The Epidemic

Even though the delivery was over and the child had safely entered the world, the atmosphere in the birthing room was terribly oppressive. The only sound was the baby’s cries.

The midwife looked at the child in her arms, her eyes filled with terror. She desperately wanted to throw the baby away, but reason told her she couldn’t.

Why was she afraid of the newborn in her arms? Because the child she held didn’t look human at all; it resembled a grotesque hybrid of human and animal.

The child had a pair of cat ears and a slender cat tail. In her eyes, it was bizarre and terrifying. She had delivered so many children but had never seen such a monstrosity. This child was not human; it was… a demon.

Su Qing noticed the midwife’s frightened gaze and knew that this child did not possess the appearance of a normal infant.

“It seems… the child of a human and a demon is even stranger than I imagined.” Su Qing slowly walked over to the midwife and took the freshly bathed newborn from her hands.

The baby was wrinkled and seemed ugly, which was normal and not surprising. However, the two fluffy cat ears on its head and the cat tail extending from its tailbone clearly indicated that this infant was indeed the child of a human and a demon.

Su Qing looked at the midwife, formed a hand seal, and said, “My apologies, I’ve startled you. Please, sleep for a while! When you wake up, you will forget all of this.”

Su Qing didn’t have the ability to alter others’ memories, but she could make them misinterpret their own memories. When the midwife awoke from her slumber, she would dismiss everything as a dream and wouldn’t remember that she had indeed delivered a cat-eared girl.

“Do children of humans and demons possess animal characteristics from birth? It’s likely because the little demon’s transformation wasn’t perfect…” Su Qing looked at the child in her arms, her eyes full of curiosity. She thought to herself:

“This child has no demonic energy at all. Although it has animal characteristics, it isn’t a demon… Is it an existence between human and demon? Truly a half-demon! But a cat-eared child! And a girl, too. How interesting.”

“However, such a child is destined to struggle in human society…”

“At least… not yet.”

Su Qing felt a little helpless. At the same time, she couldn’t help but ponder solutions for the man. While she didn’t particularly care about the little demon, she had to seriously consider the future of this newborn child.

After all, she didn’t want such a cute cat-eared girl to grow up into a reclusive little creature. Humans are an extremely exclusive species. Once a ‘monster’ like this little one is exposed to ordinary people, she is bound to be isolated and driven away. Even her family would be implicated.

“Hmm, perhaps I can only advise them to move to a small town in the Changbai Mountains?” Su Qing shook her head helplessly and muttered, “Or she could hide these ears and tail. But it would be such a pity to hide such cute features. Yet, if she doesn’t, she’ll find it hard to live among humans.”

In the short term, these were the only two methods Su Qing could think of, and they were also the easiest to implement. As for sending them to Flower-Fruit Mountain, that was out of the question. Flower-Fruit Mountain was too far from the Changbai Mountains; this family would likely never make it there.

With these thoughts, Su Qing stopped pondering. The woman had already fainted, so she naturally couldn’t hand the child to her. Instead, she carried the baby out of the room and gave it to the little demon.

After handing the child over, she explained the condition of the woman inside and the baby to the demon.

“Alright, that’s all I can do. As for your own future, you’ll have to grasp it yourselves.” Su Qing waved her hand, yawned, and said,

“Oh, right, the midwife will probably sleep for a long time. When you have time, send her back. She won’t remember what your child looks like; she’ll just think it was a dream. Well, that’s it. I’m tired; you can worry about the rest!”

After saying this, Su Qing didn’t wait for the little demon to react. She walked past him to his family’s guest room and squeezed in to sleep with Ao Yiyi.

The little demon’s family was indeed poor, with only one guest room and one master bedroom. The master bedroom had been given to the woman as a birthing room, so Su Qing had no choice but to share a bed with Ao Yiyi tonight. As for Hu Lin’er, she had been sent to stay at an inn.

Su Qing had been gone for a while, but the little demon was still in a daze, seemingly not having recovered from Su Qing’s words. It wasn’t until the child in his arms cried out again that he suddenly snapped back to reality. He quickly comforted the child while hurrying into the room to check on his wife.

The next morning, Su Qing left without a word, not bothering to say goodbye, leaving all the remaining worries to the couple. She didn’t know how they would face the future, nor did she care to think about it, but Su Qing felt that this family would certainly not give up on life.

“Speaking of which, I can pay more attention to this family later… After all, I’m quite curious to see that cat-eared girl grow up!” Su Qing thought to herself, leading her horse and Ao Yiyi towards the inn.

All the way there, Ao Yiyi kept smiling at Su Qing, making Su Qing feel a little uneasy. She asked, “What are you staring at me for, always smiling, you girl?”

Ao Yiyi quickly shook her head and said, “Nothing, nothing, it’s just… I just feel a little happy.”

“Oh? Happy about what?”

“Happy that Sister Su saved another family.”

“I didn’t save them; I merely satisfied my curiosity.” Su Qing said indifferently, “I was curious what a child of a human and a demon would be like, so I just did a little something along the way.”

“But no matter what, Sister Su’s appearance still changed the fate of that family.”

“Is that so? Who knows? Anyway, their greater difficulties are still ahead.” Su Qing patted the girl’s head and said,

“Let’s go, let’s rest a bit at the inn where Hu Lin’er is. Sleeping squeezed together with you last night, I almost got pushed off the bed. I never thought you’d be so restless in your sleep.”

Su Qing’s stiff change of topic made Ao Yiyi smile, but she still didn’t forget to retort Su Qing’s words. Following Su Qing all the way to the inn, Ao Yiyi had many thoughts. This trip, she had indeed learned something, and this was just the beginning of their journey.

Another morning, after breakfast, Su Qing led her horse to the shop from two days ago. Today was the agreed-upon pick-up time, and Su Qing naturally had to collect her goods. After all, she still had to continue her journey!

Inside the shop, when the shopkeeper saw Su Qing and her companions, he immediately ordered someone to show them the modified carriage.

“However, esteemed guests, I must state this upfront: since you have custom-ordered this carriage, if your horse cannot pull it later, I, your humble servant, cannot offer a refund. After all… the work has been done!” The shopkeeper led them to the carriage and still reminded Su Qing and her companions.

Su Qing heard this and didn’t pay much attention, just nodded and said, “Don’t worry, we know the rules. As for other matters, you don’t need to concern yourself; just hand over the goods to us.”

Hearing Su Qing say this, the shopkeeper also nodded and said no more. Anyway, if the horse couldn’t pull the carriage, it wasn’t his loss. On the contrary, if the horse couldn’t pull it, he could even make a profit! So why bother saying more and cause unpleasantness?

Su Qing ignored the shopkeeper. She simply led her horse to the carriage, harnessed it, and had the horse try to pull. Clearly, this weight was quite easy for her white horse. After all, this fellow was no ordinary horse. Having consumed so many of Su Qing’s elixirs, it had long since become a demon horse. If it couldn’t even pull this carriage, Su Qing might seriously consider killing it for meat.

Although this scene didn’t surprise Su Qing, it did astonish the shopkeeper. He hadn’t expected the horse to actually be able to pull it. One must know, this carriage was originally designed for four horses!

The shopkeeper couldn’t help but wipe away cold sweat and said, “Miss, your white horse is truly extraordinary.”

“I naturally knew it was extraordinary, which is why I made this plan,” Su Qing said with a faint smile.

“It was I, your humble servant, who was blind to its quality and failed to recognize a good horse.”

“Alright, here is the remaining payment. Please count it. If there are no issues, we’ll take the goods.”

The shopkeeper nodded, then quickly counted the money. After confirming there were no issues, he respectfully saw Su Qing and her companions off. However, the shopkeeper looked at the white horse with a hint of envy. Although he envied the mystical white horse, he also understood that a person who possessed such a horse was certainly no ordinary individual. He must not harbor any greed, for greed could truly be fatal. How many people had died because of a single greedy thought? Completing this one transaction was enough. There was no need to risk his life for a little more. He wasn’t some mounted bandit.

“But that woman is probably not simple. The thing she carries on her back is likely a precious sword…” The shopkeeper watched Su Qing depart and thought, “That woman is probably a martial arts master, isn’t she?” The shopkeeper shook his head, then stopped thinking further.

On the other side, Su Qing drove the carriage and quickly left the county town. She then randomly chose a road and embarked on her journey.

Su Qing’s journey was exceptionally pleasant. This path was not like the western journey, where they often traveled for a month through desolate lands. Su Qing followed the main roads, so there were many settlements along the way. Naturally, Su Qing encountered many sick people.

She treated most of them. Only a very small number who were critically ill or whom she chose not to save were left untouched. Most of the patients Su Qing treated were poor, many of whom couldn’t even afford the medicine. However, Su Qing didn’t charge them, as there was no point.

Su Qing might not be able to save those far away, but she would certainly save those she encountered on her path. Although Su Qing had only traveled for half a month, she had unknowingly accumulated a great deal of fame along the way. Many in the Jianghu now knew about the beautiful doctor.

One day, as evening fell, Su Qing was still a long way from the next town. So, the group stopped traveling and parked their carriage outside a dilapidated temple. The temple was very old, but there were traces of people having lived there. Clearly, the temple occasionally hosted travelers like Su Qing for the night.

Su Qing and her companions built a fire. They sat in the main hall of the temple, eating dry rations. Su Qing was bored, casually flipping through medical books she had acquired on the road. Hu Lin’er, not knowing what else to do, was grooming the horse, while Ao Yiyi knelt before the Buddha statue, chanting scriptures.

Time passed like this. At some unknown moment, a sudden clap of thunder flashed outside. Before long, heavy rain began to fall. Su Qing put down her medical book, looking up at the heavy rain outside.

“It’s rare… such heavy rain this season.” Su Qing watched the rainwater drift into the broken temple, thought for a moment, and prepared to pick up a fallen door panel to block the rain. This broken temple was, after all, a broken temple; although it offered shelter from the rain, it couldn’t completely block it, especially with its doors missing.

Just as Su Qing stood up, she saw a group of people rushing towards the broken temple from outside. Su Qing raised an eyebrow slightly, thinking, “Damn it… it can’t be this coincidental, can it?”

However, Su Qing didn’t do anything else, nor did she stop the people seeking shelter from entering. She simply let them come in. This group was not Jianghu folk; they were just common people in coarse clothes, men, women, old, and young, looking as if they were refugees.

Su Qing and Ao Yiyi silently made more room for them, giving them more space to rest. At the same time, Su Qing quietly observed the group. She noticed that one of the children in the group seemed to be ill, with an abnormally red, flushed complexion. If she had to describe it, it was like a high fever. In short, it was definitely not normal. Besides the children, Su Qing also noticed that some of the adults in the group were not in good condition either; some were coughing incessantly, others had pale faces or an unnatural flush, and one or two were secretly scratching themselves as if they were incredibly itchy.

Su Qing raised her eyebrows. Having played the role of a doctor for half a month, she could tell that these people were mostly sick. She thought for a moment, then stood up and walked over.

“Old man, where are you from, and where are you going?” Su Qing found an old man and asked. The old man, seeing Su Qing approach, was instinctively wary, but seeing that Su Qing was a woman and very beautiful, he subconsciously lowered his guard.

He sighed, tightened his clothes, seemingly cold. “We are from Yuanning County and are heading to Longcheng County,” the old man said, coughing a few times. “By the way, where are you ladies going? If you’re going to Yuanning County, I advise you to quickly take a detour! Don’t go to Yuanning County; we barely managed to get out of there!”

As the old man spoke, a young man beside him pulled his arm, seemingly signaling him not to say too much. But the old man shook his head and said, “Are you going to watch them go there to die? We can’t just stand by and do nothing!”

Hearing the old man say this, Su Qing immediately became interested. Although it was only a few words, Su Qing understood that something major must have happened in Yuanning County. Otherwise, no one would be fleeing from it, and the old man wouldn’t have said such things to her.

Su Qing nodded and said, “We are indeed going to Yuanning County! But old man, you say we shouldn’t go there. Has something happened in Yuanning County? Please tell me, old man. I have a friend in Yuanning County, and if something has changed there, I hope you can tell me.” Su Qing’s tone was exceptionally sincere, subtly revealing a hint of anxiety, making it seem like she wasn’t lying. This made several people around them silently lower their heads.

Only the old man said, “Young lady, listen to my advice, never go to Yuanning County. As for your friend… forgive this old man for speaking ill, but they are likely doomed.”

“Old man, what exactly happened in Yuanning County?”

“A plague,” said a young man beside the old man, who seemed to be his son. “An epidemic that came from who knows where…”

Su Qing raised an eyebrow and asked, “A plague? What are the symptoms? If it’s a plague, is there no one in Yuanning County who can treat it? Has the government not stepped in to maintain order?”

“The government? They’re all dead. Cough, cough, cough.” The young man said, “At first, the government was somewhat effective and even sealed off Yuanning County… but the plague spread too quickly, and people died too fast. Within a few days, most of the government officials were dead. As for the doctors in Yuanning County, they were helpless against this plague. They only found a way to suppress it, and the cost was extremely high. Only those wealthy lords could afford it… How could we common folk buy it?”

The old man continued, “So we went to great lengths to escape from Yuanning County… planning to go to other counties to find a cure. Although it’s just a glimmer of hope, what if there really is a way to treat it?”

Su Qing frowned upon hearing this. Her good impression of the old man and his companions diminished considerably. How to put it? While there was nothing wrong with them fleeing the county for their lives, by doing so, they were also carrying the plague and infecting people in other counties. It was still an irresponsible act towards the lives of others. However, Su Qing didn’t intend to criticize them. After all, they were also fighting for their lives.

Su Qing shook her head inwardly, then continued to ask, “By the way, what are the symptoms of this plague?”

“Initially, it’s just a fever. After one or two days of fever, pustules will start to appear on the skin, incredibly itchy… People with pustules can’t stop scratching them, constantly breaking them open. Within a few days, the skin begins to fester. Then, they start vomiting blood… By the time they vomit blood, there’s basically no hope; they are certain to die.”

The old man thought for a moment and said, “Only during the fever and pustule stages can the doctors’ medicine suppress it, but it cannot cure it. Alas, in short, you must not go to Yuanning County; going there is tantamount to seeking death.”

Su Qing remained silent for a moment, then nodded and said, “I understand… By the way, I see that some of those children seem to have a fever. Can I take a look?”

As soon as Su Qing spoke, the entire broken temple fell silent. It was terrifyingly quiet. The parents of those children immediately showed expressions of refusal. They even looked like they might flee with their children at any moment.

Seeing this, Su Qing acted as if she hadn’t noticed the atmosphere. She smiled faintly and said, “Actually… I am a doctor. Let me examine the children; perhaps I can help treat them. They might have contracted the plague, and if left untreated, it will definitely get worse. Why not let me try…”

As Su Qing spoke, she even showed them the medical book she had placed aside, as if to prove she was indeed a doctor. Seeing that the group didn’t believe her, Hu Lin’er also spoke up, “Everyone, don’t worry, my young mistress is truly a doctor… She has treated many people along the way! Perhaps, she really can save everyone.” Ao Yiyi also chimed in to help.

However, even with the two women’s endorsements, the group still dared not move. They weren’t worried that Su Qing wasn’t a doctor; they were worried about something else. The atmosphere remained silent for a long time. Finally, a woman walked towards Su Qing. She was treating a dead horse as if it were alive, a desperate attempt. She knew she had definitely contracted the plague. If she didn’t get treatment soon, she would surely die within a few days. So, she might as well let this doctor try. What if there really was a way to save her? If she gambled correctly, she would live. If she gambled incorrectly, it would just be death anyway.

“I’m infected, use me for practice!” the woman said, sitting in front of Su Qing. “But I advise you, doctor, to be careful, lest you also get infected.”

Su Qing heard this and said with a chuckle, “Don’t worry, this illness isn’t too difficult.” The woman saw Su Qing speak with such confidence and said no more. She simply extended her hand, seemingly wanting Su Qing to take her pulse. Su Qing was stunned for a moment, then chuckled as she took her pulse. Of course, this was just for show, because she knew that taking a pulse was useless. To save these people, the simplest method was to use Spirit Pills. However, Spirit Pills could not be given directly to these people; it would kill them.

“Hmm, I pretty much know how to treat it now. Wait a moment, I’ll go get your medicine.” Su Qing said, slowly walking out of the broken temple and heading to the carriage to ‘retrieve medicine’.