Chapter 337 Hippocrates <TOC> Chapter 339 The Tailbone and Bowl
Translator: SumTLMan
The sudden visit of the Colorful Dragonflies brought a cataclysmic disaster to Hippocrates, akin to what happened in Twilight Deep Well.
Without warning, nearly all the villagers were parasitized. As a village where almost everyone, young and old, was a doctor, they had saved countless lives but were unable to save themselves.
Although the parasites could absorb the energy of the Nightmare Plane and prevent the host from dying, humans were not wizards. Their bodies, which could get sick from not consuming vegetables for a long time, could not survive on energy alone.
In the following years, the villagers of Hippocrates died one by one…
All of this was deduced by Angel himself and then pieced together through the story confirmed by the serpent’s nods and shakes of its head. Many intricate details were beyond Angel’s reach, such as the reason for the villagers’ corpses along the way. Angel thought of many reasons, but the serpent denied them all.
There was also the person in the coffin who hadn’t died for a thousand years. The serpent appeared puzzled, seemingly unaware of the reason. The serpent did not even know the person’s name or identity, only stating that they were a native villager born in Hippocrates.
Angel guessed that the reason the serpent was so persistent in nourishing the person, whose name it did not even know, with its blood for a thousand years was to preserve a trace of Hippocrates’ bloodline and hope. According to the serpent, not a single person from Hippocrates had successfully escaped; the only one still alive was the person in the coffin.
Angel asked about the outside world, but the serpent still shook its head. It had not left this area for hundreds of years and knew nothing about the news from the outside world.
It seemed that Angel had almost exhausted his questions. The remaining information could only be hoped to be answered by the person in the coffin when they woke up.
“Shall I take him away now?” Angel asked tentatively.
The serpent did not object, its eyes filled with gratitude and hope.
Seeing this, Angel breathed a sigh of relief, re-covered the coffin, and used a binding spell to secure it tightly before storing it in his spatial bracelet.
Thanks to the large mass of Void Floating Algae he had acquired in the planar passage, his spatial bracelet could now carry living beings. There was even a considerable surplus of Void Floating Algae left.
After storing the coffin in his bracelet, Angel planned to leave.
At this moment, the serpent slithered its body and blocked Angel’s path. With a puzzled look on his face, the serpent gestured for him to follow.
After some rest, the serpent seemed to have regained some of its spirits and led Angel through twists and turns to leave the place. Angel thought the serpent was going to accompany him for a while, but it unexpectedly took him into an extremely hidden cave.
This was a much smaller cave.
Angel noticed some signs of artificial crafting in the cave, such as a large stone bed and some drainage pipes. From the traces on the stone bed and the strong scent in the air, it was evident that this was the habitat of the giant serpent.
The giant serpent curled its body and led Angel to the back of the stone bed.
To Angel’s surprise, behind the stone bed were piles of shed snake skin, discarded fangs, and dark, deep scales.
—”This is your reward.”
After saying that, the giant serpent took out a black-and-white piece of shed snake skin and a shiny white fang and gave them to Angel.
Everything from a wizard-level magical beast is extremely precious. In Angel’s eyes, these snake skins, fangs, and scales were all high-grade materials! Their value was immeasurable!
Although he only got one piece of snake skin and one fang, Angel was extremely satisfied. Saving lives was just a simple act, but these things were an unexpected delight.
Seeing that Angel had accepted its reward, the giant serpent flicked its tail to signal Angel to leave on his own.
Angel thanked the giant serpent, then slowly walked out of the nest. Upon leaving, Angel suddenly turned back and asked the serpent, “May I know your name?”
The giant serpent raised its head, looking at Angel with its golden vertical pupils.
After a long pause, it spoke softly:
—”My name is Akeso.”
……
About half an hour after leaving Akeso’s nest, Angel reached the end of the cave.
There was another body of water.
However, Angel noticed that there were living creatures in this body of water. Although they were just some eyeless fish and shrimp, it brightened his eyes.
A month ago, Toby’s fish snacks had already run out, and they had been eating magic bread for a whole month. This kind of life was unbearable not only for Toby but also for Angel himself.
Now, seeing the fish and shrimp scattered all over the ground, Angel felt as if he was seeing a banquet.
“No, I must resist. I’ll wait until I leave this place before eating. I can’t eat now.” Angel silently told himself. However, after getting into the water, he couldn’t help but catch a few prawns, quickly blanch them in hot water, and then put them in his mouth.
The shrimp meat was smooth and tender. Angel hadn’t tasted meat in a long time and couldn’t help shedding tears of emotion.
Toby chirped and urged on the side. Compared to Angel, who rarely ate fish and shrimp, Toby, a fish-loving bird, felt like he was in heaven.
Angel had no choice but to swim along the water while catching fish and shrimp that drifted by.
Perhaps because this area belonged to Akeso, the vast expanse of water only contained small fish and shrimp, with no other ferocious aquatic creatures. This allowed Angel’s frightened heart to finally relax somewhat.
After swimming for nearly ten minutes, he went downstream and eventually saw the daylight outside just before nightfall.
This was a dense forest, with the sunset glow painting the entire world in golden red hues. Birds flew in the forest, leaves rustled, and the reflections on the water created a picturesque scene of tranquil beauty.
When Angel emerged from the water, the first thing he saw was this beautiful sight of the forest bathed in the sunset glow.
He turned around and looked back at the serene, picturesque lake behind him.
Who would have known that this seemingly tranquil and pristine lake was connected to an underground village that had been sealed for a thousand years?
Angel couldn’t determine his current location, but that wasn’t too important. The most pressing matter now was… to have a feast!
With the setting sun as a backdrop, accompanied by the lake’s reflections, green mountains as a side dish, and lush forests as fine wine, Angel and Toby enjoyed a satisfying meal with the underground freshwater fish and shrimp.
Although the food was tasteless, simply having meat to eat was enough to satisfy Angel.
After the meal, the sky gradually darkened. Starlight replaced the sunset glow, and the crescent moon took the place of the setting sun. Angel wasn’t tired at this point and decided to travel through the night.
Although he didn’t know his location or whereabouts, as a level two wizard apprentice, it wasn’t difficult for him to survive in the wilderness. Moreover, he had Toby to help.
Toby flew high into the sky, and after circling several times, he landed and relayed the surroundings’ conditions to Angel.
The mountain’s direction was not an option. As for the other directions, although all were dense forests, there were differences in density. According to Toby, the further southeast they went, the sparser the trees seemed to be, and there were more areas with low-leaf forests.
While it couldn’t be said that low-leaf forests were a sign of the forest’s outer perimeter, most forest peripheries had shorter trees.
In any case, Angel didn’t care which direction they went since they had to walk regardless. As long as he could still walk, he wasn’t afraid of not encountering people.
As for asking the person in the coffin for directions, Angel hadn’t considered that for the time being. According to a wizard’s intuition, they could have an accurate perception within a hundred-mile range. Although he had reached the outside world, there was no telling whether Akeso was still watching him using mortal power.
Initially, to escape and worrying that Akeso would turn hostile after saving the person in the coffin, Angel lied, saying that only Sanders could restore the parasitized person to normal.
Therefore, just in case, Angel decided not to save the person in the coffin here, at least not until they were more than a hundred miles away.
Angel headed southeast.
With every distance traveled, Angel would have Toby fly up high to confirm their direction. Although this method might not be foolproof, it was better than nothing.
Walking was just too slow, even with the speed-improving spell on his feet. After two days, they were still wandering around in the dense forest.
After another day, Angel looked at Toby, who was happily flying through the woods, with deep envy in his eyes.
“Toby, how about you carry me and fly?” Angel looked at Toby pitifully.
Without hesitation, Toby flew to Angel’s side and tried to lift him up by the collar with his claws. However, no matter how hard he tried, Angel remained motionless, until Toby activated his gravity manipulation, suddenly propelling Angel into the air like a firework.
Had it not been for Angel’s “Wind Tornado” skill, which cushioned his fall, he would have definitely ended up as a pancake.
It seemed that Toby could not carry him to fly now. Perhaps it was the change in gravity within the planar passage that had allowed Toby to fly with him. Now that they were back in the Wizarding World, gravity had returned, and everything was back to normal.
Unfortunately, most of the materials stored in his bracelet were of high value, and there were very few basic, unranked materials. Otherwise, he would have considered creating a flying vehicle on the spot, even though he had not yet studied vehicles.
Two days later, Angel found a river.
Generally speaking, humans tend to live near rivers. Following the water’s flow, they might find signs of human habitation. Moreover, there were fish in the river, which Toby loved, so Angel simply abandoned the southeastern direction and started walking along the riverbank.
They continued walking for several days, encountering various wild animals along the way, including the king of the forest – a jungle tiger. In the end, all of them ended up in Angel’s stomach.
It was not until the first day of the late month of Frost Descent that Angel finally found traces of humans.
He had not yet left the forest, but at a certain spot by the riverbank, he discovered a hunter’s cabin.
The cabin was constructed rather haphazardly, with just a few wooden planks forming the walls, and a thatched roof to provide shelter from the wind and rain. However, it was not adequate for protection against temperature extremes.
Upon entering the cabin, Angel saw a bed, a wooden table, a bow hanging on the wall, and several tanned animal hides.
However, everything was covered in thick layers of dust, indicating that no one had been here for at least several years.
Perhaps the hunter’s cabin had long been abandoned.
Nevertheless, this was a good sign, as it suggested that ordinary humans had started to hunt in the nearby area. The end of the forest should not be far away.
Chapter 337 Hippocrates <TOC> Chapter 339 The Tailbone and Bowl