Situ Zhi said gently, "An interesting fact is that the terrifying infectious diseases are themselves paradoxical. Transmission efficiency and the ability to cause death are difficult to reconcile. The most violent diseases can kill patients within just a few days, but this also means patients find it difficult to infect others. If a disease is to increase its transmission efficiency, it must allow patients to live longer, ideally preserving their mobility so they can travel to more crowded places. This contradiction means it’s very difficult for diseases to completely, thoroughly, and comprehensively exterminate humanity. In comparison, the terror of war is even greater than that of diseases."
He raised a finger. "War unleashes infinite malice toward others—slaughter, pillage, arson. Cities burn in fierce flames, unblinking severed heads pile into mounds, uncollected skeletons line the roadsides, and stray dogs gnaw on the arms of corpses as if no one is around. Droughts, floods, and locust plagues might still leave four or five out of every ten households intact, but after the ravages of war, not even one in ten households survives. Even refugees are eaten as emergency rations. Glorious palaces and books filled with wisdom are all burned, and entire civilizations undergo uncontrollable regression."
Situ Zhi sighed. "A nation, a kingdom, a civilization—it’s like a pot of slowly simmered old soup. Without stirring, it will congeal and decay. The inevitable end is the formidable disaster of war. The Yu Country is a brilliant empire, but like all great empires in history, it lacks the ability to correct its own mistakes. Rather than letting it grow rigid and decline over a hundred years, its cultural heritage decimated by continuous wars, I would rather be the one to shake things up, reminding them of the constant need for change. From this perspective, my purpose aligns with that of the Academic Palace—we are both guardians of civilization."
"But teacher..." Yu Shi hesitated and pointed outside the window at the Yu Country’s citizens shoveling soil on the riverbank. "Won’t their actions prevent the outbreak of disease?"
"Don’t worry about that." Situ Zhi shook his head. "Our purpose has been achieved, hasn’t it? The entire Yu Country is already operating efficiently. Because this year’s spring planting in Jiangnan Road was affected, they lack sufficient reserve food and have temporarily lost the capability to wage war. Besides," he smiled slightly, "I don’t think we lost. Now, let’s go to Taihu Lake and check on our results."
The carriage turned a corner and disappeared into the woods.
On the edge of the riverbank, Li Shan, dressed like an old farmer with significantly sun-tanned skin, seemed to sense something. He turned his head but saw only willow branches swaying in the wind.
Yu Kingdom’s Court’s support for Suzhou was substantial. Ships full of supplies arrived, along with cultivators from the Academic Palace, the garrison, and several academies. The sick house, originally located in the city, had been moved to the outskirts. It was now doubled in size and had more floors, allowing it to accommodate thousands of patients.
The walls were coated with a layer of white lime powder, and the floor was clean and tidy, with someone disinfecting the ground with medicated water every hour.
"Honey, just bear with it a little longer, and it won’t hurt anymore."
In the sick house, a mother cradled her six- or seven-year-old son, sitting in the corridor. She was dressed in brown cloth, her face showing unmistakable signs of exhaustion. Her child’s face was slightly yellow as he whimpered in discomfort and squirmed.
At this time, many patients and their families were sitting on corridor benches. Even though the sick house was expanded, there were still people who couldn’t get a bed and had to wait here.
Without any warning, the child in the woman’s arms suddenly vomited. The vomit splashed onto the corridor floor, emitting a pungent odor.
She quickly stood up in a panic, carrying her child into the consultation room, and shouted loudly, "Dr. Qian, please look at my child! He suddenly threw up!"
Dr. Qian was attending to another patient. He frowned slightly as he stood up, examined the child in the woman’s arms, and said flatly, "It’s okay. This is a normal reaction."
He turned to an attendant and said, "Zhang Liu, go outside and fetch some sand and a broom. Sprinkle the sand on the vomit and then sweep it away."
The doctor’s calm reaction didn’t alleviate the woman’s panic; instead, it made her feel even more helpless. "Doctor, why would my son become ? He was fine just a few days ago..."
"I told you, it’s a normal reaction. I warned you about this when he took the medicine." Dr. Qian frowned and said, "Although Alum Medicine is very effective, it can cause side effects like vomiting, fever, dizziness, and headaches. I also suggested you wait a few more days for an available cultivator to personally use the Mind Silk Removal Method to remove the Blood-sucking Worm from your son’s body. But you were unwilling to wait. Who else is there to blame?"
"I, I..." The woman’s mouth opened and closed. Helpless and sorrowful, she said, "My husband, my father-in-law, and my mother-in-law... they are all dead. Only my son and I are left. He is my life..." ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩
The consultation room fell silent for a moment. Those outside who were peeking and listening to the commotion also pursed their lips, feeling empathetic.
Under the onslaught of the Blood-sucking Worm disease, entire villages and families could vanish. The destruction of a family was all too common.
The Mind Silk Removal Method was good, certainly, but with so many patients and so few cultivators, how many could actually wait until a cultivator deigned to expend their Spiritual Power to treat them? Patients without influential connections or status often waited endlessly, helplessly watching their conditions deteriorate. For them, it was often better to follow the doctor’s advice and use Alum Medicine directly.
In the consultation room, only the woman’s mournful crying could be heard, along with the child, softly comforting his mother, "Mom, don’t cry, I’m not hurting anymore..."
Li Ang, dressed in a white coat, was passing through the hallway with Qiu Feng when they heard the sobbing. He glanced into the consultation room. He saw the jaundiced face of the child and the helpless, sympathetic expressions on the faces of other patients, instantly understanding the situation.
His expression darkened, and he entered the room, asking Dr. Qian with a hint of anger, "What happened here? Didn’t I say that children should not use Alum Medicine?!"
"Mr. Li..." The doctor from Luoyang Clinic recognized Li Ang and straightened up, somewhat fearfully. He stammered, "The list for the Mind Silk Removal Method was filled ten days ago, and his mother begged me repeatedly, so I had no choice but to prescribe Alum Medicine..."
Surprise and astonishment flashed across the faces of the nearby patients and their families. In the entire sick house, there were many doctors surnamed Li, but only one "Mr. Li."
The woman dropped to her knees, kowtowing repeatedly toward Li Ang. "Little Medicine King God, please show mercy, save my son! He’s all I have left. I can’t live if he dies..."
"...Stand up. I’m not any Medicine King God; you shouldn’t kneel to me." Li Ang took a deep breath, helped the woman up from the ground, and turned his head slightly to Qiu Feng. "Give me the Mind Silk."
"Ah? But..." Qiu Feng hesitated. She knew Li Ang had just come from another consultation room and his Spiritual Power hadn’t recovered. "Perhaps I should do it..."
"No need. You’ve used up your Spiritual Power too."
Li Ang took the Mind Silk from Qiu Feng’s hand, paused briefly, and then used the removal method to extract the Blood-sucking Worm from the child’s body.
Even with his current level of proficiency, the procedure took over four hours.
As dusk fell, the woman departed, holding her son and expressing profuse gratitude.
Li Ang stared blankly at the now-closed consultation room door, remaining silent.
"Risheng," Qiu Feng, having cleaned the Mind Silk with a medicated solution, noticed an expression on Li Ang’s face she had never seen before. Mustering her courage, she said, "You’ve done really well. The Mind Silk Removal Technique just now was truly beautiful..."
"It was useless." Li Ang lowered his eyelids and murmured, "It’s all useless."