“Medical Halls everywhere are reporting emergencies; Life Support Magic Tools can no longer sustain the lives of the infected! Large numbers of the infected have already begun to die!”
The messenger ran back in a panic to deliver the news. He froze when he saw the antidote research tent completely covered by a massive iron box. “The antidote…”
“Don’t worry, it’s finished.” Yu Wenhua Ji patted the messenger’s shoulder and smiled.
“Pass down the orders… First, tell the Royal Alchemists to put all their effort into refining the antidote according to the Dan Fang. Second, distribute the antidote to all infected Imperial Palace Guards. Third, if anyone sends the antidote to the outside world, they are to be killed on sight.”
Even if the messenger’s education level was low, he could sense the wrongness in the order.
He stood dazed. “Aren’t we sending the antidote to the front lines…?”
“Rest easy, trust me.” Yu Wenhua Ji looked at the messenger with sincere eyes.
“Just trust me. I have my own arrangements.”
“…Yes!”
The messenger nodded heavily. Obedience was his sacred duty, and he trusted Yu Wenhua Ji from the bottom of his heart.
“Trust, my foot! Why are you giving the antidote to the Imperial Palace Guards instead of the dying patients and Medical Cultivators on the front lines?” Mushuang rushed over aggressively. “And another thing! Where are the 200,000 protective suits I sent earlier? Where is Li Lao’er? Where is Yellow Coward? Just what are you trying to pull?”
Yu Wenhua Ji’s gaze turned cold.
At a time like this, the last people he wanted to see were those who had just returned from the front lines. It was because he couldn’t hide the truth from them.
“Lady Mushuang, please watch your tone. Standing before you is the General Commander of the Three Armies of the Great Sima Nation, the Grand Chancellor.”
An Imperial Guard immediately blocked her path.
“The front lines can’t hold anymore! The Life Support Magic Tools weren’t enough to begin with, so we had to cycle the patients through them just to barely keep them alive… We went without sleep for three full days to sustain them, all for the sake of this one antidote! Now that the antidote is ready, you’re giving it to guards who only have a couple of coughs instead of those who are about to die?! Has a donkey kicked you in the head?!”
As Mushuang spoke, she covered her mouth and coughed twice, her face looking pale — the supplies never arrived, and for the last day and a half, she and most of the Medical Cultivators had been working without any protection.
By now, over 70% of the Medical Cultivators had been infected with the epidemic poison.
They had staked their lives on Sun Shizhang’s research.
They were sustained only by a “do or die” determination, which kept their spirits from collapsing.
Hearing Yu Wenhua Ji’s orders, she suddenly felt as though the passion and blood shed by the Medical Cultivators and soldiers at the front lines had all been fed to pigs.
Yu Wenhua Ji looked at Mushuang with pity, took a step back, and sighed. “This world is always so disheartening… isn’t it?”
“Stop with your nonsense! Give me the Dan Fang! Otherwise, I promise you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!” Mushuang roared, trying to charge forward.
Yu Wenhua Ji waved his hand. “Lady Mushuang is ill. Send her to isolation.”
“I dare you! Let me tell you, I’m sworn siblings with Empress Houtu! We once burned down a classroom together! If anything happens to me, she’ll definitely drag all of you down with me!”
“It seems Lady Mushuang’s mind is failing as well; perhaps it is a new symptom of being terminally ill,” Yu Wenhua Ji smiled. “Hurry and take her to rest.”
“Who dares to seize me? Has your conscience been eaten by dogs?” Mushuang’s voice carried a weak, sobbing tone.
“By sticking with this guy, our fate today will be your fate tomorrow! Just wait to die, you bastards!”
Mushuang was also locked into an individual black box, her mouth gagged.
“Everything is mostly settled.” Yu Wenhua Ji, hidden inside his protective suit, took a satisfied breath of the quiet air.
“Call Prince Hao of Qin over… Oh, wait, he’s His Majesty now.”
Prince Hao of Qin was Emperor Jing’s nephew and Yu Wenhua Ji’s childhood friend; he was his closest companion.
Yu Wenhua Ji had long planned that once Blue Shadow killed Emperor Jing, he would install Prince Hao as a puppet emperor and hold the reins of government as the Grand Chancellor.
Prince Hao himself had no ambition or desire.
To sit on the Dragon Throne and freely eat, drink, womanize, and gamble while choosing beautiful women was his lifelong dream…
Therefore, he supported Yu Wenhua Ji’s plan with both hands.
Yu Wenhua Ji looked Prince Hao up and down, admiring the dragon robes worn beneath his transparent protective suit.
He smiled and said, “It fits you quite well.”
“You don’t look bad yourself!” Prince Hao also laughed loudly, clearly in a state of extreme satisfaction and joy.
Anyone who had just become the Emperor would likely feel the same.
“From now on, the affairs within the palace will be left to you,” Yu Wenhua Ji said.
“Traitors may soon attempt to attack Jiangdu City. I will handle the matters outside the city; you handle the matters within.”
“Got it!” Prince Hao’s tone was the same as always, the two of them still sharing the rapport of old friends.
The two bumped fists. As Prince Hao was about to leave, his eyes caught sight of those black boxes, and he couldn’t help but ask curiously, “What are those?”
“Just a few traitors,” Yu Wenhua Ji said dismissively.
Prince Hao nodded and didn’t ask further, leaving with a few Imperial Palace Guards.
Upon returning to the Great Hall of the Royal Palace, Prince Hao nonchalantly flicked a single blue hair off his sleeve, quickly burning it to ash before the guards could notice.
Every second, someone died in their sickbed.
The three-day deadline had arrived. As if a fuse had burned to its end, a massive amount of epidemic poison erupted in an instant!
One city reported an emergency, then two… If red dots representing death could be drawn on a map, then nearly all of Shenzhou would have turned into a mass of red that would trigger anyone’s trypophobia.
“Where is the antidote?!” the relative of a patient roared, questioning an old Medical Cultivator.
The old Medical Cultivator choked with emotion, silently and numbly operating a Life Support Magic Tool.
“We’ve been abandoned,” the old man’s young disciple said with a miserable laugh.
“Don’t talk nonsense!” the old man immediately shouted at his disciple.
“If we haven’t been abandoned, then what is this? Since yesterday, Jiangdu City’s broadcast signal has been cut. No one knows what happened there or if an antidote is even being researched!” The disciple’s usual respect for his Master’s authority vanished at this moment; he broke down in tears, screaming as he stood beside a pile of corpses.
“Those above have their own difficulties. We must be understanding!” The old man clenched his fists tightly. “We must believe in Shenzhou! Believe in the Kingdom of Dasi!”
“How can we believe? Lingyin Valley said they sent 200,000 protective suits. Where are they?! Now we’re all about to die. When we’re lying on those beds, there won’t even be anyone left to help us operate the Life Support Magic Tools. How can we believe in them?!”
The old man was left speechless.
But he still said firmly, “You must believe that human hearts are made of flesh and that conscience follows people wherever they go. There may be a few bad people, but most are good. They are working hard, trying every possible way to help us… they’ve just run into some temporary trouble.”
“Stupid! Pedantic! Old fossil! Bah! No one can save us. Only we can save ourselves. No one can be trusted!”
*Slap!*
“Shut up! Do what you’re supposed to do!” The old man suddenly landed a crisp slap on the disciple’s face.
The young disciple immediately began to cry even harder.
“Do what you’re supposed to do!” the old man repeated.
“We must believe! Otherwise… what else is there…?”