Plague Doctor

Translator: Lonelytree  Editor: Lonelytree

“The thing inside the tree!”

“Let me go…”

Inside the dark banyan tree forest, the branches appeared to be dancing. The arresting wails drifted into Gu Jun’s mind, evoking the darkest sin his heart. The ancient whispers from the abyss mumbled in his ears as well. It was the spell from the last page. It was a long and seemingly irregular statement. There was no punctuation, and the meaning was unknown. But the more he studied it, the more he could feel the strange and evil energy from it.

“Mutated seeds break through decayed mud like battle axes disintegrate decay replace with fragrance millions of maggots gathered around dirty blood breaking through the barrier reshaping and reforming feeding on starlight spreading darkness the name of the old ones will never fall.”

This incoherent statement surrounded Gu Jun like flickering images, as if inviting him to admire the creation of the Old Ones around him. Gu Jun tried his best to wade through the forest with his mind intact. His mind was already fraying when he made the previous eight journeys, but now it had only intensified. The opening of the tree hole had enhanced his connection to the banyan trees. It was as if his own blood had been joined to the plants; their corrupted essence had flowed into his veins.

“This is why,” Gu Jun mumbled to himself as his footsteps became heavier and his breathing more agitated, “I became a doctor.”

His parents were still missing, their loyalty unknown. Other than that, he had no other family. When he was small, he had inquired about his grandparents. His parents had told him that they had all passed away.

“Saving people’s lives is my duty. That is what I want to do with my life.”

‘Doctor? Should you really call yourself a doctor after you have done something like this?’ Gu Jun walked out of the forest, and he was greeted by the cadavers that littered the ground. The dead bodies of the wolves and human beings. He took a deep breath, but all he could smell was blood. Unlike the scent in the surgery room, this was the smell of bloodshed from a massacre. He continued to move toward the shrine in the center. There were about 150 human bodies; most of them had died at his hands. While possessed and firing a gun for the first time, his accuracy was miraculously high. It was as if that was part of his nature.

Rigor mortis had already set in, and the brain matter and blood on the ground had dried. Some of the members from the Afterlife Cult had their heads caved in. Blood was leaking out from the orifices of those whose heads were intact, and their bodies were getting bloated. Their wilted faces gave them the appearance of early decomposition. On this dark and decaying ground, the process of decay appeared to be hastened.

In the flicker of a moment, in Gu Jun’s sight, the bodies had all decomposed. They were covered in maggots that feasted on the bodies. They crawled everywhere…

‘Beyond human comprehension, there is a greater truth…

‘Beyond human, there is a greater existence…

‘Do you not want… to know these truths?’

“I do, but not from the likes of you.” Gu Jun crawled up the shrine as he mumbled to himself. He tied the five parchments to a block of C4. He shook his head and said, “No, you are not the truth. Demons always lure others with the promise of sharing the ultimate truth with them. But the truth is, demons merely want to spread horror.”

The cursed parchments could not be preserved, and they could not be brought out. Granted, it would be invaluable to study the spell, but there were too many extenuating factors. He was worried others might fall under the demon’s influence and cause a security breach to Phecda. After all, the others did not have help of the Son of Steel.

“I have already memorized all these words,” Gu Jun told himself as he walked toward the forest of banyan trees with the bomb.

‘All the pain… confusion… conviction you still have… admirable… but that is only because you have seen too little…’

“That’s why they say ignorance is bliss.” Gu Jun strode forward. He gripped the scalpel in his pocket to help him focus. There was still a lingering energy around the ruined shrine. The many ceremonies performed there were the reason for that, but it was time to call it to an end. Gu Jun stuck the bomb to a tree at the edge of the forest and then returned to grab the QN-2-2 rocket launcher. He removed a white missile and loaded it into the rocket. When they were still inside the spiral staircase, he had thought to ask Xue Ba how to operate this thing.

“Son of Misfortune,” Gu Jun grumbled, his eyes shining with determination. “It’s time to say goodbye.”

He lifted the rocket launcher and aimed it at the C4. The missile was infra-red directed. Once it had locked on, it would follow the target even if they moved. Each missile weighed only 1.2 kilograms, but it could take down tanks, armored cars, and even a small base.

Click.

Gu Jun’s right index finger pulled on the trigger. With a long bang, fire exploded, and the missile flew out from the launcher. Gu Jun was knocked to the ground from the powerful recoil. He saw the missile soar through the short distance quickly, and it landed right on the C4. The missile exploded in a burst of fire!

The flame licked against the withered tree and spread along the branches and leaves. Soon, the banyan tree forest turned into a sea of fire!

At the same time, Gu Jun reloaded another missile and aimed it at the other side of the forest. The Hippocratic Oath said that doctors should help to eliminate disease and help relieve patients from their pain and suffering.

“Victims of malformed banyan disease, you’ve suffered enough. Rest in peace.” Gu Jun pulled the trigger again and again to fire the second missile, the third, the fourth …

He fired six missiles in different directions from the shrine. The raging fire turned the strange forest into a fiery hellscape. The crackling fire as the trees withered sounded like the wails of tortured souls, but as time passed, the wailing faded away, and the whispers appeared to have melted in the fire.

Burn, destruction, salvation.

The biggest chaos had to be ended with the largest destruction.

Staring at the burning pyre, the light was reflected in his heart, pushing the darkness into the shadow. He felt much better. His mind and body felt rejuvenated.

‘I don’t care whether you’re the Son of Misfortune or the Son of Steel. I am Gu Jun, and I will end this chaos.’

The fire grew stronger. The sparks that floated on the wind landed on the ground and feasted on the carcasses.

Gu Jun then walked toward the large banyan tree. He purposely avoided firing the missile at this direction earlier, but eventually, the flames would reach this place. When he passed through the forest, he did not sense any abnormal energy pulling or distracting him. He reached the big banyan tree. He stuck the last C4 on the large tree. He set it to explode thirty seconds later. He took the scalpel, the remote detonator, and a few other things as he entered the tree hole. When he saw the blurry images at the other end, he started to run and pressed on the detonator.

The flash of light at the end was getting closer. He believed he could see the Demon Hunters standing there. With a grit of his teeth, Gu Jun leaped forward.

A blast of explosion seemed to come behind him. The whole path was shaking and collapsing.