Exhausted from a long day yesterday, Lu Qiqi slept soundly until dawn before slowly waking up.
After getting up and dressed, Lu Qiqi went directly into the small wooden house in the space to wash up. She also looked through the medicine bottles in the house to see if she could find any medicine that she could use.
The medicines looted from the bandit stronghold were almost all used up. What little remained were medicines for treating bruises and sprains, which were completely ineffective against the epidemic in Tianxin Village.
Lu Qiqi could only place her hopes on the medicine that Song Yanqing had sent.
She opened the wooden box and looked through the medicine bottles. There were quite a few wound medicines and two bottles of antidote, but no medicines related to the epidemic.
With her hopes dashed, Lu Qiqi had no choice but to close the wooden box and leave the space.
Upon arriving at the compound, Lu Qiqi saw Li Changlong carrying two bowls, followed by Zhou Yi, and the two of them were walking towards her.
When Li Changlong saw Lu Qiqi, he smiled and said, "Qiqi, you're awake. Come on, have some breakfast so you'll have the energy to work."
Lu Qiqi took the bowl and said, "Thank you, Second Brother. Let's go back and sit down to eat."
The three returned to the house and sat at the square table. Lu Qiqi ate a few bites of rice and discovered that there were fragrant mushrooms hidden under the rice.
Lu Qiqi looked up and, unusually, saw a sly smile in Li Changlong's eyes.
Her second brother is giving them special treatment.
After finishing her meal, Lu Qiqi headed towards the courtyard, but before she even entered, she heard several villagers gathered together, cursing and swearing.
"Damn beast, why doesn't it eat all the food on the mountain and instead comes to the fields to cause trouble?"
"That's right, it's a sin to dig this thing out and eat it."
One of the thin men suggested, "How about we take a night watch? Once there's a wild animal, there will be another. Digging like this isn't a long-term solution."
The tall man glared at the thin man and said, "If you want to die, go die by yourself. Don't drag us down with you."
After saying that, the tall man scooped a large bowl of water from the water vat and took it to decoct the medicine.
Seeing this, the others also dispersed to prepare medicine for their own family members.
From what they were saying, it seemed that a wild animal had eaten something in the ground, but she didn't go over to question the villagers.
Instead, Lu Qiqi planned to ask Zhao Zhide later. Compared to these angry villagers, she felt that asking Zhao Zhide was more reliable.
Just as Zhao Zhide was feeding Grandma Zhao her medicine, Lu Qiqi happened to come over.
Upon hearing Lu Qiqi's question, Zhao Zhide put down his bowl and said, "I know what you're talking about."
Lu Qiqi moved a small stool and sat down, listening quietly to Zhao Zhide's story.
Zhao Zhide sighed, his voice low, and said, "The things that the wild beast dug up were the remains of villagers who had just been buried in our village."
A corpse?
What kind of wild animal would want to dig up a carcass and eat it?
Besides, Heshun Prefecture wasn't facing a famine. There were plenty of wild animals in the mountains, so there was no need to dig up corpses to eat.
Lu Qiqi said, "Didn't they bring coffins for burial? When we came here before, we saw more than twenty coffins in two houses as soon as we entered the epidemic area."
Zhao Zhide said, "In the past, we were buried with coffins, but as more and more people died, those of us who hadn't fallen didn't have the energy to carry the coffins anymore, so we just wrapped them in straw mats and buried them hastily."
That was something she hadn't considered. She only saw that there were still some able-bodied young men left in Tianxin Village, and she hadn't thought of something so obvious.
The prescription for the medicine that the villagers were drinking had been altered. After the medicine was decocted, some villagers hesitated while holding the bowls, while others drank the bitter medicine in one gulp without changing their expression.
Herbal medicines have a slow effect and their effects cannot be seen quickly. For now, we can only take the pulse and ask questions every day, and pay attention to the symptoms and pulse after taking the medicine.
By the end of the day, Lu Qiqi discovered that one of the eight doctors was missing.
It was that venerable old doctor in black robes, with an air of otherworldly wisdom.
Before dinner, Lu Qiqi stopped Doctor Huang and asked, "Doctor Huang, where did the old doctor who rode with us in the carriage go? We haven't seen him all day. Is he unwell?"
Dr. Huang didn't expect Lu Qiqi to pay attention to the doctor who came with him. He said, "When I woke him up this morning, he scolded me quite a bit."
I noticed his eyes were dark and swollen; he probably hadn't slept well.
Considering his advanced age and the fact that he still had to travel around so much, I didn't call him again.
Upon hearing this, Lu Qiqi understood and didn't ask any more questions. She went to get food with Doctor Huang.
After a busy day, Lu Qiqi was starving. She picked up her bowl and sat down to eat heartily. The vegetarian dishes looked even more delicious than meat dishes.
At this moment, Wangcai wagged its tail, walked past Lu Qiqi, and went straight to someone.
Lu Qiqi then noticed that the person was the old doctor in black robes who hadn't appeared all day.
The old doctor, with his sleeves rolled up, squatted against the corner of the wall, eating from a bowl, his posture casual and relaxed.
The doctor's next move made Lu Qiqi's lips twitch slightly.
The old doctor added a piece of food to his chopsticks and reached out to feed it to Wangcai.
Wangcai only experienced being breastfed when he was a baby, and has never experienced being fed. He opens his mouth wide to reach for food.
Before Wangcai could even eat the food, the old doctor suddenly stood up and put the food in his own mouth.
Lu Qiqi thought to herself: He actually tricked the wolf!
Wangcai was so angry that it stopped wagging its tail and bared its teeth at the old doctor with a fierce expression.
The old doctor, however, was not afraid and continued eating his food as if nothing had happened.
Wangcai ignored him and started eating, looking down at the food in its bowl.
During this time, doctors and scattered villagers passed by, but they remained unmoved by Wangcai's enormous body.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
