"High fever, chills... cough, difficulty breathing... black spots..."
"Could it be... could the plague Xue Yuli mentioned earlier, the one contracted by those who fought the rat demons, be the plague?"
Ye Feng turned his head to look at Xue Yuli, who was still sleeping, a faint sheen of sweat on her forehead.
The symptoms he had just recited were precisely those of a person infected with the plague.
The plague, by name alone, might be considered akin to chickenpox, an affliction of rats unrelated to humans.
But in reality, it possessed another name that struck terror into hearts: the Black Death!
The Black Death caused a rapid onset of severe fever, a sudden rise in body temperature, cough, difficulty breathing, chills, and intense headaches.
Because plague victims developed numerous black spots on their skin, which eventually spread throughout their bodies before a miserable death, this peculiar epidemic was dubbed the "Black Death."
The Black Death, which began its rampant spread across the European continent in the mid-14th century, persisted for nearly 300 years, claiming tens of millions of lives and reducing Europe's population by over a third...
The death tolls from history's three great plague pandemics were even more terrifyingly astronomical, numbering in the hundreds of millions...
In an era without effective cures, all one could do was wait for the infected to die naturally, and the plague would eventually subside.
Entire families perished, entire villages were wiped out, then entire towns... entire regions... a true landscape of death.
"Hoo~!"
Ye Feng let out a gentle sigh, calming himself.
He calculated, purchasing all the supplies he had found. The total cost was 2010 survival coins, with a luck value of 57/400.
Immediately, Ye Feng roused Xiao Xiao from her slumber.
"Big brother, what's wrong?"
Woken by Ye Feng's patting, Xiao Xiao rubbed her sleepy eyes, a hint of confusion in her voice.
"Xiao Xiao, do you feel feverish, chest tightness, dizziness, nausea, or a coldness so intense it makes you shiver?"
"Also, let me see your feet. Are there any black spots or darkening?"
Ye Feng's questions tumbled out rapidly, bordering on incoherence due to his urgency.
"Big brother, what happened?"
Hearing the anxiety in Ye Feng's voice, Xiao Xiao blinked, her expression turning serious.
"Xiao Xiao, don't ask so many questions. Just tell me if you have them!"
As he spoke, Ye Feng gently took Xiao Xiao's tender little feet and examined them intently.
Ye Feng's expression was etched with worry, as the Black Death caused blackness to spread from the feet upwards, and in severe cases, death could occur within 24 hours.
And more than 20 hours had passed since they had left Rat Town, their encounter with the rat demons.
"Big brother, I don't think I have a fever, or a cough, or chest tightness. My head feels a bit dizzy... but that might just be because I just woke up..."
"I don't feel like throwing up either..."
"The sun hasn't really come out yet, so it's a bit cold... but it's okay, not cold enough to shiver."
Xiao Xiao's words continued to flow, while Ye Feng finished his examination of her small feet.
"Phew~"
Seeing Xiao Xiao's soles and the tops of her feet as white and tender as ever, Ye Feng exhaled a long breath.
Then, as if a sudden thought struck him, Ye Feng slipped off his own shoes and began examining the soles of his feet with a rather serious expression.
After a thorough inspection, Ye Feng touched Xiao Xiao's feet again, examining them closely for a moment, before finally relaxing his demeanor.
"Ye Feng, your hobby... is quite peculiar!"
Xue Yuli, who had witnessed this scene, looked at him with a strange expression.
It was still dark outside, yet Ye Feng had woken Xiao Xiao from her sleep and was now examining... touching... and seemingly preoccupied with the presence of black spots.
Even more bizarrely, Ye Feng's examination of Xiao Xiao was one thing, but he was now touching and examining his *own* feet.
"Hobby? Peculiar?"
Ye Feng was bewildered, not grasping her meaning for a moment.
Suddenly, Ye Feng's face flushed. "Hey, what are you talking about? I don't have any special fetishes... I was just checking if Xiao Xiao was sick!"
"Oh, really?"
Xue Yuli replied coolly, her tone one of disbelief.
Ye Feng didn't bother to explain. Instead, he retrieved a disposable syringe, medical alcohol, and cotton swabs from his spatial storage. Finally, he produced a small bottle of streptomycin injection.
"Xiao Xiao, we might have been infected with a deadly bacteria. I'm going to give you a streptomycin injection as a preventative measure!"
As he spoke, Ye Feng opened a packet of cotton swabs, took one out, and soaked it with medical alcohol.
"Okay~!"
Although Xiao Xiao didn't understand what streptomycin was, she obediently rolled up her sleeve, exposing her upper arm.
Ye Feng nodded slightly, began to disinfect the injection site, and then, following the instructions, drew up the medication and administered the injection.
Afterward, Ye Feng also injected himself.
"Ye Feng, you mentioned streptomycin just now?"
After Ye Feng finished, Xue Yuli finally asked, her expression now quite serious, as she seemed to recall hearing that word before.
"The specific cure for the Black Death!"
As if anticipating her question, Ye Feng quickly responded.
He then produced a bottle of streptomycin tablets, took out a few, and offered them to her. "If you trust me, take these."
The streptomycin that had appeared in the [Shop] had two options, but they were different. One was 3 bottles of tablets, and the other was 3 bottles of injection.
Clearly, the injection was significantly more effective than the tablets.
"The... Black Death?!"
Upon hearing the words, Xue Yuli's face completely changed.
...
Meanwhile,
At the edge of the Frenzied Zombie Zone,
The Bald Gang was searching the vicinity for Ye Feng and his companions. They had searched all night, encountering numerous monsters along the way.
The faces of the Bald Gang members were clearly weary, and several were injured.
"Boss, we've searched this area all night. The brothers we sent out for reconnaissance last night have also returned, and there's no trace of those three people or the Humvee,"
"Those three probably panicked and ran deep into the Frenzied Zombie Zone!"
The speaker was Bald Python, the second-in-command of the Bald Gang, whose body was covered in armor on vital areas.
"If they ran in there, they're surely dead!"
"Indeed. There are many Tier 3 zombies in there, some can run faster than battle vehicles..."
"That's right. When we passed by here before, frenzied zombies often clawed at our vehicles..."
"In my opinion, those three have long since been torn to shreds by the frenzied zombies in there!"
"Damn it, they got off easy!"
...
As Bald Scorpion finished speaking, many Bald Gang members with rat tattoos on their heads chimed in.
Their expressions were fearful, whether of the rat demons or something else...
Su Shu remained silent, staring into the Frenzied Zombie Zone for a while, then swept his gaze indifferently over the men who had spoken.
The mid-level members of the Bald Gang flinched.
"Retreat!"
Su Shu narrowed his eyes and turned to leave.
Seeing this, the Bald Gang members breathed a collective sigh of relief, as if granted a great pardon.
While they feared Su Shu, they also feared the large number of frenzied zombies that might be lurking in the Frenzied Zombie Zone. Those creatures knew no pain or fear and would relentlessly pursue and bite once they targeted someone.
"Boss, wait a moment!"
Suddenly, a Bald Gang member with a spotted, mottled face, a long, protruding snout, and a dog-like appearance ran up to Su Shu.
He was Bald Hyena, the third-in-command of the Bald Gang.
"Boss, I've scouted the area. The zombies in the Frenzied Zombie Zone have been slaughtered in large numbers. Even with binoculars, there are very few..."
"We can search deeper..."
Bald Hyena's words were cut short by Su Shu.
"I know!"
Su Shu's tone was calm, and he seemed unsurprised by Bald Hyena's assessment.
"Then, Boss, why... why are you retreating?"
Hearing this, Bald Hyena became even more confused.
Yesterday, Ye Feng and his group had stormed out of Rat Town, destroying dozens of Bald Gang battle vehicles and killing many people. It was a grave humiliation for the Bald Gang since its inception.
And Su Shu, who was always vengeful, and would chase down and chop up anyone who insulted him or even gave him an displeased look, was actually retreating?
...