Chapter 414: Sealing off the Village

"I've found it." He squatted down next to Gu Jiayue, his voice very low. "The underground river under the mountain on the west slope is full of animal carcasses and bones. I just asked Uncle Zhang to help salvage the well in the village, and there are also many animal bones in it. I'm sure there are also some in other water sources. This may be the source of the plague."

Gu Jiayue was not overly surprised. After all, the result was pretty much what she had imagined.

Now that it was confirmed, she felt relieved.

If that was the reason, the basic defensive prescription the system had given him would be useful. While it wouldn't cure the already ill, it could prevent illness for those who weren't yet, which was good too.

What is lacking now are the medicinal materials for making basic prescriptions and the prescriptions and medicinal materials for treating the plague.

About this....

Gu Jiayue's eyes moved over Gu Yuchuan.

Gu Yuchuan could tell without even thinking that his good sister was planning on him.

At this time, Lin Yi came over with a tired look on his face.

He had just examined the sick people again, compared their conditions when they first arrived, and had initially developed a prescription. He had just instructed his apprentices to take it down and prepare it.

He didn't care whether there was still rain water on the stone bench and just sat down.

As I felt my body relax, a wave of fatigue came over me.

But he still tried to keep himself awake. "Any ideas?"

Gu Jiayue repeated Gu Yuchuan's words, and Lin Yi's eyes lit up, and he woke up immediately. "I just checked the pulses of the children, and they all have dampness and poison. This matches."

"What should we do now?" The village chief also came over with a medicine bowl in his hand. It seemed that he was helping to feed the medicine just now.

Gu Jiayue already had some preliminary ideas for this. "We need to first salvage all the bodies from the water, then disinfect the mountain springs and wells. It would be best if the villagers don't drink the water from the wells or rivers for the time being."

"If we don't drink it, then what should we drink? We've almost finished all the water we stored!"

"I'll figure out a way to deal with the water issue!"

Gu Yuchuan added: "This kind of bacteria is afraid of high temperatures. Burning some lime and sprinkling it in the water should be effective."

"We still have some in stock in Lime Village!" the village chief immediately replied, "I'll get someone to do it right away!"

Lin Yi felt like his nerves, which had been tense all day, could finally relax. "Once we find the source, it'll be easy. I'll go check out the bodies the villagers have salvaged and see if I can come up with a prescription to help stabilize the children's condition first."

Gu Yuchuan then took out a pill. "This pill can prevent similar plagues. You can study it!"

"Where did you get this?"

“I found it!”

Gu Yuchuan's answer seemed to indicate that he was unwilling to say it.

Lin Yi didn't ask any further questions!

He was about to leave with the pills when Gu Jiayue stopped him. "I also have a prescription for epidemic prevention here. Would you like to take both and see which one is more effective?"

Lin Yi was stunned, holding the prescription in one hand and the pills in the other.

"Okay, let's split up!"

It’s not that he doesn’t want to ask, but even if he asks, these two people won’t tell him the truth.

When he decided to study medicine, the first piece of knowledge his master taught him was: Don’t ask questions that you shouldn’t ask, inquire less, and do more.

So even though he had been scorned by others for his medical skills, no one had ever thought of harming him. This was because he was very tight-lipped and knew what to ask and what not to ask.

Gu Jiayue watched the two hurriedly leave, then turned to Gu Yuchuan and said, "I know this. Please, I'm sure you can do it."

Gu Yuchuan raised his eyebrows: "It's not difficult to deal with such a brainless thing." He paused, his tone becoming heavier, "But if we want to control this epidemic, I'm afraid it will take some effort."

Gu Jiayue nodded: "First do the things at hand, one step at a time."

The two looked at each other, said nothing more, and turned around to go about their own business.

The patients in the yard were still coughing and the rain was still falling, but at this moment, everyone felt a little more at ease.

After leaving Lin Yi's courtyard, the village chief summoned the villagers to carry lime from the pond.

The villagers looked at each other.

"Village chief, why are you carrying lime at this time?"

"I just moved when I was told to. Why are you asking so many questions?"

The villagers felt very uncomfortable after being criticized.

There was a drought during this period, and when the drought was over, someone in the family suddenly fell ill.

One thing after another makes everyone feel bad.

The village chief now ordered them to do something without any reason. How could they be willing to do it?

They are not servants of the village chief, so he can't order them around for free.

Instead of spending time doing something like this, it would be better to go home and take care of the family. Besides, there is not much food at home, and if you work hard, you will get hungry quickly. When the food is gone, will the village chief give them any?

Could it be that the village chief is abusing his power for personal gain and asking them to help carry lime while he is doing his own work?

The more you think about it, the more likely it is. He simply threw the lime off his shoulder onto the ground.

It was raining at first, and when the lime came into contact with the ground, the rain water melted and flowed out with it.

The village chief looked at the lime washed away by the rain with distress. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing? I wanted to ask the village chief, what are you doing? Both the paper mill and the cement mill have stopped working! What are you moving all this lime for? Are you planning to sell it?"

The village chief was so angry that his eyes turned black. What kind of nonsense was this? Is he really that kind of person?

"What do you mean? Why are you so suspicious of me? Don't you know what kind of person I am, Gu Huangping? I've been the village chief for so many years, and I've never embezzled money!"

The villager snorted, "Who knows! Everything is in your hands. If you want to eat it, you eat it. If you don't want to eat it, you don't eat it!"

"You!" The village chief pointed at the villager with a trembling finger, speechless.

The other villagers quickly put down their things and came over to try to stop the fight. "Don't mind, Village Chief. He didn't mean any harm!"

"Yes, yes! But Village Chief, we are also confused. What are you going to do with all this lime? Aren't you saving it for making cement later?"

"Just tell us, we promise not to tell anyone else! Now that we know the reason, we've worked a little harder. Otherwise, we wouldn't feel comfortable moving these things away without any clear explanation!"

You know, they spent a lot of effort to make this lime.

The village chief squatted on the ground, lowered his head and fell asleep without saying a word.

What did he say? How did he say it? If everyone knew the village was plagued, would there be unrest? What would these villagers do?

Everyone can see from the village chief's appearance that he is hiding something from everyone!

Originally, many people were just here to join in the fun and gossip, but judging by the village chief's attitude, it seemed like he was hiding something quite serious!

"Village chief, please tell me!"

When Gu Jiayue came over, she saw the villagers surrounding the village chief, who was squatting on the ground, looking very helpless.

"Uncle Village Chief, I have something to discuss with you."

The village chief looked over, his brown face full of confusion. After looking for a long time, he finally saw the person standing not far away: Gu Jiayue.

He stood up and slowly walked to Gu Jiayue. "Jiayue, is there anything else I can do for you? I'm carrying some lime and planning to put it in the well."

Looking at the village chief, she spoke in a serious tone. "Village chief, at this point, we can't hide it any longer. This is a plague, and we must immediately take preventive measures. All sick people must be quarantined in Doctor Lin's courtyard. Those who are not sick must also stay at home and not move around freely."

The village chief's fingers were shaking violently.

"Jiayue, if this...if this gets out, the village will probably be in chaos."

He thought of the plague in his youth, the scene of relatives hiding from each other and corpses piled up at the village entrance, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

"But I won't tell you... If I don't tell you, I'll just wait to die..."

He squatted on the ground, grabbed his hair with both hands, and made a whimpering sound in his throat.

The villagers not far away became even more confused when they saw him like this.

Gu Jiayue didn't urge her, but just waited quietly.

He knew how difficult the decision was.

Whether they say it or not, they cannot control the problems that will arise later.

After a long while, the village chief suddenly stood up, his face wrinkled into a ball, his eyes filled with determination: "Speak! You must speak! If you can save one, save one!"

He walked forward to the villagers and said, "Don't you want to know what I'm going to do? Fine! Then I'll tell you!"

Just as he was about to tell everything, he heard the sound of horse hooves not far away.

Everyone looked up in unison towards the direction where the sound came from. They saw a group of yamen runners rushing over, led by Chen Ah Da.

"Chen Yayi, what's going on?" The village chief stepped forward, wanting to greet him. Unexpectedly, Chen Ahda pulled his horse back.

It was only then that the village chief noticed that Chen Ada's face was covered with a black cloth.

What does this mean? Is Chen the yamen runner planning to become a bandit?

Chen Ah Da waved his hand, forcing everyone to step back and maintain a safe distance from the villagers. "The county magistrate has issued an order. From today on, the entire Annan County is under a village lockdown. No villager may leave their village. Anyone who disobeys will be killed!"

this....

Chen Ah Da’s words stunned everyone present.

Zheng Qinghe was a rare and good official in the hearts of the people. He was gentle and polite in daily interactions with them. Why did he issue such an order today?

Chen Ah didn't care what these people thought. He then conveyed the order. "Chief of Taohua Village, come forward and listen to the order!"

The village chief has probably guessed that the county magistrate also knows about the plague.

"From today on, the sick and healthy people in the village must be separated. Healthy people are not allowed to come into contact with the sick. If anyone dies, they must be burned with kerosene immediately!"