Chapter 729 - Natural or Man-made Disaster

Translator: Thyaeria

The epidemic deities were also known as the five emissaries of epidemics, respectively the Spring Epidemic Zhang Yuanbo, Summer Epidemic Liu Yuanda, Autumn Epidemic Zhao Gongming, Winter Epidemic Zhong Shigui, and the Chief of Epidemics Shi Wenye. They were the fiends in folklore who could spread epidemics.

The young lady looked at Su Tao. For some reason, she felt a sense of reliability from this man.

“When did your grandmother start falling ill?” Su Tao asked with a grave expression. The patient’s condition was worse than he had expected.

“Two days ago!” The young lady anxiously replied before she continued, “Please save my grandmother!”

Letting out a sigh, Su Tao smiled. “I will do my best.”

He couldn’t let this young lady feel any despair at this moment. From the information that they received, there was another deceased last night, causing the entire Seven Mountain Village to be shrouded in a haze.

The granny’s pulse was complicated, which Su Tao could analyse that this disease affected multiple organs in the body. The granny’s heart, lungs, spleen, and kidneys showed signs of deterioration. This disease was more deadly than cholera and plagues.

After inserting a needle in an acupoint on the granny, the granny suddenly started coughing violently and Su Tao handed the dustbin over, allowing the granny to cough out her phlegm that contained traces of blood.

“How’s my grandmother?” The young lady immediately, nervously asked after witnessing her grandmother’s reaction.

“Don’t worry about it! Her phlegm had clogged up her organs earlier, and I removed it to make her feel much better.” Su Tao immediately explained.

Although the granny looked haggard, she still had some splendour in her eyes as she looked at her granddaughter. “Youyou, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it!”

Wiping her tears, Song Youyou choked on her sobs, “Grandmother, you have to get well.”

“I will definitely get well for you.” The granny put up a strong front despite knowing that her body wasn’t doing well.

The grandmother and granddaughter were both speaking in Seven Mountain Village’s dialect, and Su Tao couldn’t understand what they were talking about. However, he could tell that the two of them shared a close relationship, and looking at them, Su Tao felt a little touched.

As a cough resounded, Fan Mingcheng entered the tent. When he cast a glance in Su Tao’s direction, he had shock in his eyes as he exclaimed, “Youyou, what are you doing here?”

“I want to accompany grandmother!” Song Youyou answered in a firm tone with tears flickering in her eyes.

“Why aren’t you listening to me? We will definitely treat your grandmother. This disease is extremely infectious, and you’re the first university student in our village, so nothing must happen to you.” Fan Mingcheng came over and wanted to drag Song Youyou out of the tent.

“Uncle Fan, I would like to accompany grandmother.” Song Youyou anxiously said as she tried to struggle free.

“I have to be responsible on behalf of your father!” Fan Mingcheng sighed.

“Village Chief, it’s fine.” Su Tao interrupted as he continued, “She has already come in contact with her grandmother for a long time, and normally speaking, the virus is already hidden within her body. So it’s too late for you to drag her out now.”

Looking at Song Youyou with a complicated gaze, Fan Mingcheng replied, “We’ve lived most of our lives in the village, and it doesn’t matter if we die. Anyhow, there won’t be any changes in our life. But you’ve put in so much effort to get into a university, and you’re destined to leave this place to interact with the outside world. You have a great future waiting for you, and it will be too much of a pity if anything happens to you.”

Shaking her head, Song Youyou replied, “I can’t leave grandmother alone. Since young, she has been saving money, even at the expense of starving herself to feed me. So now that she has fallen ill, I have to take care of her.”

“Silly lass, if you fall ill, your grandmother will be even sadder.” Fan Mingcheng helplessly shook his head with a bitter smile.

Letting out a sigh, Su Tao came over and comforted the two of them, “Please give me some time. I will definitely be able to find a solution.”

In the end, Fan Mingcheng left and squatted down on a rock to smoke. When he was halfway through his cigarette, he immediately stood up upon seeing Su Tao coming out and asked, “Physician Su, how’s the situation now?”

“I can only alleviate their pain for the time being, and I’m still unable to find a solution.” Su Tao honestly answered. He had just performed acupuncture on the patients to clear the phlegm in their system, but he seemed somewhat exhausted since he had to perform acupuncture on so many people.

“Our village is so remote, so how did we get involved with such a disaster?” Fan Mingcheng raged.

“Logically speaking, it’s impossible for a new type of infectious disease to appear here, so I’m wondering if it was brought into the village from the outside world.” Su Tao revealed his speculations after a brief pondering and asked, “Did anything special happen in the village recently? Like any visitors or villagers coming back to the village?”

“Nope!” Fan Chengming said as he shook his head after a brief hesitation.

“Chief Fan, don’t keep anything from me if you wish the villagers to be saved.” Su Tao solemnly said before he added, “We can only find a direction in our treatment by finding the source.”

As if he had firmed his mind, Fan Mingcheng let out a heavy sigh and answered, “At the beginning of last month, we did have visitors, but they only stayed for a few days before they left.”

“Who were they?” Su Tao inwardly sighed. It was just as he had expected; this wasn’t a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster.

“They were from the county’s Tourism Bureau. There were two foreigners, and it was also said that a huge figure from the capital came as well. But they did not stay in the village. They went hunting in the mountains.” Fan Mingcheng sighed before he continued, “They came with firearms and left with many wild animals. Of which, there were also quite a few protected species.”

Su Tao knew that Fan Mingcheng hesitated because those people had violated the law.

Nodding his head, Su Tao replied, “Then they will definitely need a guide since they’re not familiar with the landscape.”

“That guide... has already died!” Fan Mingcheng bitterly smiled before he went on, “On the second day after they left, the guide started having a fever and was bedridden. It was also after that similar cases started to appear in the village. The guide died the earliest... and we did not pay much attention to it since his body wasn’t exactly good, to begin with. We only thought that he’s suffering from a cold, but we never expected that the situation would develop in this manner!”

“Why didn’t you report it?” Su Tao locked his brows together.

“I didn’t think of it back then, and I only linked it up after you asked me.” Fan Mingcheng lowered his head.

“You’re lying! Who are you trying to cover? If this continues, you will be the sinner of Seven Mountain Village!” Su Tao exposed with a solemn expression.

“...I never expected that the situation would develop in this matter!” Fan Mingcheng’s expression suddenly became nervous.

Letting out a sigh, Su Tao persuaded, “Chief Fan, it’s impossible to keep it under wraps forever, and you know it well.”

All of a sudden, Fan Mingcheng suddenly got on his knees and started slapping himself as he replied, “You’re right. I’m the sinner of Seven Mountain Village, and I was the one who brought this disaster to the village.”

“Now, can you tell me the exact situation? Perhaps we might be able to lessen the pain of your villagers.” Su Tao pursued.

“Those people were brought by my son!” Fan Mingcheng bitterly smiled as he went on, “My son told me that those people wanted to treat our village as a development region for tourism.”

Letting out a sigh, Su Tao knew that Fan Mingcheng probably would wake up to reality at this moment. With how remote Seven Mountain Village was, it’s impossible for it to be developed into a tourism region, so it's basically a lie.

“Where’s your son right now?” Su Tao pursued as he continued, “If we managed to find those people, perhaps we will be able to find the cause.”

“I have no idea! He rarely comes back these days, and there wasn't any news about him after he left.” Fan Mingcheng answered.

“Do you remember his phone number?” Su Tao handed his phone to Fan Mingcheng.

Looking at the phone, Fan Mingcheng briefly hesitated before he ultimately made a call. A few rings later, Fan Qiang’s voice resounded from the other side.

“Qiang, it’s me!” Fan Mingcheng called out.

“Dad? What’s the matter? Why did you call me with an unfamiliar number?” Fan Qiang was still lying in the bed right now and his voice sounded somewhat annoyed.

“I’m calling you on a friend’s phone!” Fan Mingcheng glanced at Su Tao. Seeing the encouragement in Su Tao’s eyes, Fan Mingcheng sighed before he went on, “Qiang, what exactly happened when you went into the mountain the other time? After you guys returned, Uncle Lame fell ill.”

Locking his brows together, Fan Qiang said in an unhappy tone, “We went hunting. Uncle Lame’s body isn’t good, to begin with, so can I be blamed for it? I told you that I need someone reliable to follow us into the mountains, and you told me that Uncle Lame was the best hunter in the village back then. That’s the reason why we allowed him to follow us. Forget it, I’ll send some money to Uncle Lame in a few days. You can bring him to the town’s clinic to have them look at him. That barefoot doctor in the village next door isn’t reliable!”

“Qiang, you can forget about sending the money. Your Uncle Lame died a few days ago!” Fan Mingcheng felt relieved upon hearing those words. Judging from his son’s tone, it looked like his son had no idea what was going on.

“Uncle Lame died?” Fan Qiang sucked in a cold breath before he asked, “What happened? Wasn’t he fine when we left?”

“Qiang, tell me the truth. Who were those people who went into the mountains? What else did they do aside from hunting?” Fan Mingcheng’s tone became anxious.

“They were only hunting!” Fan Qiang could tell something unusual had happened frim his father’s tone and asked, “Dad, tell me the truth. What exactly happened?”

“Firstly, your Uncle Lame died, then Little Ya’s mother died. It was only after that that we found out that’s because of a terrifying infectious disease. Right now, half of the villagers have fallen ill, and it all started with your Uncle Lame. Qiang, you can’t hide anything from me. What exactly did you guys do in the mountains?” Fan Mingcheng said in a hoarse voice before he continued, “Otherwise, the villagers will all suffer an inexplicable death.”

After Fan Qiang recalled what happened on the mountain, even he felt something was unusual, so he honestly replied, “Dad, I’ll tell you the truth. I’m not familiar with those people, and they suddenly came to me. But after we left the village, there wasn't any more news from them.”

“You came in contact with them for so long, and you have no clue about them?” Fan Mingcheng knitted his brows.

“I only know that the surname of the young man who came from the capital is Ying. As for the two foreigners, they were skillful with their guns. One of them was called Mark, and the other was Dylan.” Fan Qiang said in a guilty tone.

“Let me know immediately if you recall anything else!” Fan Mingcheng sighed.

Fan Qiang ended the call and felt uneasy. He’s working part-time at the county’s Tourism Bureau as a chauffeur, and he had rented an apartment. In the end, that young master with the surname Ying gave him ¥50,000 before they left, and that’s equivalent to his salary for two years.

Fan Qiang initially thought that he had won a lottery, but he never expected that he had committed a grave mistake instead.