Treatment

Lu Yuan lowered his hand, panting heavily.

At the edge of my field of vision, gray and white text was jumping wildly:

[Sanity: -160...35/120]

[Warning: Low sanity, unstable mental state]

He felt a buzzing in his head, and the world before his eyes was swaying slightly.

That's too risky.

But at least, they survived.

Lu Yuan did not rush to put away the Time Bestower, but instead turned to look at the three Pathfinder lying on the ground.

Morris's breathing was so faint it was almost imperceptible, Heller was still convulsing, Vincent was completely motionless.

The consequences of having one's reason drained have already been seen in Grim Port.

If this isn't dealt with soon, these three people might not make it through the night.

Lu Yuan walked to Morris's side, squatted down, and focused his mind on the Metal Ring.

Distribute it.

A faint fluctuation of rationality flowed from his body, flowing through that invisible connection and into Morris's body.

Five o'clock.

Morris's breathing became noticeably more steady, and his eyelids twitched slightly.

Lu Yuan then transferred five points to both Heller Vincent.

Heller's convulsions stopped, and Vincent's chest began to rise and fall again.

At the edge of my field of vision, gray and white text flickers:

[Current Sanity: 20/120]

There are only 8 PM left.

Lu Yuan shook his head, and the moonlight in front of him suddenly became dazzling.

He blinked.

Grego's body was writhing.

No, it wasn't the corpse moving. It was countless tiny things emerging from beneath that withered shell.

Lu Yuan's pupils contracted, and his right hand instinctively tightened its grip on the Time Bestower.

But the next second, those things disappeared.

The body was still the same body, lying quietly in the moonlight, nothing there.

Hallucination.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

My rationality is too low; I need to hurry.

He crouched down and began searching through the three people's belongings.

In Morris's pouch was a small bottle, exactly the same as the one given to him before; the pink liquid shimmered faintly in the moonlight.

Heller also had a bottle on him.

Vincent's bottle was broken, probably from being hit by an insect; only empty glass shards and a damp patch remained at his waist.

Two bottles of Sanity Restoration Potion, three people.

Lu Yuan thought for a moment, then gave Morris and Heller each a small half-bottle, and gave the rest to Vincent.

He was the most seriously injured, so he should get a larger share.

As the medicine slid down their throats, the three of them visibly improved their complexions.

As for whether there are any side effects, that's not being considered at this time.

And Vincent... his injuries go beyond just a matter of sanity.

Lu Yuan glanced at the wound on his abdomen, his brows furrowing even more.

The insect's mouthparts tore a hole the size of a bowl right through his abdomen.

The skin and flesh at the edges of the wound were turned outwards, showing an abnormal bluish-purple color, as if it had been infected by some kind of toxin.

Worse still, the blood vessels around the wound are turning black at a visible rate, spreading outwards from the abdomen.

Ordinary hemostatic bandaging is completely useless.

Lu Yuan quickly searched through Heller's belongings.

Besides the Sanity Potion, there were several small bottles in the pouch, each labeled with a unique tag worn by Pathfinder.

Purification agent, coagulant, Antidote.

Without hesitation, Lu Yuan unscrewed the Purification agent and poured it directly onto the wound.

The transparent liquid, upon contact with the darkened blood vessels, immediately emitted a slight hissing sound and wisps of white smoke.

Vincent groaned softly while unconscious, his body twitching slightly.

The bluish-purple spread stopped.

Lu Yuan then applied the Antidote and thickly applied the hemostatic ointment to the wound.

Finally, he tore off Vincent's shirt hem and used it to tightly bandage the wound.

After finishing all this, Lu Yuan stood up and let out a long breath.

He shouldn't be dead.

Just then, he suddenly noticed something was wrong.

Something was moving on the edge of the Pocket Watch.

Lu Yuan lowered his head, thinking it was another hallucination.

But no.

Two thin, white, thread-like objects were peeking out from the gap in the Pocket Watch.

Slender, soft, and slightly curved at the tip, like the antennae of some kind of insect.

They trembled slightly in the air, as if sensing something.

Lu Yuan frowned and subconsciously reached out to touch it.

The two tentacles retracted slightly, as if they had been startled.

But it didn't completely retract.

Instead, even more things popped out from the edge of the Pocket Watch.

Dozens of tiny, white insect legs.

They were neatly arranged along the edge of the Pocket Watch, like the legs of some kind of arthropod, slender and sharp.

Lu Yuan was stunned.

The next second, the insect legs suddenly shot out and pierced his chest.

Lu Yuan's body stiffened for a moment.

But there was no pain.

It doesn't hurt at all.

There was only a strange tingling sensation that spread from his chest to his limbs, as if something was merging with his body.

Lu Yuan looked down at the insect legs embedded in his chest, his expression strange.

He recalled the prompt the system gave him when he first saw the Time Bestower.

[Time Bestower (Special): A Pocket Watch made from the corpse of a special insect...]

The corpse of an insect.

This thing... is alive?

Lu Yuan looked at the two tentacles that had already retracted and tried to activate the Time Bestower with his mind.

The Pocket Watch reacted immediately.

No need to hold it in your hands; just a thought is enough for the ability to respond.

Lu Yuan kept this change in mind but did not delve into it for the time being.

There are more important things to do right now.

He walked out of the courtyard.

The night wind, carrying dust, blew in from the direction of the town.

Lu Yuan hadn't gone far when he saw several flickering lights approaching.

It was the light from the Sandworm Oil Lamp.

Clearly, the commotion at the mayor's house had alerted the people of Sandworm Town, and coupled with his own unexplained disappearance, Herman should have realized what had happened there.

He was accompanied by several able-bodied young men from the town, carrying oil lamps and walking hurriedly. When he saw Lu Yuan walk out of the courtyard, his pace quickened noticeably.

But when he stepped into the courtyard and saw the devastation inside, he stopped in his tracks.

"This is..."

"The murderer who killed the mayor."

Lu Yuan pointed to Grego's corpse, his tone indifferent.

"They are also the source of Source of Pollution."

Herman was stunned.

He slowly walked to the shriveled corpse, squatted down, and carefully examined the face, which was so withered it was unrecognizable, by the light of the oil lamp.

There was a long silence.

The Flame of the oil lamp flickered in the night wind, casting a long shadow over him.

"His name is Grego, a traitor to the Ascension Society."

Lu Yuan's voice came from behind, devoid of any emotion.

"He defected from the Royal Capital three years ago and hid here to conduct experiments. He's the one guiding the mayor's messy research behind the scenes."

He paused, then pointed to the patch of dried meat paste on the ground.

"This is the Parasitic Broodmother he cultivated. The worms crawling out of the mayor's chest, and the one inside Red, are all its offspring."

Herman's fist clenched slowly, and after a long while, he finally spoke.

"... Does the mayor know?"

"I don't know," Lu Yuan shook his head, "But he did participate in the experiment. Whether he was deceived or cooperated willingly is no longer important."

Herman remained silent.

He stood up and turned to look at the three Pathfinder.

"These three are the Empire's Pathfinder, they've been tracking him," Lu Yuan explained. "There was a slight mishap when we took action tonight, but we managed to resolve it."

Herman glanced at Lu Yuan.

His eyes held a complex mix of emotions: gratitude, relief, and something else that was hard to define.

"Help me find a place to settle them."

Lu Yuan interrupted him, speaking calmly.

"I'll take care of their injuries. They'll leave once they wake up."

Herman nodded without asking any further questions.

He waved to the people behind him.

Several able-bodied young men stepped forward and carefully lifted the three Pathfinder up.

Lu Yuan watched their departing figures, then glanced at the wreckage in the courtyard.

"Don't burn the body, and don't disturb this place; there might be some documents that need to be preserved."

"I know," Herman said, his voice slightly hoarse.

He gestured for others to handle it, but he didn't move himself.

She simply stood beside Lu Yuan in silence for a while.

The night wind howled, whipping up fine sand that lashed against the two of them.

Thank you.

Herman finally spoke.

Lu Yuan remained silent.

"Mayor..."

Herman's voice lowered, as if he were talking to himself.

"He was competitive from a young age and always wanted to be number one in everything. Later, when he became the town mayor, he always wanted to make a name for himself and prove that he was no less capable than those Transcendence individuals."

He gave a bitter laugh, a laugh tinged with malice.

"I never expected it to end up like this."

Lu Yuan looked at him.

Under the moonlight, the old merchant's back appeared somewhat hunched.

He was being used.

"I know," Herman nodded, "But some things are nobody's fault but yours."

He was silent for a moment, then looked up at Lu Yuan.

The complexity in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a solemn expression.

"Mr. Lu, I will remember what Sandworm Town owes you."

Lu Yuan turned around and walked out of the courtyard.

The footsteps made a soft rustling sound on the sand.

"Heal your wounds, then take me to Bronze City."

His voice came from the darkness, faint and devoid of emotion.

"That settles everything."

Herman stood there, watching the figure gradually disappear into the darkness, motionless for a long time.

The wind and sand howled.

The light from the oil lamp flickered gently in his hands.