Chapter 293: Fire Treatment
At this point, Taotie paused.
He didn’t continue speaking but instead poured the fire oil into the metal gauntlet. Taking the match that Tom handed over, he struck it and tossed it into the gauntlet. A single spark could ignite a prairie fire—when the tiny flame touched the oil, it instantly erupted into a blazing inferno.
Flames roared within the gauntlet.
Before long, thick black smoke began to rise.
A burnt stench, like the scent of charred protein, filled the air.
“Taotie, didn’t you say it was poisonous?”
“You’d better get away!”
Fang Xiaocao backed away while shouting at Taotie.
“It’s nothing to worry about!”
Taotie grinned.
As he spoke, he twisted open a bottle of alcohol, poured it over his arm, then struck another match.
Before Fang Xiaocao could even react, Taotie tossed the match onto his alcohol-soaked arm.
In an instant, flames engulfed his arm.
“Taotie, what are you doing?!”
Fang Xiaocao cried out in shock.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. It’s fine.”
Taotie clenched his teeth, enduring the scorching pain.
Fortunately, he hadn’t poured much alcohol, and the flames burned out quickly as the liquid evaporated.
Even so, his arm turned bright red, covered in blisters.
“These corpse-controlling parasites fear fire the most,” Taotie explained.
“Fire is their natural enemy.”
“If we get infected with their eggs, the only way to ensure we don’t become their hosts is to burn them all.”
Taotie looked at the blisters on his arm and laughed.
Fang Xiaocao trembled—she had been genuinely frightened.
Hummingbird took out a medical kit and approached Taotie.
“Let me treat your wounds.”
She spoke softly.
“Mm, thanks.”
Taotie nodded.
“Just apply some burn ointment and bandage it up. We might have to deal with more dangers down here, so I need to stay ready. We can deal with the rest once we’re out.”
Taotie’s voice was serious.
Hummingbird nodded in understanding.
She carefully applied medicine to Taotie’s arm, then wrapped it with gauze and bandages.
Taotie flexed his arm.
It still hurt, but at least he could move it freely.
“Thanks, Hummingbird!”
Taotie smiled.
Hummingbird nodded. “No need to thank me.”
After dealing with the parasite eggs on his body, Taotie finally explained what he knew about them.
“Corpse-controlling parasites, as the name suggests, were bred by the Jiuli Tribe to manipulate corpses. They were often placed in tombs to reanimate the buried dead and act as security measures against grave robbers. The eggs of these parasites are refined in a way that allows them to remain dormant for countless years in low-oxygen environments. But the moment they’re exposed to air, they hatch instantly.”
“For the parasite ritual to work, there must be corpses.”
“The bodies are first treated with a special embalming fluid, which is also filled into their coffins. This fluid preserves the bodies while also stimulating the newly hatched parasites.”
“As for how these parasites actually reanimate the corpses or control them to attack tomb raiders… I don’t know.”
“But one thing is certain—both the parasites and their eggs are highly flammable. Fire kills them instantly. However, the smoke produced when burning them is extremely toxic. If inhaled, it can cause dizziness, confusion, and, in severe cases, death.”
Taotie shared everything he knew with Fang Xiaocao and the others.
After hearing his explanation, the three of them looked bewildered.
Fang Xiaocao was horrified by the parasites’ terrifying nature.
Tom, on the other hand, kept exclaiming, “This is incredible!”
Even Hummingbird was secretly amazed.
China truly was vast and full of wonders.
Suddenly, Fang Xiaocao realized something was off.
She thought for a moment before exclaiming, “Wait a minute! Where did these corpse-controlling parasites come from?”
“We haven’t seen any along the way!”
Hearing this, Taotie gave a wry smile and shook his head.
“The parasite eggs were likely sealed inside the terracotta warriors. We must have accidentally triggered something that released them when we passed through the tomb chamber.”
Fang Xiaocao froze at his words.
Then, she suddenly remembered something—she had kicked one of the terracotta warriors!
Realizing she was the culprit, her face turned red with embarrassment.
“I think… I might have released them…”
She sheepishly admitted how she had angrily kicked the terracotta warrior after stubbing her toe on it.
“Your Highness, this isn’t your fault,” Taotie reassured her.
“As they say, ignorance is no sin. Even I didn’t expect to find these parasites—something usually seen in southern tombs—inside a Central Plains tomb.”
Taotie chuckled, trying to comfort her.
“I’m sorry!”
Fang Xiaocao apologized sincerely.
“Ah, don’t worry about it!”
Taotie waved his hands dismissively.
“Taotie, there were a lot of terracotta warriors in that tomb chamber. Do you think each of them contained parasite eggs?”
Tom’s expression turned serious.
“Hard to say.”
Taotie frowned.
“I can’t be sure if every warrior had them, but I’d bet there are still more. That tomb chamber had eighteen stone coffins, yet only one corpse came to life.”
Taotie’s voice was heavy.
Tom nodded grimly.
“My main concern is whether the corpses in those seventeen coffins have also reanimated. If they have… Just one was already tough to handle—if they all come after us…”
He trailed off.
But Fang Xiaocao and the others knew exactly what he meant.
“What should we do?”
Fang Xiaocao asked anxiously.
“Maybe we should go back and check?”
Hummingbird suggested.
Tom frowned and shook his head.
“No, it’s too dangerous.”
Tom immediately rejected the idea.
“We have to go back and check.”
“But Your Highness and Hummingbird should stay here. Tom and I will handle it.”
Taotie said firmly.
“If all those corpses have turned into zombies, we’ll cut them down and burn them all. If we can’t win, Tom and I can still escape easily.”
As everyone looked at him, Taotie spoke in a deep voice.
Tom’s eyes lit up.
“Sounds like a plan.”
He grinned.
Fang Xiaocao blinked and nodded.
“Alright, it’s a good idea for you two to go back and check.”
“Hummingbird and I will wait here for you.”
Fang Xiaocao agreed.
Those parasites and zombies were simply too dangerous.
If they weren’t dealt with, they might end up being surrounded later.
And that would be disastrous.
