A group of about a hundred villagers from Tianxin Village marched in a large procession toward the village entrance.
When the soldiers saw that all the villagers had come out, they were on high alert. At the command of the leading soldier, a group of soldiers in armor drew their long swords and stood behind the fence.
It was as if the villagers would be torn apart if they dared to take a single step forward!
The villagers were blocked from their way by the fences set up by the government and the long knives in the hands of the soldiers, and could only stand under the gate tower.
Looking around, all I could see was a vast expanse of dark heads, making a constant racket.
"Let us out!"
"The people of Heshun Prefecture treat human life like dirt and don't even consider their people as human beings!"
The shirtless, burly man at the head of the group clenched his right fist and kept raising his hand in protest.
The villagers behind them responded to the shirtless man's slogans, chanting in unison to protest for themselves.
The opposing officers and soldiers remained unmoved, watching the villagers of Tianxin Village with blank expressions as they chanted their protest slogans.
Lu Qiqi and the doctor who went with her also returned to the gatehouse with the villagers of Tianxin Village.
To avoid being implicated by the villagers of Tianxin Village in any unexpected situation, they kept a distance of about 100 meters from the villagers so that they could react quickly and escape if anything happened.
The villagers of Tianxin Village shouted for a while, but their strength gave out and their voices gradually faded.
At this moment, a soldier who was sitting a dozen meters away from the fence stood up, took a few steps forward, and stopped about four or five meters away from the fence.
The soldier, with his large belly, shouted in a deep, booming voice, "Lu Da, if you cause trouble again, I'll be the first to order you shot!"
The shirtless giant Lu Da, who was singled out, said without fear, "Since I'm going to die anyway, go ahead and kill me if you dare!"
"Unrepentant!" The pot-bellied soldier was at a loss, seeing that Lu Da was completely unyielding; he couldn't really shoot him.
After a moment, the heavily pregnant soldier said, "Heshun Prefecture has dispatched many doctors from Luzhou Prefecture to treat you. Don't be ungrateful. If you don't cooperate with the treatment, you will perish in the fire once the government completely abandons you!"
Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the villagers' procession.
The belliest soldier's voice abruptly stopped as he squinted, trying to see what had happened.
Standing at the back, Lu Qiqi had a clear view of the source of the riot in Tianxin Village.
It was the mother and child who had previously appeared pale and unsteady on their feet.
That mother is now collapsed on the ground!
The little boy hugged his mother's head and cried out for help.
The villagers around them glanced at it and, as if their clothes had been licked by flames, retreated several meters away, leaving just enough space for the mother and child to stay!
Just then, someone shouted, "Send that mother and child to the epidemic area!"
Despite the shouts, no one stepped forward, fearing they might be the ones to collapse at any moment!
Lu Qiqi took two steps forward and felt her shoulder being slammed hard by a hard bone, almost making her curse!
"What an ugly face!"
A voice reached her ears, and Lu Qiqi looked up to see an old doctor with disheveled hair, dressed in a wide black robe, striding angrily toward the mother and child, as if he were about to start a fight.
"Qiqi, are you alright?" Li Changlong saw that Lu Qiqi had been bumped and quickly went to her side to ask how she was.
"I'm fine. Second brother, I'm going to check on the mother and child. You wait here for me."
Lu Qiqi shook her head. She ignored the pain in her shoulder at the moment, rubbed it a few times, and was about to follow the old doctor to see the mother and child.
Li Changlong suddenly reached out and grabbed Lu Qiqi's arm, looking worried. "We don't know what's going on over there. Why don't we see what the old doctor has to say first?"
Lu Qiqi gently pried Li Changlong's hand away and said, "Human life is at stake. Every extra person means extra strength. Now that we're here, there's no reason for us to back down. Second brother, don't worry, I'll take care of myself first."
After saying that, Lu Qiqi walked towards the mother and child without looking back.
The old doctor in black squatted down, stretched out his wrinkled hand, and took the woman's wrist to feel her pulse.
As time passed, his once smooth brow gradually furrowed.
Lu Qiqi wasn't idle either. She examined the woman's eyelids a few times before taking the woman's other hand to check her pulse.
Judging from the pulse and pupil condition.
The good news is that the mother is only in a coma.
The bad news is that her illness is quite troublesome; her pulse indicates it is similar to cholera!
The little boy watched as someone took his mother's pulse. He stopped shouting for help and instead looked anxiously at his mother's closed eyes, silently shedding tears.
Lu Qiqi asked, "Little brother, what are the symptoms of illnesses in your village?"
At this moment, Lu Da squeezed out from the crowd of hundreds of villagers and happened to hear Lu Qiqi's question. He said in a muffled voice, "They have stomach cramps, keep vomiting, have persistent diarrhea, and some even have high fever."
The symptoms Lu Da described and the cholera symptoms that Lu Qiqi diagnosed were almost identical!
Therefore, Lu Qiqi's expression also began to tighten.
Cholera is highly contagious; without stopping the spread of the disease, it can wipe out an entire county in just a few months.
After listening to Lu Da's words, the old doctor in black robes said calmly, "She is severely dehydrated. Quickly boil some hot water for her to drink."
After saying this, the old doctor in black robes got up and walked towards the direction of the other doctors.
Lu Qiqi didn't leave immediately. Instead, she asked the little boy, "What's your name? Someone just mentioned an epidemic area? What's going on?"
The little boy's eyes were filled with tears, but seeing Lu Qiqi taking his mother's pulse and seeing Lu Qiqi's kind expression, he honestly said, "My name is Zhao Yinhu. The epidemic area is at the end of the village, and there are people there who are too sick to get out of bed."
My dad and grandparents are still there. My mom and I finally made it out of the epidemic area, but now it looks like we have to go back.
After hearing Zhao Yinhu's explanation, Lu Qiqi roughly understood the reason: the seriously ill villagers were all in the epidemic area, while the villagers with milder symptoms or who had not yet been infected were automatically isolated from the epidemic area.
This was also to leave a glimmer of hope for villagers with milder symptoms.
But in the face of an epidemic, it is like standing in front of death to beg for survival; all beings are equal.
After Zhao Yinhu finished speaking, he stared intently at his mother's face until several villagers carried her away. Only then did he drag his heavy steps and follow them away.
After describing his symptoms, Lu Da found some clothes to put on. Although the people of the Great Jin Dynasty were open-minded, it was really not good to be shirtless in front of a strange woman, especially since she was a young girl.
Lu Qiqi saw Lu Da again. Lu Da was now wearing a brown short jacket and standing in front of the villagers.
Lu Da looked down at Lu Qiqi and said, "Does Luzhou Prefecture have no doctors? Sending a young girl like you to such a dangerous place, none of these people are good!"
This wasn't the first time Lu Qiqi had been looked down upon because of her status, and listening to Lu Da meant no harm; the insults were directed at the soldiers who were forcibly conscripting doctors, and had nothing to do with her!
"The disease here can kill people! You'd better find a way to leave quickly!" Lu Da left these words and led the villagers of Tianxin Village toward the ancestral hall.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
