The elderly man standing in front of the group of elders slowly pulled down the veil covering half of his face, revealing a look of surprise.
"Are you General Zhu's family?"
Upon hearing that the person in front of them was a member of General Zhu's family, the others behind him became excited and exchanged bewildered glances.
"Yes, sir, my nephew was brought to this village by someone. I wonder if you've seen two boys of similar age?"
Zhu Chenfeng looked at the group of people in front of him with a nervous expression and asked anxiously.
The old man pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "I didn't see it."
"May we go in and search?" Zhu Chenfeng continued to ask.
The old man sighed helplessly after hearing this, "Young Master Zhu, you'd better get out of here as soon as possible! I heard the magistrate is planning to burn down the village; staying here will only mean certain death."
"No, we must find Xiaobao." Liu stood up excitedly from behind Old Madam Zhu, her eyes red with tears.
"Alright! Since you insist on this, then I have no choice but to take you to find the person." The old man sighed helplessly and waved to the crowd.
Seeing this, Liu hurriedly carried the female protagonist on her back and quickly followed, while the others also hurriedly pushed the cart and followed closely behind.
Zhu Chenfeng walked beside the old man, observing the pustules on his face, and asked with concern, "Grandpa, don't you have any herbal remedies?"
"We? We're nothing but useless people abandoned by the government! How could anyone find us herbal medicine to treat us?"
The old man no longer cared about his own life, but felt sorry for the young child, and said, choking back tears.
“We don’t care about ourselves, but we feel sorry for the children who are with us. The youngest is only three months old and the oldest is six years old.”
These words left the Zhu family members utterly astonished, exchanging incredulous glances.
"Grandma, why are there no adults in the village?" Grandma Zhu was very puzzled by this. Why were the elderly and children the ones infected in such a large village?
“They have already fled, leaving us old, weak, sick and disabled people with no way to escape.”
The old man was also filled with helplessness. When he was first infected, he thought it was just a minor cold, but he never expected it to be a natural disaster or man-made calamity.
The old man's reply made the Zhu family dare not continue speaking. Every question they asked would indirectly hurt the old man.
The group followed the old man's footsteps, searching along the village. The entire village appeared exceptionally desolate, and even during the day, the temperature around them was still several degrees lower than outside.
The strange weather made Xixi try to observe her surroundings through the gaps in the bamboo basket with suspicion, since smallpox wasn't some serious epidemic.
Why is it so shady all around? It's no wonder the patient won't get better if he lives in such conditions for a long time.
She looked around blankly and was surprised to see a huge locust tree surrounding the entire village.
The area around the locust tree was covered with what appeared to be newly erected fences made of fresh wild grass, completely blocking out any light from entering the village.
It turns out these fences were the culprits. Judging from the method, it was the villain Zhu Yanyan who was behind it all.
[Holy crap! Why won't Zhu Yanyan give up?]
[What a scoundrel! He deliberately covered up the village so tightly, which only exacerbated the growth of bacteria.]
[Once the entire family falls ill, they can sneak into the village and steal the cotton.]
She must have known that in a month, there would be unusual celestial phenomena, and the cotton on the market would be sold out long ago.
By the time the team emerged from the desert, all the cotton had been looted.
That's why they set their sights on Lujia Village.
[I'm so angry! You bad guy, you big bad guy!]
Xixi's angry, childish voice reached the ears of the Zhu family, and they all turned grim, looking around at the same time.
Just then, a ragged child, wrapped in a swaddling cloth, emerged from a dilapidated thatched hut and waved incessantly at the old man.
"Egg? What are you doing here?" The old man was instantly excited when he saw the child and staggered a few steps forward.
When Egg saw the group approaching, it quickly turned around and led them into the thatched hut, pointing to the two children lying on the straw mat.
Liu and Old Lady Zhu followed closely behind, entering the house with Dandan, where they indeed saw Zhu Xiaobao and Pei Sining.
"Xiao Bao? Wake up!" Heartbroken, Madam Liu picked up Zhu Da Bao and gently patted her son's rosy cheeks.
Grandma Zhu also picked up Pei Sining, who was lying to the side, and unbuttoned his clothes to check his condition.
"Oh no, they've contracted smallpox."
"What?"
Liu looked at Pei Sining's body covered in red spots with surprise, and hurriedly took off her son's clothes, only to find that her son's body was also covered with red spots.
Hearing the two talking, Madam Sun jogged in, placed two fingers on Zhu Xiaobao's pulse, and then on Pei Sining's pulse.
After learning that the two had indeed contracted smallpox, she turned to the old man and said anxiously.
"Sir, may I borrow your wooden tub? We need to give our two children a bath."
The old man shook his head sadly at Sun's suggestion, saying, "It's no use. Once infected, it's incurable."
“How will you know it won’t work if you don’t try? My sister-in-law is a doctor. If she says it will work, then it definitely will.”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Liu placed her son on the straw mat, knelt before the old man, and pleaded, "Old man, please, give them a chance."
The old man looked helplessly at Liu Shi kneeling on the ground, sighed and nodded, "If you want to try, then try."
After obtaining the old man's permission, Zhu Chenfeng and Zhu Haotian quickly entered the straw mat and hurriedly picked them up.
Under the elder's arrangement, Sun led everyone to brew antidote herbs, while Zhu Chenfeng and Zhu Haotian took sickles and went to the high mountain behind the village to cut down the fence.
Xixi looked anxiously at the busy crowd and babbled, asking for a hug.
[XiXi wants to help too! XiXi has the vaccine! Someone, please hug me!]
Xixi didn't want to stay in the bamboo basket; it was too stuffy inside.
[Xixi has been vaccinated and is not afraid of smallpox. Quickly, bring Xixi out!]
As Tao passed by the bamboo basket, she heard her niece's voice and quickly took her out of the basket.
Grandma Zhu, carrying the medicine pot, happened to see Tao holding Xixi and loudly reminded her.
"Why did you bring Xixi out? There's plague all around."
"I....."
Ms. Tao felt extremely wronged, but she didn't dare to say a word. She could only pout and remain silent.
Xixi waved happily at Grandma Zhu and babbled in baby talk.
Seeing her granddaughter so happy, Grandma Zhu didn't bother arguing with her daughter-in-law and took the medicine pot inside.
After seeing her mother-in-law leave, Tao carried her little niece into the room.
White smoke filled the dilapidated thatched house, and layers of white smoke rose from the wooden barrel.
Xixi happily waved her little hand in the white smoke, desperately reaching out to get closer to the medicine barrel.
Seeing this, Tao looked around nervously, then stepped forward, trying to get her niece to touch the bathtub.
With her aunt holding her, Xixi was finally able to touch the bathtub and shake the vaccine in her bracelet to sprinkle it into the medicine tub.
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