A Strange Illness

Ma Zhonghua led Luo Yang and Ye Yiming out through the rear gate of the museum grounds, then continued down a country road.

"Ma, where are we going?" Ye Yiming asked.

Luo Yang had been wondering the same thing. He had thought they were going to a hospital, but all he could see ahead was wasteland. There were farmhouses far in the distance, but no sign of a hospital there either.

"We suspect it's contagious, and we haven't determined the cause, so we didn't dare send them to a hospital. The municipal government put up some prefabricated buildings overnight, and they're being isolated there for now." Ma Zhonghua raised a hand and pointed at a cluster of blue roofs standing in the wasteland. "Over there. Luo City People's Hospital sent over several medical staff. They're handling the isolation arrangements. I'll speak to them when we get there."

Luo Yang asked, "Director Ma, how many people are sick, and what are their symptoms?"

Ma Zhonghua said, "Eight in total. They all have the same symptoms. They're unconscious most of the time, but their vital signs are stable. When they wake up, they babble incoherently and become mentally unstable."

"What exactly do they say when they wake up?" Luo Yang pressed.

Ma Zhonghua shook his head. "They mutter under their breath. We can't make out what they're saying."

They reached the isolation area. A dozen or so prefabricated buildings stood in three parallel rows, surrounded by security fencing, with surveillance cameras installed at regular intervals.

A guard booth stood at the entrance, with a medical worker in protective clothing sitting inside. Ma Zhonghua went over and spoke to the worker, who then opened the gate and let them in.

Ma Zhonghua headed toward one of the buildings, saying as he walked, "Luo, someone will take you to an isolation ward in a moment. You'll need to put on protective clothing and follow the rules here."

Luo Yang nodded.

"Can't I go have a look too?" Ye Yiming's curiosity was unusually strong.

Ma Zhonghua said, "Sir, Luo is young and has a strong immune system. At your age, it would be far too dangerous for you to go in. I wouldn't feel comfortable with it, and I can't take that responsibility. Let's just wait outside for him."

Ye Yiming looked rather reluctant, but he did not insist.

A little later, Luo Zhu, the head of the infectious diseases department at Luo City People's Hospital and the man in charge of the isolation operation, came over to meet them. Once Luo Yang had put on protective clothing, Luo Zhu led him to a ward in the isolation area.

A middle-aged man lay on the hospital bed. The card at the head of the bed listed his details: Shi Fei, forty-two years old.

Luo Yang also noticed that Shi Fei's wrists and ankles had been secured to the bed's iron frame to keep him from moving around.

"Be careful, my friend. Don't touch him unless you have to. When he wakes up, he becomes emotionally unstable and aggressive," Director Luo warned.

"Understood."

Director Luo turned to leave. At the door, he seemed to remember something and looked back to ask, "My friend, which hospital are you from?"

Luo Yang gave a calm smile. "That's confidential."

Director Luo froze for a moment, then looked at him with newfound respect. "I understand. I'll leave you to your work."

The door closed.

Luo Yang settled his mind and carefully examined Shi Fei.

Shi Fei's complexion was normal, with no signs of poisoning. His breathing was even and strong.

After this preliminary examination, Luo Yang felt that Shi Fei was merely asleep-a healthy man, not a patient suffering from some strange illness.

With a thought, Luo Yang brought his spiritual power into play, sharpening his senses.

If the ancestral witch spirit body was a car, then spiritual power was its turbocharger. Normally, the car ran at an ordinary pace, but once the turbo kicked in, its power increased dramatically.

Yet even in the super-sense state, Luo Yang found no signs of poisoning in Shi Fei. He could not even detect any other illness. This middle-aged man was in excellent health.

Suddenly, Shi Fei opened his eyes. In that instant, a sliver of eerie green light flashed through his pupils. That strange, supernatural light was so brief and faint that even specialized equipment would have struggled to capture it, but Luo Yang saw it clearly.

Luo Yang's heart jolted. I've found the source of the problem!

But the source of this problem lay outside the realm of medicine. It belonged to shamanic sorcery!

"Roar!" Shi Fei let out a strange cry, his face contorting into a terrifying grimace.

Luo Yang asked tentatively, "Mr. Shi, where do you feel unwell?"

Shi Fei suddenly strained with his waist and elbows, lifting his upper body off the bed. He rose only a few inches before the ropes stopped him. He struggled fiercely, making the bed's iron frame rattle.

"Mr. Shi, calm down. I'm here to help you. Tell me where you feel unwell. What have you come into contact with?" Luo Yang tried to coax Shi Fei into speaking.

The approach worked. After two more howls, Shi Fei quieted down and began making indistinct murmuring sounds.

Although the sounds coming from Shi Fei's mouth were muddled, Luo Yang could hear every word, even every syllable, perfectly clearly. What he heard shocked him.

Shi Fei was speaking neither Mandarin nor any regional dialect. He was reciting an incantation of shamanic sorcery!

Over the past few days, Luo Yang had used the Ancestral Shaman Spirit Infusion Art to enter the mask's "memory space" more than once. Every time, Grandmaster Yingma had performed his awkward dance and recited shamanic incantations for him. Luo Yang was therefore very familiar with their obscure content, mysterious syllables, and rhythms. He recognized them as soon as he heard them.

But how could an archaeology expert possibly know shamanic incantations?

Luo Yang soon noticed that the incantation Shi Fei was reciting was incomplete. It was only a fragment of a particular spell.

Luo Yang moved to the head of the bed and extended his right hand, using the Primordial Medical Finger to inscribe the Ancestral Witch Spirit-Attachment Seal on Shi Fei's forehead.

The Primordial Medical Finger and the ancestral witch spirit body's super-sense state were enough to give Luo Yang free rein in the field of medicine. But as a shaman, shamanic sorcery was also crucial to him, and in that field, he was still only an apprentice. The Ancestral Shaman Spirit Infusion Art was the only tool at his disposal. He wanted to give it a try.

Based on his preliminary assessment, Shi Fei was almost certainly possessed by an "evil spirit." If he used the Ancestral Shaman Spirit Infusion Art to provoke the "evil spirit" inside Shi Fei, it would surely react more clearly. That would give him more information and clues, allowing him to find a way to solve the problem.

He could only do this because surveillance cameras had not yet been installed in this temporary building. Had there been cameras, he would not have attempted it.

He quickly finished inscribing the Spirit Infusion Seal. As he injected a trace of spiritual power, an eerie green mark appeared on Shi Fei's forehead. At that very instant, brilliant green light flared in both of Shi Fei's pupils, and his face twisted into a hideous grimace.

"Get away! Die!" Shi Fei spoke.

It worked!

Suppressing his excitement, Luo Yang asked in a low voice, "Who are you?"