Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
A golden-haired man was lying on the tatami. His face was covered by a thick blanket. For some reason, the temperature in the room was freezing, and the man under the blanket seemed to be the reason.
Mo Fan walked up to the man and flipped the blanket open. He saw Zhao Manyan’s face.
His face was pale-white. Although Zhao Manyan was the pretty-boy kind, his skin tone was normally quite healthy instead of its current pallor.
Mo Fan touched the blanket and realized that it was extremely icy too. The cold was coming from Zhao Manyan’s body.
“Zhou Xu found him first. He was meditating in the room when he felt cold all of a sudden. It took him quite some time to figure out that Zhao Manyany was the source of the chill, like he was poisoned. He didn’t react at all, and has stayed the same even until now,” said Nanyu.
The incident was too bizarre. Apart from Zhou Xu, Zu Jiming was also in the room when it happened. They were busy minding their own business. Zhao Manyan ended up like this all of a sudden, giving them a great fright.
Everyone immediately gathered in the room when it happened, yet they realized that Mo Fan and Jiang Shaoxu were missing, sending them into a panic. Luckily, the two only went to the city to get some supper.
Now, the only problem was Zhao Manyan.
“He’s alive, but he’s in a deep sleep. Nan Rongni strongly suggested that we not wake him up forcibly. Otherwise, it would inflict serious damage to his spirit. We have to find out what poison it is first… the strange thing is, we asked an old monk to take a look, yet he immediately ran away while murmuring under his breath. He did not give us any useful information, so it’s unlikely that they will give us any help,” said Jiang Yu.
“Is the Healing Element not working?” asked Mo Fan.
Nan Rongni shook her head.
“Is his life in danger?” asked Mo Fan again.
“Not for now, but the cold from his body is quite strange. I’m afraid that it will severely affect the functions of his body,” said Nan Rongni.
Mo Fan nodded. He understood the situation.
He turned around and saw Jiang Shaoxu with a shocked expression. She finally spoke up when everyone ran out of ideas, “Does this mean what the owner of the Japanese bar said is true? There’s some kind of Soul Eater here? Zhao Manyan does look like he has lost his soul!”
“What Soul Eater?”
“Jiang Shaoxu, enough with your nonsense. Stop scaring us when we’re on a barren mountain,” said Mu Tingying unpleasantly.
As they were Magicians, it was not scary if they knew the demon creatures were responsible for it, yet if it involved something supernatural, it would be somewhat terrifying!
Jiang Shaoxu immediately told everyone what she heard from the owner of the izakaya.
Everyone felt uneasy after hearing the words. Did Zhao Manyan really lose his soul?
“Stop being so superstitious, we’re from the magic society,” Nanyu stopped everyone from thinking further.
“Mo Fan, you mentioned you saw a girl, was that real too?” asked Jiang Shaoxu as she recalled something.
Mo Fan did not respond, yet Jiang Shaoxu had her answer from his expression. Mo Fan felt a great chill go down his spine as soon as Jiang Shaoxu mentioned it!
“By the way, why did it have to be Zhao Manyan? There are so many of us here; if there’s really a Soul Eater, why did it only target Zhao Manyan?” Mu Tingying asked, a question that was indeed worthy to be discussed.
Mo Fan’s lips twitched. It all made sense now. Should he spill the beans?
Mo Fan was totally dumbfounded!
First of all, why was he the only one that could see the girl? What exactly was the girl, to come and go without a trace? He was already an Advanced Magician; it did not make sense that he could not sense if she was alive.
Second, did he really curse Zhao Manyan?
Mo Fan did not forget that he had given Zhao Manyan’s name to the girl, and Zhao Manyan turned out to be the victim!
Did that mean the Soul Eater could only target someone after learning their name?
Everyone was at a loss. Even after Zhao Manyan and Mo Fan told them what they knew, the others chose not to believe it. They were more willing to explain Zhao Manyan’s condition was some kind of poison.
“Does anyone know where did Zhao Manyan went tonight?” asked Zu Jiming.
“He didn’t go anywhere, just the mountain behind the temple, the well, the corridor, the memorial temple…didn’t we already investigate those places?”
“We should split up, but don’t go anywhere alone. You few should ask the old monks about anything strange in this temple. As for everyone else, go check the places Zhao Manyan has been to, see if there’s any plant nearby, since it’s more likely that he’s poisoned…” ordered Ai Jiangtu.
—-
The team immediately split into smaller groups. They had to find the reason for Zhao Manyan’s being poisoned as quickly as possible.
Nan Rongni also mentioned that since the Healing Element did not work, they had to focus on finding the truth behind it. Zhao Manyan had stayed in the temple’s vicinity. It would not be difficult to find some clues.
Mo Fan was allocated to a small group too. Their job was to find the young girl.
Jiang Shaoxu wanted to know the truth, too. She volunteered to join Mo Fan’s group. The others in the group were Jiang Yu and Mu Ningxue.
“What you said just then, was it real?” Mu Ningxue walked up to Mo Fan and asked sternly.
“Why would I joke about something like that? There’s something wrong about this temple. If you don’t believe me, I think you all should head down the mountain and ask the residents of the town about the temple,” said Mo Fan.
If only he could see the girl, it would be meaningless for the others to follow him. Perhaps the owner of the izakaya or the residents nearby would know some useful information.
“I’ll stay with you, it’s dangerous for you to be alone,” said Mu Ningxue.
“Mm, it’s better to stay in pairs. Jiang Yu, let’s go head down the mountain,” said Jiang Shaoxu. She knew now was not the time to fool around. She immediately followed Jiang Yu down the mountain to ask around about the temple.
Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue walked toward the stairs. Mo Fan remembered there was a diverging path covered by weeds in the middle of the stairs. Mo Fan had no idea where the path would lead to, yet he remembered it was where the girl had disappeared. He might find some clues there. Besides, the path was purposely sealed off!…
