Traveling to ancient times, with space

Chapter 48 Parting

These people ran to the center of town, and just then a gust of wind blew by. In this sweltering heat, they felt a chill, which sent shivers down their spines.

Su Yue, sitting on the cart, used her mental energy to scan the closed shops. Many of them were empty and deserted. When she spotted a group of rats gnawing on a corpse, she withdrew her mental energy.

She couldn't look at it anymore; Su Yue couldn't even look at the leftover jerky from yesterday.

When they were almost at another city gate, they discovered that this gate was sealed off and could not be opened at all.

Upon seeing this, Old Luo immediately turned around and returned to the city gate he had come from, the wind blowing as if it were crying.

A child running with a group of refugees fell to the ground, perhaps startled by a rat that darted out. No one stopped to help him up; they all ran for their lives.

The child who had fallen got up weakly, took a couple of unsteady steps, and then fell down again, almost crying out in distress.

As the cart passed by, Su Yue leaned over it, grabbed the child on the ground, pulled him up, and put him on the cart.

When the child realized he was sitting on the cart, he didn't dare to cry out loud, but tears streamed down his face.

Once the cart had left the city gate, Su Yue put the child down and told Old Man Luo to leave as quickly as possible.

When the child realized what was happening, he burst into tears.

Su Yue sat on the cart, constantly looking back at the town.

They walked for several hours, without even stopping to rest during the hottest part of the day.

They only got off the cart to rest when the mules were too tired to walk anymore.

The exhausted mule stared at Old Man Luo with its big eyes, then collapsed to the ground with its hooves pointing skyward.

Old Luo was so frightened that he thought the mule had died, and he rushed over to check if the mule was still breathing.

He discovered the mule was still breathing, just exhausted. But no mule ever lies like that, and he was terrified, thinking it had died from exhaustion.

Thank goodness it's not dead, it was terrifying! The owner is such a weirdo, and even the livestock he raises are the same.

Only after stopping did I start to think about it. If those rats that had become sentient in the city weren't dealt with, a plague would definitely break out.

And it's definitely not just this one city that's like this. After walking for another two days, we should be almost at Zhujiang County. I wonder how my good-for-nothing disciples are doing now. I'm extremely anxious.

Su Yue was still laughing at Old Man Luo, completely oblivious to the expression on his face beneath the hood.

The journey took two days. Along the way, the surviving refugees were as thin as sticks, too weak to even chase after the mule carts.

The roadsides were even more withered and yellow than in places I had traveled before, and I had no idea how extensive the drought had become.

As darkness fell, Su Yue spotted another city in the distance.

"Old man, there's another city ahead. Should we go there?" Su Yue was really afraid that the two cities were so close together and the situation would be the same.

The two discussed it for a while before deciding to go and take a look. If the situation was the same, they wouldn't go in.

After walking for more than an hour, we finally saw the city gate. This city was completely different from the previous one.

The city gates were tightly closed, and outside the city, many refugees sat in small groups.

The two didn't dare go directly over, so they parked the mule cart some distance away from those people.

Su Yue looked at the city gate. "Zhujiang County."

Old Luo told Su Yue to watch the cart while he went to inquire about the news.

"Brother, what's going on here?" Old Luo approached the old man and started a conversation.

"Oh, what could it be? They're not letting us into the city. They say we've all been infected with the plague, and to prevent the spread of the epidemic, they won't let us in or leave. Didn't you see the notices posted there? I heard those scholars say that only doctors are allowed into the city. Who cares about the lives of us common folk!" The old man initially didn't want to talk to the person covering their face, but he felt aggrieved and became more and more disheartened as he spoke.

"Brother! Not letting us into the city might be for our own good. If there really is an epidemic, we might have a chance to escape outside the city, but inside the city we'd just be waiting to die." Old Luo advised the old man a couple more times before walking toward where the notice was posted.

As the old man said, a plague has broken out in the city. It seems that the refugees can only stay outside the city unless the doctor allows them to enter.

Old Luo suspected that the source of the plague was in the previous city, and wondered if they had already been infected.

When Old Luo returned to the cart, he told Su Yue what he had found out and seen, and told her that he was going into the city, but he did not want Su Yue to go with him.

"What? You want to go into the city? Tell me to leave right now." Su Yue never expected this old man to be so foolish.

“I’m a doctor. Even if I die, it’s worth it. I’m old, and there are some things that need to be done, aren’t there? Little girl, you’re still young. Leave now before anyone notices, or the refugees behind us will find out that we went to that town full of dead people.”

Old Luo then pulled out a pair of iron plaques from his pocket. “These are the plaques for storing things at Wanbaolou in the capital. There are some things stored inside. Please keep them for me for now. You can return them to me when we meet in the capital. If I don’t come, these things can be considered as my dowry to you.”

Su Yue took the sign, still feeling a little reluctant to part with the old man.

I don't know if the spiritual spring water in the space will be effective against the epidemic in the city. Oh well, let's just consider it a parting gift for this old man!

"Old man, wait a minute." Su Yue pretended to rummage through the wooden box, but actually used her consciousness to fill a water bag with spiritual spring water for Old Man Luo. She also found two hundred-year-old ginseng roots in the warehouse.

"Here, the contents of this water pouch are a treasure, a family secret recipe passed down through generations. If you feel unwell, just drink some. This is for you too. Don't actually die in there, or I'll... well, hmph! Anyway, take good care of you, you hear me, you old geezer!" After shoving the pouch into Old Man Luo's hands, Su Yue, afraid he'd ask about the ginseng and the secret recipe, kicked the mule's rump and quickly left.

Old Luo watched Su Yue walk away, thinking the girl was reluctant to part with him. But when he looked down at the two century-old ginseng roots Su Yue had given him, he really wanted to chase after her and ask why she was so generous, giving away everything.

And then there's her ancestral secret recipe, which she says you should drink a sip whenever you feel unwell. He's been called a miracle doctor for so many years, but he's never heard of such a secret recipe.

This little brat is definitely worried about me; she still has some conscience. I haven't cooked for her for nothing these past few days.

He carefully wrapped the ginseng and put it in his bosom, hung the water bag on his waist along with the empty wine gourd, and carried his bundle to the city gate. Soon, Old Man Luo was invited inside.

Su Yue waited until the mules could no longer see the shadow of Zhujiang County before stopping, then she put the mule cart into her spatial storage and went inside herself.