339 Returning To The Rescue
Selma Payne’s POV:
That was right, no matter how angry I was, I couldn’t ignore such a huge source of contamination. The only reason I was able to leave was that it wasn’t a big deal, to begin with.
“But what if a soldier is contaminated?” Dorothy was still worried. “Just like you said, if the remaining evil forces in Spring City taint the elven soldiers, then there will be a big problem.”
I replied calmly, “Don’t worry. Those elves are very smart. They won’t die for the sake of personal feelings. If anything happens, they’ll shamelessly ask for my help. It’ll be like how they shamelessly asked us for help after rejecting our search request.”
During the lunch break, we took a break behind a hidden hill.
I asked Master Kevin about the return of the evil power, and he said, “This is not rare because the evil sacrificial array is usually two-way. Both sides will exchange sacrifices and rewards. Many cultists knew nothing about sacrificial rituals and only drew a rough outline. In fact, many of the details were wrong, which could cause a series of side effects. The most common one is the chaotic flow of power. I think it’s because of this that the evil power flows back.”
It turned out that this was caused by the wanderers’ mistake. It was hard to say whether it was the elves’ luck or misfortune.
Munching on the compressed biscuit, Dorothy said gloomily, “My beautiful fantasy of elves has been completely shattered in the past few days. What happened to their beauty, kindness, and gentleness? He’s no different from an ordinary person, and it even makes people feel a little speechless.”
“It’s marketing. Who doesn’t know how to make themselves look good?” I consoled her, “There are good and bad people everywhere. The elves are just one of the common people.”
Dorothy had been reading up on herbal medicine written by an elven scholar during this time, and her admiration for the scholar had unknowingly shifted to the entire elven race. It was expected that she would be disappointed after her fantasy was shattered.
Before they could finish their lunch, the scouts reported that they had found traces of unknown people in the distance.
I knew who was coming, so I wasn’t nervous. As expected, ten minutes later, Kaya appeared with a small group of elves.
These people were in a sorry state, and there were even some wounds on their bodies as if they had fought with someone.
I interrupted what Kaya was about to say and said bluntly, “Someone’s infected? A riot? Internal strife? The situation is getting out of hand?”
Kaya nodded, trying her best to appear calm, even though her red cheeks betrayed her embarrassment.
“Then don’t just stand there. Let’s go.” I stood up and dusted off the dirt on my butt.
“Y-y-you don’t mind?”
“Don’t worry. If I really want to argue with you, I have plenty of ways to make it so that you won’t be able to find me.” I sneered. I don’t want to target anyone, but it’s time for you elves to change your arrogant temper. Things are no longer the same as they were thousands of years ago. You should have realized that you’re gradually becoming a joke in the eyes of the outsiders, right?”
These words were very impolite, but Kaya’s bad temper was gone. She lowered her head in silence and didn’t say anything.
So, we followed the elves back to Spring City.
To be honest, I did this to manipulate the elves’ temper. I didn’t hate this race.
Be it the werewolves, elves, witches, humans, or other races, it was common for most people to be ‘afraid of power but not virtue’. Taking kindness for granted was a selfish gene in all living things. Even if one were to tuck their tail between their legs in front of the strong, they would still be able to find thousands of reasons to be righteous.
There was no need to haggle over human nature. Since this rescue mission was a relationship of interests from the beginning, all personal feelings were a waste of time. It was enough to maintain diplomatic relations between the two races.
Of course, no one would let go of the opportunity to fight for benefits for their side.
Spring City was in a mess. The elven soldiers quietly infected by the evil power had lost their minds and turned into human weapons that would attack madly. The clear-headed elven soldiers wanted to subdue them, but they didn’t dare to be ruthless, so they were very passive.
Since I couldn’t confirm if the elves were infected one by one, I told everyone to hide in a safe place in Spring City. I wrapped Spring City in the river and ‘sucked out’ the evil power.
Devouring the evil power in a human body differed from devouring the air. This was a much more complicated and delicate work. The spiritual world of an adult elf was also much more guarded against than a minor’s. The slightest mistake could cause irreversible damage, so I had to spend a lot of effort dealing with it. It was only when it was almost dark that I finished.
At this time, Spring City seemed to have experienced a second attack. It was so desolate that one could not bear to look at it. The bloodstains that hadn’t been cleaned up were stacked with new bloodstains that hadn’t been dried yet. The purified contaminated elves were lying all over the ground. Those who didn’t know would think the ground was full of corpses.