Plague Doctor
chapter-162

Translator: Lonelytree

The beam from the flashlight cut into the tattered wooden house. The interior showed clear Innuit-inspired architectural design. However, being exposed to the elements for years, the furniture and decorations inside the house were weathered and worn. Over the years, only Russian government officials, scientists, geography photographers, and handpicked tourists were allowed on this Arctic Island. Since all of them had to abide by the rules of ‘look but no touching’, most of the building had been preserved perfectly.

Gu Jun stood at the door and looked into the decrepitude. He felt a slight spiritual resonance...

“Captain Yu, have your people searched this place before?”

“We have,” Yu Xiaoyong said in a serious whisper. “We canvassed the whole village when the snowstorm was not so strong. But we did not find anything. Then again, Captain Gu, this island has been under the watchful care of the Russians for years already. If there was something to find here, they would have claimed it for themselves already.”

It was true that this was a joint mission between Phecda and the Russian National Security Department, but it did not mean that it was not a relationship where information sharing was required or even expected. For example, the Russians had no idea that the actual mission of Arctic Wolf was to search for an entrance into an abnormal space. If the Russian government was privy to that knowledge, who knew how they would respond? An abnormal space would lead to a completely new area to explore and research. It was a gold mine that every country would kill to get their hands on. Therefore, as chummy as Yu Xiaoyong and Ivanov appeared on the surface, both parties knew the other was hiding some secrets from them.

That basically summed up the relationship between the two organizations. Currently, various countries in the world were discussing possible methods of international cooperation to deal with the recent influx of supernatural activities. Perhaps, one day, a new international group would be formed when all the countries in the world were forced to stand in the same line, but that was not the case for now.

“Captain Gu, did you sense anything?” Yu Xiaoyong asked even though he was really not one to rely on something as superfluous as ‘feeling’. The rest of his teammates shared his skepticism, especially after he had led them to this house. To their knowledge, every inch of Ushakovskoye had been explored. The history of this village was so rich that it was made a must-see tourist spot. Even if there was anything to be found, it would have been confiscated by the Russians or discovered by the tourists that had visited the place over the years.

“I did feel something.” Gu Jun nodded. “That polar bear from before was acting quite strangely. Captain Yu, I need you to contact the command center to track it immediately.”

“Huh?” Yu Xiaoyong was honestly befuddled, but due to his orders, he shrugged. “Sure.”

He made the call on his communicator to relay the request.

At the same time, Gu Jun stepped cautiously over the rotten floorboards and into the living room. He waved his flashlight around before his gaze settled on a wooden wall. An animal hide, a pair of antlers, a bow... and an old picture frame was hanging on it. The picture frame carried an old black and white picture. It captured a group of Innuit villagers. Gu Jun walked over with extreme focus. He reached out to pluck the frame from the wall. The picture appeared to have been taken on the migration ship. There were fifteen Innuits—four adult males, four adult females, one teen male, one teen female, and five children of varying ages.

On the most left side of the picture was a Russian man. He wore a black bearskin cap and arrogance lined his paunchy face. He had that government official air about him. This seemed to be the picture taken of the four families who were supposed to migrate and settle down here, but strangely enough, none of the new villagers appeared to look particularly excited about their future. Some looked lost, others looked like they’d rather jump over the ship railing. This was particularly clear with the five children. The youngest among them was only five or six, but they looked so defeated. Their faces were turned away from the camera, and they looked like they were crying...

These people were, to put it bluntly, pawns in an international border game. They were forced to populate this place by the Russian government so that Moscow could claim this island as their territory.

“This picture is...?” Gu Jun’s question lingered.

“It’s a picture of the earliest Innuit people who migrated here.” The Arctic Wolf squad had investigated this as well. “None of the people in this picture are with us anymore.”

Gu Jun nodded silently. He was about to place the picture frame back when something caught his attention.

Gu Jun moved the picture closer to get a better look. The more he studied it, the more curious he felt. The picture became more and more surreal. The sky in the background was yellowing and blurring out of focus. He leaned closer and closer.

Suddenly, a shock hit him. The two children whipped their heads around and stared right at Gu Jun. Their young faces were plastered with hysterical smiles. The Russian man in the bearskin hat on the left had his face scrunched up in extreme pain. But that scene lasted for only a second.

‘An illusion?’ Gu Jun took a deep breath and tried to focus his thoughts. ‘No, that was not an illusion.’

“Captain Yu.” He pointed at the Russian in the picture. “Who is this man? What happened to him?”

“Oh?” Yu Xiaoyong leaned over to look and answered, “That will be Vasily Petrov. He was the one behind the whole migration project. Back then, the Innuits had no societal standing in the Russian country at all. Petrov treated them like second-rate citizens, so the Innuits had a deep aversion toward him. I believe Petrov lost his life in a ship accident and drowned.”

‘Drowned?’ Gu Jun’s brows creased. “Where did he drown?”

Yu Xiaoyong had no answer to that question. This was confidential information for Moscow. And back in those days, nautical accidents in the Arctic Ocean were fairly common, so Yu Xiaoyong did not poke around unnecessarily, lest he threatened the two countries’ diplomatic relationship. But now, things were different.

“Captain Yu, I need you to go and ask the Russians more about this shipwreck,” Gu Jun said seriously. “This is going to be very important.”

“Of course.” As confused as Yu Xiaoyong was, he could only follow the order. His teammates looked at each other. They were concerned because Gu Jun wasn’t handling this issue as delicately as they would have preferred.

The rest of Gu Jun’s group walked over. They saw the picture but felt nothing, but just as Wu Siyu took a glance at it, she said, “There’s something strange about those kids.”

Gu Jun concurred. “Siyu, while the feeling is still strong, let’s see if we can trigger an illusion with this picture.”

“In that case, let’s get comfortable.” Wu Siyu nodded. She served the purpose of providing support to Gu Jun with her own ESP in the team.

There were abandoned chairs in the room. Gu Jun pulled two over and sat down next to Wu Siyu. Holding the Carlot Scalpel in one hand and the girl’s hand in another, with the picture frame placed on his knees, he said, “We need to be prepared to sacrifice our mental power to trigger the illusion. The greater the sacrifice, the clearer the illusion will be.”

“Okay. Although I’m not sure how much my sacrifice can amount to considering it feels like I’m making donations to a tycoon.”

While others were confused by what she said, Gu Jun got the analogy instantly.

Both of them closed their eyes and started to build their connection. They overlapped their mental power and tried to feel the picture again. The Demon Hunters were no longer surprised by this. But for the Arctic Wolf squad, it would be impossible for them not to be confused. What were they doing? Was this really going to work? They stared at the two and couldn’t help but feel like they were being taken for a ride.

Inside their mental space, Gu Jun and Wu Siyu saw fragments of an illusion floating into their mind’s eye. There were strong winds and churning oceans. The sound of fanatical chanting danced on the wind. Gloriously hypnotizing aurora borealis swirled along the northern night sky.

Gu Jun’s head started to pulse with pain. A sudden illusion from the past rushed into his mind. There was a cliff, a summit that faced the sea.

The details of the illusion were slowly rendered into reality. There were some figures dancing around an altar, singing some kind of song. It was... the Innuit people.