Kalinger's job as a bounty hunter is far from done. It wasn't enough to just kill a few infected animals, he had to find a way to bring it all to an end.
As a matter of course, he borrowed and lived in the guest room on the second floor of the "Singing Hut". The guest rooms here have just been cleaned up, but they are much warmer and more comfortable than those in the Falling Moon Tower.
After lunch that day, he wandered around the mountains again, but encountered no danger.
The sight dormant in the dark disappeared, the rustling stalkers stopped moving, and the malice flowing in the air also dissipated a lot.
Is it because the sun is up? It doesn't seem right. Abyssal creatures do like to hunt in the dark, but not because they are afraid of light. In the past, the villagers were in distress several times during the day. It was not safe during the day, but it was more dangerous at night.
At dinner time, Kalinge returned to the village on time to eat. After eating, just as the sun was setting, he returned to the mountains.
If you can meet monsters, kill a few more. If you can't, you should be able to meet the mage's four-legged golem, and you can appreciate the mage's curse again.
He did encounter spherical quadruped golems, and two in succession. This time, there were no cursing voices coming from the sphere, they just followed him from a distance, as if for surveillance.
Kalinger passed through the warning belt halfway up the mountain, and went deep into the forest again under the soft lighting. Now it was already night again, but he didn't encounter any monsters along the way.
Today's mountains and forests are calmer than yesterday. This is by no means an illusion.
Kalinger found the rock wall he had seen yesterday, which was the entrance to the Moonfall Tower. Without the mage, he couldn't find the gate.
Getting closer, Kalinger found a piece of paper on the rock wall. The paper is fixed by an arm-length construction part, and it is stuck in a low place, at the same height as a human being, which is extremely conspicuous.
Kalinger tore off the paper, which was apparently a message for him:
"I guessed it, maybe you will come back. Give up, I won't entertain you anymore. I let you stay because it was very dangerous in the mountains yesterday. There is no need for today. The situation is much better. You don't need my protection." , I don’t need your help. Don’t talk about the work of bounty hunters, what does your work have to do with me? But if you really want to help those people down the mountain, look down now.”
down? This letter ends here. Kalinger thought for a while before realizing that the elf told him to look down.
He looked towards the bottom of the rock wall. There were some small gravel scattered among the weeds, and the crimson velvet box was very conspicuous among the gray and green.
The box is about the size of a palm and feels a little heavy in the hand. Kalinger opened the box, which contained an oval tin box the size of a duck egg.
A piece of paper was pasted on the inside of the lid of the velvet box. The paper was folded twice. Kalinger opened it and saw that it was written in small characters:
"You have nothing to do in the mountains. If you want to use it, take this back to Black Tree Village. There are some medicines in the tin box, which were just prepared during the day. You go find those idiots who went up the mountain last time, Give them the medicine, just one pill per person, and watch them take it. Remember, it was the people who went up the mountain last time, that is, Magistrate Marlowe and the others. People before that did not need medicine, and it means that they are still alive It's okay. Get this done as soon as possible, don't delay too long."
Kalinger opened the tin box, and inside the box were small white balls, like frosted pearls. Another note was taped to the inside of the tin lid, and it read in smaller letters:
"The box is given to you. You don't need to return it to me. It's worthless at all. You can also give it to the Huange Hut as a decoration."
Kalinge laughed out loud. He put away the box and walked around the rock wall again, but found no other messages.
On the way down the mountain, Kalinger took a long time. He deliberately searched everywhere for infected bodies, but he still didn't find any.
However, this time he discovered something else.
Above the warning belt halfway up the mountain, there is no normal animal or insect activity in the woods. This area is either attacked by monsters like yesterday, or completely silent like today.
And below the warning zone, which is the area where ordinary hunters can go during the day, you can still hear some insects and small animal activities.
Kalinger noticed the shape of the cordon again. The warning belt is not a fence, but an area that stretches forward and backward for a certain distance. From the highest point to the lowest point, it takes at least a quarter and a half to walk.
It is said that the warning zone is left over the years, that is to say, the area that needs to be warned is expanding year by year. In the beginning, the danger zone only surrounded the high mountains and forests, but now it has expanded a lot to the bottom of the mountain.
If you regard alien infection as magma, then this mountain is a slow and gentle volcano. The magma is slowly discharged from the crater and flows slowly down the mountain. As long as you don't get too close to it, you won't suffer any harm in a short time .
As a bounty hunter, Kalinger also has a little research on otherworldly studies. Based on the knowledge he has acquired, many of the above things are unreasonable.
The "demon" that people often say is actually a kind of alien creature. It does not come from the hell that religion says, but from the abyss plane.
The local legend in Heishu Village believes that there is a "demon" inside the mountain, and it is the resurrection of the "demon" that caused all this. In fact, this is impossible.
Living demons do not cause plane infection. Even if the devil ran in front of a person, held hands and kissed this person before marrying, the person would not become an alien infection.
Because the devil is alive, the abyssal power of the living creature is restricted by the soul, unless he transforms the power into spells for slaughter, otherwise, those powers will not be leaked passively, and will not react with the elements of the plane.
What can really cause alien infections are inanimate objects from the abyss plane. For example, a weapon from the Abyss, if not properly preserved, has the potential to infect the bearer. Infection means literally: to be eroded, sickened, alienated, dead...
After the infected person died, they were completely transformed into another life form, becoming true abyssal creatures.
"Objects" also include the bones of demons, so if there are really bones of demons in the mountain, it is indeed possible to cause infection from another world.
But generally speaking, the scale of "infection" will not be very large. The power of alien objects is limited, and a corpse can kill at most one or two humans or large animals. To achieve so many times of infection around Heishu Village for such a long time, the number of demon corpses probably needs to be greater than the number of villagers.
The alien infection will end sooner or later, the abyssal element will not spread endlessly, it will slowly dissipate, and will eventually be offset by the normal elements in the original plane.
However, the infection situation in the mountain forest of Heishu Village is very special: it has lasted for hundreds of years from mild to severe, spanning several generations of life, and the surrounding areas have been considered safe for hundreds of years, but the infection has intensified in recent years , constantly eroding the creatures in the mountain, and spreading out of the forest little by little... What is it that is out of control and powerful enough to erode so many animals
To deal with alien infection, it is not difficult to say: just kill all the infected bodies within the range. The infected bodies themselves are ordinary creatures, and their corpses will not continue to emit alien elements, so just kill them at ease.
Most of the "demons" killed by bounty hunters were not real demons, but "fully infected"—to put it bluntly, they were animals that became creatures of the abyss after being attacked.
There are not so many real demons in the world. Traveling between planes is not an outing. Demons can't come so easily.
There had been more than one mage in the mountains near Heishu Village. The mages were obviously trying to suppress the alien infection, and the results were pretty good. They've been doing it for so long, and they still can't get rid of it... Even if they can't find the source of the infection, can't they kill the infected animals
What Kalinger thought was strange. Either important information is missing, or you have touched a blind spot in your knowledge.
The most direct solution is to find an insider and ask him to understand.
But Kalinger couldn't do that. With years of experience in knowing people, he can tell which method is suitable for whom. That rime is by no means an ordinary sorcerer, no matter begging him, luring him, or pressing him, it will have no effect.
Yesterday, Kalinger wanted to sneak into the depths of the Falling Moon Tower. Later, he calmed down and thought about it. Even if he succeeded in rappelling, he probably couldn't find anything useful.
The interior of that tower was simple and unprepared, and the really important things must be protected by magic, and he probably wouldn't be able to see it even if he went down a hundred floors.
Kalinge returned to the foot of the mountain, turned around and looked at the entire mountain forest. Things in Heishu Village are just so awkward and sticky.
As long as other bounty hunters don't come, most people really don't have the patience.
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It was early morning when we returned to Black Tree Village. Kalinger walked through the silent street and came to the door of "Singing House". The poet and the shopkeeper did not wait for him, the door was already locked, and he knocked for a while but no one came to open it.
However, there was a ladder leaning under the second-story window on the side of the house. There was no ladder here before, and it was obviously placed here today.
Kalinger almost laughed angrily. The customs of Heishu Village are really unique. This village is not suitable for being invaded by demons at all. It has no tragic and melancholic temperament at all.
Having said that, after all, world affairs are not like dramas, and often have no rules to follow.
Kalinger climbed into the second-floor guest room, sat down, and opened the tin box to examine the pills.
The elf said that the medicine would be distributed to those who went up the mountain last time. According to what he meant, this medicine should be used to prevent infection.
But... come to think of it, this medicine is also a bit strange.
Unless you stay next to items that reveal the power of the abyss every day, how can you be so easily infected? Facing the infected body, no matter if you hit it, touch it, or get stained with its blood... you will not be infected. The alien infection is not a plague, it is not spread by contact with the corpse of a monster, the principle of infection is fundamentally different.
As a bounty hunter, Kalinge still understands this knowledge.
Infection from another world is a very mysterious thing. It erodes water and soil first, and then living things.
It is more like a specter that keeps spreading the territory than a disease. It will sneak in when the creature is weak or the will is loose, and slowly turn the living creature into something like itself.
When the elements hit you, you and those around you probably won't even notice. By the time it is noticed, things are often irreversible.
Kallinger sat in the room thinking for a while, carrying the tin box on his body.
Suddenly, a thought flashed in his mind, and he sort of guessed the elf's intentions.
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Karinge didn't rest for a long time. When it was dawn, he went downstairs and knocked on the door desperately, woke up the poet, and asked the poet to take him to the sheriff Marlowe and the five village militiamen.
This morning, Kalinger successfully delivered five pills. The five militiamen lived not far away. They heard that the pills were given by the mountain elves, and they all took them gratefully.
The sixth pill is to be given to Sheriff Marlowe. The ten-year-old son of Marlowe's family opened the door. He said that Marlowe's wound was infected and he had a severe fever. His brother, sister and mother accompanied his father to the city to see a doctor.
The sheriff went to town, and that was fine. Callinger returned to "Singing Cottage" and went to the backyard to lead out his horse. He was going to the city next, to find the members of the city guard who had gone up the mountain.
There is no heavy rain blocking the road today, and the riding speed is much faster than last time. Kallinger reached the city by dusk.
He had dealt with the city guards before, so he quickly found the ten soldiers—in fact, nine of them, and one of them had returned to the embrace of the gods.
Kalinger explained the purpose of his visit, distributed the pills to them, and watched them swallow the pills on the spot. After doing this, Kalinger asked them how many doctors there were in the city and where they lived.
Under the guidance of the soldiers, Kalinger hurried to every clinic in the city. Sheriff Marlowe was not at any of the clinics, or more precisely, not absent, he hadn't been in at all.
Kalinger repeatedly confirmed to each clinic and the guards guarding the city gate that not only did the clinic not treat Marlowe, but Marlowe had never been to the city since that expedition up the mountain.
An extremely bad premonition arose in Kalinge's heart, and he immediately turned back to Black Tree Village.
It was already dark. Kalinger galloped on the undulating country road at full speed. He gritted his teeth secretly: I am really stupid. A ten-year-old kid tricked me. I shouldn't have left at that time. I should have forced my way into Marlowe's house.
After those sixteen people went up the mountain to explore, it was not fifteen who really "survived".
It is fourteen.
TBC