The Tragic Situation of Wangjia Village

Chapter 13

The day after Sun Er returned, Wang Hu, who had gone to Tieniu Town to distribute the talisman water, also hurried back.

Tieniu Town was bustling with people. Wang Hu used up all twenty of the talisman papers he had brought, but only half of the people were able to receive the talisman water.

After all, Tieniu Town was much larger than a village, and many people preferred to trust the doctors in the town's medical clinics.

"Well done, Wang Hu," Li Changmeng said, addressing the two people who had worked for him. "Once the epidemic is over, I'll reward you both with two gifts."

Though the talisman water still needed to be distributed, Li Changmeng had no plans to carry out a second round just yet. The epidemic had only just begun, and when the talisman water's effectiveness became more apparent, people would naturally come to him to ask for it.

In the mayor's mansion in Tieniu Town, Zhao Wenzhuo sat hunched over his desk, feeling a wave of anxiety.

The position of town mayor was different from that of a village head. It was an official appointment by the Xuanfeng Kingdom. In other words, if the epidemic broke out under his jurisdiction and he failed to control it, he could be caught and executed—even if he tried to flee.

However… for this mysterious epidemic, the town's medical clinic—passed down through a hundred years—charged half a tael of silver for treatment.

Wealthy families could afford the cost, but what about the common people?

Moreover, the medicine was becoming scarcer with each passing day, and its price would only increase.

It was a real headache!

"Mayor Zhao, the villagers from Mingguan Post, who distributed the disease-curing talisman water in the name of the gods the other day, seem to have really effective talisman water," reported Zhao Wenjie, Zhao Wenzhuo's younger cousin and assistant.

Zhao Wenzhuo looked up at his cousin. Zhao Wenjie continued, "Wang Hu secretly entered the blockade and distributed the talisman water in the eastern part of the town. Based on what we've seen these past few days, the number of sick people in the east is far fewer than in the other areas. And all those who got sick were the ones who didn't drink the talisman water."

Zhao Wenzhuo suddenly stood up from behind his desk. "Is that true?"

Zhao Wenzhuo had heard about the man his cousin mentioned. When the man broke into the town during the three-day blockade, Zhao Wenzhuo had been curious about it.

The man had claimed to be a follower of Taoist Lord Mimen Wangqing, sent by the Spiritual Boy to bring disease-curing talisman water to the townspeople of Tieniu.

At the time, Zhao Wenzhuo had thought it was nothing more than a trick to fool the common people, making them believe that a little talisman water could cure disease.

However, soothing the people's hearts in such a panicked time wasn't a bad thing. So, he had allowed the man to distribute it in the eastern part of the town.

Now it seemed there might be something to it?

"It's absolutely true! I saw it with my own eyes!" Zhao Wenjie insisted.

He had investigated dozens of households in the eastern part of the town, and the talisman water had indeed proven effective.

"Wenbo, prepare the carriage. I'm going to Mingguan Post to see for myself. Maybe the solution to this epidemic lies there!"

Zhao Wenzhuo realized there might finally be a breakthrough. The epidemic that had been troubling him no longer seemed like an insurmountable problem.

In Wangjia Village, the roads were eerily quiet. No one could be seen, and every door was tightly shut.

As a clan village, all the households were blood-related, leading to frequent visits between families. Unfortunately, this had allowed the epidemic to spread far and wide.

In the Wang Family Ancestral Hall, Wang Minghai, the current clan leader, was kneeling before the ancestral tablets, praying for the ancestors' blessing.

There were 127 households in Wangjia Village, with more than 500 people in total. Over 400 of them had contracted the epidemic.

After finishing his prayers, Wang Minghai walked out of the hall, only to cough slightly.

Had he… also caught the disease?

He coughed right after leaving the ancestral hall to pray. This sudden change made his heart skip a beat.

Could it be that even the ancestors couldn't help?

"Grandpa Clan Leader, when will the ancestors make me better?" 

At this moment, a woman holding a child approached him. She had evidently been waiting outside the hall for a while. 

The child's face was covered in pus-filled sores, and his eyes were barely open. At an age when he should have been running around, he was instead dying.

"Don't worry. I've already prayed to the ancestors. They'll bless us soon," Wang Minghai reassured her, stretching out his hand to touch the child's forehead.

"Ahem…" A fit of coughing interrupted his gesture.

"Clan Leader, have you… also caught the disease?" 

The woman instinctively took half a step back. Even the clan leader, who should have been the most blessed by the ancestors, had fallen ill?

"Clan Leader, let's go to Mingguan Post to ask for the talisman water. I heard from the families at the entrance of the village that the person who distributed the talisman water came from Mingguan Post, and those who drank it didn't get sick!"

The woman hesitated for a moment, but she spoke up anyway. She was just a woman who had married into the Wang family, and if the Wang Family Ancestral Hall couldn't help, she would seek what could. Her child was the most important to her.

"No! I said the ancestors will bless us. Why should we believe in that wild god? What do you, a woman, know?" 

Wang Minghai's face darkened as he scolded her.

The woman gave him a resentful look, snorted, said nothing, and turned away with the child in her arms.

"Sigh—"

Looking at the woman's back, Wang Minghai sighed deeply. He still believed that the ancestors would provide their blessings. What did these women know?

He was sure that the epidemic would be cured in just a few days. 

With this conviction, Wang Minghai returned to his home and locked himself indoors.

Two days later, more than half of the households in Wangjia Village had hung white mourning banners and were wailing in grief.

The elderly and children in these families couldn't survive the severe disease and had died.

"Wang Minghai! Is this what you call the blessing of the ancestors?!"

The woman from before, now dressed in mourning clothes, appeared at his door. Her child had passed away the day before, and today she brought more than a dozen women who had suffered the pain of losing their own children.

"Beast! If you're not dead, get out! How can you be worthy of the people in this village?"

Normally, if anyone had insulted the clan leader like this, someone would have rushed forward to stop them.

But today, no one came to intervene. The so-called ancestors had proved useless in the face of the epidemic.

*Creak.*

The gate creaked open, and Wang Minghai appeared, leaning on a crutch.

Everyone could see that his face, too, was covered in pus-filled sores.

The clan leader had caught the epidemic!

"Beast! Why don't you go die? Give us back our children!" 

The mothers who had lost their children rushed toward him in a fit of rage, surrounding him.

With a thud, Wang Minghai collapsed to the ground. It was hard to tell if it was pus or tears on his face as he whispered, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry to all of you. I was stubborn, and because of me, many of our villagers are sick and dead."

But that wasn't enough to quell the mothers' anger. More than a dozen women gathered around him, each one kicking him without restraint.

Only when the other Wang family members feared he might die from the beating did they step in to pull the women away.

Wang Minghai lay curled on the ground, his clothes in tatters, and the pus oozing from his sores emitted a foul odor.

"Don't blame them. This is what I deserve. I'm going to Mingguan Post right now. Even if I have to risk my life, I'll get the disease-curing talisman water for all of us!"