Forge a path to success.

Chapter 28 The Curse of Fluorescence
A faint light from outside pierced the church through the cracks in the door. This light seemed weaker than the spots of light on the people, like fireflies under an incandescent bulb. But the moment the iron gate opened, the people in the light spots screamed. Those who were in better condition got up and ran, while the weak crawled towards the iron gate on all fours. The scene was eerie and terrifying, like a group of zombies chasing the light.

As soon as Ji Huaisu entered the church, he saw this and quickly closed the iron gate. After the light disappeared, the zombies stopped moving abruptly. They swayed left and right, collapsed to the ground, and returned to their previous state of near death.

"The corpse," Ji Huaisu cursed under his breath, "Damn it!"

Chu Hengkong silently memorized this unfamiliar word. He walked up to Granny Sangjia, but before he could speak, the old woman raised her hand to stop him.

"It's not finished yet. It will be finished when the medicine is ready."

He noticed that the old man was trying to pound medicine to save people, so he quietly waited aside and observed the condition of the fireflies.

This strange disease resembles a hybrid of an otherworldly skin condition and ALS. The mental state of the glowing corpses is closely related to the size of the glowing spots. Those with smaller glowing spots still have the energy to speak, but once the spots spread to half their bodies, they become almost completely unable to speak, only able to mumble and groan. Those whose entire bodies are consumed by the glowing spots seem to have lost the ability to think; they are silent, and their lifeless eyes are chilling.

A chill crept up Chu Hengkong's spine. The more he looked at the light spots, the more familiar they seemed; he was certain he had seen something similar recently...

That has a very similar texture to Ji Huaisu's light shield!

Could it originate from the same ability? Or is it just a similar power? Chu Hengkong didn't ask; now wasn't the time to delve into it. Seeing that the white-robed people were too busy, the two of them helped carry the medicinal soup. Granny Sangjia didn't react to this, focusing only on her work.

She meticulously ground herbs, mushrooms, and animal organs together, then dissolved them in tea to make a medicinal soup. This monotonous task lasted for nearly an hour before finally ending. The medicinal herbs she had brought were used up; some of the fireflies improved after taking the medicine, while most remained unchanged. The people in white robes clasped their hands together in gratitude to Chu Hengkong and Ji Huaisu.

“Fashionistas, please come with me.” Granny Sangjia rose with her cane. “Tell me why you have come.”

·
Granny Sangjia was a well-known figure in Huilong City. She was the third high priestess of the Society of Spirits and the founder of this religious organization. Rumor had it that in her youth, Granny Sangjia was a down-on-her-luck prostitute, earning meager wages through her body. One day, she was knocked unconscious by a ruthless customer, stuffed into a sack, and dragged to the very edge of the Bize District. It was a true dead end, for the swamp's edge was the lowest level of the Huilong Water Curtain; only unwanted relics would be relegated to the bottom, carried away by the current from the city to unknown, distant lands.

The scoundrels threw the prostitute into the current, betting that it would take several days for people to discover her disappearance. But after some time, the prostitute reappeared in the swamp, claiming she had received divine revelation in the current, revealing that all things in the world possess spirits and can become gods. The swamp people worshipped this miracle, and the theory of "animism" spread and developed with this worship, eventually becoming the malignant cult rooted in the swamp today.

Chu Hengkong laughed off the story. After all, every gang leader had a legendary tale of "resurrection," and it was just a matter of fabricating stories to bolster their reputations. However, the animistic belief was genuine, because everyone in the Society of Spirits had their own "god," and they acted according to different ideologies. You'd be hard-pressed to find an organization like this anywhere else: the top leader personally went to the front lines to help the sick, while the second-in-command stood by coldly.

“Sangjia, you’re wasting your time,” Adali said bluntly. “Your medicine can’t save a dying person.”

Grandma Sangjia's dwelling was located in the "Harvest Village" south of Bize, a small hut decorated with reeds, pebbles, and animal hides. She lit her stuffed pipe with a match and gently exhaled a puff of smoke. The pale green smoke, like that of poisonous insects, brushed across the dense wrinkles on her face and blended into her black feather-woven coat.

“It’s fate,” the old woman said. “I accept my fate, and they accept theirs.”

Adali waved his hand, clearly unimpressed. He stood up and walked towards the door: "I have other things to do, so I won't keep you company. Please come out with me. I'm a civilized person, after all. I can't leave a dangerous person and an old man alone in a room."

As he spoke, he stared at Ji Huaisu, who clicked her tongue loudly, gave Chu Hengkong a look, and then walked out the door. The girl didn't even retort, making Chu Hengkong wonder what great feats she had accomplished in the swamp.

After the two left, he went straight to the point: "When did the disease begin to spread?"

“It’s not an illness, it’s poison.” Granny Sangjia shook her head. “Thirteen days and months ago, poison mixed into the light of the swamp… The poison will erode people’s fate, turning them into lifeless corpses dominated by the light…”

About two weeks ago, the light spread and eventually turned into the living dead. Chu Hengkong silently translated the key points and continued to ask, "Why not ask the City Lord's Mansion for help?" "The Dragon God himself is in dire straits and there is no way to save him." Granny Sangjia tapped her pipe. "There is too much light in the central courtyard... If the poison spreads, there will be nowhere to escape."

The key factor is the amount of sunlight. The central courtyard is a perpetually overcast and dilapidated place, but it still receives significantly more sunlight than the swamp at the bottom. If the light poison spreads to the central courtyard, it could very well lead to a major plague… From this perspective, Granny Sangjia's decision was not wrong. However, she didn't even inform the central courtyard, clearly showing a lack of trust in the government… She probably doesn't know about the reconstruction of the Healing Temple, otherwise she wouldn't have been so resolute…

Chu Hengkong considered the matter briefly and decided to set it aside for the time being. The light poison was not something he could handle alone; treating the illness would be a headache for Youyou and the others. The most important thing right now was to save Ji Qiufeng. He posed his third question: "Do you know about the gold in the swamp?"

The old woman smiled upon hearing this: "Child of the trend, your heart is full of curiosity, but your desires lie elsewhere."

Chu Hengkong attempted to describe it in detail: "It might be a kind of medicinal herb..."

“Gold is what desire is condensed into,” the old man’s voice trailed off. “Your desire is not in the swamp, but in the past…”

Chu Hengkong pressed his temples; the nonsensical conversation was infuriating. He noticed the rambling tone sounded a bit like an appraisal report for relics, and a thought struck him. He then asked, "So, what about the gold that the pharmacist is after?"

"The Medicine Master? The Medicine Master..." Granny Sangjia closed her eyes in thought upon hearing this. After a long while, she took a deep drag of her pipe: "Ah... is it the Great Master Jingzang?"

Chu Hengkong nodded immediately, and the old man forced a nostalgic smile through his wrinkles: "A man of elegant bearing, like a Buddha in white robes... I know him; he once said that gold would be born in the swamp—"

From the depths of the thick smoke, a gunshot rang out. The whistling sound drowned out the whispers, and the patina-colored bullet pierced the wooden wall, striking the old man squarely in the forehead!
The bullet stopped near the old man's temple, striking the back of his bulging, veiny fist. In that instant, Chu Hengkong, who had been sitting calmly, sprang up, smashing the bullet away with a single punch, then crashing through the thatched hut and rushing outwards.

"Ji Huaisu!" he shouted. A brilliant golden light illuminated the broken wall, and a spherical light shield protected Granny Sangjia. With no worries, Chu Hengkong swiftly rushed out the door, chasing after the lurking gunman. That faint sense of crisis had been building up, as if every needle was aimed at his eyes.

He knew he had found the right way, and the enemy would certainly not want him to know anything, so they did not hesitate to kill the old man to silence him!
The bullet only grazed the back of his fist, drawing blood. He had blocked the shot with his taut muscles and hard knuckles. It was no longer a water bullet; the copper-rust-colored metal bullet was filled with an unknown crystal, and its impact was comparable to that of a modern large-caliber pistol. If he hadn't become a skilled hand, that shot would have been enough to temporarily paralyze his arm.

The "Harvest Settlement" consisted entirely of low wooden houses, so Chu Hengkong leaped onto the rooftop to better track the enemy. He spotted a dark figure scurrying along the muddy path with a single glance. The gunman wore tattered camouflage, possessing excellent stealth skills, but his speed was far inferior to Chu Hengkong's. Chu Hengkong flicked his fingers, first striking the gunman in the back with a water bullet. The water bullet hit accurately, but the gunman only swayed slightly and did not fall.

The gunman's camouflage uniform was also a relic; its excellent defensive capabilities saved his life. He used the momentum to roll to the side, dodging the second water bullet that followed. Just as the intelligence indicated, the target's usual tactic was to launch two projectiles at a staggered pace; once he dodged them, he was temporarily out of range. Flames spurted from the gunman's boots as he suddenly accelerated to create distance, raising the weapon he had been given.

A dark green flintlock pistol, the bullets needing to be loaded one by one, the second bullet already loaded. The crosshair aimed at the forehead, the trigger pulled, the bullet fired. If it couldn't kill Sang Jia, the plan changed; it would kill Chu Hengkong directly!

The gunman's timing was impeccable; Chu Hengkong had barely reacted before he couldn't even retract his attack to defend. Chu Hengkong didn't defend either; his outstretched right hand clenched into a fist, while his left arm's tentacle snapped back, its silver muscles taut. Using the momentum of his fist retraction, he sidestepped, a bullet grazing his hair, followed by the fully charged tentacle springing out, transforming into a silver spear that tore through the air!
The sudden explosion startled the residents, the sonic boom piercing the air and sweeping through the settlement like gunpowder exploding simultaneously. No one saw the silver gun being fired; all they could see was the white sonic boom spreading outwards. The shot completely destroyed the flintlock pistol and pierced the gunner's torso as well.

The gunman knelt down, collapsing to the ground like a broken doll. Chu Hengkong landed from the rooftop, shaking his numb tentacles.

This time he showed no mercy; the person who shot the old woman didn't deserve to be spared. He kicked the fallen gunman to turn him over, and was slightly surprised when he saw the enemy's face.

It has no physical body.

(End of this chapter)