitches are removed in a week and I'm fully recovered...
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