The Immortal of Plague begins by establishing the root of lung fire.

Song You sat down with his back against the wooden crate, surrounded by various sizes of flight crates and cardboard boxes, with thick straps securing these goods to the metal slots in the bulkhead.

He didn't immediately reach for the books in his suit's inside pocket. The plane's engines hadn't started yet, and the tire noise of ground vehicles passing by could be heard from time to time outside the cabin.

In this situation, the cabin door may reopen at any time, and security personnel or baggage handlers may come in to conduct a final pre-flight check.

Taking the book out to read now would be too risky, making it inconvenient to hide it later.

He adjusted his posture, recalling the time displayed on the screen when he destroyed his phone in the restroom. Comparing it to the sunrise and sunset patterns at Pozang Temple, he realized that one day had passed at Pozang Temple, while they had advanced three days here.

Including the more than forty minutes he spent here undergoing investigation and receiving hypertonic glucose infusion, only a quarter of an hour had passed at Po Zang Guan.

It seems that the ratio of time flow rates on both sides is very fixed, at one to three, regardless of which realm he is in.

Song You was certain that with this in mind, he could make better plans in the future and maximize the use of time differences and global disparities.

Now that they're on this Gulfstream business jet and will temporarily hide in India, they can finally get rid of all the mess they made back home.

Song You could only apologize to Meng Wenyuan in his heart, hoping to help Ruikang Pharmaceuticals if the opportunity arose in the future.

His top priority right now is to save his own life, and whatever he needs to do in the future is not suitable to be done under the other party's nose.

Inside the waiting hall, Meng Wenyuan looked down at his phone screen. The chat interface was clean and empty, with no new messages.

He glanced at his watch; the minute hand had just passed the ten mark. Boarding time was approaching, but Song You hadn't appeared yet.

Meng Wenyuan put his phone in his pocket, turned around and gave instructions to the staff behind him: "Grab your things and get ready to board."

The employees picked up their briefcases. Meng Wenyuan guessed that Song You might have seen Li Man and her men blocking the door in the restroom, and after weighing the pros and cons, he ran away first.

It seems I underestimated his determination. This guy is highly skilled, but also quite adept at causing trouble. Since the other party has run away first, and Ruikang Pharmaceuticals is doing legitimate business overseas, there's no need to fight to the death over a newly hired employee.

Thinking of his younger sister, Meng Wenyuan turned around and faced Li Man directly.

"Representative Li, we're leaving now. Please wait here." Meng Wenyuan's tone was calm and devoid of any extra emotion. "I'll say it again, Song You is a legitimate and official employee of Ruikang Pharmaceutical, with all the necessary paperwork. If you're looking for someone, go look elsewhere."

After saying that, Meng Wenyuan led his men toward the boarding gate without looking back.

Li Man stood there, her face tense. She turned her head and winked at the two men behind her.

The two walked quickly to the restroom, pushed open the glass door and went in. Half a minute later, they came out and shook their heads at Li Man.

"The person isn't inside. The window is open; they probably climbed out."

Li Man chuckled briefly. Several grown men were guarding the door, and someone just vanished into thin air. And this is supposed to be a professional security company?

Aside from their decent posing, they were completely useless; I fired them as soon as I got back.

"Should we search inside the airport?" one of his men asked, leaning closer.

Li Man glanced at her subordinates. She seriously doubted whether these people were smart enough. Without an official document for assistance, forcibly entering the airport area was just asking for trouble. Airport security personnel would immediately detain them.

She suppressed her anxiety and began to plan her escape route.

Zhang Lihong lay half-dead in his hospital bed, and even expert consultations couldn't find the cause of his illness. The department's messy accounts of reselling overpriced medical supplies were all pinned on Zhang Lihong.

As for the medical malpractice incident involving the death of a patient in the third bed of the cardiology department, the blame for tampering with the defibrillator records was placed on Song You.

With no one to testify since the dead are gone and the living have disappeared, the investigation by higher authorities found that this group of people were completely clean and had no responsibility whatsoever.

As for Meng Wenyuan and his group, they are too conspicuous and should not cause trouble for the people behind them.

"No need to search anymore, let's go back." Li Man kept this in mind and turned to leave.

Song You heard the Indians outside the cargo hold board the plane, and the heavy cabin door of the private jet slowly closed.

The engine started, the fuselage shook violently, and Song You's body was pressed tightly against the groove at the bottom of the wooden box. The plane taxied on the runway and the pitch angle increased, and the feeling of weightlessness spread throughout his body.

Above was the cabin floor, and through the floor, one could faintly hear voices.

It sounded like Bharat and his entourage were talking. With no outsiders around, they didn't speak English, but only Hindi, speaking very fast and incomprehensibly.

Through the gaps in the wooden crate, Song You looked at the dark cargo hold walls, wondering when he would be able to return next.

There's no need to think about it; there will be many ways waiting for him in the country. Once he understands the cultivation methods of the Soul Treasury Temple and masters enough techniques, he will come back and settle these scores one by one, and none of them will escape.

The thought had barely formed when Song You felt a strong wave of dizziness, and the scene before his eyes blurred—a sign that he was about to wake up.

Previously, he had refined the essence of wild beasts in the ruins, which thickened his body foundation, enriched his blood and qi, and greatly increased the speed of his body's self-repair, thus relieving his near-death crisis too quickly.

The duration of the interdimensional travel was shortened, and Song You did not expect that the improvement in his physique would have this side effect.

The dark warehouse in front of me began to twist and crack, and the feeling of weightlessness returned.

When Song You opened his eyes, he was back in the bungalow in the outer courtyard of Po Cang Temple.

Wearing a coarse Taoist robe, he reached into his pocket, only to find it empty. The "Illustrated Compendium of Herbs" had indeed not returned with him.

The body moves between realms, but clothing and belongings do not follow.

This confirms his previous hypothesis: without special treatment, items can only remain in their corresponding world.

Song You sat up from the wooden bed and quietly walked to the door.

The sound of steady breathing came from Shen Lu's room next door. The outer courtyard was quiet, with no sign of anyone approaching.

Time was of the essence, and he had to memorize the pharmacological knowledge in the "Illustrated Compendium of Herbs" as soon as possible. Since his physical condition had recovered well enough to support another round of treatment, he decided to do it again.

Song You walked back to the bedside and sat cross-legged again, emptying his mind to capture spiritual energy.

As spiritual energy entered his body, a great terror descended as scheduled, twisting and deforming the muddy ground and wooden table before him.

After the familiar dizziness subsided, Song You opened his eyes.

He was surrounded by familiar stacks of boxes, and the roar of airplane engines continued. He had returned to the Gulfstream's cargo hold.

My hand reached into my pocket, and I felt the rough texture of the paper. The "Illustrated Compendium of Herbs" was safely inside.

Song You exhaled a breath of stale air, the excruciating pain in his chest rapidly subsiding under the suppression of the modern, spiritless environment.

A sense of urgency spread through him; he had to seize every moment to read. He took out his book, ready to use the heat of his lungs to peruse it.

Just then, a clear male voice came from above the cabin floor.

The voice was unfamiliar, and it was a perfect example of American English.