Alien Species Invasion? I Kill Them Back.

Chapter 107: Chapter 105: Plague

But it was too late.

A thick, black smoke spewed from the old woman’s mouth. Even though they were already fleeing down the mountain with all their might, the black smoke pursued them relentlessly—

As it drew closer, Feng Ling realized it wasn’t smoke at all, but a swarm of minuscule gnats! They swarmed together, forming a dense, silken net in the air as they flew toward them.

Feng Ling immediately shouted to Pei Xianjue, "Fire!!!"

Pei Xianjue raised her hand and slashed at the air!

Flames spread through the air in an arc, wiping out a portion of the black smoke.

Feng Ling shouted as she ran, "Can’t you make your fire any bigger?!"

Pei Xianjue slashed a few more times, but the flames grew weaker with each strike.

Her limbs felt weak and she couldn’t muster any strength. She couldn’t even use her Card’s ability freely, and a sense of dread washed over her.

Nearby, Baozi started coughing violently. His face turned beet red, and tears and snot streamed down his face.

Li Qing covered his nose and mouth, urging them on, "Back to the safe house! These bugs are poisonous!"

The moment he finished speaking, everyone held their breath and covered their heads and faces, fleeing down the mountain!

They ran for more than a hundred meters down the mountain path before the black smoke finally stopped its pursuit. Still, they didn’t dare to stop until the sight of the Three Pure Ones Palace’s upturned eaves and green tiles came into view, at which point they finally let out a sigh of relief.

Huangfu Miaomiao, still in her Ghost Shadow form, was faster than anyone else and was the first to reach the safe house—

The moment she scrambled past the memorial archway of the Three Pure Ones Palace, she tumbled out of the black shadow, unable to bear it any longer. The fruit that had been enveloped in the shadow scattered across the ground, while a naked Huangfu Miaomiao collapsed, coughing uncontrollably.

Flecks of blood sputtered from her throat. She struggled to pull a blanket from her storage grid and wrap it around herself. A red rash had broken out on her exposed skin, and her face was flushed from a high fever.

Not long after, Feng Ling, Pei Xianjue, Baozi, and Li Qing also made it back to the safe house.

Pei Xianjue and Baozi had the same symptoms as Huangfu Miaomiao: a high fever and incessant coughing. Baozi was even suffering from bleeding gums and vomiting.

Feng Ling’s Card was Nest, which gave her a certain degree of resistance to bacteria and viruses, but she too had developed a rash. She felt dizzy, nauseous, and weak, and her eyes were dry and bloodshot.

Li Qing was the only one among them with no symptoms at all.

Huangfu Miaomiao redeemed some recovery potions, handing one to each person and injecting herself with one.

The recovery potion couldn’t cure the poison, but it could rapidly boost one’s immune system and strengthen their constitution, thereby alleviating the symptoms.

After injecting the recovery potion, Feng Ling caught her breath for a moment and asked Li Qing, "Why are you the only one who’s fine?"

Li Qing: "..."

’How am I supposed to explain that I’m just a corpse?’

THUD!

Baozi lost consciousness and collapsed, his head hitting the ground with a dull sound.

Pei Xianjue wanted to say something, but her throat was hoarse and she felt dizzy and dazed.

After her injection, Huangfu Miaomiao curled up on the floor, her eyes closed weakly as she waited for the potion to take effect.

Looking at the disastrous scene, Li Qing sighed. He grabbed one of Baozi’s arms, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and said to Feng Ling, "Let’s get them inside to rest."

Feng Ling had no time to dwell on Li Qing’s unusual constitution. She bent down, lifted Huangfu Miaomiao into her arms, and carried her into the front hall of the Three Pure Ones Palace.

There were no mats, no pillows. Her and Huangfu Miaomiao’s belongings were almost all in their storage grids, and judging by Huangfu Miaomiao’s current state, she probably couldn’t get anything out.

Feng Ling set her down and went back outside, preparing to carry Pei Xianjue into the hall as well.

But as soon as she helped Pei Xianjue up, she looked up and saw a clay Divine Statue standing directly in front of the archway, no more than ten meters away!

It was the Divine Statue from the Ancient Tower!

It had actually followed them! All the way to the outside of their safe house!

Feng Ling’s heart pounded in her chest.

Although the clay Divine Statue appeared benevolent and was smiling elegantly, she could see a flesh-eating, blood-drinking malevolence and brutality in its gentle eyes and smiling lips.

She didn’t know if it was an effect of her illness, but after the Divine Statue appeared, Feng Ling noticed the surrounding fog gradually turning red, as if stained with blood. It was terrifyingly grim.

Li Qing stepped over the threshold and also saw the Ancient Tower’s Divine Statue outside.

Feng Ling immediately asked him, "Can you see it? Is the color of the fog... wrong?"

Li Qing’s face was grim as he nodded. "That clay Divine Statue," he said, "is the Maze Master."

Stunned, Feng Ling whipped her head around to look outside the safe house again—

The enigmatic Divine Statue stood motionless outside, its gaze fixed upon them.

Its painted eyes were dark, hollow, and sinister, holding none of the warmth or peace of a deity, only a demonic, venomous evil.

"It’s a game mechanic," Li Qing explained. "Like a dragon guarding its treasure that only wakes when a Knight touches the gold. Or a Demon statue that only breaks its petrification to attack when a Hero enters its line of sight. When you stepped into that tower, the Maze Boss was awakened. From now on, it’s no longer confined to the tower; it can move freely. If you see the fog turn red, it means the Maze Boss is nearby."

It was just like in some games where the background music changes when the player approaches a boss.

Feng Ling stared at the Divine Statue, biting her lip as an overwhelming sense of frustration surged within her.

She had thought she could take care of the Maze Master swiftly and decisively.

Instead, they had fled in disarray, completely powerless to fight back.

Now, she didn’t even dare take a single step out of the safe house. The moment she left its protection, she would be forced to kneel before that damned clay puppet!

The mental pressure surpassed her physical capabilities, and she couldn’t find a way to break it.

Feng Ling suppressed the indignation in her heart and turned to ask Li Qing, "So what was the deal with that old hag just now?"

Li Qing pondered for a moment before saying to her, "Come inside first. I’ll explain everything."

The two of them helped Pei Xianjue into one of the halls of the Three Pure Ones Palace.

—Of the six who entered the Maze, one was dead and three were down. Now, only Feng Ling and Li Qing remained conscious.

Li Qing lit the oil lamps on the altar table one by one.

The faint lamplight illuminated Feng Ling’s frustrated face, while outside, the red fog showed no signs of dispersing.

"I have a theory about the Maze Master," Li Qing said. "It might not be correct, but I think it’s highly likely."

Feng Ling frowned.

Li Qing continued, "The image of the Queen Mother of the West has evolved several times in legends. One of those images is of an old woman holding the Immortality Potion."

"The Immortality Potion?" Feng Ling tried to recall, but everything had happened in such a dangerous rush that she couldn’t remember if the old hag had been holding anything.

"Legends about the Queen Mother of the West often mention the Immortality Potion," Li Qing said. "The most famous is the story of Chang’e flying to the moon. The Immortality Potion Chang’e took was one the Queen Mother of the West had given to Hou Yi. Because her image is so fundamentally tied to the Immortality Potion, I don’t think the Maze would neglect this element in its design. The fruits on that tree are very likely an evolved form of the ’Immortality Potion’."

Feng Ling thought for a moment, stunned. "That’s right... if that’s the case, then everything makes sense. The monsters could revive after being killed because they consumed the ’Immortality Potion’."

"And the insects..." Li Qing glanced at the unconscious figures on the floor. "In ancient myths, the Queen Mother of the West held dominion over plague and death."

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