Chapter 131: The Plague

Qin Yang felt he had lost—lost to the woman next door who had not rested for the entire night. Although he and Sarah had battled until nearly midnight, he couldn't overcome the sheer stamina of the other side. Fortunately, after the primal urge subsided, both had fallen into exhaustion. The noise from next door was no longer so piercing, as the wooden partitions seemed to have served their purpose, and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

At 3:30 AM, Qin Yang opened his eyes.

The sky outside was still pitch black, but they were due to depart in less than half an hour. Looking at the beauty sleeping in his arms, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. He patted her bottom and said, "Time to get up."

"Hmm?" Sarah opened her eyes, dazed, her arms still wrapped tightly around Qin Yang's neck. "What time is it?"

"It's 3:30. We have to leave in thirty minutes," Qin Yang said with a smile.

Sarah then remembered she had a more important mission. After kissing Qin Yang on the cheek, she got up to get dressed. However, upon seeing that her clothes had been torn into rags, she couldn't help but shoot him a resentful look. Knowing he was in the wrong, Qin Yang blushed and sheepishly said, "I lost control, I lost control. It won't happen again next time."

"Since you know that, why don't you go to my room and get my bag?" Sarah said with a soft laugh, showing a hint of feminine playfulness.

Qin Yang then got dressed and scurried off to Sarah's room, grabbed her travel bag, and carefully ran back. Sarah possessed the openness of a Western woman, showing no shame in getting dressed right in front of him. This made Qin Yang’s pulse race, but considering they only had half an hour left, he decided to abandon any further amorous thoughts. Sarah, sensing his intentions, gave him a charming roll of her eyes.

The two left the room and arrived at the inn's lobby.

The others were already coming down one by one. Seeing the pair already eating breakfast, Sophie asked in surprise, "You two are up so early?"

"Early to bed, early to rise," Qin Yang joked.

Once everyone else had arrived, they packed up, checked their luggage to ensure nothing was missing, and left under the cover of darkness. By 4:00 AM, the sky was barely brightening, and the chirping of insects echoed periodically. Keren led them expertly through a stretch of jungle until they reached a riverbank, where a travel boat capable of holding over twenty people was moored in a hidden corner. After boarding, Sarah, seemingly preferring to be near Qin Yang, sat beside him, leaving Xie Chengyang and Yang Guang—who had intended to sit next to him to discuss their next move—to exchange baffled looks before sitting at the back to consult a map.

Keren started the boat and whispered, "If you want to rest, you can. It will take us several hours to reach Nili."

Those who hadn't slept well began to doze off. Qin Yang lingered with Sarah for a while before getting up and heading to the back, while Sarah sat with Sophie to rest.

"From our departure until now, twenty-seven hours have passed; we have thirty hours remaining. Their destination is Gulu City. Based on the distance and our speed, it will take six hours," Xie Chengyang said. "Excluding various factors, we estimate seven hours. From Gulu to Kano is 270 kilometers. We need to find transport in Gulu. I recommend an off-road vehicle; although this river leads all the way to Kano, Keren mentioned that the river route between Gulu and Kano is strictly controlled."

"Twenty hours to cover 270 kilometers, and then, without knowing the enemy's situation, rescue three hostages under heavy guard. This mission is truly challenging," Zhao Wu muttered, licking his lips.

Qin Yang glared at him and whispered, "Keep your voice down."

Just then, they felt the boat shudder, as if it had hit something. Qin Yang frowned, signaled for silence, walked to the bow, and asked, "What is it?"

Keren sighed, his expression sorrowful, and pointed into the river.

Qin Yang was stunned. He walked to the edge of the boat and looked down, his eyes widening.

Corpses.

He saw bodies drifting down from upstream one after another. Although the sky was only just brightening, a quick glance revealed dozens of them, and there seemed to be more further away. Some had their throats slit, others were missing limbs, and some were even hacked in half—the sight was gruesome. Absorbing the residual energy of the nearby departed, Qin Yang spent over twenty soul points to extract the memories of one of them, only to witness their peaceful village being subjected to a brutal massacre by armed rebels.

"Oh, my God."

Qin Yang turned around. Sarah was covering her mouth, staring in disbelief at the corpses floating on the river. She was trembling, tears welling in her eyes. Qin Yang sighed, patted her shoulder, and led her back inside the boat. Sarah seemed unable to calm herself, trembling as she asked, "Why? Why would they do this?"

"Perhaps this is fate," Qin Yang sighed.

Xie Chengyang and the others poked their heads out the window and saw the same sight—floating, and in some cases, decaying, fly-ridden corpses. Their expressions remained neutral; they had seen piles of dead bodies before. Sophie and the others, sensing something was wrong, woke up and, upon seeing the tragic scene in the river, burst into tears. Qin Yang pulled out his camera and took photos of the floating corpses. If the mission was successful and the camera remained intact, he wouldn't mind having these photos circulated to warn the world that peace is truly hard-won.

Along the way, more and more bodies drifted by.

The group was agitated time and again, but feeling only helplessness, they could do nothing but pray.

The boat stopped near a village that seemed somewhat quiet. Yet, seeing the numb looks in the villagers' eyes as they watched the corpses float by, everyone felt a wave of sorrow. Sophie and the others took some food from their bags for a few children on the riverbank. After taking the items, the children scurried off, and other villagers approached, begging incessantly.

Sophie noticed a shed nearby where many villagers were lying with wounds. She hurried to grab medicine and gauze from her bag to bandage them. The others started to follow, but Qin Yang stepped in front of them, shaking his head. "Don't go over there."

"Qin Yang, they are injured," Sarah said painfully. "We have to bandage them. God, their wounds are still bleeding."

"Plague," Qin Yang said, shaking his head as he watched every person walking through the village. "The plague has already taken hold of this village."

"What?" Everyone was shocked.

Qin Yang pointed to the river. "The bacteria produced by so many corpses in this heat is enough to wreak havoc on half the country. The river water in this region is completely contaminated. The villagers rely on this river as their water source. The plague has just begun to take hold, and they haven't realized it yet. In a few days, this village will be a dead zone."

"My God," everyone gasped, covering their mouths.

Yang Guang and Xie Chengyang simply shook their heads indifferently. They signaled for Qin Yang not to intervene, as it would be a waste of time.

Qin Yang gave them a look, and they nodded and walked to a quiet corner to sit down. Qin Yang took a packet of medicine from his bag, checked the quantity, and distributed pills to everyone. "This is an ancestral prescription from my family. Before I came, I anticipated that the plague might sweep through Nili, so I prepared some medicine. But remember, this only acts as a protective shield to prevent the virus from indirectly entering your bodies. If you come into direct contact with blood or water sources, you will still catch the plague. With the medical conditions here, I cannot control the infection."

Everyone nodded and took the pills, trusting Qin Yang's word.

"Can more of this medicine be made?" Sophie asked.

Qin Yang looked at her and said, "Regrettably, no."

The group fell silent.

Qin Yang said, "I advise you to leave here immediately and go to areas not yet reached by the plague, to spread knowledge on how to prevent transmission so that more people don't get hurt."

"No, we can't leave. We have to save them," Arthur said, shaking his head firmly.

"If you don't leave, the plague will continue to spread, and more people will die," Qin Yang said, looking at him.

Arthur fell silent.

Qin Yang took some more photos with his camera and said, "The people of Nili suffering this tragedy are not just these few."

"But we can't abandon them," Arthur said sorrowfully.

Just then, a burst of gunfire rang out. Everyone was startled. Turning around, they saw over a dozen Nili militants with guns rampaging through the village, whipping the villagers. Three of them spotted the group and were shouting to their comrades to charge over. Qin Yang signaled everyone not to act rashly and to raise their hands.

"Who are you?" a leader walked forward, shouting loudly.

Qin Yang spoke in the local Nili dialect: "We are the Red Cross. There are wounded here, and we need to provide them with aid."

"Boss, there are women!" one soldier suddenly pointed at Sophie and Sarah, shouting.

The leader roared, "Grab the two women!"

Qin Yang quickly said, "Don't touch them; we can give you money."

"You'll give us money sooner or later," the leader barked, ordering his men to search everyone. Sophie and Sarah hid behind Dian Jiang and Zhao Wu. Two soldiers stepped forward, shouting, "Get out of the way!"

"What is he saying?" Zhao Wu asked Dian Jiang.

"He said to get out of the way," Dian Jiang, who had performed missions in Africa and knew some of the language, acted as a temporary translator. Zhao Wu's eyes flared with anger: "Told me to get out of the way?"

"Don't move!"

The two soldiers pressed their gun barrels against their chests.

"Don't kill anyone, just knock them out," Qin Yang said, eyes narrowing as he watched one of the guys get closer. He shouted in Chinese. Sophie, who understood, froze for a second, then suddenly noticed the two men beside her move. They moved like lightning, instantly grabbing the gun barrels with tremendous force, twisting them, and delivering a punch to each of their chins.

Xie Chengyang and the others used military grappling techniques to subdue them and knocked them out with a blow to the back of the head.

Qin Yang was the most efficient; he kicked the man in front of him, sending the militant flying into the leader. Before either could land, he had already leaped forward, delivering a palm strike to the back of both their necks. In the blink of an eye, Arthur and the others stared in stunned silence as the dozen or so militants all lay unconscious on the ground.