Make Azeroth breathtaking

"Hmm, you do have a knack for it. Now, close your eyes, clear your mind, and take a deep breath, following my breathing rhythm... Make sure... you don't fall asleep..."

Listening to Old Chen's slow, powerful, and peculiarly rhythmic breathing, Tannis closed her eyes, trying her best to squeeze out the jumbled thoughts in her mind, and slowly adjusted her breathing to match Old Chen's.

Gradually, the sound of the sea breeze faded from Tannis's ears, the scorching sun no longer bothered her, and the salty smell of the seawater no longer lingered in her nostrils. Time... space... it seemed as if everything had become irrelevant to Tannis.

Suddenly.

"Hey!!!"

Old Chen's voice boomed in Tannis's ears like thunder. Startled, Tannis opened her eyes and saw not the barren coastline, but the shadowy snow-capped mountains.

"here it is?"

Tanis felt something throbbing in her soul, trying to tell her something.

"This is Kun-Lai Mountain. According to the inscription on the stone tablet on Shenzhenzi's back, it is the highest mountain in Pandaria, the homeland of the Pandaren. Through the meditation of monks, our spirits can see Kun-Lai Mountain. Of course, monks who are meditating for the first time need other monks to guide them, otherwise it is easy to drift too far away."

Looking at the undulating snow-capped mountains before him, Old Chen's voice was filled with an unprecedented sadness, the desolation of a prodigal son who had left home but could not find his way back.

"This is also where your 'god' resides, is it?"

Tennys spoke softly, afraid of breaking the silence.

"Although I don't know where you learned the secrets of this ancient mountain range, you're right. One of the Supreme Gods, the White Tiger, lives in seclusion within these mountains. The introductory stage of a martial monk's training involves using one's 'heart' to sketch the Supreme Gods, invoking their will, then visualizing them and imitating their every move. Now, let me describe the appearances of the Supreme Gods to you, so that..."

Before Old Chen could finish speaking, a ray of light appeared from the snow and wind of Kun Lai Mountain, followed by colorful auspicious clouds rolling in from the distant horizon.

"Yu Long, Xue Nu... you actually visualized two supreme gods and even aroused their will?"

Although he was surprised that Tanis had visualized the appearances of the two Celestials before he had even told her what they looked like, Chen was not one to be inflexible, and he quickly adjusted his teaching.

"In the lineage of the martial monks, Yulong represents Eastern wisdom, and the White Tiger represents Western power. Clouds follow the dragon, and the tiger follows the wind. If you can visualize the path from the postures of Yulong and Xuenu, then the wind and clouds will become your stepping stones. Walk on the wind, and ascend like a dragon on clouds."

"I see."

Under Old Chen's watchful gaze, Tannis's spirit sat cross-legged in the void. A huge white tiger roared and leaped out of the wind, pouncing straight at Tannis's brow, while a blue dragon descended from the clouds and coiled around Tannis's waist.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

————————————————Strange dividing line————————————————————

"Splash, splash."

The sound of waves crashing against the rocks pulled Tannis back to her body. The scorching heat of the sun became clear. Tannis opened her eyes, raised her wrist, and tilted her head as she looked at her hand, which seemed unchanged.

"On your first visualization, you summoned the wills of Yulong and Xuenu without knowing the appearance of the Supreme God. If you weren't truly human, I would have suspected you were one of our kind. By the way, now that you've completed the introductory training of the martial monk, there's one thing you must learn..."

Old Chen moved closer to Tannis, took out two bowls, and poured the cool liquor from the small barrel he was carrying into the bowls. Instantly, a delicate and non-pungent aroma of liquor began to spread in the sea breeze.

"Although it's not the best wine, it's the best I have on hand right now. Even though I haven't taken you as my apprentice, as your guide on the path of the martial monk, I have a responsibility to teach you this..."

As he said this, Old Chen pushed a bowl in front of Tannis. Tannis picked up the bowl of wine in a daze and looked at Old Chen with a smile on his face.

“Drink up, a monk who can’t drink or appreciate wine is incomplete.”

IV. Toxic Grain

Old Chen stayed in Ratchet for ten days, then left without saying goodbye at dawn on the eleventh.

Although the time was short, Old Chen did his best to impart most of the knowledge he knew about monks to Tannis. He also left notes on things he couldn't teach on the spot. What surprised Tannis the most was that there were several brewing recipes in the notes.

"Old Chen still harbors a lot of resentment towards my method of producing wine... However, the wine brewed using these methods is indeed much better than the wine I make with machines. It seems I'll have to build a small wine cellar in the future."

Tannis, who understood perfectly what Old Chen meant by giving her these brewing recipes, shook her head and began her new daily lesson.

Into the set.

——————————————Time Passes By————————————————————

October, Year 19 of the Dark Portal, Eastern Kingdoms.

Although it is late autumn, the Hillsbrad Foothills are still lush and green. The towering Alterac Mountains cause warm air currents from the sea to swirl, so the Hillsbrad Foothills can almost be described as having a spring-like climate all year round.

Thanks to these uniquely favorable conditions, the area surrounding Hillsbrad Foothills is renowned for its grain production. Every year, the Kingdom of Lordaeron harvests enough grain, besides what it needs for its own consumption and necessary strategic reserves, to sell to other factions—the vast majority to other human kingdoms and a small portion to outsiders like the Gadgetzan Corporation.

Southshore, the largest deep-water port town in Lordaeron's Hillsbrad Foothills, is one of the core towns for Lordaeron's grain trade. During the grain harvest season, dozens of large merchant ships are anchored in Southshore year-round, waiting to be loaded with grain and sail to all parts of the world. This time of year is also the busiest time in Southshore.

Therefore, it's not strange at all for a few unfamiliar faces to appear in Southsea Town during the harvest season, or for some greedy goblins to show up.

"Miss Tannis, weren't you finishing the design of your giant robot? Why are you handling this personally?"

In the temporary office in Ratchet, a goblin looked at Tannis, who had been teleported over via an emergency teleportation device, with a puzzled expression.

"Because this is a very troublesome matter, and it could turn into a big problem if not handled properly."

Tannis, who had come to handle the matter personally because of the memory fragments going berserk, sat in a chair flipping through the report, her brow furrowed.

After a while, she looked at the goblin leader.

"Are you sure the food on the ship is from the same batch as the food consumed in the villages where food poisoning occurred?"

“The Kingdom of Lordaeron has a tradition of clearing out its stock every year, buying new grain and selling old grain. Some of the unsold old grain is distributed to the poor as a favor to win people’s hearts. So I can confirm that the grain that showed signs of poisoning should be from the same batch as the grain we bought.”

"Did those people show any other signs besides food poisoning after eating the food?"

"Um... as far as I know, no, but we can't get any further information either... so we don't know what to do with this food... after all, we can't prove there's anything wrong with it, and Lordaeron certainly won't accept returns, but we can't prove there's nothing wrong with it either, so we don't dare resell it..."

The goblin leader scratched his head, looking troubled.

"Leave it for now, don't touch it. This matter might be a bit big, don't leak any information. I'll go and investigate it myself."

“I understand, Miss Tanis.”

——————————————Strange dividing line——————————————————————

The next morning, Tannis got up early, used a camouflage device to conceal her figure, channeled her inner energy into the soles of her feet, and quietly 'floated' out of Southsea Town, heading towards the nearest village where a food poisoning had reportedly occurred.

About three hours later, the outer walls of the village came into view before Tannis.

"Phew...we're here..."

Tannis looked around and found a small mound to her liking. She moved behind the mound, released her mechanical assistant, and sent over some drones disguised as birds. Then, she put on her glasses.

"go."

Under Tennys's orders, these specialized spy drones flapped their wings like real birds and flew toward the target village.

——————————————In the village————————————————————

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

Inside a thatched hut, an elderly man with gray hair lay on the bed, clutching his stomach and groaning softly. Beside him sat an old woman, her expression anxious.

Further away in the room, a man who looked about 80% like the elderly man was sitting in a chair, rubbing his stomach incessantly. Clearly, he wasn't feeling too well either.

"Old man, what's wrong with you, you're in so much pain?"

"I don't know... Ouch... It hurts so much..."

The old man, drenched in sweat, spoke up, as did the younger man who was rubbing his stomach.

“Mother, the problem this time might be that we accidentally mixed in some other things when we were grinding the flour, which is why Father and I have stomach aches. You see, you are fine because you ate less, but Father ate too much, which is why he is in such bad pain.”

"Then, shall I get you some herbs?"

"Okay...go ahead...ouch..."

"Then I'll go."

The old woman stood up and left the thatched hut, but strangely, a hint of inexplicable excitement flickered deep in her eyes.

————————————————Below the mound——————————————————

Through her investigation of the entire village, Tennys discovered that, in addition to the old man, several other villagers were also experiencing severe abdominal pain, and about 80% of the remaining villagers were experiencing mild abdominal pain, while a small number of people were asymptomatic.

Strangely, none of the villagers who showed symptoms suspected that their family members' illnesses were caused by the food, collectively ignoring this 'most likely option'. They didn't go to gather herbs or anything like that; instead, they all secretly gathered in a house.

'As expected, there was a mole.'

Tannis took off her glasses, folded them up, and put them back inside the mechanical assistant's stomach. She sat cross-legged on the ground, her expression turning serious. Based on the clues from the memory fragments, she knew that the food had been contaminated by something.

plague.

V. The Tragedy in the Village

Although the conclusion that the grain purchased in Ratchet was problematic was confirmed, an even bigger problem lay before Tannis.

First of all, returning the goods is a completely unrealistic option. The noble merchants of Lordaeron would never admit to the evidence in Tannis's possession. However, reselling them to cut losses is also impossible. If things go wrong, the plague could be pinned on Ratchet, and the consequences would be even more dire. As for shipping them back? What would she think to risk ruining her own hometown?

"Aaaaaah! This pile of rotten grain is probably destined to sink at sea!"

Tannis, troubled, packed her things and prepared to leave. Suddenly, a breeze brushed past her, and a strange smell lingered around her nose.

'The pungent smell of blood, and the aroma of smoke... Has a village been massacred?'

Realizing something serious had happened, Tannis limped off to the right and ran toward the source of the bloody smell.

——————————————Three kilometers away——————————————————————

This is an ordinary village, the most common type in Hillsbrad Foothills, consisting of about 10 to 12 households who cultivate nearby fields together, share tools, and collectively defend against attacks by wild animals.

However, all they could do was defend against wild beasts...

"Search the village thoroughly and drag over everyone who is still breathing."

An orc in a shelter uniform, wielding a woodcutter's machete, was issuing orders while spitting on a nearby corpse whose neck he had severed and which was bleeding profusely. The flames from the burning village houses illuminated his face, making him look even more ferocious.

“There can’t be any living thing here, boss. The brothers are too excited after not having done anything for a long time, so they chopped down all the ones hiding in the cellar.”

Another orc, holding a stolen rake as a weapon, answered in a muffled voice.

"We can't afford to make a mistake, search."

"Okay, you're the boss, I'll listen to you."

The second orc slung his rake over his shoulder and was about to leave when he felt something gripping his foot tightly. Realizing something was wrong, the orc looked down and saw a corpse that should have been dead already clinging to his ankle, its gaping maw wide open!

Necromantic spell!!!

The orc leader cried out in alarm and kicked the corpse that had just turned into a zombie. The immense force caused the zombie's lumbar vertebrae to break, and it twisted in place at an eerie angle.