290: Chapter 142 Plague Worsens_1 290: Chapter 142 Plague Worsens_1 Jiang Wang pondered for a long while and then said with the bald Commander’s expectant gaze upon him, “If this epidemic poison truly can afflict Transcendent cultivators, then where can you run to now?
Which route do you plan to take back to Qi Country?
How can you ensure that the people you encounter on the way are not carrying the plague?”
“This…” the bald Commander hesitated.
Jiang Wang continued, “In the domain of Qingyang Town, at least all those stricken with the epidemic have been isolated both internally and externally, posing no threat to you and .
Should the epidemic poison truly mutate, we will be able to detect it at the first instance.”
“If the situation is as grave as you imagine, running around in a panic would only be more dangerous.
Staying in Qingyang Town is the safer choice.”
Jiang Wang wasn’t truly appreciative of this Guard Commander or too considerate of him; rather, he was thinking about the lack of manpower in Qingyang Town.
The harsher the environnt, the more it is necessary to unite more strength.
The guards from the Business Alliance, if used well, can accomplish many tasks.
But after hesitating for a long ti, the bald Guard Commander still said, “I still want to return to Qi Country, Elder Jiang.
Even if I accidentally contract the plague along the way, I accept it!
It’s better than waiting for death here.”
He clenched his teeth and said, “Our Business Alliance has dealt with many officials from Yang Country, to be honest with you, I do not trust the Yang Country Court!
As long as we return to our own Qi Country, there won’t be any issues!”
With that said to this point, Jiang Wang had no reason to stop him any longer.
Resisting the plague is not like other things; forcibly keeping people holds no purpose.
Discontentnt only leads to contrary effects.
“What about the others?
Are they all clear about the dangers of running around now?
Who wants to return with you, and who wants to stay?” Jiang Wang asked.
“We want to return to Qi Country!”
“We’re all willing to go back!”
“Elder Jiang, you should leave too, this forsaken place, it’s really no good.”
Not a single one of the Business Alliance guards remaining in Qingyang Town wanted to stay; they all wished to return to Qi Country.
Even though the situation at hand, staying in Qingyang Town, was safer currently.
Whether these people were good or bad, smart or foolish, they all had an almost blind confidence in Qi Country.
This is the cohesion of a dominant country.
It is also the pride and sense of belonging that a strong nation instills in its citizens.
Jiang Wang inwardly sighed.
He waved his hand, “If you must go, then go—but take nothing from Qingyang Town’s supplies.”
As he let these people go, he instructed Xiang Qian and Dugu Xiao, “Let them leave.
Keep this affair from spreading for now; once people have gathered in the town hall, we’ll discuss this in detail.”
Jiang Wang himself then left first, planning to take a look inside the Taixu Illusion Realm.
With such a critical matter at hand, if even a Deacon of the Business Alliance had received the news, it should be unlikely that Zhong Xuan Sheng was left unaware.
…
Entering the Taixu Illusion Realm, Zhong Xuan Sheng’s fat paper crane had already been circling for so ti.
Jiang Wang unfolded the letter to read—”Leave Yang Country quickly.
The plague has worsened and can now kill the Transcendent.”
Having not entered the Taixu Illusion Realm for two days, Jiang Wang never expected he would almost miss such an important ssage.
Based on the timing, Zhong Xuan Sheng’s ssage must have arrived before the Business Alliance’s Deacon received his.
But of course, Jiang Wang was not willing to leave.
Not to ntion the words he had spoken to the Business Alliance guards, at this mont, within the entire Yang Country, the safest option was to stay put.
It goes without saying that “fleeing” now would an abandoning all the efforts previously made in Yang Country.
Just to highlight one point, just Qingyang Town’s many innocent people.
Should he leave, Zhu Bijing, Xiang Qian, Zhang Hai, Dugu Xiao, and even the two dical cultivators from the Zhong Xuan Family would not remain either.
In the current situation of Yang Country, to withdraw all the Transcendent forces, which had also been the pillar against the plague, would imdiately cause the order in Qingyang Town to collapse.
In such tis, to abandon…
is akin to murder.
He imdiately wrote a reply to Zhong Xuan Sheng.
After a while without any response, he then exited the Taixu Illusion Realm.
Inside the town hall, Zhu Bijing, Xiang Qian, Zhang Hai, Dugu Xiao had all arrived, and the two dical cultivators summoned by Zhong Xuan Sheng were also called over.
These were dical cultivators personally trained by the Zhong Xuan Family and had no connection to dical sects like East King Valley.
dical cultivators are valuable talent, and since Zhong Xuan Sheng had sent certain news, if Jiang Wang himself was not leaving, he didn’t have to force them to stay.
He directly asked, “How many patients with the epidemic are left?
What’s the fastest ti they can all be treated?”
The two dical cultivators were both sent by Zhong Xuan Sheng and naturally did not put on airs in front of Jiang Wang.
The elder dical cultivator from the Tongtian Environnt said, “There are twenty-three cases left.
Assuming no rest in between and there are no new cases, the treatnts could be finished by tomorrow at the earliest.”
The younger one, his disciple, was only at the Circulation Realm level and did not speak.
“Zhong Xuan Sheng has sent a ssage, saying that the plague in Yang Country has mutated and can now afflict the Transcendent…
You naturally understand what this implies, and I don’t need to elaborate.
After treating all the remaining patients in Qingyang Town, you can decide whether to stay or leave.”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Bijing and Zhang Hai were both startled.
Xiang Qian and Dugu Xiao, who had been inford earlier, didn’t react as strongly.
“What if there are still undiagnosed patients in the town after we leave?” The elder pondered, “You, young master Jiang, don’t plan to leave, do you?”
The reason was simple: if Jiang Wang wanted to leave, he didn’t need to say so much to them.
He could have just gathered his team and left without anyone being able to stop him.
“I, of course, am not leaving.”
Upon hearing Jiang Wang’s words, Zhang Hai couldn’t tell if he was relieved or his heart had tightened.
At the mont, in the town hall, only he and Dugu Xiao were native-born citizens of Yang Country.
Speaking for himself, his thoughts were complex.
If possible, he would of course wish for Yang Country’s peace and the safety of its people.
But at the sa ti, he had no desire to put himself in danger; avoiding harm and seeking benefit is the instinct of all living beings.
While he was conflicted, an elder from Qi Country already said, “Then I shall not leave either.
However, just in case, let my disciple leave.”
The heart of a healer is akin to that of a parent’s.
In ancient tis, Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, narrowly escaping death countless tis.
What was it for?
Just to “save people.”
The dical path originated from the virtue “benevolence.”
“Elder, your disciple can leave now,” Jiang Wang took out a Pri Stone worth ten thousand from the storage box and placed it on the table: “Apart from the consultation fee paid by the Zhong Xuan Family, this is a personal gesture of goodwill from .”
“Master…” the young dical cultivator said, unable to hide his reluctance.
The old physician didn’t dawdle, took the Pri Stone, handed it to his disciple, and sternly said, “Now hurry back to Qi Country, and don’t dally.
A re epidemic won’t get the better of .”
The old physician was quite strict usually, his authority deeply ingrained, so the young practitioner dared not talk back, simply holding the Pri Stone, rooted to the spot.
“Go!” The old physician kicked him, and only then did he leave the town hall, looking back every three steps.
This kind of plague that could now afflict transcendent cultivators was well understood by the dical practitioner in terms of its horror—just think of the helplessness when ordinary people are infected with the plague, having no choice but to await death!
The decision of the old physician to stay at such a ti truly reflected his benevolent healer’s heart.
His decision to stay made Jiang Wang breathe a sigh of relief.
Without the presence of a dical cultivator, for the newly added plague patients, there was really only one way to go—to isolate them from the outside world, letting them live or die by natural course.
Relying solely on Jiang Wang’s Swallowing Poison Flower might have him swallowing until the end of ti, and still possibly without effect.
After reaching an agreent with the “outsiders,” Jiang Wang turned to his own people and said, “You all understand the situation now, I have nothing more to say.
Whether you leave or stay, decide for yourselves.
I won’t force anyone to stay, but those who remain, let’s work together to overco this difficult ti.”
After chatting for so long, everyone was sowhat ntally prepared.
Those who had to make a decision had likely already made it.
“Where you are, my lord, is where I’ll be,” was Dugu Xiao’s imdiate reply.
“Everyone must die once,” Xiang Qian said, neither salty nor bland: “How one dies is still death.”
Jiang Wang really wanted to spit at him, even such a declaration of commitnt could dampen morale.
But considering the need for manpower, he refrained in annoyance.
Zhu Bijing hastily stuffed sothing into her bosom and declared with gusto, “The half-year I promised you isn’t up yet.
I’m soone who keeps her word.”
Jiang Wang looked at her with a deep gaze, “Is the fortune and misfortune orb quite calm?”
“There’s a bit of ominous energy, just a drizzle!” Zhu Bijing waved her hand grandly, then suddenly realized she had revealed sothing, stuck out her tongue, and shrank back like a quail.
This ti, Zhang Hai truly relaxed.
Even if he wanted to flee, he really had nowhere to go.
Yang Country was his holand.
During this ti, he had been personally involved in the battle against the plague, and compared to other places in Yang Country, he had much more confidence in the environnt of Green Sheep Town.
Besides, Zhu Bijing’s fortune and misfortune orb wasn’t showing any signs, indicating safety for at least a few more days.
“Lord Jiang!
Of course, I’m not leaving either,” he declared in a sonorous voice.
“There is no need to make this public,” decided Jiang Wang: “Move all the villagers from below the town’s jurisdiction into the town, arrange them collectively, and leave all the countryside to the fierce beasts.
As for the other asures, continue as before.”
The fierce beasts that plagued Jia City’s domain and caused serious harm were all handled by Jia City sending out transcendent cultivators.
When Hu family father and son took over Qingyang Town, they also took on the responsibility of defending against the fierce beasts.
It was the sa for Jiang Wang now.
However, now facing the mutated and even more terrifying plague, it was no longer possible to dispatch forces elsewhere; abandoning the countryside to concentrate on control was the only choice.
With the internal plague under control, by simply sealing off the four gates of Qingyang Town, it would be sufficient to prevent the external plague from invading.
Under the current situation, this was the thod with the least pressure.
…
After making a personal visit, Jiang Wang finally understood the current situation in Yang Country.
The intelligence confird by both the Zhong Xuan Sheng and the Business Alliance was correct: the plague ravaging Yang Country had indeed mutated to the extent that it could afflict transcendent cultivators.
The first recorded death of a transcendent cultivator due to the plague occurred in the domain of Yue City.
Afterward, two more cases followed in quick succession.
For a ti, the entire sentint of Yue City’s domain was thrown into panic.
Just as the situation was settling, it plunged into chaos… and even collapsed outright.
The main reason for the rapid collapse of Yue City’s domain was—
Upon confirming the mutation of the plague, the City Lord of Yue City chose to abandon the city and flee at the first opportunity.
He abandoned hundreds of thousands of the city’s residents!
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