The bodies on the street were quickly carried away, but the terror they left behind didn’t dissipate with them—instead, it intensified.

Wang Qingchun hurried into the hall, where more than a dozen doctors were already standing, talking in chaotic confusion. Seeing him enter, they all crowded around him.

“Sir, this is terrible…”

“Sir, four people died this morning…”

“Not from diarrhea…”

“But some had diarrhea too…”

Wang Qingchun felt his head aching from the noise and couldn’t make out a single word clearly.

“One at a time!” he shouted.

The hall finally quieted down, and Wang Qingchun was finally able to understand what had happened.

“They died from illness?” he couldn’t help asking.

As soon as he asked this, he regretted it, seeing the barely concealed disdain on the faces of the doctors present.

For a doctor to ask such a question was rather ridiculous.

At minimum, couldn’t a doctor tell whether someone died from illness or was murdered? If they hadn’t died from illness, why would it be reported to him as a medical officer?

“Were they all from diarrhea? Did they not get the chance to take the dan qu pills?” Wang Qingchun quickly changed his approach and asked urgently.

Dan qu was the name of the pill provided by that doctor to treat this type of diarrhea. It was quite effective—the three patients who hadn’t gone with Qianjin Hall had been cured by it.

“No, one had bleeding spots all over his body, with skin necrosis…”

“Another had headaches, vomiting, convulsions, then died just like that…”

“…And one had edema all over his body…”

At this point, the doctors in the hall began discussing among themselves again, clearly frightened by this sudden outbreak of deaths.

Wang Qingchun stopped asking questions. Sweat was dripping from his forehead. Was it really… an epidemic?

Impossible… impossible… it had been cured. This was… this was some other disease… it had nothing to do with the diarrhea!

“Doctor, doctor, people requesting doctors are packed everywhere. Stop discussing and hurry to save lives,” someone rushed in from outside, shouting.

The hall fell silent.

“Right, hurry to save lives,” Wang Qingchun shouted.

“Sir, if this really is…” one doctor said tremblingly.

“You’re making conclusions before even examining anyone? Have you become a miracle doctor too?” Wang Qingchun interrupted sternly and strode out first.

The doctor who had spoken blushed and dared not speak again.

After he left, the doctors exchanged glances and all followed him out.

The atmosphere on the street had clearly changed. Four sudden deaths in one morning, plus Mistress Qi from Qianjin Hall’s words—though no one would admit it, the shadow of epidemic still loomed over everyone’s head.

Almost every medicine shop was packed with people. Wealthy families came to request doctors, while poor families carried their patients directly to the shops.

“…How did it suddenly get worse?” a family member grabbed a doctor and shouted. “It was clearly just a chill…”

On the door plank, a man clutched his stomach and writhed. He could no longer cry out because of constant vomiting.

“Quick, quick, bring the dan qu!” the doctor shouted, sweating profusely, while comforting the family member. “Don’t be afraid, he’ll be fine after taking this…”

The family member grabbed him firmly.

“You damn fool, you forgot! The day before yesterday, he became like this precisely because he took this! We were perfectly fine before!” she shouted.

“Impossible,” the doctor shouted, trying to break free. “You remember wrong!”

“How could I remember wrong! You first lanced Big Butcher Wang’s pustule, then gave my husband the medicine. Yesterday at midnight he was in agony, had diarrhea all night…” the woman shouted, gripping the doctor tightly. “What exactly did you give my husband? You’re trying to kill him!”

Just as she said this, someone outside shouted.

“Big Butcher Wang is dying too!”

At these words, everyone in the medicine shop froze.

“Impossible. Yesterday he was still selling meat in his shop,” an assistant shouted.

“Why would I lie to you? His family is already in chaos over there, coming this way…” the idler outside shouted loudly. “If you’re smart, you’d better run quickly…”

The doctor’s face turned ashen, sweat pouring down his forehead like rain.

“Impossible, impossible…” he just kept repeating.

“You murderer, what exactly did you do?” the woman gripping him shrieked. She was clearly also driven mad by the news of Big Butcher Wang’s impending death, shaking the doctor violently.

“I didn’t do anything, I didn’t do anything,” the doctor shouted. His expression was equally terrified as he suddenly raised his voice. “Epidemic… it’s an epidemic… it’s an epidemic!”

His suddenly raised voice startled the woman, and she released her grip.

Just then, the man on the door plank thrashed twice and went still, his face gray-blue—he had died.

The people in the room finally let out a scream and rushed outside.

The street immediately erupted into chaos as people scattered in all directions.

In another medicine shop, a patient was projectile vomiting everywhere, and the people around could no longer help but back away.

“Even if we force the medicine down, it just gets vomited back up… it’s completely useless…” one doctor cried out tremblingly.

Another stared blankly at this man who kept vomiting until he vomited blood.

“Give me, give me a mask…” he muttered, then suddenly turned and ran out of the room. “Cover your nose, mouth, head, face, entire body… quickly…”

The voice spread through the courtyard.

Covering head, face, and body—this had only been seen at Qianjin Hall…

This meant… this meant…

The remaining doctors in the room slowly backed away.

“Doctor, please save him…” the patient’s family member shouted.

With this cry, not only did the doctor not approach, but he turned and ran out.

“…Lime… right… use lime… and liquor… quickly, quickly… and what else was said? Right, right, burn all the things that were used…”

The courtyard immediately descended into chaos.

The chaos in the city naturally reached the wealthy households as well.

“Quick, add two more disinfection sessions today,” a man who looked like the master of the house stood in the courtyard shouting.

The servants responded in unison. The courtyard still retained the smell of disinfecting liquor and medicine, but at this moment no one found it unpleasant—instead, they felt it was like life-saving incense.

“Are those rice, flour, and vegetables prepared sufficiently?” the man turned to ask.

The mistress stepped out, her expression tense but not panicked.

“Enough. We prepared them early—enough for us to stay home without going out for two months,” she said.

“Oh, right, and also…” the man thought of something and took out a piece of paper from his sleeve. He looked at it carefully, then said, “…food must be cooked thoroughly… wash hands frequently, ensure ventilation… washing hands… right, do you still remember those water pipes from Qianjin Hall?”

The woman nodded.

“Our household’s well water—we need to set up those pipes so the children and servants can all wash their hands with running water…” the man said, looking at the paper.

The woman quickly called for the steward. The steward responded, and everyone in the household immediately became busy.

“Father, Mother,” two children ran out from the house, somewhat frightened, and hugged the woman. “Did many people die in the city?”

The woman quickly reached out to comfort them.

“No, no, don’t be afraid. Stay at home, and we’ll all be fine,” she said gently.

“Right. We have protective charms that can keep our household safe,” the man also came over and showed the paper in his hand to the two children.

This was one of those promotional flyers issued by Qianjin Hall.

The older child could already recognize some characters. He curiously pointed at the paper.

“…Qian…jin…tang…” he read.

“Then let’s put it up quickly,” the younger child didn’t care about the words, just noticed it was different from previous protective charms—there were no pictures on it—but still urged happily.

The man nodded.

“Post this in the corridor. Everyone must see it and firmly remember everything written on it,” he said. “This is our life-saving charm.”

The servants nearby quickly took it and responded affirmatively.

In the prefect’s yamen, the prefect’s wife was frantically watching servants pack and load boxes.

“I said we should leave early. You wouldn’t listen. Now look—who knows if it’s even safe to leave,” she complained while watching.

The prefect stood nearby, sweating anxiously.

“Stop talking and pack quickly. You take Xiao Qiao and leave first. I’ll have people send the things later,” he said, stamping his feet.

“I’m not leaving,” Huang Ziqiao walked in from outside and sat down in a chair, declaring loudly. “With Mistress Qi here, I’m not leaving.”

The prefect and his wife looked at him, not reacting immediately.

“With Mistress Qi here, everything will definitely be fine. I’m not so cowardly as to be scared away,” Huang Ziqiao also said quickly, coughing to cover the awkwardness of his previous words.

“Oh you child, don’t talk so childishly. Come with me quickly,” the prefect’s wife said.

“What’s childish about it? What kind of person is Mistress Qi, what level of skill does she have—don’t you understand even now?” Huang Ziqiao said loudly, sitting in the chair without moving.

What kind of person was Mistress Qi, what level of skill did she have?

She had said that those who didn’t believe her would die, she had said this was definitely an epidemic…

The prefect and his wife couldn’t help but swallow.

Actually, they should have been among the first to understand what kind of person this woman was and what level of skill she had…

So, since not believing her would lead to death, would believing her mean survival?

The streets went from being extremely deserted initially to becoming lively again, except now everyone was carrying loads on shoulder poles, pushing carts and driving donkeys, dragging families toward the outskirts of the city.

“Are they going to stay with relatives and friends?” passersby asked.

“No, going to Qianjin Hall,” the travelers replied.

When crowds of people were surging toward Qianjin Hall, Qi Yue was not actually at Qianjin Hall.

“Tired? Sit down and rest,” Chang Yuncheng said, reaching out to support her arm.

They had just come down from a farming household on higher ground and reached a large tree in the village.

Qi Yue placed her hand on his arm and used her sleeve to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

Chang Yuncheng stood straight, letting her lean on him.

“It sounds like sepsis,” Qi Yue said, nodding. “Maybe I really was overthinking. Working and cutting his leg, easy to get infected in summer, plus dirt got in, so ultimately developing sepsis—that’s very normal.”

She sighed with relief.

“Messages from other disciples say villagers don’t have that kind of diarrhea either. Seems it’s not an epidemic,” she continued. “That’s wonderful. I said so—how could I be so unlucky as to encounter an acute infectious disease outbreak? Seems my character isn’t so bad after all.”

Though Chang Yuncheng didn’t understand two or three of her phrases, he still smiled.

“Young mistress,” someone called.

They turned to see an old man walking over with a cane.

“I heard you’re doctors?” he asked. “Treating illness for free?”

When Qi Yue visited villages, she naturally couldn’t just go around asking whose family members had died and how they died, so she identified herself as offering free medical treatment.

“Yes, uncle. Where do you feel unwell?” she withdrew her hand, stood straight, and asked.

The old man approached.

“Look at this—I have a rash on my neck that’s turned into blisters. Looks quite frightening. I don’t dare break them myself…” he said, tilting his head to show Qi Yue his neck.

Chang Yuncheng, finding him slow, stepped forward to help support him.

“Don’t move!” Qi Yue suddenly shouted.

At this “don’t move,” Chang Yuncheng stopped, and the old man stopped too, both looking at her in confusion.

They saw that the woman’s previously smiling face had become one of shock.

My heaven, she really was this unlucky! Her character wasn’t good at all—it was absolutely terrible!