Inside Yu'an Hall.

Ning Xihua specially brought some candied haws made at home to visit Xiao Chunhua.

In the past few days, Ning Xihua has been bringing people to help distribute supplies and visit patients with fever every day.

She couldn't carry anything on her shoulders or lift anything with her hands, so there was really only so much she could do. But she could go with them, visit people door to door when distributing supplies, and send some small care to those patients with fever who were being treated in intensive care.

Sometimes she would walk too much in a day and her feet would be covered with blisters. Song Yi would pick them out for her and let her rest for a few days, but she would still go out as usual the next day.

Even though she was lazy and liked to be sloppy, she knew that now was not the time to lie down. After the promise she made on the city gate, she was now more like the spiritual pillar of the people of Yizhou.

She had to let these people who were forced to stay at home see her, see that she was still in Yizhou, see that she was fulfilling her promise, and see that she was calm and orderly. Only in this way would they feel at ease, not despair, and be willing to continue to cooperate with the government.

Xiao Chunhua was the little girl she met when she visited Yu'an Hall.

The little girl is only 6 years old this year. She was sent to Yu'an Hall for treatment because of fever. Her parents were not around.

Although the little girl was ill and had a fever, she was quiet and well-behaved, which made people feel sorry for her. The last time she came, Xiao Chunhua blinked her big black eyes and sweetly praised her as a beautiful fairy sister.

Although they were far away, she could still see the sincere smile on the little girl's face.

Ning Xihua was amused by her and asked her what she wanted. She just shyly said that she wanted to eat Tanghulu, saying that she hadn't eaten it for a long time. Ning Xihua promised her that she would bring her Tanghulu next time she came.

But when Ning Xihua brought Tanghulu to Xiao Chunhua's room, she found that her bed was empty.

Upon asking, I learned that Xiao Chunhua had a seizure yesterday and could not be saved and had passed away.

The little girl who was smiling and praising her beauty not long ago, so full of vitality and liveliness, is gone now?

She is only 6 years old, and she hasn’t had the chance to eat the candied haws she has been craving for!

Ning Xihua felt extremely sad. With tears in her eyes, she stood there for a long time while pinching the candied haws.

It turns out that the feeling of powerlessness is so uncomfortable.

After she finally recovered, she went to look for Doctor Xu who was on duty at Yu'an Hall, and found that Doctor Xu was rescuing a patient.

She waited anxiously outside for a long while before Doctor Xu came out with a heavy face, even a somewhat numb expression.

Ning Xihua was about to say something but stopped herself because she had just heard from someone else that the person being rescued inside was also the doctor in charge of treatment at Yu'an Hall.

Doctor Xu saw her waiting, and his expression was like crying, "I am incompetent and have not yet found a cure. This is the second doctor in Yu'an Hall who died of the epidemic."

Ning Xihua was silent.

These doctors and physicians who stayed at Yu'an Hall every day were in close contact with patients with fever, giving them acupuncture, taking their pulses, and feeding them medicine. Therefore, their chances of contracting the epidemic were much higher than those who were distributing supplies outside.

But so far, no doctor has asked to leave Yu'an Hall or refused to treat patients.

The other doctors who heard what Doctor Xu said also stopped their work, looked into the room with a sad look, and then rushed to the next patient without stopping.

She heard a doctor who was decocting medicine, muttering something in a low voice, but the sound was particularly clear in the quiet courtyard at this moment.

"As a doctor, I must calm my mind and have no desires. I must first develop a heart of great compassion and pity, vowing to save all living beings from suffering. If a patient comes to me for help due to illness or distress, I must not ask about their status, wealth, age, beauty, enemies, friends, Chinese or foreign, foolish or wise. I must treat them all equally, as if they were my closest relatives. I must also not look ahead or behind, worry about good or bad luck, or protect my own life..."

Ning Xihua didn't know how to comfort them. Any words seemed so pale and powerless in front of these doctors who were on the brink of death but were trying their best to save people from dire straits.

She could only straighten her clothes and bow properly to all the doctors in the hospital.

Ning Xihua felt heavy-hearted when leaving Yu'an Hall.

Thinking of the advance order to seal off the city and those people in the crowd who were fanning the flames, her heart sank even more.

If this plague that has killed so many innocent people is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster...

There are things she needs to confirm, she needs to give the truth to those who have passed away.

…

"Have you found out? Is this it?"

Huai Liu nodded and replied, "Yes, we found the first dozen families to hold funerals in recent months, and discovered that more than half of them were from this same alley."

Ning Xihua walked along Jing'an Lane in the west of Yizhou City and found that almost every household had hung white flags.

If this epidemic is truly man-made, then Jing'an Lane must be the source of the epidemic.

“Knock on each door and ask where they get their daily necessities and water.”

Huailiu took the order and went door to door with his guards to ask.

After a while, Huailiu came back to report.

"My Lord, Jing'an Lane is close to the West Market, and most people go to the West Market to buy supplies. There is a large well at the end of Jing'an Lane, and ordinary people who don't have a well in their yard will go here to get water."

The population of West Market is dense, and people from Jing'an Lane and other West Markets gather here. If the problem is in West Market, it is impossible that only Jing'an Lane has so many outbreaks in advance.

"Go to that well and have a look."

Ning Xihua acted decisively and led people to the well.

At the end of the alley, a large well appeared at your feet.

From the smooth stone walls around the well and the worn hemp rope on the bucket, it can be seen that this well has been used frequently and for a long time.

Ning Xihua inexplicably felt that there might be something wrong with this well. It was an intuition that came out of nowhere.

"Has anything strange happened to this well recently?"

Huai Liu suddenly thought of something, clapped his hands and said, "Oh, by the way, just now a mother-in-law complained that some scoundrel had thrown old clothes into the well, and everyone scolded her for a long time!"

Such a large well, with so many households drawing water from it, should have people posted there to guard it and prevent the water from being polluted or poisoned.

That’s why the old woman remembered it so clearly and grumbled for a long time when a torn piece of clothing was pulled out of the well for the first time. But no one took it seriously and just thought that some drunkard had taken off his clothes and thrown them in.

Ning Xihua looked at the well, but her heart was chilled.

If I am not mistaken, the so-called torn clothes are probably clothes that the person behind the scenes specially found and carry the epidemic virus.

She took a deep breath and ordered, "Go and ask Doctor Xu to come and have him take people to test this well."