The Long Journey to Immortality

“Okay,” Han Lu took two steps, pushed open the door and said, “Wait outside for a while. I’ll disinfect it for you first to eliminate the germs that cause infectious diseases, and then we can go inside and talk.”

Although they didn't know what the germs Han Lu was talking about were, they could guess the general meaning of the word "germs" from Han Lu's expression and demeanor.

Pushing open the door and then closing it again, Han Lu was very careful, having learned some knowledge about infectious diseases in the ancient cultivation secret realm, fearing that the virus or bacteria that caused the plague could be spread through the air.

Han Lu's method for dealing with these potential germs is very simple.

He casually took a drop of blood from his own body.

Then, he used magic to disperse the blood droplet, allowing this drop of true spirit blood to use its inherent antiviral and anti-virus abilities to purify the virus.

In Han Lu's view, even some ordinary spells could suppress and eliminate the virus, so her drop of blood would naturally not be a big problem.

After purifying the two rooms using the same method, Han Lu thought of the two patients at Zhang the butcher's house.

After a while, Han Lu decided to clean up both families' residences before taking Xiao Wen back to her room and asking her what the first infected person in the village had done in the past few days that allowed the plague, which was raging in other parts of the Southern Dynasty, to appear in this almost isolated village.

Although the old man protected his granddaughter Xiaowen well, the young but sensible Xiaowen knew very well that she was the instigator of this series of unfortunate events that almost turned into a "tragedy".

Therefore, when Han Lu asked her questions, she was very cooperative and answered in great detail, afraid of missing anything and causing the beautiful sister to delay the treatment and saving lives.

Compared to those areas ravaged by plague, it is indeed easier to figure out the origin of this plague that swept through the southwest of the Southern Dynasty and what it was spread through, through Xiaowen, a rare infected individual.

Xiaowen's life in the small mountain village can only be described as monotonous. Han Lu even felt that her life was more boring than her own, who spent all day cultivating immortality and meditating.

Although seven or eight years old is the age when children should be playing, entertainment in the mountain village is really scarce.

Xiaowen usually goes up the mountain with her grandfather to collect firewood, and occasionally stays at home to help her mother.

Xiaowen could be seen at the village school every few days.

An elderly man who had studied abroad returned to the mountain village ten years ago, which provided the children in the village with another way to learn to read and write.

Han Lu listened attentively, occasionally asking questions to find out if Xiao Wen had missed any details.

Such a simple life saved Han Lu a lot of analytical work.

After much thought, Han Lu concluded that Xiao Wen was most likely infected with the plague while gathering firewood with her grandfather on the mountain.

After thoroughly investigating the details of Xiaowen's firewood gathering a few days prior, Han Lu decided to personally search the mountains to see if it was the strange plants that caused Xiaowen's illness, or if some unusual insects had transmitted the virus, or if the water or soil had been contaminated, leading to Xiaowen's misfortune.

She comforted Xiaowen with a few words and generously gave her some delicious snacks as a gift. Han Lu specifically told Xiaowen not to go up the mountain in the next few days.

After everything was arranged, Han Lu used her lightness technique, which seemed to some mountain people like she was flying, and headed straight for the low mountain where Xiao Wen often worked.

Chapter 483 Birds

As a little girl of only seven or eight years old, she was malnourished and thin. Even if her family hoped she would provide labor, they would never give Xiaowen an axe and ask her to go up the mountain to chop firewood, thus passing on the family business to her father.

So, together with her grandfather, who was also a woodcutter, climbing mountains and collecting dry branches and grass became Xiaowen's way of contributing to the family.

Xiaowen was already close to her grandfather, and he also quite enjoyed spending time with his adorable granddaughter.

According to Xiaowen, the two have been working together in this way for two years, and they can be seen on the small hills near the village all year round.

Based on Xiaowen's description of her work route two days before she contracted the disease, Han Lu determined a general area.

Whether based on intuition or reasonable reasoning, she felt that the source of the plague that had spread to Xiaowen was in these small mountains.

Thanks to her time spent in the ancient cultivation realm, Han Lu was more methodical in dealing with this infectious disease than other cultivators.

She roughly knew which media could transmit diseases, and whether it was bacteria or viruses that were at play.

However, that's all there is to it.

Even if you asked her to memorize "infectious disease pedagogy," she couldn't do it.

However, she was still capable of conducting simple investigations at this time, finding things that other cultivators would never think of or even consider.

Having a clear understanding of the situation makes it easier to handle things systematically.

Because Xiaowen once said that when she was chopping wood, she would always drink some spring water that was clearly clean and tasted sweet, but her grandfather said was dirty, Hanlu first chose to search along the entire flowing route of the spring water to see if the water that Xiaowen had drunk had been contaminated by the source of the plague.

Han Lu flew around several mountains on her flying sword and found three streams.

Mountain springs flow out, which is perfectly normal in the rainy Southern Dynasties.

In particular, this mountain village is only ten miles away from a tributary of a source of water.

Groundwater or surface water can converge in this complex terrain, forming a trickling stream, which is the mountain spring water that Xiaowen mentioned.

There was no other way; in order to "explore the truth," she could only fly at low altitudes on her sword, following all three streams.

Two of the three streams originate from a small lake on the surface, while the water of the third springs out from a crevice in the rock.

Han Lu had carefully examined the lake and found no rotting animal carcasses inside.

The water there was perfectly normal in both color and smell.

Relying on the fact that cultivators are not afraid of such low-level toxins, Han Lu even took a sip herself.

The water did indeed taste slightly sweet.

No wonder Xiaowen, who rarely consumes sugar in the mountains, considers drinking a sip of spring water a way of "self-rewarding".

Another rock crevice from which springs water is emerging is far more likely to be the source of the plague than this seemingly harmless little lake.

Standing before the crevice in the rock where clear water was seeping out, Han Lu held the Beast Eye in her hand and used her divine sense to probe.

Han Lu used her divine sense to pierce through the narrow crevice, which was only about half a finger's width wide, to see what kind of scene lay inside.

Many snakes live in the crevices of the rocks.

Although these snakes do not appear to be venomous, they have lived their entire lives under these rock crevices, so their bodies remain there when they die.

Han Lu knew that the decaying carcasses of animals would pollute the water source, but she also knew that a single polluted stream would certainly not cause such a large-scale epidemic.

Based on this line of reasoning, Han Lu changed her "battle strategy".

“It must be that some source of infection from outside came into contact with Xiaowen and brought the plague to this small mountain village.”

Despite her thoughts, just to be on the safe side, she still used her magic to create an opening in the rock wall and took out the snake's carcass to examine it with her naked eye.

The snake that Han Lu retrieved must have died a month ago. Most of its decaying body was still intact, and it showed no signs of the symptoms that patients had during this outbreak, such as purple blisters and ulceration.

After doing a lot of useless work, Han Lu didn't feel like she was wasting her time. She felt that if she continued at this pace, she would definitely be able to find the real source of this outbreak.

Since it wasn't a water issue, Han Lu wondered if it might be a plant from an epidemic area that had become the source of infection, and Xiao Wen, who liked to "flirt with plants" while gathering firewood, had come across it.

In winter, there are not many flowers and plants that are still thriving, and investigating them is no more difficult than searching for water sources.

After a casual stroll, Han Lu found herself with seven different kinds of small flowers and grasses that thrived in the snow.

Two types of flowers and plants with a hint of purple became her primary suspects.

They were laid out one by one, crumbled, and examined.

Han Lu looked as if she were dissecting these flowers and plants.

After some effort, we have achieved some results.

These flowers and plants were also ruled out as sources of infection, eliminating another incorrect option for Han Lu.

After eliminating one option after another, Han Lu was basically certain that Xiao Wen's illness must have come from wild game.

The so-called "wild game" refers to a bird that Xiaowen's grandfather shot down a few days ago while gathering firewood, thinking he would give his granddaughter a taste of meat.

The wild bird that was shot down wasn't very big, so Xiaowen's grandfather let his granddaughter eat it all by herself.

After being simply grilled, the bird entered Xiaowen's stomach, and it is very likely that it also introduced the virus that spreads the plague into Xiaowen's body.

Just then, a few birds that were out foraging flew over Han Lu's head, and Han Lu quickly activated her spirit sword and flew into the sky.

After flying a short distance with the birds, Han Lu gently took one of them, which looked different from its kind, into her hand.

Upon taking it in her hand and looking at it, Han Lu smiled and said, "So it was you."

The brown bird, though outwardly no different from its usual appearance, was still a normal bird.

However, Han Lu touched the water bubble hidden under the bird's feathers with just her hand.

Flipping aside a few longer feathers, you can see that the "naked" bird indeed has two or three small purple bubbles on its body.

These symptoms are exactly the same as those of Xiaowen and her grandfather when they were sick.

With the mystery solved, Han Lu could confirm that as long as no one was infected by the four people who had previously fallen ill in the next few days, this isolated town only needed to be wary of the birds that brought the virus from who-knows-where, and it could remain a "Shangri-La" in this plague sweeping across the southwest of the Southern Dynasty.

After the bird, which had gone from a suspected case to a confirmed case, recovered its health, Han Lu released it back into the wild.

"Go and say hello to Xiaowen and the other villagers first."

"Go back to the sect and talk to the elder in charge of the plague, and tell him the information I have obtained."

Han Lu had already figured out how to proceed with the next two steps.

Despite the severity of the pandemic, she did not linger in the mountains.

Upon returning to the village, Han Lu recounted the incident with the flying birds and warned the villagers to stay away from the migratory birds that might be sick. She then left behind two pills and quickly flew back to her sect on her sword.

Chapter 484 Popular Science

The Zhengyi Sect has been busy with the plague.

Even Xuan Yang Valley offered to get involved in the matter.

Regarding the plague, the two major sects now know no more than Han Lu, who has been investigating in the mountain village for several days.

They only knew that the plague was difficult to prevent but could be cured.

Naturally, Xuan Yang Valley of the Northern Dynasty feared that the plague would spread across the source water to the Northern Dynasty and harm its people.

Instead of watching from the sidelines, it's better to actively participate. Not only is it a good opportunity to do good deeds and enhance one's reputation, but it can also bring in a lot of positive connections.

Why not do it.

Many smaller sects share this view.

Therefore, in reality, the number of cultivators active in the southwest of the Southern Dynasty responsible for treating patients far exceeded twenty.

If you were to count them one by one, you might be able to name fifty Foundation Establishment cultivators active in several large cities and small towns in the southwestern part of the Southern Dynasty, doing the work of saving lives and healing the wounded.

Even so, with many external aids helping the Zhengyi Sect, the mere fifty cultivators capable of treating the plague were still insufficient to quell this plague that had lasted for a month.

After all, no other cultivator would stuff twenty pills, worth three or four spirit stones, into the mouths of mortals like Han Lu did.