The Embers of King's Teyvat Journey

Patients infected by the spirit descended the hillside, and villagers from Hiki Village emerged from the village.

The two groups of people stopped, about ten meters apart.

Yuan Shang glanced at the villagers opposite him, and for some reason, he felt that their clothes seemed a bit too...

Conservative? That's an apt description. The villagers of Hiki Village dress very conservatively, covering almost all of their exposed skin.

"The village chief is here!" someone shouted. Yuan Shang could clearly feel the villagers on the other side suddenly relax, as if they had suddenly found a pillar of support.

The crowd parted, and a burly man completely covered in armor stepped out.

This gave Yuanshang quite a fright. If it weren't for the fact that the man was wearing Inazuma's samurai armor and had bandages wrapped around his body, Yuanshang would have almost thought that Yu Jin had run over.

Because in his mind, he seemed to be the only person who was completely encased in a metal can.

“Sagizu, the village chief of Hikimura.” The samurai’s calm voice came from beneath the Hannya mask, bringing Fuchigami back to his senses.

“Yuan Shang… a traveling light novel author.” Yuan Shang hesitated for a moment, deciding that he still needed to conceal his identity. As for whether others would recognize him or not, that was their business.

"Really? You must be a very special light novel author. I'll definitely have to read your work sometime." The face behind the mask smiled slightly, and then he extended his large hand wrapped in bandages.

"Um... we'll talk about that later." Yuan Shang scratched his head. Writing a book? He couldn't even recognize all the characters in the Abyss Codex right now, so he'd better put writing a book on hold.

He shook hands with the outstretched hand of Lu Jin, then pointed to the crowd behind him and said:

"I heard you take in homeless people here, is that true?"

"It's true, of course. If I'm not mistaken, they must all be patients infected by the evil spirits."

Lu Jin looked at the sickly group of people in front of him. He was all too familiar with the black aura swirling around them.

When the evil spirits erupted, the first place affected was Hiki Village—Hiki Village is located next to the remains of the demon serpent.

However, what's amazing is that after the outbreak of the evil spirit, the half-dead sapling left behind by the adventurer grew wildly as if it had been injected with chicken blood.

What surprised Lu Jin even more was that the debris emitted by that golden tree could actually eliminate the influence of the evil spirit!

Although this comes at a price...

“If you don’t accept people infected by the evil spirits, we’ll leave now.” Upon hearing Roshi’s words, Yuan Shang immediately became alert and looked at Roshi with suspicion.

This person's armor... it looks so much like the shogunate's. Could they be in cahoots?

“You’ve misunderstood.” Lu Jin glanced at the wary group opposite him, waved his hand and explained, “I just wanted to say that if there are people infected by evil spirits, we can treat them here.”

Lu Jin's words caused a huge stir, and the previously quiet crowd immediately became agitated.

"Really...really?"

"I think so. Look at the ground; there's still grass growing there!"

"I don't quite believe it. Don't forget what happened before..."

……

The noise was deafening; some were overjoyed, some looked doubtful, and some were wary and uneasy.

Lu Jin watched the crowd quietly, and when the noise subsided a bit, he extended his arm.

"Whether it's true or not, you'll find out once you try it. But before that, there's something I need to clarify..."

First, Lu Jin removed the armor plates from his arm, then peeled off the bandages underneath. What was revealed was a non-human arm covered in bird feathers and animal fur.

"The evil spirits will be gone, but you will have more of something else on you."

Chapter 331 The Price of Eliminating Evil Spirits

2023-12-03

Seeing the horrifying sight on Lu Jin's arm, the previously noisy crowd immediately fell silent.

Even the most excited among them, upon seeing this scene, couldn't help but begin to weigh the pros and cons.

Seeing this, Lu Jin nodded. It was a good thing that he had his own thoughts.

He raised his hand, removed the demonic-looking Hannya mask from his face, and slowly said:

"Although it will grow some things that humans don't have, it will still be able to maintain its human identity."

Lu Jin paused for a moment, then added, "At least, from our observation, no one has been affected."

Lu Jin's exposed face showed signs of hardship, making him look exactly like a middle-aged man who had experienced the trials of society.

Through the gaps in his helmet, you could even see the chonmage hairstyle on his head—a style that old-school samurai in Inatsume typically favored.

Seeing that Rogizu's face was clearly normal, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. As long as these things weren't growing on the most conspicuous part of his face, it seemed... acceptable?

Infecting the evil spirits only leads to death; this is the conclusion reached by the islanders of Ba Yun Island after exhausting all methods.

With Inazuma's current treatment methods, the best they can do is delay death. If they want to cure the evil spirit, they'll probably have to go to Sumeru, the continent with the most advanced medical technology, to find a solution.

Although they thought so, no one responded. Such changes in Lujin were something the islanders of Bayun Island had only heard of in ghost stories and legends. The shock was too great, leaving them momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Subconsciously, more and more eyes were drawn to Yuan Shang, making him feel like he was being pricked by needles, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"If you ask me, go get it treated! There's no such thing as a free lunch. Growing some fur can keep you warm in winter, but if you die, you'll have nothing left!"

Seemingly unable to bear such stares, Yuan Shang waved his hand and offered his suggestion.

“Personally, I feel the same way.” Lu Jin nodded and continued, “Actually, if you want to settle down in Hisaki Village, you will do the same sooner or later.”

Facing the puzzled gazes of the crowd, Lu Jin pointed to the golden fragments drifting in the sky behind him and said:

"Do you see those golden fragments? That's the blessing the tree gives us. It can restore the dead earth and eliminate the omnipresent evil spirits. Our bodies are like this because of it."

As he spoke, Lu Jin gave a wry smile, "Perhaps in the eyes of the Great Tree, humans in this state are stronger than before."

Jijin walked to an open space and assumed a stance resembling iaido.

"Drink!" Just as everyone was puzzled, they heard Lu Jin shout loudly, and then a flash of light appeared. The sharp cross-shaped sword energy swept across and left a terrifying blade mark on the ground.

"This is something a human could have cut out?!" Yuan Shang was shocked when he saw the scene before him.

There were no traces of elemental energy fluctuations on Lu Jin's body, which meant that the sword energy was unleashed entirely by Lu Jin's extraordinary strength.

Looking at the stunned crowd, Lu Jin raised his arm and said, "Now you know why I said this state is stronger than before."

As Rogizu spoke, his bare arm began to wriggle rhythmically, the muscle fibers so clearly visible that it seemed Rogizu could control the movement of every muscle.

And indeed, ever since inhaling those golden fragments, Roji has felt that his control over his body has become increasingly precise.

At first, I could only keep my limbs steady and not shake, but later I was able to control how my muscles moved.

Under this peculiar change, his power also increased day by day. Compared to his former self, his power had increased three or four times.

In addition to his precise control over his body, Lu Jin was quite certain that he was stronger than ten of his past selves!

"Gulp..." Yuan Shang swallowed hard. He now wanted to try the blessings of that big tree.

No matter how much the body changes, can it be as great as when an Abyss Mage advances to the Abyss Singer?

"Alright, if you choose to stay here, sooner or later you'll all become 'monsters' like me..."

"But there's no need to worry too much. There aren't many normal people left in the village."

Lu Jin waved his hand, and the villagers behind him took off their robes. Their exposed limbs showed more or less some inhuman signs.

Everyone looked at the serious-looking Lu Jin and reflected on the days since the war began.

The war between the shogunate army and the rebel army had been going on for a long time, probably a year or two. Everyone who could escape on Hachiyun Island had already fled.

And they were the small minority who simply couldn't escape. War can turn people into monsters.

The group examined the villagers' diverse physical characteristics: some had feathers, some had scales, and some even had horns...

It's better to become a monster than a ghost.

Therefore, the people behind Yuan Shang nodded to Lu Jin.

“Alright, I’ll take you to get treatment.” Lu Jin nodded, turned around and led everyone toward the golden tree in Hishiki Village.

……

"Beep!"

The huge campfire trembled as a branch broke, sending sparks flying from the rising flames and illuminating Yuan Shang's blank face.

"M-Sir, this is for you!"

Beside Yuan Shang, a child covered in bandages skipped over and gave Yuan Shang a worn-out pendant.

"Hoo—" Yuan Shang took a deep breath and rubbed the girl's head. The "treatment method" that Lu Jin mentioned was to wrap the infected patient's entire body in bandages.

As for the medication under the bandages...

Yuan Shang looked at the golden tree trunk, which was already bald in one spot, and now he finally understood why the golden tree was so thin. It turns out that anyone would get thin from being rubbed so much every day.

After Bai Tianlujin led everyone to the Golden Tree, he began to gather everyone to start the skin-smoothing process.

Even with the negative effects of malnutrition, absorbing the remnants of demons, and having only been planted for less than a year, the bark of the Golden Tree remains incredibly resilient.

Later, even Yuan Shang began the process of skin resurfacing. He worked until nightfall, finally managing to grind off enough tree bark powder for treatment.

"Thank you. How does it feel?" Yuan Shang asked with a trembling hand as he accepted the scratched "crystal" pendant.

"My body...it doesn't hurt anymore."

The bandage on the girl's head twitched a few times, indicating that she was quite excited about no longer feeling pain.

"It's good that it doesn't hurt. It wasn't a waste of my whole afternoon soaking in this tree." Yuan Shang nodded with satisfaction. It was effective, so his time was not wasted.

The girl ran away because her mother had just let go of her hand, allowing her to run around.

She didn't know when it started, but her hand had never left her mother's side. Her mother held her hand and ran around everywhere, never stopping for a moment.

Now everything's fine. Mom just said we have a place to stay. We'll stay here from now on, and she's met a lot of new friends. Now she's going to have a lot of fun.

"Little brat, it seems to really work." Yuan Shang watched the girl run so fast, knowing that it was indeed effective, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

“Of course it works, this is a treatment method I invented.” Roji sat down next to Fuchigami and said proudly.

He had changed into casual clothes, and the parts of his limbs that were different from those of a normal person were exposed without any concealment.

In Hiki Village, most villagers are like this, so there's no need to be shy about it.

"So you're a smart person then?" Yuan Shang raised an eyebrow, thinking that Lu Jin was just bragging.