Chapter 252: A Situation Worse Than Imagined

Kaelen woke up to the savory smell of meat porridge. He sluggishly sat up, staring blankly around.

Who am I? Where is this?

A Gazelle clan Sub-Beast carrying a wooden tray walked in. Seeing Kaelen had awoken, he cheered joyfully: "You have awakened? I will immediately go call the Divine Envoy!"

Before Kaelen could understand what was going on, the Gazelle clan Sub-Beast had already run out of sight. Kaelen looked dumbfounded. Divine Envoy? Who was the Divine Envoy?

He did not even have time to figure out what kind of thing a Divine Envoy was before the door was pushed open.

"You’re awake?!"

Sane rushed in, slumping down on the edge of the bed, one hand feeling his forehead, one hand feeling his belly, asking a continuous string of questions without pausing for breath. Kaelen was spun around by him like spinning a doll, ultimately having to raise a hand to stop him.

"I am fine, truly. Just hungry."

Sane immediately picked up the porridge tray, scooped a spoonful, blew it cool then brought it to his mouth. Kaelen opened his mouth to eat, eating while listening to him recount.

This was the Black Scale tribe, about half a day’s journey from the mouth of the Abyss of Death. Kaelen had slept for two consecutive days and nights, sleeping so deeply that Sane had to lean his ear against his belly multiple times to listen if the child was still moving.

"Then what about that Divine Envoy thing?" Kaelen swallowed the spoonful of porridge, asking curiously: "Just now a Gazelle clan guy ran off to call the Divine Envoy. Does this place have a Temple?"

Sane held the spoon, remaining silent for a moment, then pointed at his own face.

Kaelen: "...You?"

"Yeah."

"How did it turn out like that?"

Sane smiled bitterly, recounting. That day he was thrown out of the array, free-falling from the sky, not having time to gather his wits before crashing right into the middle of an altar.

The Black Scale tribe at that time was holding an altar ceremony praying for the harvest. The whole tribe prostrated in a circle around the altar, looking up to see a beastman falling straight down from the clouds, smashing the altar into several pieces.

Sane sighed. "I explained many times but they did not believe me, constantly ’Divine Envoy this, Divine Envoy that’, hearing it so much I also got used to it."

Kaelen covered his mouth giggling, laughing until he choked on the porridge.

Sane: "... Do not laugh at my pain. They are about to change their tune and call you Divine Envoy too."

Kaelen: "..."

Having finished eating three full bowls of porridge, his spirit also improving a bit, Kaelen asked to go outside to breathe some fresh air.

Sane could not stop him, having to support him walking. The two slowly walked along the main road of the tribe.

The Black Scale tribe was quite prosperous. Houses were neat, roofs thatched with thick grass, on both sides of the road were proper drainage ditches. Far away were several perfectly square divided fields, in the fields green saplings were growing. Children ran noisily in the yards, every single one having rosy cheeks.

Walking half a round Kaelen stopped.

He turned his head scanning around once, then looked again one more time.

The person chopping wood by the roadside was a Sub-Beast. The two people carrying stones to build the ditch were also Sub-Beasts. On the watchtower at the front of the tribe, the two people holding spears standing guard were also Sub-Beasts. Even the group of children running and playing in the yard, every single one carried that soft aura.

Kaelen looked carefully at the spear on the watchtower. The spear shaft was wrapped with a few loops of coarse cloth, the hilt part carved smaller, clearly adjusted to fit smaller hands.

"Hey." He turned to his mate, frowning: "Did all the beastmen of this tribe go hunting?"

"No, this tribe does not have beastmen." Sane looked at him, his voice dropping low: "The Western continent is divided into two halves, a Sub-Beast half and a beastman half."

Kaelen was stunned: "Why?"

"It is due to the mad beast disease."

Before Sane could answer, a person spoke for him. Kaelen turned his head looking in the direction the voice emitted from, seeing the person arriving was a young Sub-Beast, dark skin, robust body. It was just that on this young face there was a vicissitude unfitting for his age.

Sane immediately introduced: "He is Jesse, the Chief of the Black Scale tribe."

Jesse bowed intending to kneel down to perform a greeting ceremony; Kaelen hurriedly reached out to support him up: "Do not kneel, I am not used to seeing others kneeling before me."

Jesse did not kneel anymore, having to bow his head in greeting. Kaelen asked: "Just calling me Priest Kaelen is fine. Just now you mentioned the mad beast disease right? What disease is the mad beast disease?"

Jesse invited the two to sit in the rest hut by the riverbank, slowly recounting the matter that had happened.

Many years ago the Western continent broke out in a massive epidemic.

Beastmen in the tribes suddenly lost control transforming into beast forms, not recognizing anyone anymore, biting whatever they encountered, killing whoever they encountered. Parents, mates, children, brothers of the same clan. The stronger they were, the more they killed.

Initially it was only adults, later even cubs were no exception. The children were born and grew up normally, until exactly the age of transforming for the first time. Having just finished transforming they went mad.

There was a tribe that lost half its people in just one night, only because a six-year-old child transformed into a human for the first time.

After killing people, waking up to see the hell they caused, most beastmen chose to commit suicide. Those who did not commit suicide would go mad once every period of time.

Therefore the Western continent was now divided into two halves. The Sub-Beast half in the south, the beastman half in the north, between the two sides was an empty strip of land hundreds of miles wide. In the middle of this empty land was a building complex, called the Confluence House. Both sides would periodically arrange to meet each other for three days, then everyone would return to their respective locations.

Beastmen and Sub-Beasts reaching the pairing age would be arranged a matchmaking session, if both were satisfied with each other they would pair up. If not satisfied, next time they would meet someone else.

"Saying that, this madness disease of beastmen has a fixed onset time?"

"That is correct." Jesse answered: "Everyone has a different madness period, but mostly fixed, therefore everyone will time it precisely to go to the Confluence House. Beastmen nearing the onset stage will immediately run deep into the forest, waiting until the madness disease passes then return."

"However, there are many people who cannot return, like my mate..."

Having finished speaking, Jesse lowered his eyes, staying silent not saying anything more. Kaelen waited for Jesse’s sorrowful emotion to settle down, then took out paper and pen from his spatial bag, spreading them on the tabletop.

He spoke softly to Jesse:

"Jesse, let me ask you a few questions, okay?"

Jesse nodded: "Yes, you just ask, whatever I know I will say."

"Does the disease onset right at the first transformation time, or a while after that?"

"Right at that time. Just finishing transforming they immediately have the disease onset."

"Is there any kid who transformed but did not have the onset?"

"No. Never has been."

"Before the onset are there any symptoms? Fever, loss of appetite, changing eye color, breaking out in pimples, anything is fine."

Jesse was stunned, thinking for a moment then shook his head: "Nothing at all. The day before they still laughed and talked normally."

"What year did this disease start? Started from what region?"

"This I do not know. It has existed since before I was born."

Kaelen tapped his fingers on his knee, asking the last question:

"Is it the same for every clan? Is any clan excluded?"

Jesse shook his head: "No, in heaven and on earth, as long as it is a beastman they contract this disease... Wait! Yes yes yes, the Golden Peafowl clan! They have not had anyone have a disease onset for half a year now, the beastmen returning to visit home are also not seen flying away anymore!"

"Oh right." Jesse suddenly remembered something, his face brightening significantly: "You two do not know yet, soon perhaps we will not have to live like this anymore."

Kaelen looked up: "What do you mean?"

"I also only knew yesterday. Nearly four months ago, in the north appeared a group of seven strangers." Jesse said, his voice already much more excited: "Leading was a very beautiful person, golden hair long touching the ground, eyes blue like lake water, on his back even having a pair of wings transparent like cicada wings."

"They said they could cure the mad beast disease. The Beastman Shrine did not quite believe it, keeping them behind to verify. The beastmen treated by that person have not gone mad a single time for four months already." He continued: "The Beastman Shrine sent three more children starting to enter the transformation period; under that person’s blessing light, the three children did not go mad at all."

"The Beastman Shrine has built a Temple for him already; from now on, he is exactly the Temple Master of our Western continent."

Kaelen and Sane turned to look at each other. Sane said in a deep voice:

"Did they say they would return or welcome you guys over there?"

The smile on Jesse’s face stiffened, completely unable to react in time. He opened his mouth wanting to speak, but ultimately could not utter a single word.

That was right, his Daddy talked about this matter with him, but completely did not mention taking him and his Papa over there or returning with them. Moreover, his attitude was extremely cold, so cold it was like looking at a stranger.

Jesse’s complexion gradually became unsightly. Kaelen grasped his hand, comforting softly: "Who knows they might have some matters tying them up. You just wait for a while longer..."

Jesse smiled bitterly and shook his head, water vapor welling up in his eye sockets: "No need to wait. They do not need us anymore. If they needed us, why these four months they did not say a word to us; if they needed us, why did we go ten times only to meet them once. If they needed us, why did their attitude towards us become colder and colder like that. The Golden Peafowl clan beastmen returned and stayed for good, yet they still keep staying over there..."

Jesse was a smart person; he had noticed this point a long time ago. Combined with what Sane just said, he seemingly had understood everything.

Right at this moment, a panicked Sub-Beast covered in blood ran in:

"Chief! Chief! Danger! The Golden Peafowl clan has been attacked by a beast tide!"

Jesse’s pupils shrank, he jumped up: "What?! Since when???"

The Sub-Beast who had just run over spread his two bloody hands out in front: "The person coming to deliver news departed from the Golden Peafowl tribe ten days ago, he was heavily injured, having just finished delivering the news he already stopped breathing."

The complexions of all three became extremely grave.

Already ten days, then... could the Golden Peafowl tribe still hold on?