Qi Ling Shan felt a sharp pain in an instant. He couldn't help but take out the handkerchief he carried to wipe his face. As soon as he wiped it, his facial skin peeled off. Seeing this, Qi Ling Shan was astonished, never expecting that the salamander's body would have such high temperatures.
"Surprised, aren't you? I told you to be careful before, but you didn't listen. Now your face is disfigured, how will you get a wife looking like this?" Lu Xian couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark when he saw Qi Ling Shan's face bleeding profusely. In his opinion, Qi Ling Shan's current state was self-inflicted. He could have been fine if he had quickly reached the shore, but he insisted on walking slowly, as if showing off his courage.
However, Qi Ling Shan suddenly felt a burning sensation all over his body. He couldn't help but say, "I'm so hot right now, you guys need to do something."
Lu Xian teased, "You're so hot, you must have been drugged. That's why you feel this way. There's no antidote for this drug; it can only be resolved through intercourse. That's how it's written in novels. It's a shame we're in a cave, you won't find a woman here."
Many novels have similar plots to advance the relationship between the male and female protagonists. Therefore, they have to find a way. One option is to be drugged, either the male lead or the female lead. And it must involve intimate acts to detoxify. This trope has been overused for twenty years, and Lu Xian clearly knew this.
When Qi Ling Shan heard this, he couldn't help but get angry and accused, "Can't you have some sympathy? I'm already like this, my skin is burnt off, and I'm burning all over. Instead of helping me, you're talking nonsense."
Shen Feng quickly said, "It's okay, you were just scalded by hot water. It's just a stress response. You'll be fine in a while. Let's keep moving forward."
Afterward, Shen Feng took the lead and walked inside. Qi Ling Shan felt a burning sensation and itching all over his body but could only endure it, thinking, "It's a stress response, it'll be fine in a while."
However, the further they walked, the more uncomfortable he became. Qi Ling Shan couldn't help but scratch his skin. Indeed, after scratching the itchy skin, the itching sensation disappeared, and instead, a feeling of comfort emerged.
"Qi Ling Shan, why have you scratched the skin on your neck?" Lu Xian noticed something was wrong and quickly looked at Qi Ling Shan, only to discover that the skin on Qi Ling Shan's neck was broken and bleeding.
Shen Feng, who was walking ahead, also turned back and looked at Qi Ling Shan. He saw that Qi Ling Shan's face was flushed red, as if he were Lord Guan, and there was an expression of pain on his face, indicating that he was very uncomfortable.
"How could this happen? Could it be that the salamander's blood contains a virus, not just high temperatures?" Shen Feng was stunned.
Initially, when Shen Feng saw the blisters on Qi Ling Shan's face, he thought it was just a burn. After all, salamanders live in hot springs over a hundred degrees Celsius, and their blood is scalding, which is normal. However, Qi Ling Shan's itching all over his body was not normal.
"What do we do now? Qi Ling Shan is likely poisoned. Should we take him to find a hospital?" Lu Xian grabbed Qi Ling Shan's arm, seeing him constantly scratching his skin.
Shen Feng frowned and said, "Where can we find a hospital at this time? In this era, cities have been destroyed so many times. We won't find a hospital anytime soon. For now, we can only hope Qi Ling Shan can endure it. Judging by his condition, the salamander's toxicity is not particularly strong."
Generally, there are a few simple reasons for a fever. One is a viral infection, where the body directly raises its temperature to kill the virus. However, since salamanders live in hot springs over a hundred degrees Celsius, viruses cannot survive. Another reason is hormone intake, which causes the body to heat up. Shen Feng speculated that the salamander's blood contained many hormones, and ingesting these hormones caused the fever.
Hormones are definitely broken down, no matter how powerful their effects are. Hormones will eventually decompose, so for Qi Ling Shan to endure, he can only rely on his own immunity and physical fitness to resist.
"There are only antibiotics and painkillers left in the backpack, no corticosteroids. I hope it's not an allergic reaction," Shen Feng sighed. Only antibiotics and painkillers were used from the backpack. They hadn't expected to encounter poisoning when they came. Now that Qi Ling Shan was in trouble, they could only endure it.
To prevent Qi Ling Shan from scratching his skin, Lu Xian had to tie up his hands to keep him from acting out. Qi Ling Shan regretted showing off above the hot spring. If he had left earlier, he wouldn't have been poisoned.
"I feel so uncomfortable," Qi Ling Shan wailed as he walked, feeling extremely unwell all over.
Shen Feng was helpless. Besides telling Qi Ling Shan to endure, there was no other way. Qiming was already the largest city east of the Ural River, but it had been breached by beast tides and mutated birds. Other cities were even less likely to exist. Perhaps Moscow might have a hospital, but it was too far, and they might not even make it there.
While walking, they heard the sound of water again. The three of them quickly went to investigate. Shining their flashlights, they saw a sparkling water surface. The surroundings were very wide, and the dark shore was faintly visible in the distance. However, the span here was even wider, over a hundred meters across.
"These mutated plants are too good at hiding! The caves often leak water, making them unsuitable for habitation." Lu Xian was speechless when he saw the flowing water again. Caves that leaked everywhere were simply not suitable for living. The humidity was too heavy, yet mutated plants insisted on growing here.
Shen Feng also observed the water surface at this moment. It looked quite deep, but the water was clear, and the bottom could be seen. The bottom was clean, and no animals were visible.
There was a lot of mist floating above the hot spring, severely obstructing their vision. However, there was no mist on the lake water now, indicating it wasn't that hot. Lu Xian used his abilities to test the lake water and immediately frowned, saying, "This seems to be a cold spring; the water temperature is very low."
Qi Ling Shan, already feeling hot and uncomfortable, with no means of cooling down in the cave, immediately rushed forward upon hearing this and leaped into the water. The icy spring water flowed over him, and Qi Ling Shan instantly felt an indescribable comfort.
"Phew, I'm finally cooling down. I was almost dying of heat. The temperature is just a bit too low." Qi Ling Shan floated on the water. Although his hands were tied, his tied hands did not affect his swimming. He didn't make any movements but could float.
Seeing Qi Ling Shan so comfortable in the cold spring, Shen Feng finally felt relieved. It seemed that as long as Qi Ling Shan stayed in the spring, he would be fine, and the heat in his body would be alleviated. That was good.
Shen Feng then squatted by the edge of the cold spring and touched the water, feeling an intense chill. The temperature of this spring was too low, at least five or six degrees Celsius. Although it hadn't frozen, this temperature was almost the same as ice water.
Shen Feng looked at the stone walls on both sides. There were no rock pitons here, so to reach the other side, they would have to swim. He then looked at Lu Xian and said seriously, "Qi Ling Shan can stay in the cold spring. I can walk on water. It seems you'll have to swim across."
When Lu Xian heard this, he immediately started shaking his head and said, "No, no, I'm the most afraid of the cold. Swim in winter? I won't do it. I'd rather go back and find a salamander and smear its blood on myself to avoid freezing to death in the water."
In most parts of the world, winter swimming performances are much better than summer swimming. In the final analysis, this is because the temperature in winter is too low, and athletes are eager to get out of the water, with no one willing to stay in it. People with good physical condition cannot stay in the water all day, let alone Lu Xian, who is afraid of the cold.
Shen Feng also felt helpless. A water surface of two hundred meters wide, if they couldn't find a way to cross it, how could they save anyone?
Just then, Qi Ling Shan, floating on the water, suddenly shouted, "City Lord, Lu Xian, save me! Something is biting me, it hurts so much!"
Shen Feng and Lu Xian quickly shone their flashlights, thinking something had appeared in the water again, and immediately became vigilant.
However, under the flashlight's beam, there was nothing around Qi Ling Shan. The water around Qi Ling Shan was clear and transparent. Even though there was nothing there, Qi Ling Shan claimed he was bitten, which was very strange.
Lu Xian immediately said, "You were so arrogant just now, and now you're seeing ghosts everywhere. There's clearly nothing around you, yet you claim you're being bitten. I'm telling you, if you keep reporting false information, I'll beat you."
Lu Xian believed that Qi Ling Shan was hallucinating, perhaps after soaking in the icy water for a while, he was having illusions and speaking nonsense.
But Qi Ling Shan continued to say, "Save me! I'm not talking nonsense, something is really biting me, and it's crawling into my pant leg!"
Shen Feng sensed that something was wrong. Qi Ling Shan was unlikely to be talking nonsense at this time, so there might be something invisible in the water. Therefore, Shen Feng immediately used "Water Walking" and rushed to Qi Ling Shan's side, grabbed him, and threw him forcefully towards Lu Xian, who quickly caught him.
After landing, Qi Ling Shan immediately jumped on the ground. A transparent object actually shook out of his left pant leg. Lu Xian shone his flashlight on it and was stunned. It was a completely transparent shrimp, with only its two black eyes visible. If it appeared in the water, it would indeed be invisible, and only on the shore could this thing be seen.
"Wow, there really is something in the water! It's really unexpected. This kind of thing is truly insidious for ambushes," Lu Xian couldn't help but say.
Qi Ling Shan then complained, "I told you I was bitten earlier, but you didn't believe me. Now you've seen it, do you believe it? Honestly, you have no basic trust in me, I'm so sad."
After coming ashore, Shen Feng couldn't help but sigh, "This place is too strange. It has hot water and cold water, and monsters in it. It's a complete 'ice and fire dual heaven.' Ordinary people would be blocked by the two types of hot and cold spring water."
As they spoke, Qi Ling Shan immediately felt hot again. He couldn't help but slide into the water. After his body temperature slightly decreased, he came ashore, not daring to soak in the water as before. Shen Feng, however, was worried about how to cross the water, which was very difficult because the transparent shrimp in the water were invisible.
While Shen Feng was contemplating this, Lu Xian suddenly sensed heat signals from a distance and quickly said, "Someone is coming. Turn off the flashlight."
Shen Feng quickly turned off the flashlight, and Qi Ling Shan suppressed his urge to enter the water. The three of them stayed quietly by the shore, waiting to see what was coming.