The wicked female is extremely fierce, but she's pampered by her seven beast husbands.

Chapter 157 The Fox is Infected with the Plague
"so what?"

"So you'd better be careful," Chongzhen said with a solemn expression.

After hearing his words, Ling Chengen was speechless for a few seconds, then paused before saying, "Then I'll thank you?"

Wu Zhuo scratched his messy short hair, pointed to the tip of his nose, and asked, "Why didn't you remind me?"

Chongzhen glanced at Wuzhuo for a few seconds, then said rather heartlessly, "I forgot."

Since merging with Shilin, Yaoluo has rarely come here to hunt. In addition, his mind was entirely on Ling Chengen before, so he didn't think to remind Wuzhuo of such a small danger.

However, Chongzhen said very seriously, "You should be able to avoid a trap of this level. Otherwise, you will definitely have a hard time moving around in the Mulan Plain, or you will definitely suffer a great loss."

They might even lose their lives.

"There are some particularly vicious traps here. They will coat weapons with plant venom or toxins extracted from animal venom glands. Sometimes, even a minor injury can lead to a quick death if the toxins are ignored."

"Alright, now that we have a basic understanding, let's move on."

Ling Chengen decided to keep looking ahead; if he could encounter any rat-clan beastmen, that would be even better.

She was determined to conquer the Mulan Plain.

This is because Shilin is currently the most likely candidate to acquire one of the three city-building sites provided by the system.

Unfortunately, just like every time she came to the Mulan Plain before, she could sense that there were rat-clan beastmen active nearby, but when she chased after them, they had already escaped through the network of underground passages and disappeared without a trace.

However, while surveying the land, Ling Chengen noticed a detail.

This plain was flooded just last month.

The weather has only cleared up for two days now, and the soil on the plain is still quite soft. Many underground passages have either been flooded or have been washed away and collapsed. The rat-orcs have suffered huge losses during the rainy season.

The three stopped in front of a large pit, looking at the corpse inside, and couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

This large pit must have been a huge underground cave before, but it collapsed after the rainy season and became completely unusable. Now it is filled with corpses that have begun to rot. These small orcs must have drowned during the rainy season. Their bodies were soaked in rainwater and then exposed to the sun for two days, emitting a terrible stench.

There were also many scavenging rodents in the pit...

Ling Chengen covered his mouth and nose with a wet cotton cloth, and also gave handkerchiefs to Chongzhen and Wuzhuo, saying with a serious expression, "Leave here as soon as possible."

Chongzhen had more experience than Wuzhuo and was also aware of the seriousness of the problem.

Without saying a word, Wu Zhuo transformed into a giant eagle and carried the two of them into the sky.

The three of them did not return directly to Shilin, but stayed outside for two days.

Just as their family was about to send people out to search for them because they hadn't returned, Yuheng suddenly returned from the Netherworld, learned of the situation, and tried to contact her using the leaf he had given her as a messenger.

Ling Chengen had long forgotten about that leaf, but because she carried food and water in her space, she would occasionally take things out of it. As a result, she accidentally discovered that the leaf in the corner, which was about to gather dust, was flashing with light.

She had just grasped the leaf in her hand when she heard Yuheng's slightly cold voice: "Where are you?"

"A cave."

"What happened?" Yuheng keenly sensed the unusual situation.

“Chongzhen, Wuzhuo, and I cannot return to Shilin for the time being.” Ling Chengen explained the situation in Mulan Plain in detail, his voice remaining calm. “There may be an epidemic soon, so you should inform the tribespeople to avoid Mulan Plain.”

"If there are any fire-type orcs that can fly, send them to the Mulan Plains to burn all those sun-baked corpses. Do not let them land on the Mulan Plains. Once they are burned, return immediately."

Yuheng suddenly became very irritable, and an inexplicable anger surged in his chest: "You were infected? Why didn't you tell me? I'm a witch doctor."

"I'm not sure if I'm infected, so I can't go back for the time being."

Ling Chengen was very clear-headed: "Since I was able to contact you, I'll trouble you to do something for me."

Yu Heng breathed a sigh of relief and slowly loosened his clenched left hand: "Go ahead."

"Please help me find out the situation after the rainy season in the Mulan Plain over the past ten years, as detailed as possible, especially regarding epidemics."

Yu Heng was unfamiliar with the Mulan Plain, but Ling Xiao knew some of it. He sat opposite Yu Heng and asked, "Can I talk to En En?"

“Okay.” Yu Heng simply raised his hand, and Jiao Jiao extended a glowing leaf, handing it to Ling Xiao. “Just say it to that red leaf.”

Ling Xiao was somewhat surprised by his ability, but this was not the time to investigate. He lowered his eyes and said to his eldest daughter, "Mmm."

"Father, don't worry about me, I'm fine."

Ling Xiao's heart softened suddenly, and he felt a pang of sadness: "Yes, you did the right thing."

Upon realizing she might contract the disease, she didn't return to the tribe but chose to isolate herself for the sake of the entire tribe. Ling Xiao understood her thoughts better than anyone else, because she was the young chieftain of Shilin.

“Every year after the rainy season, a certain scale of epidemic will break out in the Mulan Plain, so we in the Stone Forest almost never go there to hunt. The rat-beastmen are too crude in their methods of dealing with the corpses of those who drowned in the flood. They refuse to cremate the corpses of their people, so the rainy season and the dry season are the two most dangerous and chaotic seasons in the Mulan Plain.”

"However, the rat-orcs are resistant to most plagues, which means... they may be infected but will not show any symptoms, or they may simply get sick and not die. Therefore, plagues that break out in the Mulan Plains are generally more dangerous to the surrounding tribes."

"A large number of cat tribes are scattered around the Mulan Plain. They hunt a lot of animals that wander out of the Mulan Plain, so they have curbed the spread of the epidemic to a certain extent. The cat tribe beastmen are also resistant to most diseases caused by rodents, and so are we tiger tribes. So you don't need to worry too much. If this epidemic is not serious, the chances of you getting sick are not high."

"But you'd better pay close attention to the situation of Chongzhen and Wuzhuo."

"The epidemic that spread from the Mulan Plain has a variety of symptoms. The most common situation is that the patient is usually fine in the early stage, but suddenly falls ill at a certain stage. Chills, high fever, headache and vomiting blood are all very common symptoms."

“You’re not a witch doctor. If they really have this condition, don’t touch them.”

Ling Chengen frowned and said, "Are we just going to let people wait to die?"

Ling Xiao remained silent for a long time before saying, "It's very difficult to completely cure the epidemic. Even our tribe's shaman is helpless."

Ling Chengen knew very well that the epidemic was caused by a virus. The wood-type healing technique could, to some extent, allow the body to unleash a powerful recovery ability in a short period of time, but whether it could completely expel the virus... was really uncertain.

In theory, it is indeed feasible.

But in reality... she wasn't confident at all, which is why she wanted to get as much information about the epidemic as possible from the outside world.

She didn't continue that topic, but instead turned to ask another question: "What is the longest incubation period for a typical epidemic?"

"Seven days." Ling Xiao said confidently, relying on his years of experience. "If the three of you still have no symptoms after seven days, you can come back." After the two finished talking, Yu Heng said, "Tell me your location, I'll come find you."

Ling Xiao looked up at the young man in front of him, but did not stop him.

If it were someone else, he would stop them.

But Yuheng... might have a solution for this highly contagious and virulent epidemic.

……

Chongzhen was really unlucky; on the night of the fifth day, he suddenly fell ill with a high fever.

Yuheng arrived on the afternoon of the sixth day. In the days that followed, he went to find some rare medicinal herbs.

Ling Chengen's condition was probably the best among the three. Wu Zhuo looked somewhat listless because of his fear, but he did not show any symptoms of the disease.

Ling Chengen originally wanted the system to check if the three of them were infected, but the system said that it did not have this function. It was just an intelligent system, not a medical system. So even if it was scolded by Ling Chengen, it could only quietly huddle in a corner and shut itself off, not daring to talk back to the big devil at this time.

Ling Chengen separated Wu Zhuo and Chong Zhen, moving Wu Zhuo to the cave next door while Ling Chengen stayed behind to take care of Chong Zhen.

When the fever was high, my consciousness was quite severe.

When Ling Chengen examined him, he found a small red dot on his ankle and some shallow scratches.

He must have been bitten by insects while he was near the burial pit. He probably only felt a little itchy at the time, so he scratched it, leaving the wound.

But he probably didn't pay attention to these small details and didn't expect to get infected.

Ling Chengen asked Wu Zhuo to check his body for any wounds, including mosquito bites...

After checking herself with teary eyes, Wu Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Sister En, I don't have it!"

"Why are you crying? You're a complete idiot."

Ling Chengen was a little disappointed in him. This brat was only a year younger than her, yet he still cried his eyes out whenever he was scared.

When Yuheng arrived at the cave entrance with the medicinal herbs, Ling Chengen was already exhausted. Upon seeing Yuheng, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"How is Chongzhen doing?"

"He has recurring high fever. He was still conscious at first, but now he can't be woken up."

Ling Chengen tried various methods to lower his fever, but the effect was very limited. His fever would only drop slightly for a short time, but it would soon return.

Yuheng's healing spell had very limited effect.

Chongzhen still had a fever and was not yet fully conscious. Her face was flushed red, and her lips were severely dehydrated.

"Take the pills I made for you, then you stay here and watch over him while I go and brew the medicine."

Yuheng was well-prepared, bringing enough medicinal herbs for three people from the start, and also bringing along all the top-quality herbs he could find.

He didn't want to become a widower right after finding a partner.

Ling Chengen had no doubt about his words, and directly put the pill into his mouth, continuing to use a damp towel to cool down Chongzhen's fever.

Yuheng spent a long time boiling the medicine, and only after pouring all the liquid into Chongzhen's mouth with a bamboo stick did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Give him the medicine again tonight. If the fever can be brought down tonight, it shouldn't be a big problem."

Yu Heng leaned back in the corner of the cave, rubbing his temples wearily. He looked at Ling Chengen, who was taking good care of Chong Zhen, and couldn't help but feel a little sad. But since he didn't know if Chong Zhen could get through this, he didn't say anything.

Oh well, there'll be plenty of time later anyway.

After the second bowl of medicine was administered that evening, it took more than an hour for Chongzhen's body temperature to finally come down.

However, it started burning again in the middle of the night.

Yuheng took some effort to control his body temperature, so he finally got through the rest of the night safely.

Ling Chengen got up and stretched his stiff and sore body. He walked outside the stone cave, quietly watching the night. He turned and went to the cave next door to check on Wu Zhuo, who was sleeping. After confirming that his body temperature was normal and his breathing was even, he turned and left.

Yuheng briefly closed his eyes and slept for a while in the latter half of the night. When he woke up, it was just getting light, but Ling Chengen was nowhere to be seen in the cave.

He got up and went outside, sitting on the stone by the door for half an hour before he saw a giant tiger with yellow and white stripes running towards him from a distance, dragging two prey.

Seeing that she had thrown her prey onto the open ground, Yuheng asked, "Why did you suddenly go out hunting?"

"We're out of supplies." Ling Chengen said helplessly. "We didn't bring much food this time. We only prepared enough for two days. If I hadn't kept some in my storage space, I would have gone hunting a few days ago."

There were some tree barley and millet in the space, but for the few meat-eating households, this amount was far from enough.

Yuheng looked at the blood-soaked horned sheep and cattle on the ground, stood up and said, "Go and rest for a while, I'll take care of it."

"Do you know?"

Ling Chengen was a little surprised, mainly because Yu Heng seemed to be the kind of person who never lifted a finger, exuding arrogance and nobility from the bottom of his heart. He was probably like a prince or nobleman from ancient times who looked down on everyone and could do whatever he wanted with just a wave of his hand, and people would always rush to his aid.

Yuheng was provoked by her subtle tone and couldn't help but grind his back teeth, saying, "I don't know how, so what do you think I ate to grow up?"

"Morning dew and snow?" Ling Chengen teased.

Yu Heng ignored her: "..."

Yu Heng wrapped the vines in his hand around two prey, then turned and walked towards the water source in the distance. Although he didn't utter a word, Ling Chengen inexplicably felt that his back looked angry, a little awkward, a little funny, and a little cute.

When Ling Chengen returned to the cave, he rested against a pile of dry grass in the corner.

She didn't sleep a wink last night. To be precise, she hadn't had a proper rest in the past six or seven days because she was always worried that if she slept too soundly and the two of them fell ill without her noticing, it would be troublesome.

After working non-stop for several days, I completely lost control of my body as soon as I relaxed. My consciousness completely left my body, and I fell asleep with my head tilted to the side in just a few seconds.

When Chongzhen woke up, she immediately saw the person sleeping in the corner.

Sunlight streamed through the gap above and fell directly on her face. The light was so bright, but she didn't react at all.