ENCOUNTER

Tracing back the origin of the disease was difficult so Yi Chang sat by the woman's side and directed a chain of spiritual power towards her hand. The villager was inspected with Lin Chang Ge on the other side. It had already been a few hours since they entered the house yet the small rash in his hand had already transformed into a wound.

The woman's hand now looked much better than before and she regained her consciousness halfway through the spiritual exchange. Yi Chang felt that something was extremely strange with the disease. He had been supplying energy for a few hours already yet only a small portion of the fester had disappeared.

He examined it once more and noticed a little dark smoke like substance coming from the wound. The smoke was thin, barely unnoticeable but given that he had cultivated his powers to a certain level, he was able to see it. If this was what he thought it was then healing the hand would become a big problem. It was like two opposing forces fighting for the same thing and given his little spiritual powers, the other had the upper hand.

To stop the disease from spreading even further, the two had to separate those infected from those who had not been infected but the problem was that none of the villagers opened their doors. Toppled with the fact that none of them even knew how contagious the disease was, it was bound to become a huge problem.

"What is the fastest way to get all the villagers together?" he asked the man. He looked up, a little confused by the question but he soon realized the others intention.

About a hundred people stood in front of Yi Chang and Lin Chang Ge. Turns out the villager who had let them enter the house was actually the village head. His name was Lao Ren and the woman who had a festered hand was his wife, Liu Shi.

They say you should see things with your own eyes to fully assess a situation but Yi Chang who was almost clapping his hands at the validity of the saying was a little dumbstruck at the situation the villagers were in. When old man Lin had explained the situation to him when he arrived, he did not think it would be this dire.

Women held their children while some old people stood by the side slowly staring at him with gloomy eyes. Yi Chang managed to separate them and keenly looked at the wounds of those infected. Most of them were not different from the condition of Liu Shi's hand but some were even worse.

The children who were affected were wailing loudly as their parents tried to calm them down.

Now that he was outside and it was already early morning, Yi Chang clearly saw the eerie fog that surrounded the whole village. Lin Chang Ge seemed to have noticed it too, staring back at him with a bewildered gaze. It was easy to notice the dark energy that was hovering above the villages and the dark smoke that Yi Chang had seen on Liu Shi's hand was more visible on the other villager's hands.

Yi Chang racked his brain but no solution came up. He was well aware of how the disease came into place. He was also aware that diseases that were brought down from the demon clan was quite hard to cure and their medicines were only made by them.

When he was still learning back then, his father had shed some light on the nature of the demon clan and how they operated. It was there that he learnt that in the demon clan, there was a family that was quite feared because of their ability to make diseases.

The diseases they created were so lethal that even the other demons feared them. With the nature of the falling fingers that had affected the village, toppled with the dark energy that was surrounding the place, it was easy to guess who had inflicted the disease.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt aware that there was nothing much he could do. He had already called the villagers outside; telling them now that there was nothing he could do was a bit cruel so he tried with the best of his ability to stop the spread. Lin Chang Ge also helped to the best of his ability.

Diseases from the demon clan could only be treated by them. The heavenly gods were another solution but there was no temple anywhere near so unless a god dropped down from heaven, then there was no way the villagers would be cured.

Just then a man showed up. He was dressed in a light blue robe and held a white sword at the side. The color of his robes was light blue but it looked more whitish. Yi Chang felt that he had seen him somewhere but he could not remember where. The man walked up to them, face stoic and with a keen sharpness.

He then held up one of the villagers hands and then he frowned. He put it down, turned to Yi Chang and asked, "What happened here?"

Yi Chang felt that the air around the other was rather different so he explained everything in simple terms. For some reason the visitor was looking at Yi Chang rather strangely. It was anything but the vermillion mark at the other's forehead that caught his attention. It was bizarre yet very familiar that he stopped for a few seconds before responding.

He stared once more at the wounds on the hands of the villagers. The other young man had done an exceptional job in ensuring that the festering did not spread. He walked around, staring at the eerie fog. To inflict a disease somewhere, the demons had to be working pretty close to where he was so finding the base of their operation was first priority.

He explained this to Yi Chang and the other decided to help him look for the base. Lin Chang Ge was left in charge of the villagers. The two walked around for some time but could still not find the base. The man unsheathed his sword and drew some patterns on the ground.

Yi Chang watched in awe as the dust rose and a bright light formed on the ground creating a path. They followed the path and ten minutes later, a light shone before them.

The light was red in color and it was coming from the ground. Looking at it more clearly, Yi Chang noticed that the ground was not opened at all but the light was coming from something circular on the ground, it was a seal!

He now understood what the villager meant when he had told him that none of the medicine was working. The seal was drawn using blood, a signature of the demon clan and because the falling fingers affected the hands, it was bound to diffuse with the blood. When the energy of the seal blood and the human blood met, it formed a perfect environment for growth. This was why the disease was spreading even faster once a person was infected with it.

Yi Chang watched the man form hand seals quickly, he also did the same and they both directed a chain of energy towards the demonic seal.

It looked like the seal was formed by a high level demon. Yi Chang almost passed out from lack of energy. Just when he thought that he would fall down, a burst of energy filled his core. He looked up and saw that at some point in time, the other man had directed one of his hands towards him, sending him energy.

The energy was clean, almost purified and with it, Yi Chang felt almost ten times stronger.

Thought crowded his mind, Who was this man? But just as his thoughts almost drifted, the seal was broken and the man touched down lightly.

The air around suddenly became clearer as the fog dissipated slowly. Yi Chang held his waist with one hand and stared at the other. He had questions he wanted to ask but held back. The other turned to go back without saying a word but something stopped him in his tracks, the other was holding the hem of his robe.

He turned around and was met with clear eyes. Yi Chang could not really hold it in anymore but what came out of his mouth was not what he wanted to ask;

"What is your name?"