Plague Doctor

‘Could the old shaman be Ol’ Uncle Dog?’ Gu Jun believed that was not the case. The description did not fit. In any case, Gu Jun continued to peruse the files.

“The old shaman revealed that they were a religious order, and he was the leader of that order.” Elder Tong’s testimony continued. “Liu Daze was part of that order. The old shaman said, humanity and human civilization were as unworthy and as weak as a unicellular organism. Several centuries ago, there was a powerful being that ruled over the world. They had created cities and culture several dozen thousand times more glorious and imposing than humanity could ever have imagined. Even though most of them had been buried by time, there were still some ruins that could be found to verify their existence like the giant stone carvings on the Pacific Islands.”

Gu Jun could feel his heart quivering when he read this. He was certain his parents were members of this cult. So, was that why they went sailing so much—they were looking for these ruins?

“But these great presences went into slumber several decades before human civilization began. Their order consisted of lowly followers of one of the great presences. They had their goal and responsibility.” The report stated that when Elder Tong recounted these things, his expression was peculiar. “They called those great presences the ‘Great Old Ones’.”

‘The Great Old Ones?’ Gu Jun’s expression shifted as an invisible hand gripped around his heart. His eyes swam in an illusion…

When the Son of Steel was about to commit suicide on the cliff, nine shadows had appeared before him, and one of the voices had told him, “Our Great Old Ones have reserved a demonic seat for you. Beyond human comprehension, there is a greater truth.”

The Great Old Ones… Gu Jun’s head started to pound. He had never revealed this information to Phecda before because he wanted to keep the information about the Son of Steel and Son of Misfortune to himself. Elder Tong’s report had been written years before he was born. The foreign civilization had traces of the Great Old Ones, and now it appeared their influence had affected Earth as well, so what were these mystical beings?

Gu Jun forced himself to continue reading, and he read faster and faster. The old shaman extended an invitation to Elder Tong, but Elder Tong rejected him. He even tried to apprehend them. But it was then that Elder Tong realized his gun had gone missing. It was as if his gun had dissolved into the air around him. The old shaman did not move, but the other people in black slowly approached him. Elder Tong put up the best fight he could, but he was easily brought under control by their mental attack. Then he was beaten to a pulp and was stabbed in the stomach by the woman.

“They told me this was for me to understand how fragile and easily broken the human body was,” Elder Tong’s testimony read.

Then they bound Elder Tong up, blindfolded him, and took him away. What happened next was what Gu Jun and Wu Siyu saw in their illusion. Elder Tong thought that he had died, but when he woke up, he was already deposited at the hospital. As it turned out, he was dumped on the streets of Guang Ting, and it had been one week since the Phoenix unit entered the mountain. Actually, during that period, Phecda had sent out a large search team to carpet search Xiong Lin Mountain. They did not encounter Elder Tong or the Old Shaman or the cult that he mentioned later. There was nothing suspicious about the mountain; they came up with nothing even after multiple searches.

“I saw…” Elder Tong described the images that he saw when he was assaulted mentally by the children. According to the files, his face paled and his eyes glazed over during this period. “I saw many strange shapes, but I cannot describe any of them. They cannot be drawn either. They are not in a dimension that can be replicated by human minds…”

Gu Jun’s mind was splitting. The illusion threatened to consume him like he was being sucked into Elder Tong’s experience. Chaos danced around him. Right at that moment, Wu Siyu came back with another briefcase. “Elder Tong said to knock yourself out, but he’s not going to be responsible if you go crazy.”

But as she took in Gu Jun’s state and sensed the chaos in his mind, she hesitated. She said with concern, “Are you sure you want to do this? How about we do it next time?”

“Give it to me…” Gu Jun almost jumped out of his seat to grab at the briefcase. He knew that in his current state, he would definitely be able to trigger an illusion!

Wu Siyu jumped back from his aggression. Gu Jun grabbed the briefcase and tore it open. He took out the picture from the case. It was the actual picture of the stone statue. The statue was not that big, about twenty centimeters tall. It did not look like any tomb guardian he had seen. In fact, it did not even match the aesthetic of the early Qin Dynasty. It was a large, ancient, and indescribable monster kneeling on top of a rectangular stone seat.

The carving was exquisite yet unusual. It was slightly humanoid, but the face was filled with cephalopod-like tentacles. The body was engorged, reminding Gu Jun of the bloated corpse.

“Ah!” An explosion erupted in Gu Jun’s mind. Many strange visions swam before his eyes. It was impossible to tell they were illusions or dreams. In the deep fog, the faces of the Phoenix unit appeared before his eyes. They were fixed in fear, confusion, and panic… Then, he saw a flickering image of a giant and imposing palace deep on the ocean bed…

Then, he saw some people in ancient clothing kneeling like contortionists in prayer to that stone statue. They were crying, pleading, and begging…

With so many strong and intense images, it was overloading his mind. He saw the bloated corpse again, but this time, there was more than one. A mountain of bloated corpses had been placed together to form a creepy motif, like a summoning circle. He saw shriveled shadows moving among the circle. The wrinkled skin was covered in dead spots, and they appeared to belong to the zombies…

Suddenly, it hit Gu Jun. Bloated corpses could be used to summon and attract zombies!

Even though he was still clueless about the relationship between the Great Old Ones and the zombies, and even the connection to the cult, he was confident about his latest discovery.

‘The bloated corpses are used to attract the zombies, and the bloated corpses have to be from empty shells whose minds have been drained. This is an important step to summon the zombies… Are any spells or specific rituals required? Is it the same ritual as the one performed by Ol’ Uncle Dog’s family?’

Gu Jun’s hands pressed against his head. A sudden pain sent the illusions flying out of his mind. When he came to, he saw Wu Siyu holding a police baton, ready for another strike.

“Wait!” He quickly called after her between breaths. “I’m fine. I’m fine now! But I can’t say what will happen if you come at me with another swing…”

“But I have already assumed the pose. How about just one more swing?” Wu Siyu said with a pout. “Do you know how rare chances like this are?”

“No way, be serious. We still have things to do.” Gu Jun forced himself to stand up. He put on a severe expression. It was time to act. “The cult should be behind this Nightmare Illness. I believe their goal is to awaken some kind of ancient presence. I still have no idea what goal the zombies play in the big picture, but we need to attract the zombies to capture them. We should be able to get some information from them.”

“Zombies?” Wu Siyu frowned deeply and hacked out a cough. “Damn it, what is that taste?”