Witch Medicine Formula Takes Effect (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

The appearance of the Plague Worm meant Shen Can no longer had time to lie around.

The Witch Doctor needed to immediately check on the condition of the tribespeople.

Elder Huo Xian was old, so he naturally had to step up.

He was busy until dawn, and only managed to rest for a bit. Fortunately, as a martial artist, he wasn't tired at all.

After the floodwaters receded, the flat ground below the mountain revealed some of the tribe's structures.

But the tribe didn't have the time now to dig their houses out of the mud.

At the entrance to the Ancestral Temple.

A roaring bonfire burned, and the scent of medicine filled the air.

The ancestors were divine beings, naturally unafraid of plagues, but the Temple Guardian was human.

Shen Can threw a handful of witch medicine into the bonfire, a scarf made of burlap wrapped around his nose and mouth, covering both.

He wondered, what exactly was a Witch Doctor?

After failing to produce fine salt, he'd had a flash of inspiration to have everyone wear masks, but he hadn't expected the Witch Doctor to already have them.

At this point, the Plague Worm hadn't reached the tribal settlement yet, and he hadn't seen one.

Of course, he didn't want to see one either.

On the stone platform at the very top of the tribal mountain, Huo Tang sat in meditation.

He had gone up there to sit as soon as the Plague Worm was discovered.

From the high vantage points around, tribespeople with good eyesight also perched on the rocks like monkeys, scanning the surroundings.

"A-Can, go back and rest. I'll watch."

Huo Xian emerged from the cave. As the tribe's Witch Doctor, this was also the time he was most vigilant.

Some Plague Worms could be seen, while others could not.

If any tribespeople within the settlement developed symptoms like high fever or fainting, they had to be carefully isolated.

"Master, I'm full of energy."

Shen Can let Huo Xian go back; the old man's exhaustion was clearly visible.

Leaning by the bonfire, he took out a roll of beast hide and unrolled it.

The beast hide recorded the several plagues the Blazing Flame Tribe had experienced since its founding.

The Temple Guardian at the time had meticulously recorded the general situation.

This data used the un-improved witch medicine formula, and the Temple Guardian's records were also vague, so Shen Can could only make a general analysis.

After each plague, the number of Blazing Flame Tribe members who died from it ranged from ten to twenty percent of the total population.

And that was just those who died; those infected and requiring rest accounted for nearly sixty to seventy percent, equivalent to the entire tribe being severely wounded.

Both the deceased and the infected were mostly the old and weak. Unless martial artists were directly exposed to the Plague Worm, they could usually withstand the plague.

The fact that the martial artists' foundations were not significantly damaged was also the reason the Blazing Flame Tribe had survived.

Plague Worms were afraid of fire and disliked the smell of burnt witch medicine herbs. If preparations were thorough and the Plague Worms were few, they could be driven away in advance.

But once these things appeared in swarms, the bonfires and herbs would be unable to stop them, and the tribe would face utter destruction.

Besides the data, the handwritten notes also recorded a tribe called Tuan Shui, which was ravaged by the Plague Worm. Its martial artists suffered heavy losses, and the tribe subsequently disappeared into the Great Wilderness.

As for how it disappeared, Shen Can felt it was likely annexed by other tribes, which was consistent with his previous speculations.

Crisis was also opportunity.

If the improved witch medicine formula truly worked and could drive away the Plague Worms from the tribal settlement, the Blazing Flame Tribe could preserve more of its strength.

If any nearby tribes were unlucky, it would be an opportunity for the Blazing Flame Tribe.

If nothing else, A'Yu might be able to find a strong woman to keep him warm at night.

In addition, the tribal chief had brought back three second-tier desolate beasts. Their beast blood had been collected, and Shen Can didn't know where it was stored, but he had a guess in his mind.

Being the tribal chief was quite tiring.

It was much easier to serve the ancestors.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

Shen Can ate, drank, urinated, and defecated by the bonfire, waiting.

According to the tribal records, the fastest instance of tribespeople becoming infected was the second day after the Plague Worm appeared.

Now it was the fifth day, and everything in the settlement was still normal.

Every day, Shen Can would inspect the tribe. Everyone seemed energetic, though they all exuded the smell of witch medicine, as if they had been pickled.

This all indicated that the improved witch medicine was working.

The tribal chief Huo Tang was still at the high place, like a sentinel.

His gaze was sharp as he surveyed the surroundings, his heart filled with both excitement and trepidation.

It's been five days.

The witch medicine recipe left by our ancestors is really working.

In a year of great disaster, if the Blazing Flame Tribe's strength doesn't decline, it's equivalent to an improvement.

Not to mention that the Blazing Flame Tribe's strength has truly, genuinely improved.

The three second-tier desolate beasts he hunted in the dark afterward, releasing their five-slot beast blood, successfully promoted four tribesmen.

Including Huo Lei and another who were promoted in secret, the tribe now has six more mountain-splitting martial artists.

All of this was done in secret; only a few people in the tribe knew.

On the vast land after the flood, dense black dots, like small insects, appeared on the surface of the water in the depressions.

In the nooks and crannies of the mountains and wilds, the massive carcasses of desolate beasts lay half-buried under the silt, their prominent bodies constantly heaving.

Within several miles of the Blazing Flame Tribe, all the ponds and water bodies had long since been filled in, and the remaining rotten beast corpses had been burned to ashes.

On the muddy ground, over a dozen tribesmen wore robes boiled in medicinal soup, their faces wrapped in scarves made of several layers of coarse cloth.

A strong medicinal aroma continuously filled their nostrils.

Even though it was broad daylight, everyone held a torch.

The torches were specially made with witch medicine, releasing smoke and dust with a strong medicinal aroma as they burned.

Each tribesman carried either fire oil, medicinal herbs, dry firewood, bows, crossbows, arrows, hatchets, or weapons; they were fully loaded.

Their purpose for this expedition was to constantly monitor the movement of the plague worms.

"Brother Bi, plague worms!"

As they walked, a buzzing sound arose, and everyone immediately became vigilant, pinpointing the source of the sound.

A swarm of plague worms, each the size of a fist, with transparent wings shimmering in the sunlight, flew towards them from a distance.

Huo Bi immediately ordered everyone to form a circle, backs facing inward, with arrows nocked.

As soon as the plague worms got close, they could shoot them down with fire arrows.

Before Huo Bi could give the order to fire, the swarm of plague worms circled a few times and then turned to fly in another direction.

"The witch medicine is working!"

Huo Bi reacted immediately. The group of them had an incredibly strong medicinal scent on them, and coupled with the torches they held, this had scared away the plague worms.

"Quick, go back and report to the Chieftain. We'll chase after them and not let these plague worms head towards the tribe's territory."

One day later.

In a low, undulating area, torches flickered, and smoke with a strong scent of medicinal herbs filled the air.

"Chieftain, the plague worms came from the south."

"We tracked them for a day and found no other swarms. The few we shot down were also completely burned."

"The rest have flown far away."

Huo Bi pointed to a spot with scorched, charcoal-like ash and spoke to Huo Tang.

When the plague broke out, plague worms with wings were the first to appear and could cross mountains and traverse ridges.

They could appear anywhere, making them impossible to guard against.

And precisely because they had wings, once they found suitable breeding grounds, they would reproduce and grow rapidly.

For a tribe, whether they could defend against these things actually involved an element of luck.

Many days had passed since the flood receded, and no large-scale outbreak of plague worms had been found, which indicated that the Blazing Flame Tribe was quite lucky.

Of course, the tribe's preemptive arrangements also played a significant role in cutting off the breeding grounds for the plague worms.

"Chieftain, the witch medicine the Temple Guardian concocted this time is truly effective. The plague worms turn away as soon as they smell it."

After chasing the plague worms for a day, everyone had witnessed the effect firsthand and now spoke up one after another.

"Continue the patrol."

After understanding the situation, Huo Tang returned to the tribe.

In the following days, more and more tribesmen reported finding traces of plague worms outside the tribe's territory.

The closest one was discovered only three miles from the tribe's settlement. After smelling the strong scent of smoke and medicinal herbs, they hovered for a few times before spreading their wings and flying away.

Within the tribe, some children and frail tribesmen had also begun to show symptoms.

For the tribesmen with symptoms, their entire living caves were moved out, and they were resettled in caves opened up on another mountain.

In addition to drinking the witch medicine soup, they also increased methods such as medicinal fumigation and medicinal baths to treat the plague.

From the isolation caves, Shen Can emerged, followed by the strong bear A'Yu, who helped him carry various medicinal herbs.

After walking out of the cave, Shen Can saw the tribal leader Huo Tang approaching from a distance.

Huo Tang walked up to Shen Can. "A'Yu, take the herbs back first."

A'Yu didn't suspect anything. "Brother A-Can, I'll just take them back and give them to Grandpa Huo Xian, right?"

Shen Can nodded. He understood that the tribal chief had something to tell him.

"A-Can, the ancestors protect our tribe from the Plague Worms, but this time, the number of people infected openly within our tribe is a bit too low."

"Ah..."

Shen Can was taken aback.

What do you mean by that, Chief?

Did my hard work cause a problem?

Tsk.