Chapter 35: Harbingers of Calamity
Liu Songyi had assumed Huang Xiuqin was just an ordinary mother, but with this chilling possibility, everything became clear.
“I’ll investigate this immediately!”
With a new lead, Liu Songyi turned to leave, several other group members stirring with anticipation.
Luo Ling observed everything, realizing the Bone Doctor held a significant position within the Patient Exchange Group.
“Wait,” Ji Shinian called out to Liu Songyi, stopping him in his tracks. “If that’s the case, I might know… who she works for.”
Liu Songyi stopped and turned back to Ji Shinian.
“Who?”
“The Harbingers of Calamity, infamous for manipulating Grotesqueries and Awakened Ones,” Ji Shinian’s expression turned grim. “They’re constantly trying to merge the paths of Grotesqueries with human bodies. They believe the Grotesquery paths are the true path to godhood, and Awakened Ones are merely usurpers.
“To this end, they don’t hesitate to combine with Grotesqueries. Most of their fanatic members die in the process, but… the few who survive are extremely dangerous.
“She probably chose to transform her own child into a Grotesquery because of their blood relation… making it easier for her to perform the ‘merging’ ritual.”
Ji Shinian, with his century of experience, pieced together the truth from these fragments of information.
As if worried that Luo Ling, new to this world, wouldn’t understand, Ji Shinian turned to her and briefly explained,
“The Sacred Relics left behind after eliminating a Grotesquery cannot be used directly. They must be refined by a ‘Pharmacist.’ Our only Pharmacist in the group is Narcissus. If you need anything, go find her.”
Hearing the group leader mention her, Shen Miaoyun puffed out her chest slightly, a look of pride on her face.
This was her unique and valuable ability, although her combat skills were practically nonexistent.
A strange look flashed across Luo Ling’s face, but she nodded nonetheless.
She had eaten the previous two Sacred Relics directly. It should be… fine, right?
No, that wasn’t right. She was on a Grotesquery path, not an ordinary Awakened One, so it wasn’t the same.
Perhaps… her current situation wasn’t much different from the Harbingers of Calamity.
“In any case, she’s very dangerous. I don’t recommend you go alone,” Ji Shinian said, then pondered for a moment and pointed at a few people. “Swordsman, Phantom, Flame King, and… Narcissus, you all go with Ancient Martial Artist to investigate.”
The people he named nodded in agreement, only Shen Miaoyun’s face falling. “Huh? I… I have to go too?”
This woman had refined her own child into a Grotesquery and even dared to put it inside her own body! How dangerous was that? She was just a helpless healer, she couldn’t handle this…
“You’re the only one who can,” Ji Shinian glanced at her. “You can heal most injuries caused by Grotesqueries. I’ll give you extra merit points when you return.”
“Ugh, it’s useless anyway.”
Shen Miaoyun looked dejected but didn’t disobey Ji Shinian’s orders.
The group didn’t dare delay any longer. Although they knew the chances of finding anything by following this lead were slim, they still had to act quickly.
After a while, when everyone had left, the ward became much less crowded.
“Swordsman” was the young man with glasses. Besides Luo Ling and Elsa, only the scruffy man and An Yu remained in the ward.
“Group Leader, can I take any missions today?” An Yu rubbed her hands, looking at Ji Shinian expectantly. “I know I’m not qualified to get involved in Teacher’s matter yet, but I… I also want to become stronger!”
“Yes,” Ji Shinian nodded, but before An Yu could get excited, he said something that deflated her. “The new White Witch needs an unregistered SIM card. Help her with that.”
“Making SIM cards again…”
Disappointment flashed across An Yu’s face. She wanted to fight, but the missions the group leader always assigned her were logistical…
Although she could earn merit points and exchange them for Holy Water made from Sacred Relics, she couldn’t gain any combat experience.
“Oh right, there’s one more thing,” Ji Shinian looked at the impatient scruffy man. “Lao He, please take them to investigate something. Consider it a way for the new member to familiarize herself with our group’s cooperation methods.”
“Ji Shinian, you deliberately kept me here for this?” Lao He’s cigarette butt trembled, and his eyes widened. “I refuse. Whoever wants to babysit can do it. I’d rather go investigate that… ‘Devil’s Advance’ or whatever.”
After saying this, Lao He stormed out of the ward without looking back, completely disregarding Ji Shinian’s authority.
“Sigh… I’m sorry, Xiao Bai, I can’t control him,” Ji Shinian sighed. “If I could still move, I wouldn’t mind taking care of this myself, but unfortunately…”
“Openly defying the leader’s orders… is that allowed?”
Luo Ling was surprised. She had thought Ji Shinian held absolute authority, seeing how obedient everyone else was.
“Heh, what leader? I’m just a group leader. This exchange group… isn’t very strict,” Ji Shinian said cheerfully, not seeming to mind. “People listen to me if they want to, and if they don’t, they don’t… Never mind, let’s not talk about this. It seems that matter will have to be put on hold for a while.”
“What… matter…”
Elsa spoke slowly, her ethereal voice laced with impatience.
Luo Ling felt nothing, but An Yu and Ji Shinian beside her fell into a momentary trance.
“Sister Xu Qian, please don’t speak,” An Yu said weakly, clutching her head.
Elsa looked anxious. She turned to “look” at Luo Ling, then at Ji Shinian.
Luo Ling pondered for a moment, then said,
“I think… Elsa, or Xu Qian, is trying to say that she can lead the team.”
Elsa nodded vigorously, and the teddy bear in her arms jumped out and shrieked,
“The Great Demon King of Slaughter is on the move! Get out of the way!”
Ji Shinian covered his ears, a pained expression on his old face. He was so old, why did his mind and ears have to suffer like this…?
Elsa apologetically covered the teddy bear’s mouth again, looking at Ji Shinian with a wronged expression.
“Although it’s not impossible, Scarlet Witch is the strongest in the group,” Ji Shinian said with a troubled expression. “But… she might not be suitable for leading a team.”
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