Chapter 252: Monsters, Demons, Ghosts, and Ancient Secrets

A thought popped into Zhou You's mind: if he completed this, wouldn't his Experience Points exceed ten thousand!

But that was just a passing thought.

Looking at the project details: eradicate this Plague, hmm!

The scale of the Plague covers more than half of Gongliang City, affecting hundreds of thousands of people, and it shows signs of intensifying.

To resolve this Plague, the two great clans must work together, sparing no expense to procure medicinal herbs and hire physicians, and under efficient and orderly management, treat patients by district and focus on stamping it out.

Hmm, almost impossible! The two great clans scheme against each other and view the Commoners as mere blades of grass; they would never waste resources to save the lowly masses.

Furthermore, given the environment of Gongliang City, it is impossible to organize a large-scale relief operation.

In fact, as soon as the Plague began, the medical practitioners in the city fled completely, and the few remaining professionals all sought refuge in the safer Inner City.

Hua Youxing is already the most highly skilled physician in the plague zone.

Zhou You knows his own limits; fighting and killing are fine, but eradicating a plague is a joke.

Hmm, he suddenly thought of another way.

Zhou You cast his gaze around; the once densely populated streets and alleys had become desolate, and he hadn't seen a living soul for a long time.

A chill rose in his heart, and the hairs on his back stood up.

The second method—isn't that the plan the two great clans are currently executing?

Seal off the plague zone, block the source of the Plague's spread, and let all the infected people fend for themselves.

Once the infected and those likely to be infected are all dead, won't the Plague be "eradicated"!

Zhou You shook his head, skipped that five-star mission, and clicked directly on the latter two items.

Leaving the plague zone with Hua Youxing and her group—feasible! Hmm, Charm-beings taking advantage of the Plague to wreak havoc, possibly even absorbing the miasma to evolve into Plague Ghosts; that doesn't sound like a good thing, does it?

"Doctor Hua, have you heard of Plague Ghosts?"

While walking, Zhou You suddenly asked.

Hua Youxing stopped in her tracks. "Plague Ghosts? Master Zhou knows of Plague Ghosts too?"

Every year of great disaster brings a plague; the only difference is the scale.

The Plague runs rampant, like a giant scythe sweeping across, leaving no life behind and turning the land into a dead zone.

Once the miasma of the Plague rises to a certain level, an existence known as a Plague Ghost is born; this thing is neither human nor beast, though it is somewhat similar to a Charm-being, and some say Plague Ghosts are transformed from Charm-beings.

If there were no Plague Ghosts, the Plague would be like duckweed without roots—fierce at the initial outbreak, but slowly subsiding and disappearing once the source is found after some time.

But with a Plague Ghost, it is different; the Plague becomes more stubborn and ferocious, rising and falling, and even if stamped out for a moment, it will return again in the future.

"Generally speaking, if a plague affects around a million people, it is highly likely to produce a Plague Ghost."

Hua Youxing analyzed, seemingly trying to bolster her own spirits. "Although Gongliang City has a population of one million, not all of them have been drawn into it."

"Under the current circumstances, it is unlikely that a Plague Ghost will appear."

If it continues to worsen and the plague zone expands to the entire Gongliang City, then it is hard to say.

Zhou You, however, was not as optimistic as she was; since the interface gave a prompt, there must be signs of a Plague Ghost.

Now it is certain that the Charm-beings are evolving into Plague Ghosts; if he kills all the Charm-beings in the plague zone, will the mission be completed? Another problem arises: this world has gods (the God-Releasing Sect) and ghosts (Plague Ghosts); it is not a simple Martial Dao world.

"Doctor Hua, do gods and ghosts really exist in this world?"

Hua Youxing hesitated for a moment and replied, "That was a very long time ago."

"Legend has it that after the Celestial Beings descended to the world, there was a period when countless powerful existences calling themselves gods and ghosts appeared, dividing the realms of heaven and earth, attempting to enslave the human race." "It was not until the Primordial Martial Saint reached the pinnacle of Martial Dao and pioneered the unprecedented Martial Saint realm that he led his followers to sweep through the various domains of gods and ghosts, declaring: 'Those who claim to be gods shall be beheaded, those who play at being ghosts shall be beheaded.'"

"They killed until the gods and ghosts hid away, the realms dissipated, and peace returned to heaven and earth."

"The titles of Ghost-Catcher, Demon-Slayer, and God-Executioner among the City Gate Guards were passed down from that period."

Hua Youxing sighed wistfully. "Unfortunately, there hasn't been a Martial Saint in the world for a long time, and the gods and ghosts that vanished back then have reappeared in the human world."

"Whenever a Martial Saint was present, the words 'god' and 'ghost' were taboos, unlike now, where the God-Releasing Sect operates openly, recruiting believers to expand their power."

Speaking of the God-Releasing Sect? Zhou You suddenly realized that from entering the plague zone until now, he hadn't seen a single believer of the God-Releasing Sect on the way.

These white-robed people have the duty of collecting corpses; with so many people dead from the Plague, why are they nowhere to be seen? "When the Plague first began, the two great clans drove the God-Releasing Sect out of the city."

Hua Youxing explained upon learning of his confusion.

Every great disaster brings a great plague, and great disasters and plagues inevitably breed countless refugees and rioters, which are the root of instability.

If another well-organized group were to get involved...

He understood; the clans feared the organizational strength of the God-Releasing Sect, so they nipped the hidden danger in the bud and drove the God-Releasing Sect out of the city.

First, they cordoned off the infected population to create a no-man's-land to block the spread of the Plague, and then they expelled the God-Releasing Sect to prevent rioters from forming organizations and disrupting the city's order.

The clans' countermeasures were seasoned and efficient, which was truly breathtaking to behold.

Zhou You suddenly thought that these past historical secrets must have been passed down by the Medicine King Sect.

Only through internal sect inheritance could such things be clearly recorded and traced back to the events of the ancient era.

The descent of the Celestial Beings marked the first year of Martial Dao, followed by a blank period where Martial Dao was nurtured and developed until the Primordial Martial Saint, the first Martial Saint-level figure in the human world, laid the foundation for the Martial Dao civilization that has continued to this day.

This blank period can also be called the exploration stage, where gods and ghosts swarmed the world; if not for the Primordial Martial Saint turning the tide, the human world today would certainly look very different.

Hmm, many sects, in order to prove their own orthodoxy, like to cite classics and trace their origins back to that time, even if they have no connection at all, they will still cling to some non-existent ancestor.

As they walked, Zhou You stopped, a look of melancholy appearing on his face.

Paodai Dajie, Lingdang Hutong!

This is the place where he lived for over ten years, the place he saw the moment he woke up.

It was from this street that he stepped out, joined the Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall, and walked step by step to where he is today.

However, this street shrouded in dead ash no longer has its former bustling scene!

"Haha, son, you are getting married today; by next year, I'll be able to hold a grandson."

A harsh voice came; an old madman was crying and laughing, walking along the street in tattered clothes.

His eyes were unfocused, and he walked through the ruins as if no one else was there, making gestures with his empty hands, sometimes beating a gong and drum, sometimes raising a cup to drink.

The crazy old man is Mou Laoyao; he is still alive after such a long time.

What is even stranger is that he shows no signs of being infected by the Plague, and he is healthier than a normal person.

"Strange."

Hearing Zhou You's whisper, Hua Youxing took the initiative to explain, "This is an age-old mystery; madmen do not easily fall ill, and living in a muddled state allows them to live longer instead."

"Countless pharmacists and physicians have been unable to find the reason, and can only attribute it to a pure heart, free of thoughts, worries, and anxieties, which does not exhaust one's heart-blood or energy, thus making them healthier."

(End of this chapter)