Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 300: The Decline of Medicine (Thanks for the Extra Update)
After hearing the answer from the messenger, Lu Zheng felt complicated and didn't know what to say for a moment. This really broadened his horizons.

I didn’t expect that the gods of Chu would suppress even doctors in order to gain worship. This is simply unheard of.

He had read books about the Chu State before, but there was no record of such things. Could it be that they were used to it?

Lu Zheng thought carefully and realized that he had walked several streets in Yu County and didn't seem to see any medical clinics.

Lu Zheng looked at the villagers and asked, "If you are sick, can you get better by praying to God?"

The villagers stared at Lu Zheng and said, "You young man, you know nothing. Where are you from?"

The villagers looked at Lu Zheng in surprise. Even children could understand this truth, so how could this man understand nothing?

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "I'm from Anguo, not Chu. I haven't seen much of the world, so I'm curious."

"Oh, Anguo people, I've heard of this." The villagers nodded suddenly, but asked curiously, "Don't people in your area pray to the gods when they get sick?"

Lu Zheng explained, "We don't have many gods in Anguo, unlike Chu, which has so many temples. If ordinary people get sick, they have to pay to find someone to treat them."

"You don't have gods there?" the villagers exclaimed in surprise. "Then you're truly pathetic. How can humans be more powerful than gods? If we're sick, we go to the temple and pray to the gods. We take some incense ash home and mix it with water to drink."

Lu Zheng asked, "Can it cure the body?"

The villagers smiled and said, "Minor ailments can be cured. If even this can't be cured, then that's your own fate, and even the gods can't help... Of course, you have to pray to the gods sincerely, otherwise the incense ashes you get are useless."

The villagers spoke slowly and carefully about their experiences.

This is not just his experience, but the experience of generations of ancestors.

There are people in the village who know a little about herbal medicine, but none of them are as effective as a handful of incense ash from the temple.

The incense in the temple is useful only because it is somewhat imbued with a hint of divinity.

But over time, in the eyes of ordinary people, asking God to cure diseases has become the norm, and things given by gods are the best medicine.

And if even the gods cannot cure your illness, then this is your fate.

After hearing the villagers' stories, Lu Zheng felt inexplicably emotional.

Lu Zheng asked the officer beside him, "Is this generally the case with the Chu people?"

The officer felt uneasy for no reason and whispered, "That's probably it."

Not to mention the common people at the bottom of society, even wealthy families like to pray to gods for health.

As for whether the gods can really protect people's good health, it is hard to say.

"I understand." Lu Zheng nodded slightly.

He looked at the villagers again and asked, "Do you want me to help you take a look?"

Seeing Lu Zheng's persistence, the villagers became curious and asked, "What do you think?"

Lu Zhengdao: "Just give me your hand."

"Oh……"

The villagers did as they were told and stretched out their hands in front of Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng stretched out his hand to feel the patient's pulse, first observing, smelling, asking and palpating, and without even using his spiritual sense to investigate, he determined the situation.

Afterwards, he used his spiritual sense again and discovered the illnesses in the villagers' bodies.

"It's plague, and not just any plague."

Lu Zheng spoke softly, his tone a little cold.

The plague is unusual and has a Shinto flavor, so not everyone can cure it.

Not to mention that ordinary doctors cannot do it, even practitioners with low levels of Taoism will find it difficult to cure this disease if they are infected with it.

The villagers scratched their heads, not understanding. “Rat what? Related to rats? That’s normal. We have a lot of rats here. I was wondering why I haven’t been feeling well lately. I’ll go to the temple tomorrow to pray and ask for some incense ash.” The villagers in front of him had no idea of the severity of the plague and did not take it seriously. They thought it was related to common rats, so it was no big deal.

The bound rat demon whispered, "It's just a minor problem. Let me cure it..."

The policeman's face turned pale when he heard this. This was just a minor disease, but if it spread out, who knows how many people would suffer. Moreover, this was not an ordinary plague.

If they weren't afraid that the plague couldn't be eradicated without the rat demon, the officers would have wanted to chop the rat demon into pieces.

The messenger dragged the rat demon aside and asked in a deep voice, "How many people have you infected with the plague?"

The rat demon whispered, "It's just this one village. Don't worry, no one will die. As long as they get treatment in time..."

The rat demon knew the physical conditions of these ordinary people, so the poison it released was not so deadly.

Moreover, he couldn't take care of other villages, so naturally he was too lazy to infect the villagers outside with the plague.

When the villagers saw the two people whispering to each other, they couldn't help but say, "They look like locals."

Lu Zheng explained: "One is a policeman, the other is a criminal."

The villager narrowed his eyes slightly and smacked his lips. "Official? Hey, my eyesight isn't very good. No wonder he's dressed in all those colorful clothes, like someone from a theatrical troupe. Turns out he's an official."

Lu Zheng said softly, "Old man, take a rest first. I'll treat you later."

"You really want to cure me?"

The villager was surprised. He had never heard of an ordinary person being able to cure people. Isn't curing diseases and saving lives what gods should do? Could it be that the people from Anguo are different?
Seeing this, Lu Zheng felt a little helpless, but didn't say much.

The people are ignorant, but sometimes the problem is not with the people.

Rather, those in power keep the people ignorant so that they can better enslave them.

Lu Zheng walked up to the messenger and said, "I can cure their disease. Go gather the villagers..."

The messenger was surprised when he heard this. He didn't expect that Lu Zheng had the ability to cure the epidemic containing divine power. This was extraordinary.

The rat demon couldn't help but say, "I can do it too. Let me do it. No need to trouble you."

Seeing this, the rat demon wanted to seize an opportunity.

He was the one who started the epidemic in the first place, so it wouldn't be too difficult for him to resolve it.

"Shut up!"

Veins bulged on the officer's forehead, and he almost wanted to stuff a knife into the monster's mouth.

This is really a case of bringing up something that is not relevant. If it weren't for the rat demon, this wouldn't have happened.

Let the other party detoxify, who knows if this rat demon will plant a more difficult to cure epidemic poison.

Lu Zheng looked at the rat demon, his eyes as cold as a knife.

The rat demon suddenly felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave, and he didn't dare to say another word, because he sensed murderous intent in Lu Zheng's eyes.

Lu Zheng asked Qing Wan to guard the rat demon, and then sent someone to gather the villagers.

Qing Wan happily accepted the task, holding the rope in one hand and looking at the rat demon with her shining eyes without blinking.

The officer greeted the villagers and took out a golden sign and showed it to show that he was an official serving the City God.

When the people heard that it was the City God's man, they were all filled with awe and did not dare to act rashly.

When they learned that someone came to treat their illnesses, they thought it was the blessing of the City God and excitedly went from house to house to call for help.

Lu Zheng didn't care what these villagers thought of him as, as long as they cooperated with the medical consultation.

(End of this chapter)