Chapter 256 Village Massacre? The Shrine Maiden Disappears!
As Madam Pei spoke, she became increasingly agitated.
"Back then, when I went to the frontier to save Luo'er's grandfather, I didn't see Zaina for the last time... No, it was when I left Jinling that time that Zaina was no longer by my elder brother's side!"
"I was wondering at the time why these two were always inseparable, and Zaina actually preferred life on the frontier, so why didn't she go with us that time?"
“I didn’t think about this matter in detail back then, and I didn’t ask my brother about it… But now that I think about it, my brother’s illness might really be related to this witch!”
Seeing that Madam Pei was so anxious, Doctor Luo first poured her a cup of tea, and watched her drink it before slowly saying, "That witch doctor is indeed her."
"However, judging from the timeline, she probably hadn't met Duke Pei back then; she was just a wandering witch doctor."
Do you want me to continue?
Madam Pei quickly replied, "Of course! Tell me quickly, don't keep me in suspense!"
Doctor Luo sighed, "Back then, my master and I settled down temporarily in the mountains, but in order to understand this disease, simply doing literature was not enough."
“We risked going down the mountain to the village several times, hoping to observe or even capture a madman, but we failed each time.”
"Later, we found Zaina. She walked around and even lived in the village like an ordinary person, seemingly trying to make medicine and treat the people. Strangely, no one attacked her."
"Why is she an exception? My master and I are extremely curious."
"So, we took the opportunity to find Zaina who had left the village and asked her how she did it."
"She took a glass bottle out of her pocket and showed it to us. Can you guess what's inside?"
Madam Pei lost her patience again: "Guess what? Just tell me!"
Doctor Luo smiled and said, "Don't worry. This bottle is crammed full of a slippery worm. It's pinkish-red, with no head or tail, and no eyes, only a mouth."
“Zayna nourished it with her own blood, one drop at a time, and the worm wriggled happily in the bottle.”
"Zayna said that she fished the worm out of a well outside the village. All the villagers who were poisoned contracted rabies because they accidentally ate the eggs laid by this worm."
"After she retrieved the worm, she wore it on her body all day long. Strangely enough, the villagers who had contracted the disease stopped attacking her. Even when they were in excruciating pain, they dared not approach her at all."
"So she stayed, hoping to find more secrets about the madness disease and even research a cure."
"A doctor who throws herself into danger to find the truth about illness is admirable, especially since she is a woman, and it must be even more difficult for her to walk in this world."
“My master and I originally praised Zaina, but later we found out that Zaina was using fresh human blood as a medicinal ingredient, and these were all normal people she had tricked from the mountains or other villages.”
"Her methods sent chills down the spines of both my master and me."
"At the same time, the sick villagers down the mountain began to use various means to lure their relatives down the mountain under Zaina's influence, and then kill them to give Zaina blood."
“My master and I wanted to save these villagers, but we were almost unable to even protect ourselves, let alone save those who knowingly went down the mountain to face the tigers.”
"At the same time, we also realized the strangeness of this disease, so we immediately decided not to investigate it any further and left the place overnight."
Li Qingluo was puzzled: "Judging from these symptoms and the blood-clotting pills that Yanming is taking, they are exactly the same as those of Old Duke Pei. But what about Butterfly? She seems to have symptoms of berserk blood disorder, but it doesn't seem to be entirely true?"
So far, the butterfly only goes crazy when it sees a member of the opposite sex; it doesn't go crazy unless a member of the opposite sex is present.
Doctor Luo shook his head: "As far as I know, when a person with mad blood disease first has an attack, there will be a full month between attacks. After that, the attacks will occur every half month, then every ten days, and then every five days."
"If they do not consume human blood for more than three days, they will die suddenly from extreme pain!"
That's why the people in that village with madness would attack each other with knives when they had an attack.
Even if it's disgusting and bitter to eat each other because we're both sick, it's still better than doing nothing and waiting to die.
Madam Pei felt very uncomfortable.
So, my brother suffered from this disease for thirty years?
Given his personality, this illness has turned him into something inhuman, and he has even harmed so many innocent women. He would never live on in this world!
Why is he still reluctant to leave this world?
Madam Pei was very sad.
She knew that she might never see her elder brother again.
She also knew that even if her elder brother suffered a tragic end, it was what he deserved.
But thinking of how such a heroic and peerless man had ended up like this... and how could Madam Pei not be saddened by this one brother she only had?
Seeing that her grandmother's expression was filled with unconcealed sorrow, Li Qingluo quickly asked Nangong Di, "But Master seems to know about this disease as well? Has Master also encountered the Blood Fever?"
Nangong Di looked at Doctor Luo and kicked him: "Continue."
While the divine physician Luo was still examining Madam Pei, he was suddenly kicked, and he was in great pain.
"You brute! Are you trying to break my bone with that kick?"
"You're not even willing to answer your disciple's question. What a lazy thing you are."
"Alright, alright, since I've already said so much, why not continue?"
Doctor Luo continued, "After my master and I left that village overnight, we unexpectedly encountered Nangong Di, who was searching for his missing junior brother, on the road."
"Luo'er, this is the first time I met your master, so our friendship has lasted for over thirty years."
"At the time, we suspected that your master's junior brother, oh, the person you should call your master's uncle in the future, had also been tricked into going to that village, so we accompanied Nangong Di back there."
"When I went back, I found that all the madmen in the village had been killed."
Li Qingluo was shocked: "The village was massacred? Could it be my martial uncle?"
Nangong Di: "You guessed right, it's your martial uncle. He couldn't stand the filth in this village, so he killed all the scourges with a single stroke."
"However, when I found him later, he said that the witch had run away with the worm."
Li Qingluo: "I see. So Master also knows about the Blood Frenzy."
Madam Pei: "Zayina must have returned to the Western Regions. She carried that worm with her, and my brother later contracted this disease, which must be related to her!"
"And didn't Pei Bu say that his brother always has his own doctor by his side? This doctor must be Zaina."
"But with such a big incident happening at the Duke Pei's mansion, there's no sign of her. I heard that Pei Sanlang only took my brother with him. So where did Zaina go?"
Li Qinglu thought of Pan Li.
Ask her; perhaps she'll have a clue about Zaina.
Li Qingluo thought of butterflies again.
The butterfly's age doesn't match, so she isn't Zaina.
But who is the butterfly?
Li Qingluo was still worried that Butterfly might suddenly fall ill, so she got up and hurriedly said goodbye to the three elders before returning to Zizai Residence.
Fortunately, the butterflies did not fall ill.
Li Qingluo was considering whether or not to put leg irons on Butterfly.
But what's the difference between this and imprisoning her in a dungeon?
"Forget it, let's keep her in her room for the next few days and wait ten days or half a month. If she doesn't have a relapse, then we'll talk about it."
Li Qingluo immediately gave the order, and Que'er dared not neglect the matter and quickly went to carry it out.
Fortunately, after I moved a bunch of fun and unusual things that Butterfly had never seen before to her, she went into the room quietly without making a fuss.
Li Qingluo was busy all day again.
By evening, she had personally washed Prince Su's large shoes clean and hung them out to dry on the windowsill.
The moonlight shone on the shoes, making the silk gleam with a faint moon-white sheen.
Li Qingluo stared blankly at the shoes, resting her chin on her hand.
Suddenly, a sparrow knocked on the door and poked its head in.
"Miss, would you like to hear more of the stories I didn't finish telling during the day?"
"If you don't listen, I won't be able to sleep until I finish speaking."
Li Qingluo never needed servants to keep watch at her bedside.
She is used to, and prefers, having her room all to herself at night.
But tonight, perhaps there will be an exception.
Li Qingluo: Aren't you coming in?
Li Qingluo lay on the bed and let Que'er crawl into her quilt as well.
The two lay side by side, and Que'er couldn't wait to continue telling the story of the day.
"Miss, did I mention that Wu Da was the only servant who wasn't beaten to death while imprisoned?"
Li Qingluo: "Yes. And then?"
Sparrow chuckled: "Then, yesterday, I heard that Madam went back to her parents' home."
“Young lady, you don’t know, before the old lady and you came back, the madam was not good at managing the household, so she would always ask the old lady of Naqu, that is, your maternal grandmother, Madam You, to come over from time to time to help manage the affairs of the inner quarters.”
Li Qingluo: "How stupid! This is how the Qu family reached into the General's Mansion."
Que'er: "Isn't that right? I heard that Madam You used to put on quite a show at the General's Mansion, really acting like she was the old lady of the mansion."
"However, she didn't dare to come after our own old lady came back, especially after she was humiliated during the Mid-Autumn Festival. She was even less likely to cause trouble again."
"This time, the eldest son of the family has encountered such a thing, and the master is not here, so there is no one to take charge. Who knew that the madam would run back to her parents' home to ask her mother to make a decision."
"However, Madam did not fare well this time when she returned to the Qu family."
"I heard that when Old Madam He from the main branch of the Qu family heard that she had come, she summoned her to the main branch. Then, the lady returned to the General's Mansion with five red finger marks on her face."
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