Chapter 232: Healing
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Ethan, under the sharp gaze of the dragon woman, eventually agreed to help Guo Tao.
He asked where Guo Tao lived, and with his speed, they reached his home in the blink of an eye.
From the surroundings alone, Ethan could tell this wasn't the safest place for children their age, though it was still better than the area beyond this part of the city.
That said, the house they lived in was small, just big enough for a small family of three, maybe four people.
From the exterior condition of the house, it was evident that it was quite old and definitely in need of some repairs here and there.
But that wasn't the most important thing right now.
With his spiritual sense, Ethan had already detected the figure of a small wolf girl lying in a room at the back of the house.
Noticing her frail figure with his spiritual sense, he couldn't help but furrow his brows.
"Hm? This is..."
Scanning the girl's body with his spiritual sense, he quickly determined her current state and realized it was far from stable.
At this rate, the girl would likely cease breathing completely in no more than three months.
He could feel the disease spreading through her body, which was already 90% covered.
She certainly wouldn't survive much longer.
The nature of the illness made Ethan think of several diseases, but he decided to examine the girl's condition more closely before drawing conclusions.
Without wasting any time, he entered the house and headed straight to the small room where the girl was resting.
Guo Tao, seeing that his sister still hadn't woken up, immediately feared the worst and tried to wake her, but Ethan stopped him. Instead, Ethan released his spiritual energy to probe the girl's physical condition.
His energy enveloped her entire body, allowing him to examine the illness spreading within.
"Hm?"
Ethan frowned as he found this illness somewhat familiar.
"Is this... Demonic Qi?"
Thinking he might have made a mistake, he rechecked the disease, but the more he examined it, the more it seemed similar to Demonic Qi.
"A variant? How did she get infected by this?" he wondered, his frown deepening.
Ethan thought the Beast Continent was yet to encounter demons, but seeing this, he was forced to reconsider.
He planned to examine the continent once again, but for now, he focused on purging the Demonic Qi from the girl's body.
With a mental command, his Qi within the girl's body began to move, covering all traces of the disease. With another command, it started to flow toward a single point.
The girl's body began to convulse slightly, and seeing this, Guo Tao became alarmed and agitated.
"Sister! What's happening to her?" he asked Ethan in a panic.
If it weren't for Bai Yu stopping him and reassuring him to trust in Ethan's healing abilities, Guo Tao would have rushed toward him.
Bai Yu herself had noticed the Demonic Qi within the girl and could tell it was more like a virus originating from Demonic Qi that had infected her.
She, too, wasn't sure how it had appeared here, but one thing was certain: if this virus was circulating within the Beast Continent, there was likely a source somewhere. In other words, demons had already arrived on this continent.
She thought it was highly likely that the same thing could happen in the Human Continent if she and Ethan hadn't eliminated the demons there in time.
Bai Yu wondered how many such cases there were, as Guo Tao's sister was the only infected person they had encountered so far.
Although she couldn't track down all traces of this virus or its source, she was convinced that Ethan could. So, she waited until he was finished before investigating the virus's origin.
Ethan's spiritual energy directed all of the disease within the girl's body toward her mouth. As her body continued to convulse, black smoke began to pour out of her mouth.
"W-what is that?"
Seeing this, Guo Tao couldn't help but ask in worry.
"That's your sister's illness," Bai Yu replied simply.
"Illness?"
Realizing that Ethan was treating his sister by extracting this black smoke, Guo Tao finally understood that these two people might truly be able to help his sister.
This realization hit him hard, and his eyes started to water. But he held back his tears and watched anxiously as more black smoke continued to pour out.
In just a few seconds, a small sphere, about the size of a fingernail, appeared in the air. With a slight motion of his hand, Ethan absorbed it into his body, where his physique refined it immediately.
Ding!
[You have gained a small amount of STR.]
Noticing the slight strength he had gained, Ethan wasn't particularly surprised.
He hadn't expected to gain much from such a small amount of Demonic Qi, it was almost negligible compared to what he had absorbed before.
He also noted that the system didn't specify how much strength he had gained, only that he had received "a small amount."
It was likely that the amount of strength was too small to even register as a single stat point.
Ethan didn't dwell on it too much. After purging all traces of the disease, he channeled some wood-element Qi into the girl's body, and a visible change immediately occurred.
Her skin, which had been slightly shriveled and pale, regained its color, becoming healthier and more vibrant.
The dark circles under her eyes disappeared, and even the silvery fur on her wolf ears regained its luster.
Guo Lan finally managed to open her eyes. The first thing she saw was Ethan's handsome face, which was currently the closest to her.
With some effort, she sat up, still a little confused about the situation. She looked at the handsome man beside her and murmured, "So, this is heaven?"
Hearing her murmur, Ethan gave her a gentle smile and replied,
"No, it's still too soon for you to visit that place."