The physician didn’t dare be sure, only saying, "Places suitable for Ghost Head Pears to grow are usually deathtraps. In those kinds of lands, nothing, plant or animal, is benign. Besides, we don’t know much about these dead zones, so it’s hard to say if there could be a source of plague there. We’ll only know for sure after we go and see."
Shen Hao nodded, then continued searching this household.
There was a hunting bow hanging on the wall, long and short spears in the corner, and so old beast traps in the inner room. This family must be hunters, right?
Going to the hall, there was a morial tablet and an incense table. The tablet read: Xu Tianwu, Hai Xia Guard Decurion of the Jingxi Army.
The family must be honoring their elders here, surna Xu, soone who had been in the army—if we trace down, we should be able to find out. Shen Hao noted down the na.
He spent half an hour in this house, then went to search the hos of several more people ntioned in the files, but found nothing further.
After that, the physician and his two companions began organizing people to investigate the epidemic’s symptoms and onset cycle, and to assess how dangerous this plague might be, including its effect on cultivators.
But just three days later, the first cultivator to fall ill appeared.
It was a governntal official from Wan River, the one who’d been in charge of stopping outsiders at the checkpoint. Of the others with him, none showed symptoms. This official, despite his cultivation, wasn’t spared—he simply went to sleep and never woke up, with those terrifying black spots on his body.
"This official had Qi Refining Second Layer cultivation and had been training in body refinent for years. By reason, the plague’s fatality rate for him should’ve been very low..."
"And before his death, the only sign was fatigue; his family didn’t hear him complain of anything else."
"Why is it that the other officials who worked with him are fine?"
"We don’t know, but there’s got to be a reason. Gather them all for questioning. I feel like this could be a breakthrough!"
"And those who are still alive and escaped, they must be sent to Wan River for centralized quarantine."
...
Over these few days, information poured in amid all the commotion. This official’s death put everyone on edge again, because it ant the Black Spot Plague could kill not just ordinary people, but cultivators—even those at the Qi Refining Realm—with direct and deadly efficiency.
The news reached Fengri City. Shen Hao couldn’t see Wu Changhe’s expression from remote Wan River, but he could feel Wu Changhe’s anxiety and urgency through three daily express Orders. Wu Changhe even sent the newly arrived Deputy Thousand Households, Tang Qingyuan, leading two hundred Thousand Households Guard to Pingshun City to back Shen Hao up. They also coordinated with the local garrison and agreed to seal off all official roads near Wan River, restricting travel in and out.
What’s more, Wu Changhe reported the outbreak at Wan River up the chain. By order of the Jingxi Governor, all vagrants in every Jingxi city and town had to be rigorously screened; anyone who’d passed through Wan River was to be imdiately detained and monitored.
However, "cultivators are also victims of the plague" didn’t show up in the latest official reports. Wu Changhe only said in a secret directive to Shen Hao that "Governor Jiang says not to cause panic for now," instructing Shen Hao to keep further updates tightly controlled.
They could control the news, but security couldn’t slacken. At this point, Qi Refining Realm cultivators could no longer risk dangerous exposure by investigating the disaster zone. That was why Tang Qingyuan brought Thousand Households Guard for reinforcents—including over ten Gathering Spirit masters at Shen Hao’s disposal. anwhile, other Xuanqing Guard at Qi Refining could rotate duty, reducing the chance of infection.
The hardest part now was out-of-control population movent—who knows how many people escaped from Xiushan Village, no way to tally it all. And the deaths were the next headache, since they were happening village by village, with barely any survivors. Even just gathering so key clues about this plague was proving troubleso.
It wasn’t until Shen Hao had been stationed at Wan River for eight days that a breakthrough finally ca.
"Three people said to be from a neighboring village to Xiushan Village have been found in Yu City."
"Bring them in—I want to question them myself!"
That afternoon, the family of three sat in the Council Hall, eating roast chicken and rice Shen Hao had ordered for them, answering his questions as they ate.
"It all started with people dying in Xiushan Village—so many died!"
"We have family in our village with a daughter married into Xiushan, so we brought her back because we were worried. But that brought in the illness, and then people died family after family."
"At first, the governnt office would organize people to bury the dead, but later no one would go—they were scared of catching it! No one survived."
"I’m a carter—I drive a wagon. They carried the bodies, and I drove the cart. Later, when I saw all the people around die, I got scared and left with my wife and kid. I heard Yu City was rebuilding its city wall, and as a stone mason, I figured I could get work and survive."
The heavy Jingxi mountain accent crackled through the room, making Shen Hao frown; sotis, he had to listen several tis to understand, and even needed Fang Yangqin the local to translate.
All three physicians were taking notes, but by the look on their faces, they hadn’t gained any useful information. The three in front of them, though, were demolishing two whole chickens with impressive appetites.
But Shen Hao and the physicians cared about different things. He wasn’t so fixated on the plague itself—he wanted to know what made these ordinary folk, eating and drinking heartily, any different from those who’d died of the illness. That might be the key.
Suddenly, Shen Hao cut in: "You drive the cart? You never touched any of the bodies?"
"Nope, just , the wife, and the child at ho. They’re fine, and I just drove. If soone died, their family carried them onto the wagon. At the burial pit, the governntal officials or whoever was helping would unload the bodies. If the whole family died out, the Village Chief organized a crew to move the corpses—never my job."
"So you never actually touched the corpses."
"That’s right."
"Did you see if anyone who carried the corpses survived like you did?"
"Well..." He swallowed a mouthful of chicken, thought hard for a long ti, then shook his head. "Nope, everyone who carried corpses died. I never saw anyone survive after moving bodies. Damn! Now that you ntion it, that’s scary! Am I only alive because I never touched the corpses?"
What this family of three had thought was ancestral blessing was now turning to dread—they finally understood Shen Hao’s reasoning.
"You all heard that. Go, gather all living people scattered across every disaster area. Ask them if they ever handled corpses; keep anyone who did in separate custody. And check if that dead official ca in contact with a plague corpse recently. Hurry!"
At Shen Hao’s command, everyone bustled into action—everyone realized this might finally be the key to tracing how the plague was spreading.
User Comments
0 comments from readers