Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 505 - 456: Lime

As night fell, Shuo Province Station welcomed yet another sparse train.

The utterly disappointed common people had long since dispersed, and the train entered the platform without any hindrance.

Steam wafted in coils, accompanied by a clanging sound, as the train doors slowly opened, revealing three figures clad entirely in white: protective suits, goggles, masks, and gloves.

Li Ang, Qiu Feng, and Ouyang Shi stepped off the train.

In another carriage, Duke Yan, Yan Yundang, and several attendants from Yan Mansion also disembarked. Each of them, whether an Innate or acquired Body Refining Martial Artist, originally did not want to wear any protective gear, but at Li Ang’s insistence, they donned masks.

After years of quiet recuperation, Duke Yan’s anemia was substantially under control. The breadth of his face and its heavy jowls had also returned to their former state, making the mask seem somewhat small.

"..."

Li Ang looked around. The platform was a complete mess, and muddy footprints covered the ground, clearly indicating an incident had occurred during the day.

But now was not the time for detailed questions. The group boarded a carriage arranged by Shuo Province Station and sped to the outskirts of Shuo Province City. They presented their tokens, prompting the listless City Gate Guards to open the city gates.

"Such a strong smell of lime."

Just as they entered Shuo Province City, Ouyang Shi, who had stuck his head out of the carriage window, couldn’t help but comment.

"Mm."

Li Ang nodded slowly. Shuo Province City was eerily quiet. Not a single person could be seen on the streets; only lanterns hanging on both sides swayed in the wind.

Lime powder was visible everywhere on the dirt ground.

Clearly, Shuo Province Soldiers had scattered it during the day, following the Academic Palace’s disease prevention manual.

Fortunately, the situation had not deteriorated beyond Li Ang’s expectations. At least there was still enough manpower to sprinkle the lime.

"Let’s go."

Li Ang pulled down the carriage window curtain. The carriage sped through the silent town, soon arriving at Yan Hu’s residence in Shuo Province.

Without waiting for the servants from Yan Hu Mansion to announce them, Duke Yan revealed his identity and entered the residence with Li Ang, where they found Yan Hu.

The second son of the Duke Mansion was currently bedridden, suffering from a continuous runny nose, sneezing, and coughing.

Seeing his father, who had traveled a great distance to be there, he felt both touched and self-reproachful, struggling to sit up in bed.

"Stay put and rest!"

Duke Yan’s firm command kept Yan Hu in bed.

Li Ang wasted no words. He performed a simple physical examination, reviewed the sputum samples, and then used his Mind Threads for an internal inspection. He soon had an answer.

"The patient’s cough is more severe in the morning upon waking, with plentiful sputum that shows stratification after settling. The upper layer is frothy, the middle layer is translucent mucus, and the bottom layer consists of necrotic material. This confirms it’s not an epidemic, but bronchiectasis triggered by whooping cough. We’ll perform postural drainage on the affected area and then use Allicin to inhibit the bacteria. Afterward, all close contacts must take Allicin orally for ten consecutive days as a preventative measure."

Li Ang merged several Mind Threads into a tube and used it to extract the accumulated secretions from Yan Hu’s chest. He then had Yan Hu take Allicin and rest well in bed, completing the treatment.

However, curing Yan Hu was just the beginning. Li Ang’s true purpose was to investigate the recent series of deaths by illness in Shuo Province.

"General Yan, please arrange for someone to take us to the Shuo Province Sick House."

Li Ang asked, "How many people in the city have died from this illness in the past few days?"

With the phlegm cleared from his chest, Yan Hu spoke much more easily. He coughed lightly and replied, "Including today, nearly six hundred."

"How could so many die?" Qiu Feng exclaimed.

Shuo Province wasn’t a large province. The city’s population was less than two hundred thousand, and even including the surrounding farming villages, the total was no more than three hundred thousand.

"The illness progresses too rapidly," Yan Hu said helplessly. "Once a patient starts feeling unwell, they inevitably die within a day, or at most, two to three days. No medicine or treatment can delay death. A patient who only seemed to have a cough yesterday might be dead by the time I send someone to check on them the next day. Furthermore, if someone in a household dies from the illness, their remaining family members and neighbors are all at risk of infection."

Li Ang was silent for a moment before asking, "...The bodies of those who died from the illness—they’ve all been placed in the Sick House’s cold room, correct?"

Yan Hu nodded. "Yes, nearly four hundred deceased. Because the Sick House’s cold room was cramped, I had people excavate and expand it, and placed a large number of freezing talisman boards inside."

"You did the right thing."

Li Ang breathed a sigh of relief. Infectious diseases often spread through the bodies of the deceased. Keeping them in the Sick House’s cold room would at least reduce the probability of transmission.

"I’ll go with you," Yan Yundang immediately said, turning his head.

"Hm?"

Li Ang hesitated. Yan Yundang’s son is still bedridden; isn’t he going to stay and look after him?

"Whooping cough can be cured with Allicin. Since Er Lang has had the phlegm extracted and taken the medicine, there’s no point in me staying here to watch over him," Yan Yundang’s gaze was sharp. "The Suzhou Water Poison—wasn’t it ultimately proven that a Gu Master was behind it? With me escorting you the entire way, His Majesty and the masters at your Academic Palace can also be more at ease."

"Alright."

Li Ang nodded. Unlike Gongsun Changyi and Xiong Tuohai, who had died at the hands of Jianquan, Yan Yundang was a true Martial Arts Grandmaster, equivalent to a Candle Cloud Cultivator.

Even if the missing Situ Zhi were to return, as long as his location was discovered, Yan Yundang could obliterate him with a single punch at any moment.

Yan Yundang assigned a few Yan Mansion guards to stay behind and protect Yan Hu. He then, along with the remaining guards, accompanied Li Ang and the other two to the Shuo Province Sick House’s underground cold room, where they saw all the deceased bodies.

Over five hundred bodies, each covered with a white sheet, were laid out on wooden racks.

The toes of each body protruded from beneath the white sheet, and tied to them were wooden tags inscribed with the deceased’s name, native place, address, and other information.

The atmosphere was oppressive, solemn, and grim.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE—

The freezing talisman boards on the cold room walls operated at full power, generating billows of cold air that formed a thin layer of white frost on the floor, walls, and the white sheets covering the bodies.

ACHOO.

Ouyang Shi, who had the lowest Cultivation, was hit by a blast of cold air from a talisman board and couldn’t help but sneeze under his mask. He wrapped his arms around himself.

"Here, wear this."

Li Ang, his gaze fixed intently on the deceased on the racks, casually took off his own coat and handed it to Ouyang Shi.

He himself then quickly stepped forward, unleashed his Telekinesis, removed a stretcher from the rack, placing the body that lay upon it onto the autopsy table in the center of the cold room.

Like the other corpses, the toes of this one also showed signs of bruising and necrosis, a ghastly purplish-black color.

The unease in his heart intensified. As he lifted the white sheet, this sense of disquiet reached its peak.