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Doctor Feng's relaxed demeanor temporarily alleviated the anxiety of other doctors, but this relief did not last long, and on the sixth day, Doctor Feng himself lay down.

Because of what Miss Jun had said, the matter was not kept secret, and soon the families of the smallpox patients found out, with some even boldly coming over to see through the windows the doctors lying in bed.

"It's indeed a smallpox outbreak; I saw the pox emerging on their arms."

"The doctors aren't administering any medicine to them, saying that healing on their own can prevent future outbreaks."

"It's truly terrifying. These matters are too dreadful; how could they dare to do such a thing?"

"Exactly, Miss Jun is not scared at all; she's even picking pox on the doctor's body, claiming it is a treasure."

It was chilling to hear that the pox arising on one's body could be considered a treasure.

Those who heard felt a chill, and those who saw felt numb all over.

"...the smallpox vaccine should not be chosen carelessly...not every pox can be used as a vaccine; for instance, this type cannot be used...this type also won't work..."

The doctors stood beside the bed, watching the girl holding a file and an acupuncture needle, moving around the sick doctor and focusing on the swollen scabs of pox.

The acupuncture needle paused on a pox, and Miss Jun smiled.

"Look, this is the best smallpox vaccine, grayish-white and glossy, plump and thick, but still short. It needs to be cultivated a bit longer." she said, and as she spoke, the file in her other hand deftly scraped off the already scabbed pox, placing it into a copper pipe.

"Look, this is how we collect the infectious material of viable pox." she said, "Did you all understand?"

The surrounding doctors wore complicated expressions, some of them breaking out in sweat.

"Miss Jun, we should first discuss Doctor Feng and the others' condition; it's been two days already..." one doctor said.

They still didn't know the situation; they really couldn't calmly start using these sick individuals as research subjects.

Miss Jun glanced at the doctor lying unconscious on the bed.

"It's okay, he'll be fine soon." she said.

Still going to be fine soon, but how soon is soon, has the horse been found?

As night fell, another day passed. Miss Jun rubbed her shoulders, carrying a box newly filled with smallpox scabs, and stepped out from the room where Doctor Feng and four others stayed.

The lights of Guanghua Temple were already on, giving the place a more desolate look than before with fewer cries, as if the tears had dried up.

"Miss, do we need to grind this into powder when we get back?" Liu'er asked.

Miss Jun nodded.

"Yes," she said, then suddenly paused mid-step.

Liu'er, puzzled, looked ahead and jumped with a start.

"Oh my, that scared me to death," she exclaimed, looking at Lu Yunqi who had appeared in front of them at some point.

Lu Yunqi ignored her and looked at Miss Jun.

Miss Jun lowered her gaze slight and bowed, then gripping Liu'er's arm, continued walking, attempting to pass by when Lu Yunqi extended his hand to block them.

"You think..." Liu'er immediately glared, ready to jump in.

Miss Jun held her wrist tight, keeping her in place.

"Don't worry." Lu Yunqi seemed not to have heard Liu'er, or perhaps, he never acknowledged her presence. He was just looking at Miss Jun, "You won't have any trouble."

His voice calm, deep, and steady, and the night further obscured his features, adding a certain appeal to his voice.

But Miss Jun did not feel so; she couldn't stand hearing his voice, so she spoke almost immediately.

"Of course I'm not worried, nothing will happen to me," she said, "Lord Lu, I need to go back and continue my work."

Lu Yunqi withdrew his hand, watching as Miss Jun led Liu'er away.

"This person is really annoying."

Liu'er's voice was sharp and thin.

Miss Jun patted her hand.

"It's okay," she said, "We have work to do."

The night grew deeper, with many people busy at work, it was uncertain how many could sleep peacefully; the night passed both slowly and quickly.

A doctor, sitting in a chair and dozing off, suddenly nodded off nearly toppling over but awoke to see the room bright with light.

Was it already daylight?

The doctor rubbed his face, having meant to just nap briefly but having slept much longer, it seemed he was really at his limit.

How much longer could the doctors on the bed last?

He rubbed his face and stood looking back, only to widen his eyes in disbelief and vigorously rub his eyes; upon reopening them, the bed was still empty.

"Gone, gone," he cried out, his face deathly pale.

How could the doctor who had been lying in bed with a fever from smallpox have disappeared?

Could it be… he was already beyond help and thus had been taken away while he slept too deeply for anyone to want to wake him?

He turned and ran outside.

"Come…" he called with a tremble in his voice which abruptly stopped as he widened his eyes again upon seeing the person standing at the door.

This person, seemingly just out of bed and stretching, looked leisurely. Hearing movement behind, he turned around.

"Old Huang, you're awake," he said, his voice a bit hoarse.

The doctor called Old Huang stood in shock.

"You, how are… you up..." he stammered.

The doctor outside laughed.

"I woke up early feeling fine, not groggy or weak anymore, so I decided to take a walk," he said, even performing a movement from qigong, "Feels good."

Feels good...

Doctor Huang watched him and then suddenly slapped himself.

"Ouch, Old Huang, what are you doing?" the doctor outside was startled.

Doctor Huang had already shouted out.

"Someone come quickly."

This shout pierced the quiet of the early morning, and chaotic footsteps surged from all directions.

The courtyard, which had been filled with a tense and gloomy atmosphere, became noisy.

When Miss Jun entered, she saw the doctors surrounded by an excited crowd.

This was the first doctor to develop a fever and pustules from the trial medication, Doctor Qu.

Seeing Miss Jun enter, the doctors became even more excited.

"Miss Jun, Miss Jun, look, look, Doctor Qu is really better," everyone cried out.

Miss Jun walked over, and Doctor Qu was pushed in front of her by everyone.

"Miss Jun," Doctor Qu also looked a bit excited, looking at his hands and then touching his face, "I don't even have any pox marks."

Miss Jun smiled.

"The virulence of cowpox has been greatly reduced compared to human smallpox, of course, it's not that severe," she said and then thought, "You've had a fever for two days, which is already quite severe, but thanks to your kindness, it won't take as long with the smallpox matter taken from your body."

"Have they really taken the smallpox matter from my body?" Doctor Qu asked with a smile, "I didn't even realize."

The other doctors crowded around again.

"They have, we witnessed it," everyone laughed.

Then, just like the spring breeze of February dispersing the long-standing chill, the spring spirit of Guanghua Temple began to flourish, and the five doctors who developed pustules consecutively recovered, even the eldest, Doctor Feng, was no exception.

The doctors gathered again in the Buddhist Temple, and the lights were brightly lit once more.

"This smallpox matter really won't cause death."

"I even doubt whether it is smallpox."

"How can it not be? We saw it with our own eyes."

The doctors jubilantly discussed the incidents when these five doctors developed pustules.

Doctor Feng clapped his hands to signal everyone to quiet down.

"Miss Jun has now verified that this smallpox matter is safe," he said, struggling to contain his excitement, pointing at the thin copper pipe placed in the box, "but there is one important issue left."

Miss Jun looked at him.

"That is to verify that this treatment prevents pustules," Doctor Feng said excitedly.

The other doctors also nodded fervently, that's the crucial issue.

Miss Jun smiled.

"That's easy, inoculate the uninfected children, and then have them come here to mingle with the infected children to verify," she said.

Doctor Feng was stunned.

"Wait a moment," he said, looking at Miss Jun, "Are you saying to use the children for verification?"

"Of course," Miss Jun laughed, "This was intended for children from the start, as adults are less susceptible to smallpox, which mainly affects children."

The temple fell silent, and all the doctors stared at Miss Jun.

That feeling came again, as if they understood but also didn't understand.

"So, our trial with the smallpox matter is actually pointless because we are already not easily affected by smallpox, ideally, we should use children for verification," a doctor suddenly said.

As his voice fell, the expressions of the doctors present stiffened, suddenly as if struck by lightning, they all leapt up and pounced toward that doctor.

"What are you talking about?"

"Shut your mouth, that shouldn't be said aloud."

Everyone pressed their voices low, frantically covering the doctor's mouth.

Last time, because everyone talked about needing human trials, the Jinyiwei captured the family members visiting here.

Now, this doctor mentioned using children for verification; what would happen if the Jinyiwei went crazy again and captured uninfected children?

They are all adults, there's no reason to volunteer for trials now.

The temple quieted down, everyone looked towards the outside with a tinge of fear.

In the courtyard, lanterns swayed, mixing light and shadow.

Though the Jinyiwei were everywhere, fortunately, they didn't appear in front of them this time.

Everyone's hearts gradually relaxed, loosening their grip on the doctor they had grabbed.

"You, this guy.." someone began to scold him, but suddenly there was a clutter of footsteps outside.

Someone was coming.

The voice paused, and everyone involuntarily looked outside again; in the night, a group of people walked in.

"Hey, where's the doctor?"

Someone shouted loudly.

"Come and try out your thing that prevents fear of smallpox."

Zhu Zan?

Miss Jun stepped forward a few paces from inside, looking at the man who had stopped in front of the temple, it was Zhu Zan, whom she hadn't seen for many days.

Before she could speak, she saw Zhu Zan point behind him, and the soldiers dispersing behind him revealed several small, frail figures.

These figures, short and thin, at first glance appeared like little rag dolls.

They wobbled forward and stood in the light, allowing everyone to see their faces clearly.

"Children!"

The doctors inside the temple shuddered in a flash.