The Long Journey to Immortality

Wen Erya was full of complaints, clearly harboring resentment towards these quack doctors.

This bizarre treatment method left Han Lu speechless.

Clearly, it seems difficult to expect these ordinary doctors to play a role before a cure is found.

Chapter 486 The Source of the Plague

After Wen Erya mentioned several bizarre treatments doctors had chosen to use to treat the plague, she finally made a sarcastic remark.

"If it weren't for this plague, I would never have known that the doctors in my Wen Dynasty were so incompetent. No wonder my father would always seek medicine from the monks in the palace whenever he was sick."

"The imperial physicians in the palace are only qualified to treat the palace servants on a regular basis."

After saying this, Wen Erya couldn't help but murmur, "If only I had brought back more medicine from the ancient cultivation realm."

"There must be medicine in the ancient cultivation secret realm that can cure this plague."

Because of her mortal identity, Wen Erya naturally has a similar humanistic concern for ordinary people as Han Lu, which is one of the reasons why the two can get along well.

Hearing this, Han Lu comforted her, "Senior sister, it's not your fault. Even if you bring back the medicine, it won't be enough to treat thousands or tens of thousands of people across the country."

"The key now is to find a way to control the plague," Han Lu emphasized. "I just returned from the plague area and communicated with Elder Qingxu in the sect. Together we came up with some solutions to the problem."

Then Han Lu explained the systematic method for preventing and controlling the plague that she had come up with after communicating with Elder Qingxu not long ago.

Compared to Han Lu, Wen Er Ya only scratched the surface of these strange scientific facts in the ancient cultivation realm.

However, because of this wonderful adventure, Wen Erya was able to understand what Han Lu was saying and only needed to think for a moment to understand the meaning of all the actions.

After listening to Han Lu's words, Wen Erya excitedly tapped her palms lightly with her fists and exclaimed, "Junior sister, you are truly a genius! These methods, even if they don't solve the plague, can at least bring it under control."

"At most, it will only take half a month. With the support of a hundred or so cultivators from various sects to the disaster area, this plague can be brought to an end."

Wen Erya's view was quite optimistic, but Han Lu didn't think so.

She then shared her findings with Wen Erya, emphasizing the importance of finding the source of the plague bacteria.

"Was it brought to the Southern Dynasty by migratory birds?" Wen Erya, like Elder Qingxu, found this conclusion somewhat unbelievable. "Does that mean the source was in the Northern Dynasty? Then why was the Northern Dynasty unaffected, with no one infected with the plague?"

Although her intuition told Han Lu that her judgment was correct, she still cautiously told Wen Erya, "This is just a guess..."

Suddenly, Han Lu remembered something that Wen Erya had mentioned before.

"Senior sister," Han Lu said, resting her chin on her hand as she recalled, "You mentioned before that a doctor from the Northern Dynasty cured more than twenty patients using a decoction made from herbs he carried with him?"

"It happened a little while ago." Wen Erya didn't quite understand what was going on, so she assumed that Han Lu hadn't heard carefully and recounted the gossip she knew in detail.

As usual, Wen Erya suddenly opened her mouth slightly and stopped speaking.

Han Lu and Wen Erya's eyes met. Han Lu understood that Wen Erya had obviously also heard the proverb and thought of the connection between this matter and her conjecture.

"Junior sister, are you saying that there is an antidote next to a poisonous creature, and that the source of the plague bacteria might be near herbs that have the effect of treating the plague?"

Han Lu remained cautious, saying, "I'm just guessing. Besides, we don't even know if these herbs can actually cure the plague."

"However, this is ultimately an answer that seems..." Han Lu pondered her choice of words for a moment, "but is very likely to be correct."

Limited by her knowledge, Han Lu couldn't explain it more clearly, so she simply continued the topic and asked, "Senior sister, do you know where in the Northern Dynasty this herb, which may have the effect of treating plague, grows?"

"This..." Wen Erya said slowly, "A few days ago I was quite enthusiastic about getting involved in this matter, but seeing that the imperial physicians' skills were not much better than those quack doctors outside, I didn't investigate too deeply..."

"It's unclear where that herb actually grows."

“But it’s alright,” Wen Erya said with a smile. “I’ll send someone to ask, and we’ll know the answer.”

After saying that, Wen Erya directly sent out a paper sword and dispatched his attendants to the Imperial Hospital to inquire about the situation.

Although the imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Academy inevitably harbored resentment towards the cultivators because they had lost their jobs in front of them, they were determined to make a name for themselves through their own efforts.

However, when directly questioned by such a distinguished person as the Thirteenth Princess, they still told her all the information they had about that herb.

Within half an hour, the servant responsible for delivering the message made a round trip from Wen Erya's residence to the Imperial Hospital, copied the imperial physician's reply onto three sheets of paper, and delivered them to Han Lu and Wen Erya.

Most of the three pages were nonsense. Han Lu glanced at them and finally found the content she was interested in from nearly a thousand words.

"This herb is called 'brain-awakening herb' by the doctors from Changxi City in the Northern Dynasty. It is a herb unique to Changxi City."

"Because of its heat-clearing and detoxifying properties, it was tried to be added to decoctions to treat this epidemic."

"As for the place of origin..."

Han Lu muttered to herself, "It's in a mountain forest in the northwest of Changxi City. It grows quite densely, so it shouldn't be hard to find."

“However…” Based on the description on the three pages, Han Lu couldn’t help but waver slightly in her conjecture. “This herb is not a new medicine. It was used by local doctors in Changxi City thousands of years ago to treat diarrhea and heat rash.”

"This does not quite fit the specific circumstances of the plague."

Han Lu rested her chin on her hand, wondering if she had taken the wrong path.

Wen Erya had a simpler idea: "Who cares? Maybe it's because it was contaminated by the source of infection and mutated."

Wen Erya's words made sense, so Han Lu stopped dwelling on the matter.

After all, this is the only path she has to take now; she should just wait and see.

Before entering the capital of the Southern Dynasty, Han Lu was alone, but when she left, she was accompanied by a gentle and elegant woman.

Wen Erya, who was already concerned about this matter, naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity to truly play a role and get involved.

There was already a shortage of manpower for this matter, and with Wen Erya, a trustworthy friend, by her side, Han Lu was more than happy to accept. Naturally, as soon as Wen Erya asked, she agreed to travel with her to the Northern Dynasty to find the truth.

With no other option, Han Lu, who always kept her promises, had to temporarily abandon her commitment to stay in the small mountain village for five days.

Han Lu is not the kind of person who would sacrifice the greater good for a promise. Finding the root cause of the outbreak is far more important than ensuring the health of a dozen households and nearly a hundred people in the small mountain village.

But she still hopes that the villagers in the mountain village can stay healthy.

Therefore, before setting off, Han Lu deliberately took a detour and went to the small mountain village with Wen Erya to confirm that no one in the village had been infected with the plague again. Only then did she leave behind a few healing pills that could cure the disease before heading north with Wen Erya.

Chapter 487 Prevention and Treatment Combined

While Han Lu and Wen Erya were traveling to the Northern Dynasty on their flying magical artifacts, Elder Qingxu, who had a “deep and simple” exchange with Han Lu, began to exercise his privilege of controlling the plague, which he had obtained from Daoist Yunmin. He then put his constructive ideas, which he had come up with under Han Lu’s inspiration and guidance, from paper to practice.

A generous reward will surely attract brave men, not to mention that this plague will not have any impact on cultivators at all.

Therefore, as the high-reward missions related to the epidemic posted in the inner treasury were taken by the disciples of the Zhengyi Sect, a second support team composed of thirty Zhengyi Sect cultivators was quickly established in less than half a day.

Before setting off, Daoist Qingxu distributed copies of the newly printed "Epidemic Prevention Manual" to each of the thirty disciples. Based on the numerous key points and important information recorded in the manual, he provided final pre-departure education to these Foundation Establishment disciples, most of whom had not attended morning or evening classes in the sect for nearly five or six years.

Compared to Han Lu explaining things to Qingxu Daoist, Qingxu Daoist, who had just grasped seven-tenths of what Han Lu had taught him, assigned tasks to these disciples much more simply.

There is no need to explain the reasons for each action; it is sufficient to clearly explain how to act.

Although most of the disciples had many questions in their hearts, no one asked them. They simply flipped through the booklet attentively, listened to Elder Qingxu's various arrangements, and tried to memorize them.

After passing on these new things that were beneficial for preventing and controlling the plague, Daoist Qingxu took out a large flying artifact that he had recently borrowed from the sect from his storage bag. He piloted the flying artifact, which resembled a covered boat, and carried the thirty Foundation Establishment stage disciples of the Zhengyi Sect to the front line.

Upon arriving in the epidemic area, he divided the thirty Foundation Establishment disciples into two groups: one group was responsible for building temporary isolation houses, while the other group began to work as doctors.

In Qingxu's storage bag, there were at least one hundred copies of the "Epidemic Prevention Manual".

These "epidemic prevention manuals" were prepared by him for the officials and other monks from various sects who were involved in the matter.

Relying on the reputation of Zhengyimen, he believed that this advanced and correct method could soon be promoted in the epidemic area, helping to make this increasingly serious epidemic preventable and controllable, and ultimately solve it.

Things unfolded exactly as Qingxu Daoren had predicted.

When he found the other people in charge of the matter and tried to introduce this new system to them and promote it with their help, the big name of Zhengyimen made the matter completely unhelpful.

Although the mortal managers and cultivators from various sects who listened to Daoist Qingxu's explanation of the work did not understand the reason for this approach, they were still willing to cooperate with the Zhengyi Sect and carry it out.

In less than half a day, three temporary housing facilities, each capable of accommodating a thousand people, were established outside three large cities in the epidemic area.

The monks believed that these dwellings were large enough to accommodate three thousand plague patients who could sleep on the ground.

In reality, if properly allocated and the living conditions of these patients were lowered, it wouldn't be surprising if these temporary new houses could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

And what about the doctors who are active in the epidemic area?

The cultivators, whose power is insufficient and who are like chicken bones (meaning they are not very useful), must also play a role in the face of this plague.

They were gathered together by monks and government officials and assigned new jobs.

Although most of the ordinary doctors who went to the disaster area were confident that their treatment methods could cure the plague, they still had to bow their heads to power and authority and obey the orders of the monks and officials.

Although these ordinary doctors' methods of treating the plague were incorrect and might even have aided and abetted the evildoers, they at least possessed some basic medical knowledge.

Thus, these doctors were used as "nurses," participating in the daily operation and maintenance of the temporary isolation area, and doing their best to keep the lives of patients who could not receive timely treatment from the monks.

Under the leadership of Qingxu Daoren, a number of new measures and methods were implemented in an orderly manner.

Although a large number of patients were still unable to enter the isolation ward for treatment, Qingxu Daoren could feel that everything was getting better, and the troubles that had previously given him a headache were gradually becoming manageable.

In order to make the results even better in a few days, the Golden Core cultivator Qingxu Daoist even appeared in the newly built isolation ward to use his magic to treat the patients' injuries and illnesses.

He can expect that, in the next day or two, the number of infected people will decline for the first time.

With Han Lu's work progressing smoothly, this plague that had affected half of the Southern Dynasty was able to be completely resolved within a month.

The tasks assigned to him by the sect were also completed beautifully under his leadership.

As for the actual situation with Han Lu, it's only just begun, and there hasn't been any substantial progress yet.

It took Han Lu and Wen Erya three and a half hours to finally arrive at Changxi City, located in the central region of the Northern Dynasty.

In this city in the Northern Dynasty, which was very likely closest to the source of the plague, there was no tension or any atmosphere related to the plague.

People are celebrating the New Year in their own ways.

The plague, thousands of miles away, had no impact on their lives except for reducing the number of doctors waiting for them.

After all, there are no ordinary people in this world who can travel a thousand miles a day like cultivators.

In their view, it's uncertain whether the plague is a rumor or even if it really exists.

Not to mention, even if a disaster from hundreds of miles away is reported for ten years, it may not be able to cross the source water and reach them to truly affect their lives.

Therefore, when Han Lu and Wen Erya found the medical clinic in Changxi City, the doctors who were still practicing in the city were very puzzled as to why the Southern Dynasty cultivators who were busy dealing with the plague would come here.

Han Lu and Wen Erya did not give the doctors a detailed explanation, so as not to cause panic or be misunderstood.

When Han Lu inquired about the location where the "brain-awakening herb" grows, the doctors, who considered it a secret remedy, became quite wary.

However, faced with the two men's money offensive, the doctor being questioned could not resist and told them everything he knew. He even volunteered to be their guide, only thinking about earning more money.