Everyone's eyes flickered with hope after hearing Wang Xiaojun's suggestion. If they could cure the plague, the White Magic Falcons would withdraw after losing their targets. They had always stayed within their territory, thus there must be a reason why they were desperately invading the human territory.
"Commander, maybe we should try out the young man's idea? The situation wouldn't be any worse if it failed," said Elder Li Tian.
The other Commanders in the meeting room agreed, too.
"Alright, Wang Xiaojun, is it? If you manage to retrieve some Red Falcon Herbs, I shall reward you the title 'Hangzhou Protector'!"
Wang Xiaojun responded with a salute and said, "I'll make sure I accomplish the mission!"
"Wang Xiaojun, you do know that West Ridge is even more dangerous than the battlefield. There's a high chance that you will lose your life. Are you sure you want to do it?"
Wang Xiaojun hesitated for a brief moment before saluting again, "I'll return alive!"
Leng Qing glanced at the firm look on the young man's face, and recalled Councilman Luo Mian's indifferent attitude despite what he had done. When compared to the fearless young man, Leng Qing discovered that a Councilman with great authority was a lot worse than a young man who had yet to receive his military rank.
Leng Qing was touched by the young man's spirit. She glanced at Lingling and said, "Lingling, you shall go with Wang Xiaojun. Make sure he comes back alive!"
Leng Qing glanced at Mo Fan and knew what he had come here for. She spoke to Councilman Zhu Meng, "Councilman, the Black Totem Snake has nothing to do with the plague, could you please let him go and allocate the people guarding West Lake to the frontline? Otherwise, we won't last until the Red Falcon Herbs are retrieved."
Councilman Zhu Meng stroked his beard. There was still no evidence proving that the Black Totem Snake was friendly, but according to the news from his men, the Black Totem Snake was on the verge of dying. Even if they were to withdraw the seal, he could not do any harm to them. Considering that Tang Zhong's tribe could provide strong firepower to the battle, in order for them to fully cooperate with the military, it made more sense to spare the Black Totem Snake's life.
Councilman Zhu Meng said with a nod, "Alright, we'll let him go."
Leng Qing finally smiled for once. She immediately said to Mo Fan, "You will bring Councilman Zhu Meng's order to West Lake and have them withdraw the Lightning Punishment Formation. Ask them to head to West Fortress at once to defend against the army of White Magic Falcons."
Mo Fan let out a smile. Their effort was not in vain after all! They finally managed to save the Black Totem Snake. Now, it was only a matter of time until Miss Tangyue devoted her life to him...
Uhh, everyone is extremely worried about the situation. Aren't I being too heartless thinking about that now?
——
Mo Fan immediately made his way back to the city and went straight to Su Causeway. The nine lightning halberds were still standing firmly on the lake, suppressing the gigantic Black Totem Snake.
The Black Totem Snake was the same as the last time he had seen him, his body curled up while he rested his head atop it. He seemed to be in a deep sleep. Mo Fan walked up to Tangyue, who was still guarding him at the same spot.
"He should be alive still, right?" asked Mo Fan.
"I...I don't know...I can feel that his aura has become extremely weak. If we still can't find a way to save him...he could fall into an eternal sleep just like that..." said Tangyue with red eyes.
Mo Fan smiled, "Didn't you realize that something is different?"
Tangyue did not realize what Mo Fan was trying to say. She stared at him blankly. A while later, she saw the nine halberds were slowly disappearing. The nine lightning pillars had totally vanished.
As the energy dissipated, the lake returned to calm.
Tangyue held her excitement as she stared at the disappearing formation in disbelief. She then burst into tears as she glanced at Mo Fan. She did not expect Mo Fan to actually do it. While she was totally helpless, he had saved the Black Totem Snake who she treated like family.
Tangyue who could not withhold her emotion opened up her arms and gave Mo Fan a hug. She was indeed quite lost, not knowing how to express her gratitude.
And Mo Fan had been waiting for this moment all along...
He softly patted Tangyue's back like a gentleman, while his head dug into her pleasant-smelling hair around her neck and sniffed heavily. His fingers slid slowly downward. During the burst of emotion, no one could guarantee the physical contact between two people would remain appropriate. It was rather normal for accidents to happen. For example, his hands were now pressing on Tangyue's hips. At a time like this, a woman who was experiencing a great surge of emotion would not be aware of little details like this!
Tangyue hugged Mo Fan for quite a while, and Mo Fan indulged in the great sensation, not willing to release his grip...
A while later, Tangyue redirected her focus onto the Black Totem Snake. The Lightning Punishment Formation was withdrawn, and the totem beast no longer had to suffer being tortured by the lightning. However, his aura was still extremely weak. Tangyue had no idea how to treat his wounds, unless she managed to get more than a hundred Healers here to cast their Healing Magic at the Black Totem Snake simultaneously.
"Miss Tangyue, the Black Totem Snake is in such a serious condition. He had lost a great amount of blood. Do you think blood serums that are made for humans would help?" asked Mo Fan.
"Of course, but with his size, he would need a whole truck of them. Where could we possibly find them?" said Tangyue who glanced at the Black Totem Snake.
Mo Fan fell into deep thought, before he spoke with a stern look, "I do have a way to get a truck of blood serums, but they might be defective..."
Tangyue turned around and seemed to be infuriated, "You asshole, are you trying to give the big guy the blood serums that had caused the plague?"
Mo Fan quickly apologized, "I thought he would be immune to the disease."
Tangyue was startled, before her eyes flickered. She suddenly gave Mo Fan a kiss on his cheek.
Mo Fan was dumbfounded. He was not fully prepared for it. He had just lost the first kiss of his right cheek, just like that.
Mo Fan exclaimed when he saw Tangyue's reaction, "No way, are you telling me that this guy is impenetrable to poison?"
Tangyue wore a charming smile and pointed at the Black Totem Snake, "He's the ancestor of all poisons!!"
Mo Fan felt like dropping to his knees.
He was only having a random thought, and yet it turned out that they could actually feed the Black Totem Snake the blood serums!
Is the snake turning on hacks?
Wang Xiaojun led the way as he and Lingling ventured deeper through the forest close to West Fortress.
"Are you sure that he has not betrayed you?" asked Lingling in a serious voice.
"I'm not so sure, to be honest, but he did respond to my call the other day. I can summon him with this flute." Wang Xiaojun took out a small flute.
He placed the flute at the side of his mouth and started playing a tone. The sound was similar to blowing a whistle with a leaf. Although it was fairly sharp, it sounded quite pleasant. Furthermore, it was able to cover a great distance in the forest.
The sound of the flute echoed through the woods. Lingling raised her head to check her surroundings, but could not discover any sign of the gray eagle.
Wang Xiaojun continued to play the flute. After a long time, the only response he could hear was the bugs nearby. He lowered the flute with a slight disappointment and said, "Maybe I've thought too simple about the situation. Even Heavenly Eagles with proper lineage could not resist the presence of the Ruler-level creature, let alone a mix breed, which is supposed to have a weaker resistance."
Lingling comforted, "Why don't you try it again, maybe he's far away from here."
Wang Xiaojun glanced into the distance and raised the flute again. As he was about to blow it, a sharp cry was heard from the trees.
The cry was quite pleasant, and Wang Xiaojun was extremely familiar with it. It was the sound of the gray eagle he had raised from a chick!
Every Heavenly Eagle of West Fortress had been cruelly executed, while his impure lineage had saved his life. To Wang Xiaojun's surprise, the gray eagle was still very responsive to him. He rapidly flew over to him and landed, before fondling him with his head.
He had not turned against them. He was still the same as always!
Wang Xiaojun hugged the gray eagle excitedly. He patted his head and said, "Do you know, we're about to do something incredible. We've been looked down and mistreated by the others in the army. If we manage to accomplish this mission, the people of West Fortress would have a different view of us. Isn't this the moment we've always been waiting for!?"
The gray eagle cried out excitedly, as if he could understand Wang Xiaojun's words.
"The mission is very dangerous. If anything goes wrong, both of us will end up dead. I'm very scared too, but I don't just want to be someone that cooked rice in the army. I want to contribute. Gray Eagle, only you can help me now," said Wang Xiaojun sincerely, looking at the eagle.
The gray eagle remained silent, and fully extended his wings, as if he were trying to tell Wang Xiaojun that they were going to move out right away.
"Alright, let's go!" Wang Xiaojun leapt onto the eagle's back. After stabilizing himself, he said to Lingling, "Wait for me here. I'll send the Red Falcon Herbs to the fortress straight away after I've retrieved them."
"I'll guide you to a relatively safe path, but I can't guarantee your safety. Remember, if you found yourself in any kind of trouble, don't force it. You can't handle the White Magic Falcons on your own," Lingling said to Wang Xiaojun sternly.
Wang Xiaojun smiled. He performed a rather bad salute to Lingling and patted the eagle's neck. The creature sprang into the sky and vanished from the woods a few seconds later.
Lingling raised her head, watching at the brave young man and the mistreated gray eagle to fly into the distance. No one expected that the fate of Hangzhou City would lie on the shoulders of a seventeen-year-old. Ugh, she forgot that she was seventeen, too...
——-
"Got it, let's hope he and the eagle will return safely," Mo Fan hung up the call.
He looked to the west and saw the white clouds of feathered wings getting closer to the city. They seemed to be floating right above the fortress, and from the city, the people could see the explosions of destructive Spells blossoming like fireworks in the dark.
The Magicians of Hangzhou City were in the middle of a bloodbath. Hopefully, they could last until Wang Xiaojun's return with the Red Falcon Herbs. Otherwise, there would be significantly more casualties soon.
None of it was within Mo Fan's control. His focus now was helping the Black Totem Snake out.
The batch of blood serums that contained the Diseased Blood was being transported to West Lake. There was plenty of them, thus taking a truckload of the blood serums would not make any difference. Besides, it was obvious that the blood serums were not ideal for humans, so they were perfect for the Black Totem Snake.
————–
It took quite some time just to move the blood serums. They finally arrived at Su Causeway around midnight.
When Mo Fan saw the Black Totem Snake did not seem to be waking up, he quickly jumped onto his head. The blood serums were fairly small, thus it was quite impossible for the Black Totem Snake to consume them himself. Mo Fan had no choice but to push the blood serums into the Black Totem Snake's mouth through the gaps of his teeth.
Although the blood serums were tiny enough to be inserted into the Black Totem Snake's mouth through the gap between his teeth, a fairly high-quality blood serum was enough to produce ten times the amount of blood a human had. If the Black Totem Snake were to consume the entire truck of blood serums, he should at least recover two or three blocks of his HP bar, right?
The blood serums were continuously fed to the Black Totem Snake. Mo Fan had no idea how much the blood serums that he had fed to the Black Totem Snake were worth. He soon almost finished feeding the entire truck of blood serums to the beast.
The blood serums were very effective for a Totem Beast, too. It was obvious that the Black Totem Snake's aura was starting to recover.
As Mo Fan fed the Black Totem Snake the last box of the blood serums, the snake's eyes suddenly sprang open!
The shocking eyes were staring at the tiny Mo Fan who was standing on his head. Mo Fan stumbled and almost fell into the lake.
The Black Totem Snake uttered a deep voice. Mo Fan's face immediately turned pale, who slowly turned around and asked Tangyue who was standing on the causeway, "What... what... what is he saying..."
Tangyue giggled and said to Mo Fan with squinted eyes, "He's asking if you have any more. He's also thanking you."
Instead of destroying the blood serums, it was better to give them to the Black Totem Snake so he could recover. Mo Fan gave Leng Qing another call and asked her to send another truckload of the blood serums.
The Black Totem Snake let out another cry.
Before Mo Fan could ask, Tangyue translated with a smile, "The big guy says they are quite delicious. He likes them very much."
Mo Fan could feel his lips twitching. If anything, these blood serums were like illegally recycled waste cooking oil. He had never seen anyone enjoying himself so much eating illegally recycled cooking oil...
"Look out to your north, a group of strong White Magic Falcons is flying in your direction. You should withdraw your presence at once. Don't let them pick up your scent. Alright, I can't talk for long, as it would expose your existence too. Once you're clear, send me a signal," Lingling's voice said. Wang Xiaojun immediately glanced to his north.
A huge group of White Magic Falcons was circling the mountains, patrolling their territory. The sharp cries sent chills down Wang Xiaojun's spine.
Wang Xiaojun held his breath and pinched a small orb in his right hand into pieces. It was a Concealment Pill commonly used in the military to suppress their scent, making it impossible for the demon beasts to pick them up beyond a certain distance.
Wang Xiaojun and his eagle hid under the shrubs and waited patiently while the White Magic Falcons flew by above them. After a while, Wang Xiaojun was just about to proceed to his destination, when he recalled an old soldier in the army once mentioning that the White Magic Falcons always patrolled their territory in a loop. In other words, they would pass by the same place twice before moving on to the next spot. It was the main reason why other species had trouble residing in their territory, as the birds were extremely cautious about guarding their territory.
Wang Xiaojun held his urge back and waited patiently. As he expected, several White Magic Falcons flew past their spot from another direction. If he had decided to move just then, his location would have been compromised.
After avoiding the patrol, Wang Xiaojun mounted the gray eagle and continued with his journey.
—
Wang Xiaojun followed his memory to find the spot where he found the Red Falcon Herbs, passing several mountains along the way.
"It should be somewhere here. I hope I don't stumble into any White Magic Falcons with higher lineage..." murmured Wang Xiaojun.
A White Magic Falcon with higher lineage would easily identify Gray Eagle's lineage. The eagle could mix in among the White Magic Falcons, but he would never escape the eyes of Warrior-level or Commander-level creatures.
Wang Xiaojun soon found himself in a familiar environment. He glanced at the slope covered with blazing red plants like flames. The slope was rather steep, with a few White Magic Falcons having a fight nearby.
Wang Xiaojun carefully flew to the slope, hiding inside his eagle's gray feathers. The White Magic Falcons noticed the Gray Eagle, but they completely ignored him after realizing that he was the same species as them.
Wang Xiaojun directed the Gray Eagle to a spot further away from the White Magic Falcons. He leapt down from the eagle's back. He used the eagle's body as cover as he retrieved the Red Falcon Herbs. Over ten thousand people were affected by the plague, thus they would need quite a number of the Red Falcon Herbs. The military had already given him a storage bracelet that could hold lots of stuff. Wang Xiaojun planned to try his best to fill up the space with the Red Falcon Herbs.
He quickly uprooted the herbs, which had thorns like roses on their stems.
He had forgotten to bring a pair of gloves. His hands were covered in wounds and bruises after pulling the herbs out from the ground. He clenched his teeth when he felt the pain, but he could not afford to stop. Countless lives were currently on his shoulders.
Blood was dripping down. Its scent soon drifted on the wind and spread toward the White Magic Falcons nearby. They immediately turned around and approached him.
"Crap, they've found me...no... they only smelled the blood on my hand," mumbled Wang Xiaojun. He hid behind a rock beside him and whispered to the eagle, "Go and lure them away. Come back to me later."
The eagle flapped his wings and rammed right into one of the White Magic Falcons furiously.
The White Magic Falcon returned the favor. It pecked the eagle's back with its sharp beak. The gray eagle soon started a fight with the White Magic Falcons.
The gray eagle grabbed hold of an opportunity to fly into the sky. The infuriated White Magic Falcons immediately followed behind him.
"Well done," Wang Xiaojun mumbled in his heart.
After the White Magic Falcons were lured away, Wang Xiaojun no longer had to keep an eye out on his surroundings. He tore his sleeves and wrapped them around his bleeding hands. He had to make use of the time to retrieve all of the Red Falcon Herbs.
Each time he tried to pull a herb out of the ground, it was the same as trying to break a thistle. Soon, the cloth wrapping around Wang Xiaojun's palms was torn apart.
Wang Xiaojun could feel his tears bursting out, but he still clenched his teeth and continued to pluck the herbs at the same pace. He had no idea how many herbs he had acquired. The storage ring was almost filled up with the Red Falcon Herbs.
He heard a familiar cry.
Wang Xiaojun was overjoyed. The eagle had returned at the perfect time. It was time for them to retreat.
He quickly jumped onto the eagle's back. The gray eagle flapped its wings and swiftly flew in the direction of West Fortress. A while later, he could hear the screeching cries of the White Magic Falcons behind him.
"Quick, faster! We can't let them catch up to us," Wang Xiaojun said to the gray eagle.
The gray eagle flapped his wings quickly. He was well aware that hiss master would be in danger if the White Magic Falcons caught up to him. Luckily, the White Magic Falcons were only chasing him to pay him back for picking a fight with them. If they knew a human had intruded their territory, they would summon their comrades immediately to seal off their escape.
On the gray eagle's back, Wang Xiaojun was suffering tremendous pain. His hands were covered in blood. He could no longer move his fingers, as his tendons were almost cut in half. Fortunately, he had managed to acquire lots of the Red Falcon Herbs. All he needed to do was to be more cautious on the way back.
——
West Lake...
Mo Fan glanced at the sky in the west. The battle between the Battlemages and the White Magic Falcons had intensified, drawing closer to Hangzhou City. Not much time was left.
Luckily, he had heard from Lingling that the kid, Wang Xiaojun was on his way back with a full load. He let out a relieved sigh when he heard the news.
If Wang Xiaojun managed to get back in time with the Red Falcon Herbs, the crisis would be resolved in no time.
As for the two truckloads of illegally recycled cooking oil... uhh, blood serums were almost emptied by the Black Totem Snake. He had fallen to sleep all of a sudden. The wounds on his body had festered, as if they were becoming more severe. Mo Fan had no idea if the snake would recover from the injuries.
Tang Zhong had summoned Tangyue away, leaving him guarding the snake that had once scared the shit out of him all on his own.