Wood Flesh

Liang Xiao had quite a good reputation among the neighbors.

The goods in his shop were of decent quality and cheaply priced.

He always had a smile on his face, too.

At least, that was how Xiao Nan saw him.

However, based on what Zhou Zhi had discovered at the Liang Family Shop, a few facts from its darker side began to come together.

"Uncle Liang must have been terminally ill for a long time... No idea where he got such a strange folk remedy."

Xia Yu slowly approached, covering her nose and mouth with a towel.

"Logically speaking, things like [folk remedies] are completely banned throughout Xuanyuan, especially folk remedies from the Chengyun Dynasty."

Xuanyuan and Chengyun had entirely different Plague Extermination Art lineages, separated by countless thousands of miles.

Xia Yu found it hard to imagine how an old man like him had gotten his hands on something like that.

As Liang Xiao's flesh split apart, nerves spreading from the gaps in his muscles sagged limply onto the ground.

Zhou Zhi walked over the earth carpeted with rotten flesh.

Frowning slightly, he stepped over Liang Xiao's twisted, grotesque head.

He looked at the lump of rotten flesh stuck to the old man's hand.

All along, that foul-smelling lump of rotten flesh had been the source of the stench.

It was also the special object Liang Xiao had been desperate to retrieve.

Yet now, it lay utterly still, like an obedient child.

And...

The stench gradually faded, replaced by a peculiar fragrance.

The nauseating quality slowly weakened.

Meanwhile, Liang Xiao's connected corpse kept shrinking.

As if it were dehydrating.

"Could this really be Taisui?"

Zhou Zhi's eyes shifted slightly.

The next second.

Information flashed through his mind.

[Pathogenized Object: Wood Spirit Flesh].

[Pathogenization Index: 67%].

[Its user will gain the following effects].

[1. Consuming it orally can greatly increase the Pathogenization Index].

[2. Completing pathogenization with this object can grant the (Meat Toxin Attribute), along with some abilities of the Meat Toxin Pestilence].

[3. Carrying it externally can slightly enhance pathogenization abilities and grant some abilities of the Meat Toxin Pestilence].

[4. Carrying it externally can slightly enhance the user's recovery abilities].

[Born through a special flesh-planting ritual, contaminated by the Wood of the Five Elements from Chengyun Plague Extermination Art].

["Anyway, this thing isn't Taisui."]

Zhou Zhi crouched down and lightly touched the so-called Wood Spirit Flesh.

Sticky.

Yet inexplicably full of vitality.

"According to the theory that anything can fall ill, this is actually a piece of diseased flesh."

That was what Zhou Zhi thought.

Just on his second day here, Zhou Zhi had encountered monsters like the Mucus Man and Liang Xiao.

Truly twisted monsters.

The devastation covering the ground and the fading stench in the air left Zhou Zhi with little hesitation. He picked up the not particularly large [Wood Spirit Flesh].

It was somewhat cool to the touch.

"Uh..."

Xiao Nan broke out in a cold sweat as he watched from the side.

That chunk of rotten flesh was nothing but an ominous object to him.

It was also what had turned Uncle Liang into that state.

"Mr... Mr. Zhou Zhi, is this thing useful?"

Xia Yu asked quietly from beside him.

Zhou Zhi glanced at Xia Yu without drawing attention to it.

"At least for now, it is."

Zhou Zhi lightly turned the [Wood Spirit Flesh] over in his hand.

A cool sensation flowed into him from his palm.

It was a little itchy, but comfortable.

The physical strength Zhou Zhi had expended fighting Liang Xiao was gradually recovering!

Something like this actually existed in this world.

Zhou Zhi's expression did not change.

Anything abnormal had to have something sinister behind it.

Very soon, Zhou Zhi sensed a strange feeling.

It welled up from the depths of his heart.

Hunger. Craving.

He wanted to...

Eat this thing.

Zhou Zhi came to a realization.

That feeling was terrifying.

It came from his own carnivorous instinct.

No wonder.

Zhou Zhi snapped back to himself, suppressed the urge, and wrapped it in a piece of white cloth.

Only then did the feeling gradually fade, though it still remained.

"A Pathogenized Object that is so useful, yet so sinister..."

But right now, it was very important.

As long as he resisted the temptation to eat the Wood Spirit Flesh.

"But... do we really have to carry that thing with us?"

Covering her nose, Xia Yu said, "You can't smell it from far away, but if you get close, you still can."

"It really... stinks."

Blech!

Several surviving patients nearby vomited outright.

It stank...

Zhou Zhi frowned.

Then he leaned closer to the wrapped Wood Spirit Flesh.

A fresh fragrance.

Oh.

Did the person carrying the flesh smell something different from everyone around them?

Zhou Zhi could roughly understand how Liang Xiao had felt.

Still, it was indeed no good for it to smell this bad. And the stench came from [Meat Toxin]; it could corrupt life and intensify pathogenization.

With that in mind, Zhou Zhi told Lei Heng's underlings to find something in the rooms to store the flesh in.

Not long after.

The underlings brought over a strange box.

"Sir, what do you think?"

"Pretty exquisite, right?"

Yes, it was quite exquisite.

A small wooden box decorated with carved patterns.

It possessed a peculiar aesthetic beauty.

Zhou Zhi was satisfied.

"But isn't that... an Ash Box?"

Xia Yu felt that she needed to point it out.

As for whom Liang Xiao had prepared it for, no one knew now that he was dead.

But...

"This is suitable, and it hasn't been used. Perfect."

Zhou Zhi was perfectly matter-of-fact as he placed the flesh into the Ash Box, then lifted it in his hands.

It was not very heavy.

"Is there a carpenter here? Can anyone add a handle or something?"

Zhou Zhi felt that holding it in both hands was rather inconvenient. He did not even have a free hand for his scalpel.

Xia Yu felt she no longer had the strength to complain.

Still, under the circumstances, no one objected.

"I can... I know a little. As long as there are tools."

Someone raised a hand.

Using the tools in Uncle Liang's home, it did not take long.

Before everyone's eyes.

The Ash Box was transformed into something like a suitcase.

"Mm, this is not bad."

Zhou Zhi picked it up and gave it a slight swing.

Though crude, it was unexpectedly sturdy.

Zhou Zhi could feel that even when carrying it like this, the enhancement from the rotten flesh remained.

His bodily functions had improved as well.

If only the Meat Toxin Pestilence granted nothing but beneficial power.

"Clean this place up."

"There are remnants of [Pestilence] in these leftover chunks of flesh. Keep your noses and mouths covered. Don't breathe in that smell."

"Rest for the night. We'll continue on tomorrow."

There was no room for doubt in Zhou Zhi's voice.

After the terrifying incidents involving the Mucus Man and Liang Xiao, everyone in the group placed absolute trust in the only Plague Exterminator.

Yet after this ordeal, there were even fewer people left in the group.

More than twenty people had left Bai Xiu's Clinic.

Now, after counting them, only fourteen remained.

Lei Heng and Xia Yu both fell silent.

What people feared most in this world was [disease].

At least, in that moment.

Zhou Zhi gained a slight understanding.

He turned and left the place, briefly checking his own status.

[Zhou Zhi].

[Pathogenization Index: 31.70%].

[47 hours, 58 minutes, and 13 seconds until vital signs completely disappear].

Disclaimer: This work has absolutely nothing to do with medicine.