He bent forward, his attitude respectful and humble as he said, "Young Master Li, this matter... it’s very difficult to handle..."
"What’s so difficult about it?" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel-fire.ɴet
Li Ang replied coldly, "You can confine these sick women within the buildings, letting them die, but you can’t record the names of the customers?"
"Ah, Little Medicine King God above."
The steward said with a pained expression, "Inside the building, it’s not just the sick girls from Zuifang Building. All the sick young women in Pingkang Square have been gathered here. Originally, following Manager Jiao Cheng’s methods, they were all to be sent to, cough, sent to Chang’an Ghost Market to fend for themselves."
The steward coughed lightly, his voice softening on the words "Chang’an Ghost Market."
You Xiao, who stood nearby, felt a muscle in her face twitch.
She had been a Qing official at Zuifang Building and was well aware of its previous practices.
Indeed, as the steward stated, Jiao Cheng would gather the girls who had contracted venereal diseases. Those who could be treated would be treated and then thrown back into Pingkang Square.
If they couldn’t be cured, or if their appearances were ruined, making them unable to entertain customers, they would be quietly taken away to an unknown location and disposed of.
In comparison, the new steward letting these girls stay in the building to recuperate, even calling for doctors to prescribe medicine, seemed almost "humane."
Song Shaoyuan noticed the change in his wife’s expression and gently wrapped his arm around You Xiao’s shoulders, silently comforting her.
The steward of Pingkang Square said with difficulty, "Lotus House, Zuifang Building, and Lin Yue Building, collectively known as the Three Curves Three Buildings, cater to the most powerful and wealthiest men. Some patrons don’t even deign to come in person, instead sending their subordinates to summon the young women to their residences."
The steward did not spell out everything, but the implication was clear.
If a thorough investigation were conducted under the guise of treating the illness, it would likely involve a large number of people at very high levels.
Those high officials and nobles, to protect their own reputations and those of their families, would absolutely refuse to cooperate—even at the risk of infection.
Seeing Li Ang silent and contemplative, the steward continued, "Moreover, as far as I know, Pingkang Square isn’t the only place with such diseases. Similar illnesses have appeared in areas outside the square as well. Similar reports have come from Luoyang, with potentially countless cases, and the outbreak there seems to have started even earlier than in Chang’an."
So, it had already spread.
Li Ang sighed inwardly. When it came to contagious diseases, tracking, isolation, and control were always the best methods. The earlier it’s discovered and isolated, the better it can be contained. But once the optimal window of opportunity is missed, trying to control it becomes unrealistic—even in the Otherworld, with its electronic registration and administrative systems, diseases like syphilis and AIDS hadn’t been completely eradicated.
It even led to dark humor like, "Oh, AIDS? Syphilis? ’S’no problem. Warts? What’s the big deal? The prize for ’winning’ is just gonorrhea!"
After a long moment of thought, Li Ang slowly said, "Seal off this building. Send someone to the Chang’an Clinic to request a doctor. Tell them I sent you."
The steward dared not object and immediately dispatched someone to carry out the order.
Meanwhile, Li Ang stood silently, his mind racing as he searched for a solution.
「In Western Chang’an, Huaiyuan Square, a certain civilian house.」
The name of Huaiyuan Square was derived from the phrase "Huairou Yuan Yi" (To conciliate distant peoples), making it a gathering place for the Hu Ren in Chang’an City. The Zoroastrian Temple was located within this square.
A leisurely recitation of poetry echoed in the courtyard:
"Petty water god’s spirit, fading with no lingering glow.
How can this unworthy son, the Malaria Demon, still flaunt its ghastly might?
Riding the autumn to bring chills and fever, cursed and scorned by old men and women.
Seeking sustenance amidst vomit and diarrhea, ignorant of its own foul wrong."
An old man from the Far Western Country, with grizzled hair and a kindly face, lay bare-chested in a wooden tub in the courtyard, bathing while chanting Han Yu’s "Reproach of the Malaria Demon."
His body was covered with mottled, dark red patches of skin of various sizes, riddled with holes. Every time he rubbed himself, countless tiny insects of different shapes would fall from these openings, floating on the water’s surface, struggling desperately to crawl back into the holes in his skin.
The kind-faced old man from the Far Western Country, seemingly oblivious to the layer of insects covering the water, continued to recite poetry to himself, his spirits high.
In a corner of the courtyard, a child squatted, staring blankly at the mosquitoes flitting about in the bushes.
His hair and skin had a sickly, pale white appearance.
Footsteps echoed from within the room, and a young man with a stiff expression walked out—it was Ya Jiu.
Or rather, one of Ya Jiu’s clones.
Ya Jiu’s gaze was cold as he looked at the composed old man from the Far Western Country in the tub. This was Situ Zhi, a Candle Cloud Realm cultivator from the Zhao Ming Organization, on par with Jun Qianzi. Ya Jiu said slowly, "Senior Situ Zhi. The garrison already knows you’re near Chang’an."
Situ Zhi shrugged indifferently. "They don’t know I’m here. Are they going to search the entire city? Chang’an has two to three million people."
Ya Jiu calmly said, "If they find out you’re connected to the recent epidemic, they might very well do just that."
Situ Zhi sneered. "They don’t know that yet, do they?"
Ya Jiu pursed his lips slightly. Situ Zhi was a member of the Zhao Ming Organization, a Candle Cloud Realm cultivator, rumored to enjoy raising various types of Gu Poison. In his homeland in the Far Western Country, he had committed the crime of spreading epidemic Gu and was hunted by many, forcing him to become a fugitive. Wherever he went, some disease would spread. The Zhao Ming Organization likely valued this ability, recruiting him and offering him protection. In terms of actual deaths caused, perhaps not even those inhuman monsters within the Zhao Ming Organization could match a tenth of his count. However, his overly casual and unpredictable methods gave Ya Jiu a headache; Ya Jiu preferred to operate stealthily, under the radar. Situ Zhi and his disciple suddenly appearing in Chang’an could very well disrupt Ya Jiu’s plans.
"Lian Xuanyao, the Academic Palace Master, will be returning to Chang’an soon."
Ya Jiu fell silent for a moment, deciding to use Lian Xuanyao to pressure him.
"I know. Your master said Lian Xuanyao returns to his hometown annually to pay respects to his family."
Situ Zhi sneered. "Don’t worry, I’ll leave in a few days. I won’t bump into him."
Seeing Situ Zhi’s insistence, Ya Jiu said no more and directed his clone to leave.
Situ Zhi continued bathing and suddenly asked, "What do you know about that Li Ang from the Academic Palace?"
Ya Jiu paused, turning his head slightly, and said indifferently, "The Academic Palace Top Scholar and a member of the Natural Science Society. Rumor has it he has poor Spiritual Vein Talent, yet he still passed the Academic Palace examinations."
"You haven’t investigated him thoroughly?"
Situ Zhi asked casually. "I hear his mentor and your master, Jun Qianzi, are close friends."
"The Academic Palace watches him too closely; I can’t find an opportunity. Besides, he’s just a Body Concealing Realm nobody, incapable of affecting the grand scheme."
Ya Jiu said flatly, "Why do you ask about him, Senior?"
"Well, isn’t he known as the Little Medicine King God? He’s the one who came up with Allicin, which caused such a stir in the Western Country. I’ve tested it; it’s indeed lethal to many Gu Worms. It’s especially effective against Blood Sores."
Situ Zhi smiled. "But this epidemic can’t be easily solved with Allicin. I’m rather curious to see whose is more potent: my Gu Poison or his remedies."
Ya Jiu turned his head back, stepped into the shadows, and vanished.
Situ Zhi, however, stretched lazily and lay back in the warm bath, using his palm to stir the countless tiny insects on the water’s surface, observing their desperate struggles.
As if he were manipulating the very lives of the masses.