Ride the gryphon summoned by the Feather Talisman and fly back to Quinte Island.
In real time, summer has passed and autumn has come, only two months have passed.
Converted into time in the secret realm, it was a full year.
Today, Allen is sixteen years old.
A few days after arriving home, I received a letter from Felin and learned that the college had sent out an investigation team for the second time.
This time, as expected, Vice Dean Russell personally led the team.
Felin and his cousin Julie were exploring with the team for the second time.
The two siblings, together with Tao Na, served as guides.
After a hard fight, they finally wrested control of the secret realm from the cult.
Feilin, Julie and Tao Na made meritorious deeds and were allowed to practice in the mushroom garden for six years.
At the end of the letter, Felin couldn't help but feel sorry for Allen:
"If you didn't leave at the beginning, you would still have been able to get a place for cultivation."
The joys and sorrows in the world are not the same.
When he received Feiling's letter, Allen was attending the funeral in the cemetery.
The funeral of an old classmate.
The portrait of the girl, with a pursed mouth and a smile, is beautiful and tranquil.
Just two days before Allen returned to his hometown, squad leader Beatrice died of the plague.
An innocent and kind-hearted girl was only fifteen years old when her life was taken away by a ruthless disease.
It only took three days from onset of illness to death.
Amid the suppressed sobs of the deceased's parents, the burial ceremony went on in an orderly manner.
When it was Allen's turn, he came forward and laid flowers.
A bouquet of white chrysanthemums is placed on the coffin for burial.
Allen put down the bouquet, but couldn't let go of the regret in his heart.
If he had come back a few days earlier, even just two days, he would have had a chance to cure Beatrice.
However, fate is unpredictable, life and death, there is no "what if".
…
After the funeral, Allen left the cemetery.
Put on a beak mask and dress up like a plague doctor.
Aunt Sola is the president of the Physicians Guild of Quinte.
Under her introduction, Allen also joined the Doctors Guild.
Allen is not afraid of the plague, but he still wears a mask so that no one will know that he is immune to the plague.
…
August 15th.
The full moon is in the sky.
The streets are extremely bright at night.
A group of men in black robes wearing beak masks patrolled the streets.
The man has a slingshot in his hand and his pocket is filled with stone bullets as big as his thumb.
They are not doctors, but volunteers from the town.
The town council accepted Ms. Sola's suggestion.
Call on the townspeople to form a "rat extermination team" and use their spare time at night to search and kill the rats that spread the plague.
A group of cats lead the way.
The rat-catching team followed the cat and searched everywhere.
If you find a mouse, shoot it with a slingshot!
The rat carcasses were piled up, poured with lamp oil, and set on fire.
As Allen walked along the street, he saw many piles of corpses burned together.
The air was filled with a pungent smell of paste.
However, in the gutter on the roadside, rats can still be seen from time to time, scurrying around unscrupulously.
In this war between humans and mice, humans are on the lonely side.
Using this inefficient method to eradicate rats has almost no hope of defeating the plague.
Allen considered using poison to treat the rats.
But he knows one thing very well: the poison that can stably poison rats can definitely poison cats, dogs and domestic animals in the town, as well as homeless people and scavenging children.
What's more, Allen has already had a premonition...
This plague storm that suddenly swept across the entire Quinte Island was probably not a pure natural disaster, but also had the shadow of a cult behind it.
Turning the corner, there is a mansion on the roadside.
In the high-walled inner courtyard, a woman's cry could be faintly heard.
The mayor is dead, and the orphans and widowers are keeping vigil at the funeral.
Allen stopped and sighed.
The mayor and Beatrice fell ill on the same day and died on the same day.
In the face of the plague, everyone is equal.
On the way home, Alan stopped by Robin's house.
Give to Robin's mother to cure the plague.
A drop of Allen's blood can cure the plague.
However, if you want to cure tens of thousands of sick people, you may have to drain all the blood.
This kind of therapy is too harmful to him and cannot solve the fundamental problem.
For example, at Hunter's house, as soon as Allen entered the door, he detected a strong bacterial reaction.
Father and son Hunter and Robin, who are currently relatively healthy, will be infected with the plague soon after being exposed to this harmful environment for a long time.
Most families in the town, especially middle- and lower-class families with poor sanitary conditions, have such hidden dangers.
It's just a fluke that I haven't gotten sick yet.
If the toxic environment is not thoroughly purified, sooner or later there will be another round of infection.
Taking the opportunity to treat Robin's mother, Allen quietly popped out the bone spur in the palm of his left hand.
Use the newly evolved "absorbing" function of the venom gland to absorb free plague germs in the air.
In the blink of an eye, the Hunter home became a sterile space.
However, before long, germs from outside will penetrate and pollute the indoor air.
Rats run around with diseases, and the germs cannot be eradicated.
If this situation is not solved, disinfection will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause.
In fact, Hunter and Robin, father and son, knew well that as long as they stayed in the town, they would get sick sooner or later.
"Alan, when my mother gets better, our family plans to move to the mountains."
Robin confided to his friends worriedly.
"The air in the mountains is good and there are few germs."
"We, a family of three, plan to hide in the mountains until this wave of the epidemic is over and then come back."
"What do you think of this idea?"
Allen was silent.
Robin's family plans to take refuge in the mountains, which cannot be said to be a bad idea.
However, what if there are mice carrying germs in the deep mountains, or if we encounter ferocious beasts in the middle of winter when the mountains are covered with heavy snow...
What are the three advantages and two disadvantages, and how should I seek help from the outside world?
While I was thinking, there was a sudden exclamation from the street outside the door!
Immediately afterwards, Allen heard the familiar squeaking scream again.
It sounds like a mouse barking ten times louder!
Um?!
Allen's face changed slightly, turned around and rushed out the door.
"Alan—wait a minute!"
Robin quickly chased after him.
Hunter also realized that the situation was not good, and quickly grabbed his bow and sword, followed Allen and his son, and rushed out the door.
Under the full moon, the stone streets glowed with a pale glow.
In the alley, there was the sound of messy footsteps.
Four members of the rat-catching team ran out in a panic.
The mask on his face had slipped off, revealing a frightened pale face.
Behind them, a group of giant rats as big as wolves were chasing them.
The rat's whiskers are trembling, its eyes are red, and it makes strange noises.
The stones fired from the slingshot hit the giant rat without any pain or itching.
The rat-catching team members, after all, are just ordinary people, and they don't dare to go forward and fight with these monsters.
Besides running away quickly, what else can I do?
On the other hand, a civet cat appears to be more courageous.
He stood alone at the entrance of the alley, hunched over and roaring at the giant rat.
Just like a raging little tiger!
Unfortunately, cats are not tigers after all.
Giant rats are not just big in size.
As his body mutated, his temperament also became cruel and bloodthirsty.
Facing the cat, hesitating for just two seconds, he overcame the fear stemming from his racial nature.
He opened his big, foul-smelling mouth, revealing two pairs of big yellow teeth, and pounced on the cat crazily!
I want to bite this arrogant little thing to death!
Whoosh!
The figure flashed!
A tall and strong young man stood in front of the giant rat.
boom!
A "finger flick" shot, knocking the giant rat away.
His head exploded on the spot!
Allen picked up the frightened cat and stroked the cat's head.
Soon, the cat calmed down in his arms and purred in its throat.
Squeak!
Squeak!
Two giant rats rushed out of the alley side by side, attacking Allen from both sides.
Allen hugged the cat and kicked it with his feet.
With two bangs, the two giant rats flew back.
The bones all over the body were broken, the skin was punctured, and blood dripped.
Like two fresh hamburger embryos, flat on the wall.
Accompanied by rapid footsteps.
Hunter and Robin rushed to the scene.
The father and son drew their bows and fired arrows to help Allen kill the giant rat.
Immediately afterwards, the town's security team also arrived.
Allen did not take any further action, holding the cat in his arms and watching others hunt the giant rat.
In less than half an hour, the rats in the dark alley were taken over.
The battle is over, but everyone can't relax.
"Strange, where did these big rats come from?"
"This is the first time such a strange thing has happened in our town!"
"Could it be that the plague caused ordinary rats to mutate into giant rats?"
"Who knows! When will this unlucky year come to an end?!"
Allen did not participate in the discussion, but he knew clearly...
Ordinary rats carrying the plague can occur naturally, but giant rats are not creations of nature!
There are various signs that the plague warlock from the Beast Worship Cult has arrived in the town.
Plague warlocks are mostly ratmen.
These rats not only spread the plague, but also transmitted the more terrifying lycanthropy.
What's even more troublesome is...
In Allen's hand, there is also a statue of the Plague God that the Plague Warlocks are looking for.
Now that the tentacles of the Beast Worship Cult have reached Quinte Island, Allen has to worry that his secret possession of the Plague God Statue may have been exposed.
