Chapter 1368: Afflicted

Chapter 1368: Chapter 691: Afflicted

Wu Li suddenly felt an extreme cold and urgency, like someone was gripping his heart and squeezing it tightly, with every cell in his body screaming ‘run’! This kind of frantic alert from his sixth sense never went wrong. The last time he felt such deep horror was when the last strike of tribulation thunder of the Heavenly Tribulation was coming down. He thought he wouldn’t endure it, thought that thousands of years of cultivation were about to be destroyed, thought that his soul would scatter, he was that despondent and that powerless to resist!

But what he was facing now was merely a teenager who hadn’t even reached adulthood, so why was he experiencing the same feeling?

Before he had time to think further, his eyes caught a vague shadow flashing by.

It seemed to be in an instant, yet it also felt like a long time had passed before he heard a faint sound: “Zheng——”

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The jolting shook her awake from her slumber. Ning Xiaoxian hadn’t even opened her eyes yet sensed she seemed to be inside a moving carriage.

This carriage was not the one from Ronglin Villa dispatched to the lamp tower, the paint on the door was peeling, and there were two holes in the seat. The quilt covering her was just a regular cotton blanket, but it was spacious enough to accommodate seven or eight people sitting or lying down simultaneously.

She turned her head and saw a familiar figure curled up in the corner, and couldn’t help but freeze. This guy, once so high-spirited.

“Huangfuming!” What’s up with this guy?

He lightly moved upon hearing her voice but didn’t lift his head.

Ning Xiaoxian climbed down from the platform and moved towards him, supporting herself against the wall of the compartment: “What’s wrong with you?”

Huangfuming’s voice was tense: “Don’t come over! Your body is weak, you can’t afford to get infected.” Just as he finished speaking, he coughed twice.

Ning Xiaoxian stood still and said softly: “Lift your head.”

Huangfuming indeed slowly lifted his head. Only then did she see that the fellow’s face was flushed red, his breathing heavy and rapid, unable to even hold himself up against the carriage compartment. He was evidently extremely unwell, though his mind remained clear.

She pondered and asked: “Where are we?”

Huangfuming snorted: “That bastard Wu didn’t kill us but instead placed restrictions on us, wanting to send us to the front lines. This incompetent fool, knowing I’m the only son of the Mirror Sea King, doesn’t dare to kill me outright.”

Were they captured? Ning Xiaoxian listened attentively, but it seemed a barrier was set outside this carriage, rendering her unable to hear a sound, only feeling the carriage’s vibrations.

She bit her lip and asked: “What about your subordinates?”

He slowly closed his eyes: “A few are dead, and a few others are locked in other carriages, probably to be dealt with together upon arrival.”

Ning Xiaoxian sighed: “What’s wrong with you?” Judging by his symptoms, it seemed like a fever, but how could such a common illness manifest in Huangfuming?

Huangfuming shook his head: “Seems I’ve been ambushed. Just now, I felt as if my entire body was being devoured by insects, it was unbearable, and even the Elixir didn’t work. It must have been that little girl I killed in the lamp tower who played a trick. Haha, I’ve been catching geese all my life, only to be blinded by one in return!”

Ning Xiaoxian recalled the moment he brushed away the little girl’s hand to prevent the golden worm from biting her. It must have been then that the trouble arose. Although she didn’t like the wicked aura around Huangfuming, his sickness ultimately stemmed from saving her, and now they were in the same boat, she moved towards him, supporting herself against the carriage wall. Huangfuming hurriedly spoke up to stop her: “Don’t come over, it might be contagious! This illness is so peculiar that even I can’t withstand it, how could you possibly handle it?”

Ning Xiaoxian pursed her lips: “We’ll die sooner or later anyway, what’s the difference in timing?” She finally reached his side and squatted down. Huangfuming felt a small, soft, cool hand on his forehead, and the burning in his muddled mind slightly eased.

Yet Ning Xiaoxian frowned. The skin under her fingers was scorching, like it could fry an egg, he was also flushed, lips cracked, even his body was twitching slightly, evidently suffering from a high fever that wouldn’t subside. But this illness came so strangely, not to mention Huangfuming, even a regular cultivator, after achieving the Dao, could spend the rest of their life without catching a cold.

She fed him a few Elixirs and waited quietly for a while. As expected, his symptoms didn’t improve.

Then, it wasn’t a sickness, otherwise, the Hidden Stream’s medicine wouldn’t be ineffective?

Which hand did Huangfuming use to brush away the little girl’s roasted chestnuts? She pondered and then took his right hand, turning it over, and was immediately taken aback.

His originally long and slender palm was now crimson like dripping blood, the same red as human blood! If looked closer, tiny invincible holes covered the skin, beneath them apparently a stream was flowing, or something was gently wriggling, gnawing at his flesh.