Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

The air became stuffy as soon as I stepped into the east wing corridor.

There are far fewer windows here than in the west wing, making it dimly lit. Several old oil paintings hang on the walls, their images faded and yellowed, making the content difficult to discern.

The patriarch's bedroom was at the end of the corridor.

Two guards stood at the entrance.

Upon seeing Xilun approach, a hint of tension flashed in the guards' eyes, but they quickly made way for him.

The effects of the Elder's Decree had already spread throughout the entire manor by yesterday.

Xilun pushed open the door and went in.

The curtains in the bedroom were drawn tightly shut, with only an oil lamp by the bedside casting a dim, yellowish light. The air was thick with the pungent smell of herbs mixed with sweat.

Chief Link lay in bed.

His complexion was worse than yesterday—his skin had an unhealthy grayish-black hue, his eyes were sunken, his cheekbones were high and prominent, and his lips were dry, cracked, and pale.

The blanket covered his chest, and you could see his hands resting at his sides, with bulging veins on the backs of his hands and his fingernails tinged with a faint purple.

He is still breathing.

But it was very faint, like a candle that was about to burn out, swaying in the wind, and could go out at any moment.

David is already here.

He was sitting on a chair by the bed when he saw Xilen come in, and immediately stood up.

"Everyone has been evicted," he said in a low voice, "including my mother."

His lips twitched slightly.

Clearly, getting rid of Risa was not an easy task.

Xilun nodded without asking about the process.

He glanced at the bedside table—on which sat several bottles of tranquilizing potion, a box of mind-cleansing incense, and a dark brown wooden box.

"The virus data is inside." David pointed to the wooden box. "I personally retrieved all the relevant documents from the archives."

Xilun opened the wooden box, inside which were three neatly bound documents.

The paper is yellowed and the edges are curled up, showing that it is quite old.

He opened the first document and quickly scanned a few lines.

"Observation Notes on Virus No. 1" - handwritten by the third-generation patriarch of the Link family, records the discovery process, basic characteristics, and preliminary solutions of Virus No. 1.

The second document contains a more detailed component analysis.

The third document is an antidote plan – marked as "theoretical deduction, not empirically proven".

Xilun put the three documents into his pocket.

"I'll finish watching it tonight," he said. "Now, let's do the first blood pressure reading."

He looked at David.

"go out."

David opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just nodded, turned around and walked out of the bedroom.

The door closed behind me.

Only Siren and Chief Link, who was lying unconscious on the bed, remained in the bedroom.

The flame of the oil lamp flickered, casting a huge, swaying shadow on the wall.

Xilun moved a chair to the bedside and sat down.

He started by opening the reverberation chamber.

The world of sound unfolds in your ears—

The clan leader's heartbeat was weak and irregular, like a cracked drum.

The sound of blood flowing in the blood vessels is sluggish and muffled, occasionally interspersed with a very subtle crackling sound, similar to bubbles bursting.

The sound of breathing was shallow and rapid, with an unnatural dampness in the rustling sound of the lungs opening and closing in the air.

as well as--

Deep within the heart, the voice of that black parasite.

Unlike normal biological tissue, its sound is a deep, continuous hum, like a plucked string vibrating slowly.

The humming frequency is so low that it almost sinks below the threshold of human hearing.

But Siren heard it.

The reverberation cavity captured that frequency, amplified it, and presented it to his perception.

The parasite, about the size of a pigeon egg, was lodged on the back wall of the heart. Its surface was smooth, and its internal structure was dense, resembling a miniature black pearl.

Compared to the first exploration a few days ago—

It seems to have gotten a bit bigger.

Although it was only a minor change, Xilun was certain he hadn't misread it.

It is growing.

It's slow, but it's definitely growing.

It draws life force from its host's body, growing stronger little by little.

Without intervention, at the current rate—

Xilun made a mental estimate.

In about three to four months, it will grow large enough to affect the normal function of the heart.

Six to eight months – host dies.

That's its strategy.

Not radical, not violent, like boiling a frog in lukewarm water.

By the time the host realizes something is wrong, it's already too late.

The addition of Virus One was like someone stepping on the gas in this slow process—it was destroying the patriarch's internal organs at a speed far exceeding that of the parasites.

The combined damage caused the clan leader's health to deteriorate rapidly.

Xilun withdrew his deep exploration of the echo chamber and closed his eyes.

He took a deep breath and began practicing the Moon Memory Meditation Technique.

In the spiritual realm, the branches of the sacred bud begin to sway gently.

White light seeped from the veins of the leaves, converging into a thin stream of light.

Xilun guided this stream of light, letting it extend outward from his spiritual world—crossing the boundary of consciousness, passing through the point where his fingertips touched the chieftain's wrist, like an extremely fine silver needle, piercing into Chieftain Link's body.

The moment Bai Yi entered the patriarch's body, Xilun felt a strong resistance.

It's like sticking your hand into a pool of mud.

The patriarch's body was filled with a murky aura—the corrosive effects of viruses, the erosion of parasites, and the decay accumulated from long-term illness.

These murky odors, like layers of gauze, wrap around the surface of organs and blood vessels, hindering the advance of the white essence.

Xilun was not in a hurry.

He slowed down Bai Yi's output speed, making the stream of light thinner and softer.

It's not a knife, it's water.

Water doesn't need to be sharp; it only needs to permeate.

The white light slowly advanced along the vein's texture, washing away a layer of the turbid air clinging to the vein wall at each point it passed through.

The murky air that was washed away turned to ashes and was carried away with the blood circulation.

The patriarch's heartbeat seemed to have stabilized somewhat, as monitored by the echo chamber.

Although still faint, the frequency has become regular.

Xilun continues to advance.

White light reaches the heart area.

The parasites were there.

The dark, pearl-like substance quietly adhered to the wall of my heart, and the buzzing sound became clearer.

Xilun did not touch it directly.

He knew that with his current mental energy reserves, it would be almost impossible to eliminate this thing in one go—it was too dense, and the concentration of pollution inside was extremely high; forcing it would only backfire.

What he needs to do is to besiege.

The whiteness slowly spread around the parasite, like a thin membrane, enveloping it.

The goal is not to eliminate it, but to sever the connection between it and its host.

The parasite pierces the heart wall with countless threads thinner than a hair, sucking away life force.

While treating Elder Campbell, Siron had already gained experience in burning through the contaminated threads.

But there are far fewer threads here than in Campbell's time—the parasite has clearly adopted a more covert strategy; it has fewer threads, but each one is deeply embedded.

Xilun condensed the white light into a pinhead-sized point of light and aimed it at the first thread.

burn.

A faint burning sensation came from his fingertips—it was the feedback from Bai Yi as he consumed his mental energy.

The silk thread emitted a very faint hissing sound under the burning light, like a spider silk being touched by a branding iron, curling, breaking, and turning into ashes.

One.

Xilun didn't stop and continued searching for the next one.

The second one is broken.

The third point is to break it.

Article 4...

He found a total of seven silk threads.

When the last one burned through, Xilun felt that nearly 40% of his mental energy had been consumed.

The leaves of the sacred bud drooped gently in the spiritual world, and the white luster dimmed somewhat.

It's time to stop.

He slowly withdrew Bai Yi, withdrawing his spirit from the clan leader's body.

Open your eyes.

The oil lamp's flame was still flickering, and the bedroom remained dim and oppressive.

Xilun glanced down at the chieftain's face.

His ashen complexion seemed to have lightened a bit—perhaps it was just psychological, but his breathing was indeed more steady than before.

He stood up, unscrewed the tranquilizer, carefully pried open the chieftain's lips, and let the liquid flow into his mouth.

Then came another bottle—an inhibitor.

The medication David had prepared in advance was intended to slow the spread of virus number one. It couldn't cure the virus, but it could buy time.

After doing all that, Xilun stood quietly by the bed for a while.

He closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and a faint white light seeped from between his fingers.

Pray for the sacred bud.

This is not treatment, but maintenance—allowing the remaining white essence within the patriarch's body to continue operating gently, like a protective film, isolating direct contact between the parasite and the damaged tissue.

A moment later, he lowered his hand.

I pushed open the door and walked out of the bedroom.

In the corridor, David stood against the wall and immediately went to greet Xilen when he saw her come out.

"How is it?"

"The first cleanup is complete," Siren said. "Seven contamination threads were burned off, and the activity of the parasites was temporarily suppressed."

David's eyes lit up.

"We can do it a second time tomorrow," Celen continued, "but I need to get plenty of rest today—net pressure takes a lot out of my mental energy."

He paused for a moment after saying this.

Then he coughed.

It's not heavy, but it's quite noticeable.

David's expression immediately tensed up.

"you--"

"It's nothing." Xilun rubbed his temples, revealing a slightly tired expression. "When purifying pollution, the caster will also suffer a certain degree of backlash. It's normal."

He coughed twice more.

This time it was slightly heavier than before.

David's gaze lingered on his face for a few seconds.

"I'll have someone send a tranquilizing potion to your room."

"No need to send too much," Xilun waved his hand. "I'm going to rest."

He turned and walked down the corridor toward the west wing.

After turning the corner, his pace noticeably slowed down.

With one hand supporting himself against the wall and the other covering his mouth, he coughed a few more times in a low voice.

His body was slightly hunched, and he looked extremely weak.

Two maids carrying trays were passing by in the corridor. When they saw Xilun's appearance, they exchanged a glance, whispered something to each other, and quickly left.

Xilun slowly walked back to his guest room.

Close the door.

The moment the door lock clicked shut—

He straightened up.

The cough has disappeared.

The fatigue on his face also disappeared.

He stood by the window for a while, stretching his wrists and neck.

My mental energy was indeed depleted by 40%, but it was far from enough to require me to lean against a wall for support.

Those coughs, that weakness, that precarious gait—it was all an act.

Now that it has been confirmed that someone is secretly plotting to murder Chief Link and attempting to frame him—

Therefore, an alien being weakened by the purification of pollution would be a significantly reduced threat in the eyes of the opponent.

Only when the threat is reduced will the opponent lower their guard.

When opponents lower their guard, they will reveal more weaknesses.

Xilun walked to the table and sat down, taking out the three confidential documents from his pocket.

Open the first one.

"Observation Notes on Virus No. 1"

His gaze fell on the first line of text, and his brows furrowed slightly.

Then, he began to read carefully.

He spent nearly two hours reading through the three documents.

According to the "Observation Notes on Virus No. 1", this virus was originally brought back from the Southern Islands by the third patriarch of the Link family during a voyage. It is an extremely rare active pathogen that can invade the host's circulatory system and gradually destroy organ function.

Its characteristic is that it is slow.

There are almost no symptoms in the early stages of infection.

The host may feel that they are just a little tired, have a poor appetite, and occasionally have a low-grade fever.

But the virus has already begun to nest on the walls of blood vessels.

By the time external symptoms become obvious—a sallow complexion, purple nails, and difficulty breathing—the optimal treatment window has usually passed.

The second document is a component analysis.

The core of Virus 1 lies in a special protein structure that can mimic the host's own cellular signals, deceiving the immune system.

Therefore, the host's body will not have a rejection reaction to it.

It lives peacefully in the host's body like a legitimate resident until it completely demolishes the house.

The third document – ​​the detoxification plan.

It is labeled as "theoretical deduction", but the logic of the deduction is very clear.

The core idea is to fight poison with poison.

A specific toxin is used to activate the host's immune system, causing it to produce an "overreaction"—this overreaction kills a large number of normal cells, but at the same time clears out the disguised viral proteins.

The plan carries extremely high risks.

If the host's physical condition is not good enough, an overreaction can be fatal.

And the physical constitution of Chief Link—

Xilun put down the documents and closed his eyes.

not good.

Very bad.

Having had its life force drained by parasites for a long time, coupled with the continuous erosion of the No. 1 virus, the patriarch's physical functions have deteriorated to an extremely dangerous level.

If we directly use the strategy of fighting poison with poison now, the chances of the clan leader surviving are no more than 30%.

We must first get his physical condition back on track.

At least bring it back to a level that can withstand an overreaction.

Xilun quickly calculated in his mind.

Step 1: Continue to reduce pressure, completely sever the connection between the parasite and the host, and stop the loss of vitality.

Step 2: Use tranquilizers and inhibitors to stabilize the spread of virus number one.

The third step: Within four days, through prayer to the white intention of the sacred sprout, repair the chieftain's damaged organs and tissues as much as possible.

Step 4: On the fifth day, fight poison with poison.

Time is very tight.

But it's not impossible.

He carefully put away the documents and locked them in the drawer of his bedside table.

Then he stood by the window.

The manor outside the window was bathed in the afternoon sun, the roses in the flowerbeds were in full bloom, and a butterfly fluttered back and forth among the flowers.

Xiren did not see the butterfly.

His gaze passed over the flowerbed and landed on a building further away—at the end of the south wing, a row of rooms with tightly closed windows.

That was the servants' quarters.

Susie's mother died there.

A healthy middle-aged maid contracted a disease of unknown origin and died after a few days.

Years later, her daughter Susie also contracted an unknown virus.

Although he was rescued, he was left with serious aftereffects.

Both incidents followed the same pattern—illnesses of unknown origin, sudden onset, and victims connected to a particular person.

Who is it related to?