𝑨 𝑹𝒆𝒅 𝑳𝒐𝒕𝒖𝒔. ( 𝑨 𝑯𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 )

✸𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡.

Without any warning, Hua Cheng suddenly appeared beside Shi Qingxuan. Again. The poor Wind Master apparently still wasn't used to this and still screamed with fright, clutching on to Ming Yi with dear life.

"Where's Qi Ying?"

"Oh, he fell asleep so we decided not to take him with us!"

As usual, after he recovered the Wind Master's voice was cheerful and bright, a good contrast to 'The Earth Master', who, since it was only people who knew his secret remained, had transformed back into his original form as He Xuan.

"It'll be better like this, he's a dependable official, just not really into long tiring missions..."

The Wind Master spoke completely naturally around these two Ghost King's, a talent some may be jealous of, or call him stupid for.

"Where are we starting the search."

"You're coming with us?"

There was a hint of surprise to Black Water's question.

"Take a guess."

The two simply stared at each other with cold, numbing states, with poor Shi Qingxuan caught in the middle of their childish antics.

"Come on you two, we both know you're secretly friends so stop all this nonsense and let's get to work!"

"We're not friends."

The two said in Unison, Qingxuan could feel more chaos approaching, so simply grabbed He Xuan and pulled him in the direction of the village they were investigating, the village that had been rumored to 'start' the human face disease once again.

The place was barren, it was if a simple cough would disturb the silent atmosphere so much that a house would collapse. However, although it appeared that way, inside the houses were people hidden away, hoping and praying to not catch this God Awful disease they had been told stories about as soon as the first case re-appeared. People peeking out the windows, doors and cracks in order to sneak a glance of these three strange visitors, brimming with mixed spiritual power. Some pure good, some pure evil.

There was a significantly larger house at the centre of this village, they had decided to check there first, so Shi Qingxuan knocked on the door lightly.

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

"If you're looking for an appointment, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait your tur- oh.. who are you three?" The resident stated as he opened the door cautiously,

"We're cultivators from a village from quite far, we heard rumors of a terrible illness and were curious if we could provide any assistance..?"

Qingxuan hoped the answer was believable, and from the result they got from the resident, it was, he opened the door and stepped aside to let them through. Hua Cheng had turned to his form as the youth, San Lang, as to not be recognized, he had a significant amount of followers in the mortal realm after all, being recognized would not be good for the mission. He Xuan had too returned to his Earth Master form Ming Yi, but as a female, while Shi Qingxuan was in his male form, all these 'disguises' were not his preference, but they must not be recognized easily.

"Cultivators, it's best to stay away from the infected, this disease is highly contagious and we have had no success in creating a remedy to ease any of the pain or symptoms,"

'Ming Yi' nodded in response to the residents warning on behalf of them all, as Hua Cheng went over to a passed out victim of the horrid disease, there was a face on the right side of her neck. It wasn't moving, yet. This was both good news and bad for the trio.

"When was this person infected?"

"That's my sister, she was infected about a month ago, maybe a month and a half,"

"I see,"

Hua Cheng stood once again, looking round while the other two began to interrogate the uninfected resident.

"Are you cultivators able to help us? I beg of you, any help will be greatly appreciated and we'll do our best to provide payment-"

He was cut off by the cold voice of the youth.

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do to help at the moment. This disease is not easily cured in the slightest, tell me, have you seen a white figure anywhere near here?"

"A white figure?"

"Indeed."

The man put a finger propping up his chin, lost in thought.

"Now that I think about it.. I believe one of the village children reported such a thing back to his parents after playing out in the woods not too far from here, I'm sure he was just seeing things however, children are like that around here."

"What do you mean by that?"

Shi Qingxuan asked, intrigued by his choice of wording.

"Many of the younger children, usually aged 9-10, claim to see things in the forest, but whenever an adult with actual common sense goes in, nothing occurs, therefore it was outlawed as simply childish imagination."

"I see"

"Do you believe it could have something to do with this event, sir?"

"Perhaps, where is this woods you speak of?"

"About half a kilometer South from this village,"

"Thank you, we shall go investigate this area."

Shi Qingxuan finished off with, bid farewell to the man and exited the house with the two calamities, heading south.

"Did you two find anything useful?"

The wind master asked, curious.

"I didn't find much, simply some mortals who have fallen victim to the disease, they weren't exactly... talkative."

"What about you, Crimson Rain?"

"Unsurprisingly, not much, although I cannot tell whether it's developing quickly or slowly on the victims,"

"What do you mean, exactly?"

"The sister of that man, she had been diagnosed with the disease for a month and a half max, yet it hasn't evolved into a full face yet."

"Is it supposed to?"

"I suppose it depends,"

They continued walking discussing the matter, after around 15 minutes they had reached the forest that had been described.

The trees were larger, with thick leaves that blocked out most sunlight trying to enter the ecosystem, yet they weren't particularly tall, perhaps around 4-5 feet taller than Qingxuan, it felt crammed and had an eerie sense to it, the three entered the forest and began to search for any sign of...well, anything really.

20 minutes into their search, something was heard which startled them all.

A simple rustling sound in a forest can go a long way in scaring someone.