Jiang Man's condition startled me, especially considering the care she had given me just a few hours earlier, which made me feel incredibly indebted to her.
Since we've agreed to depend on each other for survival, I can't just stand by and watch her die here.
Ignoring the risk of being discovered by the mercenaries, I quickly lit a small campfire.
In the firelight, Jiang Man's lips were bluish-purple, and her skin was covered with rashes.
The Judge's Records mention sixty-three kinds of strange poisons in the Yellow Springs, with corpse poison being the most wicked.
This substance itself is not poisonous; it's just the grease left after a corpse has melted, which at most might contain some infectious diseases.
The reason this poison is so difficult to cure is that the corpse oil from different regions attracts different poisonous insects, and to this day there is no systematic treatment plan in the tomb raiding world.
Seeing that Jiang Man had lost consciousness, I was so anxious that I was sweating profusely. I struggled to carry her on my back, but I failed several times.
Left with no other choice, I untied the two detachable sleeves of the rat-themed garment, wrapped a few branches into the shape of a sled, and dragged Jiang Man away into the distance.
To avoid the security guards' search, we left the ancient tree in the mass grave as soon as possible, and now what I have to do is go back.
The Judge's Record states that wherever there is corpse poison, there will be an antidote within a hundred feet.
The reason is simple: under the corrosive effects of the corpse poison, even pine trees as thick as two people can hug will rot. Therefore, the animals or plants that can survive in this area must have a way to resist the poison, which is the antidote I am looking for.
A cold wind rustled through the woods, and an owl perched on a branch let out an old man's laugh. The shadows of the trees swayed and groaned in the moonlight, each frame sending chills down one's spine.
Jiang Man lay on the sled, her eyes darting around as she looked at her surroundings. She asked me in a low voice, "Duan Tao...where are we going?"
I turned my head, opened my mouth but couldn't say a word, and just turned back to continue pulling the sled forward.
My body had reached its limit, and every step I took felt incredibly difficult. At the same time, I kept telling myself that if I took just one more step, I would reach the finish line.
Jiang Man seemed to sense my predicament and slowly grasped the hand I was using to pull the rope: "...Thank you."
The warmth of her palm became my only source of comfort in this cold night.
At this moment, I felt a little self-deprecating.
Before arriving in the Far East, I was full of confidence and wanted to compete with the other two schools, but I never expected that just one Song Laosan would make me so embarrassed.
And then there's Duan Jinyan, whom I've been searching for so desperately. That beast actually abandoned me, his own flesh and blood, leaving me to fend for myself in this primeval jungle.
Lost in thought about these things the whole way, I finally forced myself to reach the area where the mass grave was located.
By this time, the sky was gradually clearing up, and the view was a blur. Perhaps it was because of my weak body, but I kept seeing figures moving in the surrounding woods. They were dressed in ancient clothes and mechanically carrying stones toward the mountaintop.
Silently reciting the Rebirth Mantra, I finally stopped beneath that ancient tree.
I hadn't paid much attention when I was here before, but now that I've observed it, I've noticed that there are almost no plants growing in this area. The ground is covered with leaves blown in by the wind and a layer of pine needles fallen from the ancient trees.
Pine trees are flammable, so I picked up a dry branch, lit it with pine needles, and used it as a torch to search for flammable materials on the ground.
Although the Judge's Record states that there is an antidote for the corpse poison within a hundred zhang, a distance of one hundred zhang is a circle with a diameter of three hundred meters, covering an area of more than seventy thousand square meters.
Most importantly, I don't know what the antidote for Jiangman's corpse poison is, and the concept of it is very vague. It could be insects or animals in the vicinity, or it could be plants, or even soil or fungi.
Until the branch in my hand burned out, I had only cleared a space of a few square meters. There was nothing under the fallen leaves but yellow soil.
"Gurgle!"
The intense physical activity made my stomach rumble, and the swelling in my respiratory tract made me suffer from the pain of suffocation.
Just as I was about to light the second branch, I suddenly noticed a bunch of mushrooms a few meters away in the light of the sparks.
It's less of a pile and more of a patch.
I have never seen this kind of mushroom before. It looks a lot like enoki mushroom, but it is completely black with a bright red dot on its cap.
If I hadn't been lying on the ground, I would never have discovered this cluster of mushrooms, about the size of bean sprouts, hidden among the pine needles.
I carefully parted the needles, held a few mushrooms in my hand, and crawled back to Jiang Man's side.
Her condition was worse than before; her cheeks were swollen and her eyes looked like they had been stung by bees.
While I was picking mushrooms, I was still hesitant about whether they would cause any side effects for Jiang Man, but seeing that she had already turned into this state, I immediately hardened my heart and stuffed the mushrooms into her mouth.
"It's so bitter..."
With her last ounce of consciousness, Jiang Man tried to spit out the mushroom: "What did you feed me?"
"...Eat it!"
After hesitating for a long time, I finally managed to squeeze out these two words.
Given Jiang Man's current condition, even if she doesn't eat these mushrooms, she probably won't last long.
All I could do was make this life-or-death decision for her.
After listening to me, Jiang Man began to chew slowly, and then swallowed the mushroom with difficulty.
I stuffed all ten or so mushrooms into Jiang Man's mouth, and watched the black liquid overflowing from the corner of her mouth, my mind in turmoil.
Judging from her condition, even if she can be detoxified, she probably won't recover to normal for a while, while my health is getting worse and worse.
Given our physical condition, let alone leaving this place, we probably wouldn't even be able to survive.
"brush!"
Just then, a flashlight beam suddenly appeared from the bushes in the distance, accompanied by the barking of hunting dogs.
I quickly extinguished the torch and, with all my might, pushed Jiang Man into the bushes to the side.
The people who came were still looking for our mercenaries; this group consisted of six people.
When I first met them, these people didn't have dogs with them, which means they've received new reinforcements.
Hearing the shouts and barking of dogs ahead, I initially drew my pistol and aimed it at the crowd, but after a moment's hesitation, I pointed the gun at the sky instead.
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out in the woods, and the hunting dogs in the distance barked wildly. Several mercenaries scattered and lay down on the ground.
By firing that shot, I was telling them my location.
After all that commotion, I no longer have the energy to play this cat-and-mouse game with them.
If they want to survive, the only option left is to let themselves be captured. Although they don't know what they will face if they fall into their hands, at least they can survive.
Since Duan Jinyan has already abandoned me, then I might as well give this jade seal to Wei Shengnan.
Soon, a beam of flashlight beam was pointed in my direction, followed by a shout in Russian.
I couldn't understand what they were saying, but I didn't fire either, waiting for them to surround me.
A few seconds later, the mercenaries in the distance regrouped and advanced towards this location.
"Bang bang bang!"
Just then, a gunshot rang out behind me, and a security guard in the distance fell to the ground.
Immediately, a smoke grenade flew into the open space between the two sides, and the thick smoke completely separated us.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com