The appearance of the Flying Plague Worms threw the tribe into a panic.
Fortunately, during this time, an emergency prevention system had been established within the tribe.
Bonfires burned everywhere, with reserve witch medicine placed directly beside them.
Very soon, thick smoke mingled with the fragrance of medicine billowed into the sky.
The Plague Worms were densely packed, gathering in midair into a swarm that stretched four or five li.
When they charged toward the tribal grounds in one great rush, they caught the strong scent of medicine and began circling outside the tribe.
Only after the tribe increased the amount of witch medicine being burned did the swarm turn and head southwest.
Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
Over the following days.
The Flying Plague Worms appeared with far greater frequency, showing up outside the tribe several times a day, in swarms both large and small.
The women and children of the tribe all entered the fumigation caves, while construction of the city not only did not stop, but accelerated instead.
Huo Tang personally led the work, wanting to surround the tribe with city walls as quickly as possible, lest Possessing Plague Worms arrive after the Flying Plague Worms.
Shen Can also increased the amount of witch medicine being brewed. During meals, no one drank meat broth anymore; they drank medicinal soup directly.
One bowl of medicinal soup, one bowl of meat.
Inside the ancestral temple.
Huo Xian distributed the witch medicine. After receiving it, more than a dozen young tribesmen hurried away.
His face was filled with worry. "A plague unseen in three hundred years. May our ancestors bless us and see us through this great calamity."
For prevention, the tribe's bonfires were no longer allowed to go out, so that the scent of witch medicine could be released to the fullest extent possible.
Shen Can hurried in from outside and saw Huo Xian standing blankly at the entrance of the ancestral temple cave.
"Master, hurry back inside. The Plague Aura is heavy outside."
Shen Can pulled Huo Xian into the ancestral temple.
Inside the cave, a fire pit had been dug out. A hanging pot was suspended above it, and medicinal soup bubbled as steam rose from it.
After drinking the medicinal soup, Shen Can went to the fumigation cave.
Before entering, he first rinsed himself all over with medicinal soup.
The human race of the Great Wilderness had long noticed that after Plague Worms passed through an area, people could become infected even without coming into direct contact with them. They had determined that "plague" lingered in the places the worms had passed through.
Huo Xian and Huo Tang called it Plague Aura, while Shen Can called it plague air.
After checking the women and children of the tribe, he found that most were doing well. Only a few frail children seemed somewhat listless.
The facts had already proven that the tribe's improved witch medicine worked. Whether Possessing Plague Worms or Flying Plague Worms, both loathed the smell produced by burning witch medicine.
By avoiding direct contact with the Plague Worms, they had already reduced the infection rate to its lowest possible level.
Next, they only needed to ensure the health of the tribespeople.
Once the plague completely dispersed, if the Blazing Flame Tribe still retained its strength, that would be the true time for growth and prosperity.
Half a month later, under Huo Tang's lead as the tribespeople worked day and night without rest, the tribal walls were completed ahead of schedule.
Building a new city was no small undertaking, and it was fitting to announce it to the ancestors.
They should have held a proper celebration for the whole tribe, roasted some meat, danced, and wrestled together at night.
Unfortunately, the plague was pressing down upon them.
The tribal city had walls on its east, west, and south sides. The Northern Mountains served directly as its northern wall.
The tribal mountain was the largest among the nearby ranges, stretching for nearly four li.
However, they had not used the entire tribal mountain as the northern section of the wall. They only used the stretch with caves, spanning a little over one li from east to west.
The southeastern and southwestern corners each occupied an independent small mountain more than fifty zhang tall, which had been turned into corner towers.
Before construction began, they had wanted to make it as small as possible for easier defense. After all, the tribe had few people.
Yet due to construction methods, terrain, and other reasons, the city's perimeter still approached five li.
Along the city walls, there was one fire pit every thirty zhang and a small storage tower every hundred zhang, stocked with Beast Oil, medicinal herbs, wood, and other supplies.
Each fire pit also had a large pot and huge water jars.
If Plague Worms appeared, they would be used to brew medicinal soup.
A moat had also been dug outside the city, with grass and wood piled up for use as kindling.
The tribespeople were also making wooden spears. Wooden spears were simple and convenient to make, and easier to throw than arrows were to shoot.
After shaping them, they soaked the spearheads in Beast Oil.
All these preparations were for the possible impact of a massive swarm of Possessing Plague Worms.
As for ordinary Plague Worms and Flying Plague Worms, dealing with them would be much easier.
Huo Tang's eyes were bloodshot as he wolfed down a bowl of meat and rice.
Shen Can was the same, his eyes webbed with blood vessels.
Both of their faces were full of exhaustion. With their hair hanging loose and disheveled, neither looked like the temple's heir or the clan chief.
Squatting at the cave entrance, the two each devoured three large bowls, then gulped down a huge bowl of medicinal soup.
"Ah... whew..."
Shen Can leaned against the rock wall and let out a long breath.
"Hold on. If we keep holding on, it'll pass."
Like the flood disaster, the plague had come with equal ferocity. Plague Worms flew past the tribe every day.
There were no Possessing Plague Worms, but with them flying over every day, they had to stay alert at every moment, lest the Flying Plague Worms slip through a crack.
Huo Tang drained the last drop of soup from his bowl and said, "I'm going to meet up with Huo Shan and the others."
After hearing this, Shen Can took out several witch talismans and stuffed them into Huo Tang's hand.
Huo Tang put them away and left.
Ever since the plague began, Huo Shan had been responsible for scouting outside, while Huo Kui was responsible for moving supplies.
They had intended to trail behind the Possessing Plague Worms and pick up some benefits.
But the severity of a plague disaster was not something human will could fathom.
Huo Tang had therefore ordered the two to return to the tribe as quickly as possible, ignore the outside world for now, and come back to seal off the tribe and defend themselves.
But Huo Shan had investigated many tribes outside and gathered up a group of surviving refugees.
After receiving the order to return, he met up with Huo Kui. The two hid the supplies where they were, but they could not simply abandon the refugees they had gathered.
These were the women the old bachelors in the tribe had long been hoping for, and an opportunity for the tribe to grow stronger.
Huo Shan and the others had struggled to return. In truth, it came down to the tribe's judgment of the plague. Like thunderstorm weather, the plague could change at a moment's notice.
They had thought the plague was weakening and that they could go pick up scraps behind it.
But once they really went out to pick up scraps, they discovered that the plague was like ocean waves. One wave might appear weak, leaving the water calm enough to pick up fish.
Yet they never expected an even larger wave to be following behind it.
As though they were little toys repeatedly kneaded and played with in the hands of a god of calamity.
After Huo Tang left, Shen Can also became busy.
Unlike the two hundred people from the Yan Mountain Tribe who had previously been incorporated into the tribe's shared management, these later arrivals absolutely could not enter the tribal grounds. He had to make arrangements in advance.
Several days later, he saw the surviving refugees brought back by Huo Shan.
Tribal warriors wrapped up tightly from head to toe took over the arrangements for the refugees.
The scattered remnants of tribes looked like refugees, dragging out a line more than a li long. They were skin and bones, their eyes devoid of light.
Some collapsed directly to the ground as they arrived, only to be dragged away by tribespeople and burned.
"Everyone, strip naked and enter the medicinal pools for a wash. Throw all your clothes into the fire and burn them."
There were two caves at the front of the line, each with a large medicinal pool dug inside. The refugees were divided by gender and entered the caves to soak in the medicinal pools.
Originally, Shen Can had wanted to dig the medicinal pools outside, since one would have been enough. But after thinking it over, these people would ultimately be brought into the tribe, so they still needed to retain some dignity.
"When I first brought them together, there were quite a few people. Nearly two thousand."
Huo Shan emerged after soaking in the medicinal pool, but the strange odor on his body still could not be concealed.
He had expended tremendous effort to bring these people back.
He had first settled people in one place, then gone to the next place to seek out others.
He did not know exactly how many tribes' survivors he had gathered, but there had to be seven or eight.
"When they encountered Plague Worms, the strong young men went out to lure them away. They died all along the road. I don't even know if these remaining children can be saved."
Shen Can watched the last person enter the cave and counted the remaining people in his heart. There were seven hundred and twelve in total.
Among them, there were only forty-seven able-bodied warriors, four children, and the rest were young adult women.
Seven or eight tribes should have had at least twenty or thirty thousand people, yet only these few hundred remained.
He could not guarantee how many would survive in the end.
As for the situation of tribes farther away, Huo Shan lacked the ability to investigate them.
Yet the Plague Worms' range was not limited to the distance of seven or eight tribes. Five hundred li, a thousand li... who knew?
Still, this scene was easy enough to describe. Written down, it was only a few words: a great plague in the wilderness...
At that moment, corpses began to be dragged out of the caves again. More than a dozen were pulled out one after another and thrown into the bonfires.
Seeing this, Shen Can spoke. "Uncle Huo Shan, you can't return to the tribal grounds for now. You'll need to stay outside for a while."
"A-Can, we'll obey whatever you say. It's fine if we don't go back. I was thinking of moving back the resources we gathered anyway. Without these refugees dragging us down, moving things will be much faster."
As he spoke, Huo Shan pointed at more than a dozen large sacks piled in the distance.
"A-Can, I know you value the scrolls stored by various tribes."
"We hid everything else where it was, but everyone and I carried the stored scrolls back for you. Look, they're in those sacks."
Half a month later.
Night fell.
Ancestral temple.
"A-Can, there were thirty-five tribespeople in isolation today."
The oil lamp flickered. Shen Can sat behind a stone table, recording the number on the spread-out Beast Hide Scroll.
Thirty-five today, thirty-nine yesterday.
The number of tribespeople showing symptoms had declined for two consecutive days.
The plague had come too fiercely. Nearly eight hundred tribespeople had developed symptoms, including more than a dozen warriors.
Among these eight hundred were the women previously incorporated from the Yan Mountain Tribe.
The surviving refugees brought back later were not included in these statistics.
More than ten days later, no tribespeople showed symptoms for two consecutive days.
Over the following month, the tribespeople gradually began to recover.
The Possessing Plague Worm attack they had been worrying about never came.
This made everyone in the tribe heave a tremendous sigh of relief.
Huo Tang, who had guarded the highest point in the tribe day after day to observe the surroundings, finally could not keep his bloodshot eyes open any longer. He collapsed where he stood and slept with thunderous snores. No tribesperson went to wake him.
Inside the ancestral temple, Shen Can took out a Beast Hide Scroll. At its top were several boldly written characters: Record of Plague Treatment.
Much had already been written on the scroll, and he continued writing below it.
"Surviving refugees: seven hundred and twelve. Alive: three hundred and fifty-seven."
"Tribe: two thousand two hundred and thirty-three. Alive: two thousand one hundred and seventy-five."
"Within three to five hundred li outside the tribe, the tribes of Fushan, Yan Mountain, Jishi, Jiangsha... and others have been utterly wiped out. Conditions in more distant directions are unknown."
After writing this, he put away the Beast Hide Scroll.
In a daze, Shen Can felt that he had become a little like Huo Xian, wanting to record everything for the tribe's future reference.
Noisy sounds arose outside the cave.
"A'Yu, what is it?"
Huo Yu rushed excitedly into the cave. "Brother Can, Uncle Huo Shan and the others are back! They brought back so, so many things. Come on, let's go take a look."
Before you continue