Chapter 32
Haowei did not turn around and said in a calm voice, “Please, officer, show some leniency.”
“Sure, sure, but you two better be careful not to offend our general’s eyes. Otherwise, you lovebirds will have to face the consequences.”
“Thank you, officer.” Haowei remained composed and showed no sign of panic.
Si Lan, however, felt his heart pounding like a drum, and at some point, his hands had quietly grabbed Haowei’s robe.
After Haowei put on his veil hat, he withdrew his hand, and Si Lan’s vision returned to normal. He propped himself up and looked at Haowei.
The moonlight was dim, and the shadows of the red hemp leaves fell on Haowei. Under the black veil hat, his face was unclear.
A cold voice came from beneath the veil hat.
“The situation came suddenly, and I had no choice. Please, don’t overthink it.”
After speaking, Haowei stood up and walked forward.
Si Lan was stunned for a moment, then also got up and left. Looking at Haowei’s somewhat stiff back, he couldn’t help but feel speechless.
Clearly, he was the one at a disadvantage, so why was Haowei acting as if he had taken advantage?
Si Lan couldn’t help but touch the corner of his mouth. Just then, Haowei turned around, seemingly wanting to say something, but when he saw Si Lan wiping his mouth, his expression instantly darkened.
This demon lord, was he savoring the memory?!
With a cold face, Haowei flicked his sleeve and strode away.
Si Lan felt Haowei’s aura inexplicably grow colder and followed behind him, puzzled.
Back at the old couple’s house, Haowei seemed to be deep in thought, his fingers tapping the armrest of the chair intermittently, looking like he didn’t want to be disturbed.
Si Lan broke the silence, “Do you want to wash up?”
The brim of Haowei’s veil hat moved slightly, and Si Lan instinctively added, “Don’t worry, I won’t look.” He knew Haowei was particular and wouldn’t remove his veil hat even to sleep, for fear of being seen.
He wasn’t the type to pry either.
A thousand years of being a demon lord had taught him many things: if someone wanted to tell him something, he would listen; if they didn’t, he wouldn’t ask.
After all, from a certain perspective, the more you knew, the more dangerous it was.
“No need,” Haowei said, then calmed his mind and remained motionless.
Si Lan, feeling awkward, said, “Then I’ll wash up.”
Si Lan carried a wooden basin and looked around. There was nowhere in the room to hide, and he was too embarrassed to ask Haowei not to look. So he awkwardly went to a corner, wet a towel with water, and began wiping his neck.
Haowei smelled that familiar sweet scent again and couldn’t help but look at Si Lan. The room was dimly lit, with only a kerosene lamp swaying gently in the wind.
Even in the faint light, Si Lan’s skin appeared fair and clean. As he wiped himself, that sweet scent became even more enticing.
Haowei’s eyes flickered, and he stiffly turned his head away.
This demon lord probably didn’t know that his blood was sweet and nourishing. If the six realms knew, he would likely become a coveted “human tonic pill.”
After Si Lan finished wiping his body, he took off his coat and lay down to rest.
He had intended to offer the bed to Haowei, but remembering Haowei’s reluctance to remove his veil hat, he decided not to bother.
Moreover, last night, he had fallen asleep leaning against the doorframe, only to wake up in bed, likely carried there by Haowei.
This person, though mysterious and sneaky, had a good heart.
Thinking about this, Si Lan drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Si Lan was awakened by the sound of crying in the village. Haowei was also woken up.
Outside the window, the sky was still dusky, and they could vaguely hear the villagers talking.
“How did this illness suddenly strike?”
“I don’t know. I woke up to find my old man like this.”
“Village chief, please think of a way to save my old man!”
“The pustules are getting bigger! They look like they’re going to burst!”
As soon as these words were spoken, painful screams echoed as if someone had been injured.
Si Lan and Haowei immediately opened the door and followed the sound.
They saw several people clutching their faces, writhing on the ground in pain. Soon, red pustules began to appear on their hands, like tumors hanging from their skin.
“These pustules are contagious!”
They had accidentally broken the old man’s pustules, getting splattered with pus, and their faces quickly changed, sprouting pustules. The pain and itchiness made them roll on the ground in agony.
The initially afflicted old man lay motionless on the ground, his eyes cloudy. He struggled to breathe, his face turning blue from the effort.
“What do we do now? Village chief, please save my old man!” An old woman clung to the village chief’s clothes, kneeling and begging.
The village chief, both terrified and bewildered, didn’t know what to do.
Si Lan approached the old man, glanced at the pustules, and was about to touch him when Haowei stopped him.
“Be careful.”
“It’s okay. I’ll avoid the pustules.” Si Lan carefully lifted the old man’s chin, noticing that the pustules were not only external but also internal.
The old man’s mouth and throat were full of pustules, causing his breathing difficulties.
Si Lan asked the old woman, “Has he eaten anything unusual recently?”
“No, no, he eats with me three times a day…” The old woman, her eyes red from crying, saw Si Lan checking the old man and threw herself at his feet, begging, “Young master, do you have any way to save him? I’ll do anything if you can save him!”
Si Lan quickly helped her up, trying to offer comfort, but feeling unsure himself. He said, “Don’t worry, I’ll help him breathe. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.”
The old woman nodded vigorously, sitting on a stone bench, crying uncontrollably.
The village chief looked between Si Lan and Haowei, then asked Si Lan, who seemed more approachable, “You two don’t seem to be from the south. May I ask who you are?”
Si Lan blurted out, “We are the Twin Stars of Mount Tuo.”
“…” Haowei.
The village chief paused, trying to recall if there were such figures on Mount Tuo.
Si Lan, unfazed, said, “My senior brother and I know a bit about medicine, and somehow gained a bit of a reputation in the martial world.”
The village chief clicked his tongue, desperate enough to take any help, “Can you tell what this illness is?”
“We need more time to observe. Is this old man the first in the village to get these pustules?”
“I think so…”
Before the village chief could finish, a villager wearing a bamboo hat rushed over, “Village chief, something terrible has happened! The young man the general placed in my house has got the pustules…”
The villager had barely finished speaking when he covered his mouth in shock, pointing at the old man on the ground, “How did old man Xu get this too?”
“What? That young man has the same strange disease?” The village chief was shocked and hurried to see the young man.
Si Lan and Haowei followed, going down the hill to the villager’s house. There, they saw the young performer lying on the bed, eyes rolled back, chest heaving.
Si Lan examined the young man and found the same internal pustules as the old man. If not treated soon, he would suffocate to death.
Having read many medical texts in his idle time, Si Lan suspected this was not a disease but some kind of curse or poison.
Haowei also observed the young man, noting that the pustules were more severe than the old man’s and seemed to be moving under the skin.
Haowei had Si Lan step back and used a small twig to poke open the pustule. A snow-white worm emerged and wriggled on the ground for a moment before dying from lack of nourishment.
The villagers, witnessing this scene, were either paralyzed with fear or retching in disgust.
The village chief, mustering his courage, stepped forward and stammered, “What…what kind of illness is this? How can there be worms?”
Just as the village chief finished speaking, urgent footsteps were heard behind him.
Pei’s soldiers rushed in, forming lines on either side. Tao Yuan stumbled into the room, running to the bedside. Seeing the near-death state of Xiao Qi, his eyes instantly reddened.
“Xiao Qi…what happened to you?”
Xiao Qi’s eyelids fluttered at Tao Yuan’s call, but he couldn’t utter a word.
Tao Yuan wanted to touch Xiao Qi, but Si Lan immediately grabbed his hand, feeling the smoothness of Tao Yuan’s skin, as soft and tender as tofu.
“Don’t touch him, or you’ll get infected.”
Tao Yuan turned to Si Lan, murmuring, “You are…”
Before Si Lan could respond, the village chief interjected, “These two are the renowned healers of Tuoshan. With their expertise, this strange illness can surely be cured.”
Si Lan was taken aback. His casual lie was now exposed by the village chief.
Tao Yuan, recognizing the healers of Tuoshan, didn’t suspect a thing. Instead, with reddened eyes, he clasped Si Lan’s hand.
“Divine doctor, please save Xiao Qi.” He paused and took out some silver pieces from his pocket. “I have more money. As long as you can cure him, I’ll pay anything.”
Si Lan, called “divine doctor” repeatedly, couldn’t help but comfort Tao Yuan, “Alright, I’ll do my best to treat him.”
As they spoke, their hands intertwined unconsciously.
Nearby, Haowei and Pei Jia’s faces darkened.
Pei Jia subtly helped Tao Yuan away from the bedside. “Tao Yuan, let the divine doctors focus on their work. We shouldn’t disturb them.”
Tao Yuan shook his head. “I want to stay with Xiao Qi. He’s always clung to me. If he feels my presence, he won’t be so scared.”
Pei Jia relented at these words.
Only Si Lan, Haowei, Tao Yuan, and Pei Jia remained in the room.
Xiao Qi’s pustules were like nests for the worms, some already hatched, others still incubating.
The immediate task was to remove the worm eggs. If not, once all the worms hatched, they would devour Xiao Qi’s flesh.
While others were terrified of the worms, Tao Yuan showed no fear, watching Xiao Qi intently.
Whenever Xiao Qi struggled to breathe, Tao Yuan softly called his name, giving him strength.
Hearing this, Xiao Qi’s breathing steadied somewhat.
Currently, it was known that Xiao Qi had pustules in his throat and mouth, but it was unclear if his internal organs were affected.
“Have you noticed anything?” Si Lan pried open Xiao Qi’s mouth, unable to resist asking Haowei, who had been silent.
Haowei saw a filthy pustule about to drip onto Si Lan’s hand and discreetly wiped it away. “His internal organs don’t have worm eggs. If they did, he’d be dead already.”
Si Lan responded with an “Oh,” then extracted the worm eggs from Xiao Qi’s throat, listening to Haowei speak.
“The village probably has more infected people, not just these two.”
“Could this be some kind of curse?”
Haowei shook his head. “Unlikely. They must have come into contact with worm eggs, becoming hosts.”
Pei Jia, hearing their conversation, immediately ordered his men to investigate what Xiao Qi and the old man had come into contact with last night.
Tao Yuan also tried to recall the previous night’s events. He remembered taking Xiao Qi to a villager’s house, giving him a few instructions, then leaving.
Before that, Xiao Qi hadn’t been in contact with anyone outside.
Could it be that Xiao Qi had gone out after he left?
“If it’s a parasitic infection, shouldn’t we check the food and water?” Tao Yuan asked tentatively. He didn’t know much and feared saying the wrong thing, looking embarrassed after speaking.
“Yes, we need to check those.” Si Lan looked at Haowei. “Chongwei, could you investigate these things? I’ll extract the worms.”
“I’ll handle the worms. You do the investigation,” Haowei replied, leaving before Si Lan could protest.
Si Lan clicked his tongue, wondering why Haowei wanted the more dangerous task.
“Divine doctor, is there anything I can help with?” Tao Yuan asked.
Looking into Tao Yuan’s dark, round eyes, Si Lan thought for a moment. “Then follow me to investigate the village.”
“Alright!” Tao Yuan agreed eagerly.
Pei Jia, however, frowned slightly, unsure if he was worried or jealous. He reached out to grab Tao Yuan’s clothes to warn him to be careful, but Tao Yuan had already eagerly followed Si Lan.
As expected, the village situation was just as Haowei had guessed. Besides Xiao Qi and the old man, others were also afflicted, plunging the village into a state of fear and despair, with cries of anguish and alarm echoing throughout.
Pei Jia joined the effort to remove the worm eggs, following Haowei’s lead.
Although extracting the worm eggs improved the patients’ conditions, they remained unconscious, their lives slowly slipping away.
The urgent task was to find the source of the worms and treat the cause.
The village was located at the foot of a mountain, with a stream flowing down, winding through the village. Si Lan walked back and forth along the stream twice but found nothing suspicious. He then questioned the old woman about what the old man had eaten the previous night but found no clues.
The food and water were not the issue, so what could be the cause?
Si Lan decided to visit the homes of the other patients to see if anything unusual could be found.
Tao Yuan followed him cautiously, walking slowly. He had almost tripped while climbing the mountain earlier. Si Lan felt sorry for him and wanted him to go back, but Tao Yuan insisted on staying.
Si Lan hadn’t expected Tao Yuan, who seemed fragile, to be so resilient.
They reached the village chief’s house and saw the courtyard crowded with villagers, with the chief surrounded and looking worried.
“We’ve always been honest people, living here for generations without any problems. How could we suddenly get this strange disease?”
“Those young men arrived, and then this happened. Do you think they brought the disease?”
“That boy’s illness is worse than the old man’s. Maybe he infected the old man, who then spread it to the whole village!”
“Last night, I overheard two soldiers from Pei’s army talking. They said General Pei placed the boy in our village, and he’s not just a wandering child but a performer from an opera troupe.”
“No wonder! I was wondering why those boys look so delicate, not like laborers at all!”
“I heard these performers carry dirty diseases. When those diseases flare up, they get sores all over their bodies. Could it be that our village caught this dirty disease?”
At this, everyone started talking at once, exchanging their speculations. What began as wild guesses quickly turned into a consensus that the sores were caused by the boy’s disease.
Tao Yuan’s face turned pale, his eyes red, and he clenched his hands tightly.
It’s not like that.
They were just kids, playing minor roles in the opera, unnoticed by anyone. How could they have any dirty diseases?
Si Lan coughed loudly, and the courtyard fell silent. The villagers, seeing Si Lan and Tao Yuan, looked embarrassed as if caught gossiping.
Si Lan walked into the courtyard, ignoring the villagers, and spoke to the chief, asking him to accompany him to investigate the homes.
The chief, as if waking from a dream, nodded repeatedly, “Alright, alright…”
Si Lan turned and spoke to the chief in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, “This disease is peculiar. If it were truly a dirty disease, it would require close contact to spread. Have the dozen men and women in the village all had close contact with that boy?”
“This…this isn’t true,” the chief stammered, feeling a sudden, inexplicable fear of the gentle-looking man before him. Despite Si Lan’s soft expression and slight smile, he felt a chill.
“He’s just a child. Spreading such rumors about him, what will he do when he grows up?”
The chief felt a lump in his throat and forced a smile, “It’s just some gossips talking nonsense. I’ll deal with them properly.”
Si Lan replied with a slow “Hmm” and then gave Tao Yuan a reassuring look. Tao Yuan smiled shyly and whispered, “Thank you, divine doctor.”
“It’s nothing.”
Their whispered conversation was noticed by Haowei and Pei Jia.
Haowei’s hat dipped slightly, while Pei Jia, with a hint of jealousy, asked Haowei, “Your friend seems to have a way with words.”
Tao Yuan rarely smiled, and Si Lan seemed to have made him laugh, a shy, lowered-head laugh.
The more Pei Jia thought about it, the more jealous he felt.
Haowei coldly replied, “He’s not my friend.”
Pei Jia looked at Haowei in surprise, “Aren’t you the renowned Tuoshan Healers?”
“We’re just partners.”
The chief opened the door to the old man’s house. Si Lan saw Haowei and Pei Jia in the courtyard, apparently having just removed worm eggs from the old man, with blood and filth on the ground.
Si Lan smiled at Haowei and went inside to investigate.
Pei Jia nudged Haowei, “Are you really just business partners? When he saw you, his eyes lit up.”
Haowei adjusted his hat and replied indifferently, “Did they?”
“Yes.”
Haowei said nothing more and walked into the house. Si Lan was squatting on the ground, carefully inspecting the corners. He found no worm eggs but did notice some dead rats and insects in a wall hole.
Standing up, Si Lan felt dizzy from crouching too long and wobbled. Someone steadied him by the elbow, a calm voice coming from behind.
“Did you find anything?”
Si Lan shook his head, “No, but it’s certain the parasites didn’t enter through food or water.”
Haowei paused, “The pustules continue to grow new worms even after removing the eggs. I suspect they weren’t just exposed to the eggs but were parasitized by the mother parasite, causing an endless cycle of worm growth.”
Si Lan’s face darkened. Parasitized by the mother parasite? Constantly producing worms?
What kind of creature was this? How could it be so terrifying?
Tao Yuan entered just then, tears welling up upon hearing this, unable to speak.
At five, Xiao Qi was sold to the opera troupe, being the youngest but the hardest working. He finally got to perform on stage, but then war broke out, the troupe leader died, and the troupe collapsed.
Tao Yuan led Xiao Qi and the others to escape, thinking finding refuge in Pei Jia’s village was the best outcome, only to encounter this crisis.
Tao Yuan gave a bitter smile to Pei Jia behind him. Pei Jia’s eyes softened as he reached out to hold him, gently pressing Tao Yuan’s head against his chest and comforting him in a low voice, “Tao Yuan, Xiao Qi’s illness can definitely be cured.”
Tao Yuan responded with a soft “mm.”
Si Lan found nothing unusual in the old man’s house and was about to leave. As he was about to step out, a small flower pot by the window caught his attention.
In the ceramic flower pot grew a small plant with four unusually large and white petals.
Si Lan asked the old woman, “What kind of flower is that?”
“I don’t know either. A while ago, the old man and the others dug it up from the mountain. They thought it looked nice, so they planted it at home.”
Hearing this, Si Lan walked towards the flower pot, with Haowei following closely behind.
The white petals seemed to sway gently in the breeze, the edges slightly curling and shimmering with a silver outline in the sunlight. This plant only had thin black stems and white petals but no leaves.
It was very peculiar.
Si Lan bent down and was about to get closer when, in the next moment, he saw the petals suddenly leap up towards his face. Although he had lost his cultivation, his reflexes were still quick, and he swiftly dodged the “petals.”
The four “petals” fell to the ground and started to scurry in different directions. Si Lan urgently called out, “Catch them!”
“Don’t touch them!” Haowei added.
Si Lan grabbed the flower pot and covered one of the “petals” with it, while Haowei used a twig like a dart to pin two of the “petals” to the ground.
Pei Jia quickly stepped on one of the petals but didn’t dare to exert much force. “What kind of flower is this? Why is it so strange?”
“It’s not a flower, it’s an insect.”
“Insect?” Pei Jia and Tao Yuan said in unison.
“Yes, I think we’ve found the source of the infestation.” Si Lan’s face showed undisguised joy as he used a twig to pick up one of the “petals.” The “petal” struggled vigorously, its body undulating like a cloud and emitting a ring of white light. The area where the twig pierced revealed brown filth, identical to the discharge from infected sores.
“So it’s this wicked thing causing trouble…” Pei Jia frowned.
“I suspect that all the families in the village who fell ill planted this ‘flower.’ The house where Xiao Qi stayed likely had it too. Xiao Qi must have been curious about the flower and got close to it, then was targeted by the insect’s mother body.”
Tao Yuan furrowed his brows, “Divine Doctor, how can we save Xiao Qi now?”
“We just need to lure the insect’s mother body out of Xiao Qi’s body…”
Typically, these mother bodies are afraid of fire and water, but this one seemed unaffected. Moreover, it was unclear where exactly it had parasitized within the human body.
Si Lan searched Xiao Qi’s body for a long time but couldn’t find it. As the second wave of insects was about to hatch, he grew increasingly anxious.
Suddenly, he seemed to think of something and headed up the mountain with Haowei following behind.
The insect mother bodies couldn’t be far from the male insect.
Some species have a male insect that acts as the leader, commanding all the mother bodies. If they could capture this male insect, they might be able to force the mother bodies out of the hosts.
Given that these insect mother bodies appeared in the village, the male insect must be nearby.
Si Lan and Haowei split up to search. After a while, Si Lan noticed Haowei had stopped moving, so he walked over. Following Haowei’s gaze, he saw clusters of white “flowers” growing in the crevices of a cliff. They were wriggling rhythmically, with one particularly robust “petal” stretching its white body and emitting waves of white light.
Just as Si Lan was about to ask something, Haowei quickly covered his mouth.
These insects would likely scatter if they heard any sound.
Haowei’s slender fingers, radiating a slight warmth, pressed against Si Lan’s lips. Instinctively, Si Lan looked up at Haowei, and despite the black veil between them, he felt as if he could see into Haowei’s eyes at that moment.
Uncomfortably, Haowei withdrew his hand, as if burned, curling his fingers slightly. Then he carefully climbed up the rock face to the top of the crevice.
With a silk cloth wrapped around his hand, he waited for the right moment and swiftly yanked out the male insect “by the roots.”
Immediately, the white insects scattered in fear, crawling away like a swarm of white ants along the cliff face.
The male insect wriggled incessantly in Haowei’s palm, trying to resist. Haowei clenched it tightly and prepared to return, but the cliff shook due to the movement of the insects, causing the rocks beneath him to give way, and he fell along with the rocks.
Seeing this, Si Lan didn’t hesitate and jumped down the slope, trying several times to grab Haowei, but he couldn’t even catch his clothes.
Si Lan, in a state of panic, feared for Haowei’s safety. In his distraction, he tripped over a branch and fell face-first, rolling down the slope like Haowei.
Fortunately, Haowei managed to brace himself against a tree trunk soon after falling, stabilizing himself and catching Si Lan as he slid down from above.
Si Lan’s forehead slammed into Haowei’s chest, causing him to gasp in shock. When he looked up, he saw that Haowei’s veil had torn, revealing a section of a smooth, pale chin.
T/N: Hey there! There is plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned! And stay healthy! Straighten your posture, so some stretches and drink some water before continuing hehe~
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Also, check out the other series we have on HoH!
If you like cats, check out Revenge of the Garfield
If you like dragons, check out I’m Pregnant with the Hope of the Entire Planet and The Dragon and the ‘Princess’
How about some mystery or showbiz? Check out Morbid Addiction & Perfection
What about the perfect, most non-toxic male lead ever? Laws of Love
How about MC nursing ML back to health? Forced into the Deep
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