Chapter 266 : Plague (1)
Chapter 266: Plague (1)
In response to the Blood Cult Leader’s question, his subordinate recited the information he'd gathered. It was a brief explanation identifying the target as an emerging Orthodox faction settled in Gansu Province.
After hearing his subordinate's report, the Blood Cult Leader clicked his tongue lightly.
"Tsk."
The Murim Alliance, the Nine Sects and One Gang, and the Seven Great Families would all be searching for them with torches and pitchforks by now. They couldn't afford to make any moves that would expose their whereabouts.
But at the same time, he couldn't just let those bastards who'd interfered with their grand plan get away with it.
After pondering for a moment, the Blood Cult Leader came up with a particularly sinister idea.
"A newly risen Orthodox Faction’s force, you say? Well then, let's see just how much they actually care about the common people. Hehehehe."
***
The Hwangbo Family estate in Jinan, the capital of Shandong.
Hwangbo Se-hui, one of the Five Flowers of the Martial World, sat in a pavilion built within the massive family compound and stared blankly into the air with unfocused eyes.
Hwangbo Yeon was on her way to the training hall when she spotted her little sister and walked over.
"What are you thinking about so hard?”
When Hwangbo Yeon asked in her characteristically blunt tone, Hwangbo Se-hui finally noticed her and answered with a smile.
"I was just wondering if Uncle Hwangbo Gung has made it to Lanzhou yet.”
"Hmm."
Hwangbo Yeon turned her head to the west where Gansu Province is located. "Indeed, he should have reached Lanzhou around this time."
"Yes. Do you think he read my letter?"
"We put it in the box together with the gifts, so he must have read it."
"Then... do you think I'll get a reply someday?"
"Hmm."
Hearing Hwangbo Se-hui's question, Hwangbo Yeon showed a somewhat complicated reaction.
It wasn't because she thought Maitreya Luminous Cult wouldn't send a reply. Rather, it was something else.
"While I don't doubt they're Orthodox, I think you’re getting a little too attached to someone whose face you haven't even seen.”
What bothered her was that her sister didn't seem to be acting this way simply out of 'gratitude.'
And Hwangbo Yeon's worry didn't seem to be unfounded.
“He saved both of our lives, remember? And besides, does appearance really matter when two people connect?”
Hearing this from a sister who had been pestered by countless guys just because of her pretty face, the words carried a lot of weight.
Hwangbo Yeon let out a light sigh before responding.
"It's your heart, so it's not my place to lecture you, but keep it hidden from Father. Who knows what might happen otherwise?"
Hwangbo Ak, the father of both Hwangbo Yeon and Hwangbo Se-hui and head of the Hwangbo Family, was seriously overprotective of his daughters.
To be precise, this applied only to Hwangbo Se-hui, who was the spitting image of his wife and bore the title of one of the Five Flowers of the Martial World.
Hwangbo Se-hui is nineteen this year, at an age where she should be starting to think about marriage by the Central Plains standard. The reason no marriage prospects were being considered yet was entirely because of her Father's attitude.
In Hwangbo Yeon's case, talk of marriage never arose because she had already devoted herself to the martial arts.
In any case, Hwangbo Yeon couldn't even imagine what their father might do if he found out his precious youngest daughter was interested in some guy whose face she didn't even know.
His feelings toward Maitreya Luminous Cult could flip in an instant from benefactors who saved his precious daughter to mortal enemies.
Hearing Hwangbo Yeon's advice, Hwangbo Se-hui tilted her head.
“Aren’t you waiting for a reply too, Sister?"
Since Hwangbo Yeon had also sent a letter, she was asking if her sister was waiting for a reply as well.
And Hwangbo Yeon shook her head without a moment's hesitation.
“I said what I needed to say. Why would I need to wait for a reply?”
"Hmm. What did you write in yours, Sister?"
"I told them I'd train until I have strength I'm not ashamed of, then come find them again to exchange a bout."
Hwangbo Yeon answered while recalling the event of that day.
She'd had confidence in her skills, but all she'd managed to do that day was play the role of a nuisance.
Maybe getting called fancy titles like the 'Fist Phoenix' or one of the 'Nine New Stars' had made her arrogant without her realizing it.
Moreover, Hwangbo Yeon had learned an important lesson from that day's events.
That justice without power is just nothing more than empty words.
After all, she'd been forced to abandon those who had saved her life and run away while using the excuse of saving her sister to save her own life.
That's why she made a vow.
When the day came that she could speak of justice with pride, she would leave the family estate again and seek out Maitreya Luminous Cult.
Hwangbo Se-hui showed a rather peculiar reaction to that answer.
"Sister... that's not a thank-you letter, that's a challenge letter."
"...Ahem. They are martial artists as well, so they should welcome the challenge?”
"Is that so?"
Hwangbo Se-hui tilted her head again, then smiled brightly as she encouraged Hwangbo Yeon.
"Still, if it's you, Sister, I'm sure you can do it in no time!"
She said that all while planning about how she’d secretly tag along when her sister finished her training and went to find the Maitreya Luminous Cult.
***
Little Tiger Beggar left after hearing what happened at Mount Baihe.
"Now then, let's see just how much they brought us."
Il-mok rubbed his hands together as he looked at the boxes that Mount Hua, the Zhuge Family, and the Hwangbo Family had prepared.
Il-mok first opened the box from Mount Hua and grinned.
"Oho."
The box Mount Hua sent was filled with silver taels.
While silver taels might not sound like much, they are legitimate currency made of silver.
There was even a saying that a single tael of silver was worth enough rice to feed a commoner family for a month, so it was quite a lot of money in this era.
“I wonder where these so-called Orthodox fellows get all this money.”
It's not like they ran businesses.
This had to be money they'd earned by diligently fleecing the common people in Shaanxi Province.
After trash-talking the Orthodox faction a bit, he opened the Zhuge Family’s box and saw it was also full of silver.
Seeing that Mount Hua and Zhuge gave about the same amount, Il-mok opened the Hwangbo Family’s box last.
"Holy shit..."
The inside of the box was literally sparkling with light.
And for good reason.
The box was almost completely filled with gold ingots.
While the box size wasn't much different from Mount Hua's and the Zhuge Family's, the value of the gift inside was easily ten times greater.
'Just the gift from the Hwangbo Family alone would probably cover several years of our cult's budget.'
That was even using the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult as the standard, not just the Maitreya Luminous Cult.
"Filthy, rich Orthodox bastards.”
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was barely surviving back in the wastelands of Xinjiang, but these guys were living like kings.
For a moment, Il-mok's body trembled with rage as he realized the severe economic gap.
Then he belatedly discovered a letter hidden among the sparkling gold ingots.
"Hm?"
Thinking it might be a secret message from the Hwangbo Family, Il-mok unfolded the letter, then soon folded it back up with an indifferent expression.
"Well, I should keep it around in case it proves useful later."
He figured he could use it as leverage if he ever needed a favor from the Hwangbo Family or just wanted to boss them around.
Il-mok looked back down at the box of gold and grinned.
"Where should I spend this so that everyone knows I put it to excellent use?”
His face was literally glowing yellow from the reflection of the gold.
***
After the swarm of Orthodox guests left, peace returned to Lanzhou once more.
While the scent of blood and tension hung over various parts of the Central Plains, Lanzhou maintained a somewhat detached atmosphere.
Since he didn't need to spend the money right away, Il-mok stashed the boxes of silver and gold at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult branch.
And so, he spent his days chatting with his parties, relaxing, or training to achieve Transcendence.
Then someone came rushing to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's branch with panic on their face.
He asked for Il-mok the second he got there and ran straight to the training hall where Il-mok was practicing.
"Y-Young Master!"
It was a somewhat familiar face to Il-mok.
Since Seo Jae-pil had left for Pingliang County to treat and research people addicted to drugs, this was the Demonic Cult-born physician who was operating Maitreya Luminous Cult's medical hall in Seo Jae-pil’s place.
"What's the matter?"
Il-mok asked, wondering why he looked so urgent, but the answer he received was quite serious.
“It... It’s a plague.”
"A plague? What are you talking about?"
“I think a plague is starting to spread through Lanzhou!”
"!!!"
Not just Il-mok, but everyone nearby looked at the physician with shocked faces.
"Tell me in detail."
“Lately, we’ve been getting more and more patients at the clinic with the same symptoms. Vomiting, fever, and diarrhea. We gave them medicine, but their conditions keep worsening, and now their numbers have grown so much that our Clinic's staff alone can't handle it, Young Master."
Il-mok shut his eyes tight for a second, then snapped them open and started barking orders.
"Squad Leader Dam Bin, send a letter to Pingliang County at once and tell them to bring all available physicians and nurses from there to Lanzhou."
"I will follow your orders."
"Miss Jin, I’ll give you the money. Go buy a few houses on the outskirts of town. From now on, anyone who has the plague or is suspected of being infected will be housed there without exception for treatment."
"Understood, Young Master."
"Branch Leader, starting now, buy up all the cloth and alcohol you can find in Lanzhou. Pay the breweries to rent their distillation equipment. Ask the physicians about the manufacturing method. We need to make as much disinfectant alcohol as possible."
Il-mok poured out instructions without a moment’s rest.
It was an unexpected crisis, but funny enough, he was used to this kind of thing.
“Also, ask the patients and the people around them where they’ve been. We need to figure out the infection routes. We have to find where this started and stop it from spreading any further.”
Back when he was Seo Ji-hoon, there had been a time when a pandemic had hit the whole world.
Although he was a civil servant who’d never been in charge of the field operation, he’d received enough training to be able to formulate measures based on what he’d seen and heard about them.
“And from now on, all physicians and nurses have to wear disinfected cloth masks over their noses and mouths. Also, only martial artists are allowed into the buildings with the sick patients. Only those who can use their internal energy to push out the virus while treating them would be allowed to be in contact with the patients.”
"Young Master, there are hardly any physicians or nurses like that."
"Recall the martial artists from Pingliang County as well. And we'll also have to care for the patients starting now."
The moment Il-mok's instructions ended, his party used their full lightness skills to leave the hall.
***
The followers of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult moved fast.
Just like Il-mok ordered, they paid extra to buy up houses on the outskirts of town and started buying every scrap of cloth and drop of alcohol they could find.
This was only possible because of the money given by Mount Hua, the Zhuge Family, and the Hwangbo Family.
First, they took the patients at the cult's manor to the quarantine buildings. They checked their symptoms, took care of them, and started investigating where the plague had started.
Thanks to consistently educating the courtesans, they had the spare manpower to conduct such investigations.
And on the fourth day, around twenty people arrived in Lanzhou with wagons.
They were reinforcements from Pingliang County.
Led by Seo Jae-pil, the group included physicians, nurses, and the warriors who had been stationed there.
Though they had rushed for two days straight without rest, they jumped right into the relief work immediately.
With twenty additional people, they thought they might have some breathing room, but reality wasn't so kind.
True to the word 'plague,' the number of patients kept increasing.
Moreover, thanks to the epidemiological investigation, they discovered additional patients they'd been missing.
They found people who couldn't make it to the clinic and were just lying sick at home.
"Urgh."
"Damn it."
What's more, among those patients, some had already passed away.
They spent another two days clearing out the bodies they found too late, treating the sick, and tracing the infection.
"Young Master! We found it!"
They finally managed to figure out where the infectious disease had started.
With their noses and mouths wrapped in two layers of cloth and wearing masks on top of that, they headed somewhere following the physician's lead.
It was a stream flowing just a bit away from the slums where the poor people of Lanzhou lived.
So it was waterborne?’
As Il-mok glowered at the stream flowing with murky water.
Vriiinggg!
The Ascension Sword hanging by his waist started vibrating like it sensed something.