Plague Doctor

Translator: Lonelytree

“The Goddess of Hope passed away before her time.” Regret seeped into Peacock’s voice. “According to legend, she went into a permanent slumber one day in the golden era. People said that her heart was broken when she separated from the Phecda Hero at the island of giant manor. But the hope that she left behind will never break and the kindle she stoked will never be extinguished as well.”

“Indeed.” Malachite nodded seriously, “With the kindles comes hope.”

Gu Jun pressed for more details about this legend but there was nothing more Peacock could give, the rest had already lost in the river of time. He thus turned inwardly, ‘Why would Dirty-minded Yu fail to wake up? Or is this another exaggeration of this story? Could the broken heart refer to cardiac arrest? But Dirty-minded Yu does not have any heart problems as far as I know… Depression? With my understanding of that girl, she is not the type that will be defeated that easily. Her heart is not that easily broken… Wait, permanent slumber…’ A shiver coursed through his body, ‘Yes, dream, she must have entered the Dreamlands.’

“Dirty-minded Jun? Dirty-minded Jun? They say you’re dead, and they’re reading your will. Now is the time to correct them for their mistake.” Gu Jun remembered that he appeared to have heard this proclamation from Wu Siyu when his mind was still in a chaotic state. If that was truly her voice, then this girl had… a seemingly different understanding of his ‘death’ compared to the other person. Obviously Phecda must have mastered some kind of method to send people mentally into the Dreamlands or else Elder Tong and the rest would not have shown up during their fight with the House of Nightmare. Dirty-minded Yu would have insisted on returning to the Dreamlands to come looking for him, probably needing to see his actual body to accept the truth that he had died. She might not be able to enter the Dreamlands physically but she could do so mentally.

With her talent in parapsychology, she might fail the first few times, but eventually she would succeed. However, should any accident happen to her mental projection when she was inside the Dreamlands, then it would confirm the legend that she ‘succumbed to eternal slumber’. The more Gu Jun thought about it, the more worried he became. He really did not want any tragedy to befall her. Furthermore, it was he who placed that survivor’s guilt on Siyu, depriving her of her usual indifference to everything… Based on the legend, something bad would happen to her soon.

The Golden Era, the era of collapse, just when did they happen? What year was it? How long did they last? Enquire he did, but Peacock shook her head in response. There were too many variations in the stories, they ranged to a few years to several hundred years. Realizing he was not going to get any more details about the old world, he decided to ignore it for now and had Peacock continue her story about the ten thousand kindles at the Plateau of Leng…

These stories were closer to the current timeline so Peacock’s retelling of them was much more detailed and believable. However for Gu Jun, it was completely unfamiliar, he had a hard time even memorizing those strange, long, unfamiliar names of locations. But he tried his best to pay attention to look for possible clues. In the end though, it was all a haze for him.

“Mr. Nightmare Man, that is about everything.” Peacock concluded, her voice was getting dry from the long story.

“What is your rank within your tribe?” Gu Jun asked, “How much confidential information do you know?” It did not mean that Gu Jun thought she was lying, perhaps she was being lied to in the first place. Peacock was slightly startled but she understood the man’s suspicion. She replied with pride, “Both Malachite and myself are ‘Phecda Warriors’ of the tribe, we know more than enough. But in our tribe, the most knowledgeable tribesmen are the ‘professors’.”

“Oh?” Gu Jun’s brows pleated. Looks like the Professors had become priests in this world. Gu Jun personally did not believe youngsters like Peacock would know all the historical details, there might be some secrets and truths that were only inherited by the central key person of the tribe. Information that would not benefit the rest of the tribe should they know about it. Information that would shatter their belief and cause disparity. Perhaps some of the Professors knew that Gu Jun had not said any of these things before, but like Peacock said, those words had become their spiritual guide, so it did not matter whether they truly came from his lips anymore. If he had the chance, Gu Jun would have to ask for more details from these professors.

“Venerated sirs, our people’s survival is now hanging on the line!” Peacock turned to nightmare man and then Atal, pleading sincerely, “We need The Pnakotic Manuscripts, without its power, we will not be able to survive the invasion by the Ossarians.”

“Aiz.” Atal sighed evenly, his wrinkled face was as calm as ever. “Should you wish to discuss the learning of the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan with me, then I will be more than happy to share my knowledge with you, but the Pnakotic Manuscripts is just a ridiculous rumors among the people, it’s only a waste of time for you to have come here.”

“Venerated Elder.” Peacock’s face fell as she went down on her knees. “It is different this time, our people are waiting for us to return to save them!”

Malachite followed suit. His jaw was tight with emotion. “Elder Atal, we’ve spent 30 years building up everything that we are, why can’t you just lend us a hand?” 30 years ago, they were still unborn. If the tribe had grown strong by then, their childhood would not have been so grey, and their teenhood would not have been so difficult. They did not wish for their future generation to suffer the same fate as they did… That was if their people could survive the imminent genocide.

In their crisis, they would have to return with the miracle cure and tome just like the Phecda Hero and the Goddess of Hope did so that the kindle could continue to burn.

“Please don’t be like this.” Atal sighed as he turned his eyes away. “I did hear of the Pnakotic Manuscripts when I studied with Barzai the Wise. According to legend, the book is buried deep inside a library inside one of the ruined cities at Frozen Lomar. I’m sure you have noticed the problem already. This is just a legend, a copycat of those other legends about some kind of treasure inside a sunken city at the bottom of the ocean. Even if the book does exist, it is not here.” Atal shrugged, “Like I said, feel free to rummage through the temple and the tower if you do not believe me.”

Gu Jun glanced at the kneeling duo and he could feel their complicated emotions… He seemed to have seen shadows of his own self on the days before he departed for Wrangel Island.

“Peacock and Malachite, do you mind leaving us for now?” he began, “I wish to have a private conversation with Mr. Atal for a moment.”

“Okay…” Peacock could not read any expression due to the white mask but she knew it was unwise to go against the Nightmare Man. Furthermore, it sounded like the Nightmare Man was going to help them… or was that her wishful thinking? She did not dare to have her hopes up but she did pull Malachite up to leave. “Mr. Nightmare Man, we are of the same kin, that will never change no matter what.”

After the two left, Gu Jun turned to the old man on the ivory stage and said directly, “Barzai the Wise has me come here to take a look at the Pnakotic Manuscripts, he said that he has already passed on the book to you. It is indeed not in the tower because it is in your mind.”

“Ah.” Atal’s weathered face shifted as he moved his slightly overweight body around, “But…”

“Mr. Atal, there is no need to deny it.” Gu Jun pressed. “I need to see this Pnakotic Manuscripts.”