After Bligh left, Qin Lun and the others began to pack their tents and set off on the road again.
The witch-created magical creatures continued to harass the exorcist's procession throughout the day the next day, and the onslaught reached its climax at night. The exorcist teams in three directions sent out yellow smoke signals that they needed reinforcements.
After discussing with Boni, the experienced Otto asked the last exorcist team to go to support, and began to shrink the formation, shortening the distance of one kilometer between each small team by half, so as to facilitate mutual support.
When the third day dawned, the evil creatures finally retreated, and all the exorcists were forced to gather to the rear. When they returned to the central camp, Qin Lun found that his work began to be heavy.
There were casualties in the exorcist's team, two companions died, and five others were seriously injured. The two exorcists who died belonged to the team that was originally in charge of breaking the rear. Originally, this team was the weakest. On the way to support last night, they were attacked by some evil creatures and suffered huge losses.
The death of the two corpses was tragic. One corpse was cut in half, and his companion only brought back the upper body. As for his lower body, it is estimated that he has already entered the belly of some evil creature.
Qin Lun found that the wound on the corpse's waist was jagged, and the muscles and internal organs seemed to be torn apart by force. It was hard to imagine how much pain this unlucky man suffered when he died.
According to his companion, they were suddenly attacked by a scorpion in the dark. This unlucky guy was caught off guard by the scorpion with large pincers and cut him in half.
This scorpion is one of the evil creatures made by witches. Unlike gargoyles, which are completely magical creatures, and unlike indigenous evil creatures such as trolls, scorpions are synthetic life forms with broken souls.
Gargoyles, magical creatures that use magic cores as their power source, cannot accept complex orders, and due to the shortage of resources, witches cannot produce many. And complete life forms like trolls are too rare, and their reproduction rate is also very low, so they cannot become the main combat force.
So after the Millennium Deed, the witches began to study the combination of biological souls and magical constructs to create a hybrid life form with a broken soul.
These living beings are called halflings, or half-orcs. They have the bodies of animals and the incomplete souls of humans. They can accept some complicated orders and complete various tasks assigned by witches.
There are many types of halflings, including centaur archers whose lower body is a stag and horse, and whose upper body is human; Scorpion is a human-faced spider and a scorpion with mixed genes.
Because these halflings have broken human souls, they are more cunning than pure magical creatures like gargoyles, and the incompleteness of their souls makes them often fall into a painful frenzy, so they are more cruel and fierce in battle. After they kill the enemy, they often tear the corpse into pieces and make a mess.
The appearance of the scorpion proves that the Maia witch did notice the existence of this exorcist team, rather than a chance encounter with an evil creature in the forest.
Qin Lun shook the syringe in his hand, and injected a tube of medicine into Nova's shoulder. The most powerful Bawanghua in the team was also injured last night, and was bitten by a leopard man on the shoulder. If it weren't for her extraordinary talent and bones as strong as steel, an ordinary person would have suffered a comminuted fracture.
"Thank you, Dr. Stan!" Nova looked at the shoulders wrapped in rice dumplings with a weird expression.
Qin Lun's operation of removing rotten flesh and correcting bones was very professional, and his movements were skillful and calm, but the way of bandaging was very rough, even inferior to exorcists like them in some aspects.
"You're welcome, Ms. Nova!" Looking at his "masterpiece" of zongzi, Qin Lun shrugged his shoulders mockingly.
He couldn't tell Nova that he couldn't bandage a wound. As for the proficient surgical movements, it's just that there were too many "anatomical exercises" in the past, and they learned by themselves without a teacher.
"Ms. Nova, are we about to withdraw from the Maiya Forest?" Qin Lun rolled his eyes and asked with concern.
"It hasn't been decided yet. Let's discuss it after everyone breathes a sigh of relief!" Nova's face trembled, and she frowned tightly.
Different from the idleness of the previous two days, on the morning of the third day, Qin Lun became the busiest person in the entire camp. Excluding the two victims and the five seriously injured, the exorcist's team is now less than twenty people, and most of them have more or less suffered minor injuries.
"Doctor Stan, let's drink something first! It's great to have you on the team, otherwise, the five seriously injured partners might have already died!" Odo said with a heavy face as he handed Qin Lun a cup of hot cocoa. "The leaders of several teams want to discuss it, so you should come here too. We want to hear your opinion on some aspects!"
The corner of Qin Lun's mouth twitched slightly. Of course he knew what Otto and the others wanted to ask. It was nothing more than opinions on how to deal with the seriously injured, to see if they could persist. This is related to whether the team will send someone to escort the seriously injured, and whether others can continue to move forward.
Otherwise, in front of these experienced exorcists, he is not qualified to attend the meeting.
"I think we should exit the Maia forest. Gargoyles, trolls, and halflings have formed a complete system of evil creatures. Their appearance together on the outskirts of the forest is enough to prove that Maia witches are spying on human settlements outside the forest. , the time for them to launch a formal attack is not far away!"
When Qin Lun entered the tent, several leaders of the exorcist team were arguing fiercely, and it was a middle-aged exorcist with a cheeky face who suggested returning.
"No, we haven't confirmed whether the plague was created by witches. Once we exit the forest, our mission this time will fail. It will not help solve the current plight of the Odia region!" Bonnie raised his eyebrows and immediately proposed objection.
"But if we all fall here, the power of the exorcists in the Odia area will tend to be paralyzed, and they will no longer be able to stop the witches from invading Odia. The best choice now is to return to Albert Castle immediately and report the situation here to the headquarters. "The bearded man retorted loudly.
Hearing his analysis, the exorcists in the tent fell silent. They did not lack the courage to sacrifice, but they were unwilling to sacrifice in vain. The current situation is exactly as the cheeky exorcist said, this is the first time they encountered so many evil creatures outside the forest. If it was said that there was no witch's instigation behind it, no one would believe it.
The key question now is whether they want to give up this reconnaissance mission and temporarily abandon the investigation of the source of the epidemic. After exiting the forest, even if the witches attacked aggressively, they could still rely on the terrain advantage of Albert Castle to resist for a period of time. However, if the investigation of the source of the epidemic is abandoned, the epidemic in several small towns will definitely become more serious.
"Doctor Stan, how long can the five seriously injured exorcists last?" Seeing Qin Lun enter the tent, Odo broke the silence.
"I have treated their injuries, but there is a lack of suitable medicines here. Their injuries are not allowed to take part in the long-distance trek. I think it is best to send them back to the castle for recuperation, otherwise, I cannot guarantee their safety!" Qin Qin Lun said flatly.
Although Qin Lun hoped that these exorcists would continue to go deep into the forest, he did not intentionally conceal the situation of the injured. These exorcists have rich experience, even if he doesn't say it, many people know it by heart.
Bonnie languished at his words, leaning back in his chair dejectedly. This was the last straw that broke the camel's back. If the other five wounded couldn't hold on any longer, and they still needed escorts, the remaining strength was no longer enough to go deep into the forest, and it was meaningless to die in vain.
"Since that's the case..." Otto struggled a bit.
"Please wait a moment, Master Odo, all respected senior exorcists, can you listen to my opinion!" Qin Lun's eyes flashed, and he interrupted Odo's speech.
"Doctor Stan, please tell me! Although you are a novice exorcist, as a team doctor, your opinion is also very important to us!" Nova said in a deep voice.
"Thank you, Ms. Nova!" Qin Lun smiled and nodded towards Bawanghua, "I don't have the rich experience of everyone here to judge the current situation. What I want to talk about is the epidemic situation in the Odia region!"
Qin Lun's words immediately attracted everyone's attention. If the doctor hastily expressed his views on this operation, the other exorcists would just scoff. However, he is a well-deserved authority on the development of the epidemic, and no exorcist dares to ignore his opinion.
Seriously speaking, the ultimate goal of the exorcist's mission is still to protect ordinary humans in the Odia region. It doesn't matter if you can't complete the task, at most the task points will be deducted by the exorcist headquarters, but if the epidemic affects the safety of the entire region, they will really live up to the vocation of the exorcist.
"According to the information that everyone has brought me so far, I infer that within two weeks, the entire Odia region will break out with a severe epidemic. The accumulation of early epidemic patients has reached a critical point. Once it continues to spread, the epidemic will no longer be suppressed." Qin Ren said blankly.
"Doctor Stan, are you saying that we must find the final solution to the epidemic within two weeks?" Odo's eyes lit up. The aura of fear.
"Dr. Stan, are you unable to control the further development of the epidemic? Your medicine..." Boni asked hastily as his expression changed.
"The preparation of that kind of medicine is extremely complicated, and others cannot intervene. I am only one person, even if I prepare the medicine 24 hours a day, it will not save a few people!" Qin Lun said lightly, "We must find the real antidote formula for the epidemic virus. Otherwise, why do you think that I, a doctor, insist on participating in your combat missions?"
"Doctor Stan, you should have told us this earlier!" Odo said in a deep voice with a livid face.
"It's not too late, isn't it?" Qin Lun narrowed his eyes slightly and said with flickering eyes, "Actually, I have some ideas about the predicament we are currently encountering. Seniors can refer to it..."