Yang Changtian and the others spent the next few days trying to get a confession out of the people involved , Shaman Hu just kept screeching , while the others refused to answer .
" We have to be stricter on them , " Yang Changtian said to Mo Ling.
" They are quite tough , " Li Cheng chimed in.
They were suddenly startled by the screech of a hawk , but it somehow sounded different from their usual birds.
The three of them stepped outside to check , they saw a hawk circling around camp, Yang Changtian shielded his eyes from the sun trying to get a clearer look at the bird , " Brother Li , is that your bird ? "
Li Cheng shook his head , " No , we don't have any black hawks ."
The hawk kept screeching and by now it had attracted the attention of all the people in camp .
" That's a very unique bird , " Song Lian added approaching the trio.
" Yes , black hawks are extremely rare and quite hard to raise , wonder where this one came from, " Li Cheng replied.
A sharp whistle cut through the air , everyone turned to see Liu Ying standing outside her tent accompanied by Jin Wei and Da Xiong , Jin Wei had a small whistle to his lips , he blew it again repeating the sharp whistle.
Recognizing the call, the black hawk began to descend, flying towards the group.
" Well….. We have our answer now ," Li Cheng mumbled. The hawk flew over and landed on Liu Ying , perching itself on her shoulder . Da Xiong hurriedly went forward and extended his arm , but the hawk just ignored him. Da Xiong shot a helpless look at Jin Wei who sighed and stepped forward and extended his arm , only to be ignored yet again.
Liu Ying giggled softly and she held her hand out , immediately the hawk moved over to her arm , Liu Ying reached out and opened the small tube on the hawks foot , she pulled out a small roll of paper , seeing that it was sealed , she patted her shoulder urging the hawk to perch on her shoulder again. To everyone's astonishment , the hawk moved back to her shoulder and he began to rub against Liu Ying's face .
Yang Changtian and the others were looking at this curious scene flabbergasted.
" Of course it's hers , that hawk is the same as her horse , " Li Cheng muttered under his breath and Song Lian snorted trying to hold his laughter in , while Liu Ying was resting Li Cheng wanted to play with Wu Ye , but the damn horse kept bullying him, shooting him dirty looks whenever he went near and even almost chewed his robe .
Yang Changtian was still observing Liu Ying when he saw her eyebrows tightening , her relaxed expression tightened. Then he saw her beckoning Jin Wei and Da Xiong to come along , they entered her tent and closed the tent flap completely.
" What's that about ? " Li Cheng asked.
Song Lian shrugged his shoulders.
Moments ago , Liu Ying owned the note and read through it ;
Liu Ying , Mo Huan is investigating you , be careful. I received your report , and henceforth your task is changed . I order you to wipe the Crazies out and return back to the capital immediately , you are allowed to leave one subordinate to help Yang Changtian .
Liu Ying's face got darker visibly , noticing this change Jin Wei and Da Xiong exchanged worried looks .
Liu Ying turned and signaled them to follow her , together they entered the tent and Liu Ying asked them to close the tent flap completely.
" His Majesty has ordered us to get rid of the Crazies , then we are to return back to the capital immediately, " Liu Ying informed them.
Jin Wei and Da Xiong looked at each other bewildered , " But Senior , our initial mission was to help Mr. Yang. Why are they changing our mission now ?" Jin Wei began to protest.
" What happened Senior ? " Da Xiong asked.
'Liu Ying exhaled loudly , " Mo Huan is investigating us, meaning Prime minister Mo is suspicious of us."
Jin Wei inhaled sharply , but Liu Ying continued , " So His Majesty wants us to return back to the capital soon , something else must've happened. Jin Wei write a letter to Brother Lu today , asking him if anything happened recently."
Jin Wei nodded and Liu Ying pointed to the paper and ink , he quickly grabbed some paper and wrote the message down and handed it to Liu Ying , she took it and carefully placed it inside the small tube and then used some wax to seal the tube off , before tying it back to the hawk's leg.
The hawk looked at them pitifully , as if complaining. Seeing that ,the three of them laughed helplessly , " Fine, get something to eat and the rest for a bit , then you can go back , " Liu Ying cooed. " Da Xiong , can you take him and feed him something ? "
Da Xiong nodded and carefully extended his arm again , this time as if it understood , the hawk jumped onto his arm .
When Da Xiong exited the tent , Jin Wei turned to Liu Ying , " Senior , what will we do now ? "
Liu Ying shook her head , " Let's focus on completing our new mission now , we need to get rid of all the Crazies. I'll go see if there's an easier way for us to get rid of them. Jin Wei, do you mind getting me some antifungal medicine from Dr. Lv? If she's free, ask her to come over too "
Jin Wei nodded and stood up to exit the tent , but he was stopped by Liu Ying , " Jin Wei , don't tell anyone about this for now." Jin Wei nodded back and exited the tent.
Just as he exited the tent , he spotted Da Xiong talking to Yang Changtian and Li Cheng , remembering Senior's instruction , he quickly rushed over .
" Yes , it's quite rare , this bird was raised by Senior Lu and given as a gift to Senior Liu , " Da Xiong was explaining the origin of the rare hawk to Li Cheng , " Senior Lu found it as a chick during a mission , and seeing that it looked somewhat like Senior Liu , he brought it back."
Li Cheng was observing the hawk carefully.
Yang Changtian nodded , " Did it deliver a message from your seniors ? " he asked.
Da Xiog was just about to answer when Jin Wei interrupted , " Yes , Senior wrote a letter a few days back asking Senior Lu to send over a map , looks like he couldn't find it , " Jin Wei lied through his teeth.
Da Xiong shot him a confused look but he went along with it.
Yang Changtian looked at them with his eyes narrowed , see now , ' a few days ago' Liu Ying wasn't even awake , in fact despite ensuring him that she'll only sleep for awhile , she didn't wake up for another day , she contracted a fever and Dr. Lv had to administer quite a bit of medicine to make her better. So he didn't believe Jin Wei's explanation one bit. Besides Liu Ying already had a tonne of maps , dare he say that she had all the maps a person could have of this region , but he decided to let it slide for now , he'll ask Liu Ying himself later.
" Please excuse us Mr. Yang and brother Li , " Jin Wei said, dragging Da Xiong away.
" They're acting strange , " Li Cheng whispered to Yang Changtian.
Yang Changtian nodded in agreement , " Come on , let's go check on Mo Ling."
Li Cheng nodded and followed Yang Changtian.
Jin Wei dragged Da Xiong all the way to the medic tent .
" Jin Wei , what's happening ? " Da Xiong asked .
" Senior asked me to tell you that you aren't allowed to mutter a single word about what we received today, " Jin Wei hissed.
Da Xiong nodded , " Alright I wont tell anyone , you can let me go now."
Jin Wei released his hold on Da Xiong, " Remember not a word , I'm off to find Senior some medicine." Da Xiong nodded as Jin Wei raced over to the medic tent.
He entered the tent and he found Dr. Lv hunched over a patient, checking his temperature.
" Dr. Lv , Senior asked me to ask you for all the antifungal drugs you have , and she also asked you to meet her when you're free."
Lv Ling raised her head , " Ms. Liu wanted to see me , do you know why ?"
Jin Wei just shook his head.
Lv Ling nodded , " Got it , I'm free now so I'll take over the medicine myself."
Jin Wei agreed and he went to check on Da Xiong.
Lv Ling pulled her inventory out , and chose some strong antifungal medicine , she also included some other medicines . Then she arranged them in a small medicine box and she walked over to Liu Ying's tent. She stopped in front of the tent and announced her presence .
" Come in Dr. Lv , " Liu Ying answered .
Lv Ling entered and presented her the herbs she brought , " Jin Wie gave me your message , and these are the strongest antifungal medicine I have ."
Liu Ying nodded and walked over to the box , she spent some time observing each and every herb.
" I don't think these will do the trick , " Liu Ying mumbled to herself.
Lv Ling's ears perked up at this , " Is there a problem Ms. Liu ? "
Liu Ying sighed and turned to her , " I was recalled, I am to return to the capital immediately with my team , but I have to get rid of all the Crazies before I leave. So I'm thinking of ways to get rid of the fungi completely. "
Lv Ling's eyes went wide at this , " They recalled you ? "
Liu Ying nodded.
" When will you leave ? "
" They want us back as soon as possible, but as I said , I have to get rid of the Crazies first."
" Then if you don't mind , I'd love to help out , " Lv Ling offered.
" I actually asked you over here for that exact reason , with the limited time left , it would be easier for me if you helped."
Lv Ling nodded , " Please allow me to go grab some things from the medic tent . "
Liu Ying nodded , " Also Dr. Lv , please keep this matter a secret for now."
Lv Ling nodded back exiting the tent , moments later she came over with a bigger medicine box.
" Ms. Liu, I brought more medicine over. But dont we need to test the medicine ?."
" I'll ask Yang Changtian to hand over the remaining Crazies we have , but for now , let's focus on making the medicine."
Lv Ling nodded and the two of them began to plan out .
The two of them isolated themselves in the tent till late , only coming out when Yang Changtian and Li Cheng burst in worried , " Just what are you two doing , we haven't seen you two for hours , " Li Cheng reprimanded them, " We thought you got sick again ."
Yang Changtian just stared at Liu Ying , who turned a deaf ear to Li Cheng's reprimands.
" You got a letter today ? " he finally asked.
Liu Ying didn't even bother to answer , continuing to eat slowly , " Yes , I requested something from Brother Lu , but he couldn't find it." Jin Wei informed her about what he told Yang Changtian beforehand.
Yang Changtian still couldn't get rid f the suspicious feeling , ' That can't be right ,' he thought to himself.
" By the way Mr. Yang , if it's okay with you , I need the Crazies we have locked up."
Li Cheng almost dropped his spoon at this , Yang Changtian just stared at her , " Why do you need them ? "
This time Lv Ling answered , 'We're trying to find a way to eradicate the zombie fungi completely and we need some test subjects."
" You're trying to destroy all the fungi ? "
" We can't just leave them , they might spread again and cause more problems. We have to kill it off completely. "
Yang Changtian finally agreed , in fact he was just stalling to get some info out of Liu Ying.
" I'll ask Mo Ling to bring them over ."
" No need , I'll go bring them over myself, but thank you for offering Mr. Yang."
Liu Ying and Lv Ling stood up walking away , Li Cheng and Yang Changtian watched as they walked away.
" She's hiding something ," Yang Changtian suddenly spoke.
" Really ? Honestly for me , she's acting normal, " Li Cheng added.
Yang Changtian just ignored him , he just watched as Liu Ying and Lv Ling disappeared back into the tent.
" This isn't going to work , we won't be able to get enough herbs for all of them , " Liu Ying sighed. Lv Ling just nodded silently.
" Wait , can we apply the method we used to clean the infested water, into this situation too ?" Liu Ying asked.
" That's right , you managed to clean the water, " Lv Ling replied, jumping up , " How did you do that ? "
" Humic acid darling , I boiled peat to get humic acid , adding the acid to the water will raise its Ph level killing off the fungi , and then to neutralize the acid we'll add in limestone , it'll take a few days , but it should be able to do the trick. "
" Then let's test it out," Lv Ling replied excitedly.
" We have to find peat first , I forgot all about the humic acid we extracted and when I checked up on it recently , it had evaporated completely. Dr. Lv , let's rest for today , it's almost dark outside, so we can do anything else for today. Let's go have dinner now."
Lv Ling nodded and followed Liu Ying outside , they reached the dining area .
Liu Ying spotted Jin Wei and Da Xiong waving them over , at the same time , Li Cheng who was sitting with Yang Changtian over at another table spotted them and waved them over too.
" Ms. Liu , who should we sit with ? " Lv Ling asked, scratching her head .
" Jin Wei and Da Xiong , we have to discuss our plans with them tomorrow, " Liu Ying answered while heading over to their table , on the way they passed Li Cheng and Yang Changtian, Liu Ying and Lv Ling just stopped and nodded at them before making their way over to Jin Wei and Da Xiong.
Li Cheng's face dropped a bit , Yang Changtian just stared at Liu Ying with his eyes narrowed.
" They must have something to discuss , " Li Cheng muttered before turning to pick on his food.
Jin Wei and Da Xiong greeted Liu Ying and Lv Ling when they sat down.
" Jin Wei , Da Xiong there's something you need to do tomorrow, " Liu Ying began. " We don't have enough herbs to do anything , so we have to resort to other methods. So we theorise that it might be possible to kill off the bacteria inside the Crazies the same way we killed the fungi infecting the water."
" You mean using the peat solution you made ? " Jin Wei asked.
Liu Ying nodded , " Yes , but we need to make more, so I need your help."
Jin Wei and Da Xiong nodded , " You need our help to set up right ? "
Liu Ying nodded , " Okay Senior , we'll get to work."
" We won't need it till well after noon tomorrow , I still have to go out and find peat. Speaking of peat , where's Tao Su ? "
" Tao Su went to take a nap in the afternoon , but he isn't up yet. Do you want me to wake him up, Senior ? " Da Xiong asked.
Liu Ying shook her head , " No need , when he wakes up, tell him that I asked him to join me for a mission tomorrow."
" Okay Senior."
Jin Wei looked somewhat conflicted , " But Senior , is there no way to help the infected people ?"
Liu Ying shook her head , " Unfortunately , it's impossible to do anything at this point , the fungi has taken over the hosts whole body , and they're even evolving , so we must focus on the betterment of the people we can save now . The only way we can help the infected is ensuring that they are free from the fungi."
Jin Wei nodded softly , Da Xiong patted him on the shoulder.
" By the way , did Shaman Hu confess ? If not what about the other four ? " Lv Ling asked.
Jin Wei and Da Xiong sighed , " They're keeping their mouths shut , Mr. Yang even ordered more drastic methods to get them to talk , but they haven't budged."
" Hmm , they sure are tight lipped, " Liu Ying added , picking her food , " But I have a feeling that they'll break and confess soon."
" What makes you think so ,Senior ? " Da Xiong asked curiously.
" Just a hunch, " Liu Ying replied with a mysterious smile.