That night, Ashley suddenly developed a high fever. After taking some cold medicine, his symptoms eased, and everyone relaxed their vigilance. Because he was not feeling well, Ashley did not go to the dining room for dinner. He rested alone in his bedroom.
After dinner, Yao was planning to relax with the sailors at the bar on the shore, but he was still worried about Ashley's health, so he stayed on the boat. After fishing with Chen Sanxian for a while, he got up and prepared to go to the cabin to see the patient.
After the girl finished her meal, she went for a walk with Wei Wuji and Chen Xiaohua near the pier. Thus, Ashley was the only person left in the bedroom. Yao Ling stretched out her hand to push open the door and discovered that it was locked from the inside. Just as she was about to knock on the door, she suddenly heard Ashley's voice coming from the bedroom.
Yao Yun felt very strange. It was impossible for anyone else to be in the room at this time. Could it be that Ashley had a fever and was confused? Was he talking to himself in his sleep?
He curiously pressed his ear to the door, trying to hear what Ashley was saying. However, the door was quite thick, so he could only faintly hear something. "I can't take it anymore. You never treated me as your daughter, so don't force me!"
Yao Ling was puzzled in her heart. She didn't know where these words came from. Could it be that she was dreaming about her father? Just as he was about to continue listening, he suddenly heard Ashley let out a heart-wrenching scream from the room.
Hearing the shout, Yao Yun was also frightened. He was afraid that something would happen to the room, so without caring about anything else, he lifted his leg and kicked the door open. When he rushed into the room, he found that there was no one else inside, only Ashley himself curled up in a corner of the bed, wrapped in a quilt.
"You. Are you okay? " Yao Lin probed her with a question.
Ashley lowered his head and didn't say anything. After a while, he nodded and said, "It's nothing. I had a nightmare."
Yao Yun saw that she was in a bad state and reached out to grab her by the bed, but was caught off guard when Ashley suddenly slapped his hand away with his left hand and said, "What are you doing!? "Why did you come to my room so late at night? It's better if you go out, it's not good for others to see."
He had a fiery temper himself, but he thought she might have woken up from a nightmare with a bit of a fit and was a patient, so he didn't mind. He told her to cover herself with the quilt before he left and went out.
Arriving at the deck, he saw Chen Changsheng still sitting on the deck of the ship, fishing. Feeling depressed, he went over to chat with the old man.
The harbor was relatively quiet at night, and the only light that could be seen on the surface of the water was that of a ship. It was a stark contrast to the brilliantly lit scenery of the distant city.
He began to chat with Chen Sanxing about the experiences of a man who was hiding his treasures in his heart. If one were to talk about the treasure hunt in India and the tomb robber, then it would be a completely different story altogether.
Chen Chou Sheng heard this and found it quite interesting. While the two of them were happily chatting, they suddenly heard a cry not too far away. Yao Ling then walked to the other side of the ship to check on what had happened, only to see that there were a few people hurriedly passing by while carrying a stretcher under the Indra.
Yao Yun's pair of eyes could clearly see that the stretcher was covered by a white cloth. Presumably, it was a corpse, only that the stretcher was extremely small. Half of the corpse's body was exposed, as if it was carrying a baby.
He was startled, thinking, could this be the death of a woman who had just given birth? The child is dead? If he gave birth to a female child, there would often be tragedies that would happen to him. He thought that since this child was still alive, his family would bury him along with her mother if they thought he was a female! This sort of thing could not be ignored. Thus, he called over Chen Changsheng, who was behind him, and planned to get off the boat to see what was going on.
However, when they arrived at the dock, those few people were already far away with the stretcher. It was unknown where they were headed in the darkness, so the two had no choice but to return to the ship. The two of them had a rough Jianghu personality. Although they paid attention to the righteousness of pulling swords out from the ground when they saw injustice, since they couldn't care less, they didn't care about it at all. After all, there were people dying in this world every day and tragedy befell every day.
The two of them continued fishing and drinking until the people on the boat returned one after another, and Koenitha brought back a few bottles of good wine and a supper. They drank a few more cups in the restaurant, and Wei Wuji started to talk about a strange thing that happened at the seaside: "Third Brother, something happened that frightened the little girl. The three of us walked along the beach, and then we met a few people who were taking a dead body out into the water at low tide. We happened to pass by, and the girl gestured and told me that there was a child on that man who was still alive and moving. I thought I couldn't watch them bury the living in the sea, so I went to manage it. In the end, Chen Xiaohua said that those people warned us not to touch the person on the stretcher, that she was cursed by the devil and had a plague. She could not live any longer, for fear of infecting us. I can't just listen to their nonsense. I'll just go over and take a look, my god, that's not a child at all, the woman on the stretcher isn't completely dead, but she is definitely dead. The child in her arms is actually a huge tumor on her body, but its outline is exactly the same as a baby's, and even its facial features! The little girl also saw it and was so scared that she started to scream. She was so scared that she started to cry. Hahahaha. "
After Yao Yin finished listening, she told him, "Fourth Bro, I also saw those people. I thought they were a living child, and I even called for Old Man Chen to come down and stop them. In the end, my wounds didn't heal at all, I can't jump off the boat, and by the time we ran down there, they were already gone. "From what you've said, it seems like she is really a strange patient. Her son probably thought that she was hopeless and was afraid that there was some sort of infectious disease, so he buried her in the sea."
After finishing the wine, everyone went to sleep. In the same room with Wei Wuji, Yao Yun suddenly thought of something: "Fourth Bro, have you arranged everything for Stinky?"
Wei Wuji didn't understand why Yao Yun had suddenly thought of the little monkey he was raising and replied: "It's settled, ah. I've locked Old White and Smelly in a room down below, and Jiannie Sa has sent people to take care of them. I went to take a look and it was pretty good. Even if it's stinky, it might still be afraid of Old White, so it's quite troublesome. After I feed it something, it'll be more obedient. "
Yao Ling nodded and said, "Yes, I have a feeling that this stinky stench will come in handy sooner or later. Take good care of it. Don't let anything happen to it."
While the two of them were speaking, Yao Yun's room door was suddenly pushed open. The little girl rushed in from outside. She was wearing only a set of sports underwear and her hair was still in a mess. It seemed that something had scared her out of her half-bath.
He reached out his hand to grab those guys. Wei Wuji grabbed his own clothes and put them on, asking her what was wrong. The little girl signaled them with her hand, telling them it was Ashley. She suddenly went crazy!
Without waiting for her to finish, the little girl grabbed the two of them and ran into the room she shared with Ashley. When she entered, she didn't see anyone, only that Yao Ling heard the sound of running water in the bathroom and hurriedly pushed open the door to find Ashley squatting in the corner, his body completely drenched from the shower. She firmly grabbed her right arm with her left hand and fiercely cursed at her right arm.
Blood was continuously flowing out of Ashley's right forearm. A knife Yao Yun gave her for self-defense was lying on the ground. It seemed like she had cut her own arm.
Yao Yun rushed over to help her out while Wuji brought out some medicine and gauze to bandage her wounds. However, everyone was surprised to find out that there seemed to be something growing on her right arm.
Chen Chou Sheng and the others also heard the news and rushed over. He unscrewed a bucket of drinking water and scrubbed Ashley's arm clean, and the red and swollen marks on her arm became more and more clear. The girl was so scared that her mouth was wide open.
On Ashley's arm, a human face had actually grown!
"Elder Chen, this. "What's going on?" Cold sweat broke out on Yao Ling's forehead.
Wei Wuji suddenly said: "About that. The woman I met at the seaside, Ashley. Did you also get the plague? "
Yao Ling thought for a moment and said to everyone, "During the day, when we went to buy fruits, she was bitten by bugs. The part where she was bitten was right here. Could that be the reason?"
Chen Changsheng raised her arm and looked at it for a long time. He said, "This looks like a sore, but the organizations that grow out of it are very similar to human faces. I've never encountered such a situation, so this is going to be difficult."
Wei Wuji recalled what had happened during the day and said: "Back then, she was given two drugs that could treat poisonous insects' stings. Both of them had miraculous effects. Could it be that the woman who was buried in the water was bitten as well? "
Speaking of bugs, Yao Yun suddenly thought of Old Hu's memento, his life's work and effort, < The Classic of Insects >. Thus, he ran back to his room, took out his notes, and looked for the strange insects in the world according to the list Old Hu had created. He had heard Ashley say during the day that it was a spider bug that had bitten her, so he turned to the chapter on spiders, only to find out after a little reading.
The spider that bit Ashley is called the Yin-Yang Man-Faced Spider.
This spider had black-and-white patterns on its body, making it look like a human face. Hence, its name. There was another reason why it was given such a name. It was because this spider had a ferocious temperament, but was only deadly to humans.
After the Man-Faced Spider bit other creatures, it would only feel red, swollen, and itchy for a while. The more nourishment the body has, the more it will grow, and the more tissue that is born from it will become more and more like a baby. At first, it will be just a face, but it will slowly turn into a head, and when it is fully formed, the person that is bitten will die because of organ failure.
This type of spider's venom had no antidote, so cutting off the poison was useless. Not long after, new venom would sprout, and the only way to cure it was to cut off all four of its limbs that had been bitten. However, if one bit another part of their body, they could only wait for death. Moreover, the poisoned person would often hallucinate, and before death, one would go completely crazy, and anything could be done.
Yao Yun explained the results of his investigation. The little girl anxiously gestured, meaning that Ashley should not be amputated. That way, it would be no different from killing her.
Yao Ning thought, "Of course I don't want to do that. Furthermore, given the conditions here, there isn't even the possibility of amputation. However, I can't just watch as she goes crazy and waits for her death."
The little girl stamped her feet in worry. Suddenly, she turned around and ran out. Chen Xiaohua reached out to pull her away, but he did not stop her.
At this time, Wei Wuji suddenly said to everyone: "I do have a way to suppress her poison. If there's really no other way, I can give it a try."
Yao Yun replied anxiously, "Even if we find a helicopter here now, it might be too late to take her to a suitable place for surgery. Besides, if we cut off one of her arms, she might really commit suicide. I think it's fine. Fourth Bro, you can try it."
Wei Wuji nodded his head and went back to get a cedar box. Then, he looked at Yao Yun and waited for his opinion.