The old woman first led Shen Feng and his group to a makeshift shelter in the woods. Inside, they found that almost everyone present was a child, with only one adult male leaning against the ground, looking utterly defeated and resigned.
The old woman explained to Shen Feng, "Originally, our village had dozens of survivors. We all huddled together here. But then the plague arrived. Everyone was afraid to go near the river, and we could only collect rainwater to drink, too scared to drink river water. Most of the adults died on their journeys to find food, leaving only us, the old and the weak."
Seeing the children looking at him expectantly, Shen Feng’s heart softened. He said to Cai He, "Take these children to the camp for meals. If you have any suitable clothes, find some for them to change into."
The dozen or so people living in the woods were all clad in filthy, tattered clothes, clearly unwashed for a long time. But upon reflection, when people couldn't even guarantee safe drinking water, washing clothes seemed like a distant luxury.
Shen Feng led over a hundred people to the old woman's village. Using their superior firepower, they eliminated the zombies in the village and finally found the village well. Shen Feng examined it carefully and confirmed that the well water was not contaminated. With a water source secured, the problem of cooking was solved.
After clearing the village of zombies, night had fallen. Shen Feng entered a house, lit a candle, and began to inquire about the "plague god" by the river.
"Old woman, what exactly is this plague god you speak of?" Shen Feng asked first.
Unexpectedly, Ke Yiming interjected, "A plague god? It must be the plague. Many ignorant people call epidemics and infectious diseases 'plague gods'; it's quite common."
"No, no, the plague god I'm talking about is the worms in the river. That is the plague god," the old woman quickly clarified.
Chu Zhaoyan, unable to tolerate Ke Yiming's ignorance, mocked him, "Stop pretending you know when you don't. I saw them by the river. There were many worms on the ground. The so-called plague god must be some kind of parasite! Perhaps roundworms, tapeworms, or something similar! Maybe leeches!"
The old woman nodded and explained, "That's quite right. Once possessed by the plague god, both people and animals would have their stomachs swell up, as if all their blood had been drained. Even a pregnant woman in her tenth month wouldn't have such a large belly. After a few more days, those afflicted would go to the river, and eventually, a large hole would open in their stomachs, and all the worms inside would crawl out and enter the water."
"Ugh, how disgusting," Chu Zhaoyan said, feeling a wave of nausea at the description.
At this moment, Shen Feng began to scrutinize Chu Zhaoyan's stomach, remarking as he did so, "If you were infected, wouldn't we see your big belly?"
"Get lost! You're the one with the big belly," Chu Zhaoyan said, hitting Shen Feng's shoulder forcefully.
The old woman's eyes gradually filled with remembrance, and she frowned, "The plague god… I remember seeing it when I was a child. The entire village, men and women, old and young, walked the streets with swollen bellies. No matter how much they ate, they never gained weight, only their bellies grew larger. Even the cattle and sheep had swollen bellies, sometimes with veins visible on their skin. If you poked them with a stick, they might burst."
Hearing this description, Shen Feng couldn't help but frown. He recalled hearing something similar before.
Ke Yiming, curious, quickly pressed, "What happened then? What happened next? You're alright, aren't you?"
The old woman remained silent for a long time, her brow furrowed as she recalled childhood events. As much time had passed, her memory was hazy. However, she recounted what she remembered: "Later, everyone went to fill in the river ditches and collect snails. The plague was eliminated."
The old woman's memory was clearly not very good. Recalling her childhood, she couldn't provide a coherent account, which left everyone present speechless. They thought she was rambling nonsensically; how could a plague god be eliminated by collecting snails?
"Slap!" Shen Feng slapped his thigh, exclaiming excitedly, "I remember now! I know what's in the river. It's not leeches, it's schistosomiasis! Parasites that infest the liver. But it seems to have been eradicated a long time ago."
"Oh, yes, yes, that's the stuff. The leader back then called it the plague god, so many people referred to it that way," the old woman said, reminded by Shen Feng. Schistosomiasis was indeed once called the plague god.
Chu Zhaoyan seemed to recall something and murmured to herself, "Spring wind, willows, ten thousand threads; six hundred million realms are all Yao and Shun."
Ke Yiming, carrying Shen Feng's biological illustrated guide, began to flip through it by candlelight. He eventually found information on schistosomiasis and frowned, asking, "But the guide says that schistosomiasis is transmitted by cercariae, and adult worms don't seem to transmit it, only producing eggs that are expelled with feces. This doesn't seem right, does it?"
Shen Feng took the guide and examined it closely, frowning. "Indeed, it is. Logically, as long as the snails are caught, and there's no intermediate host, schistosomiasis wouldn't cause widespread infection. But now the adult worms are actively attacking humans and animals. Does this mean the schistosomiasis has also mutated?"
Chu Zhaoyan quickly asked, "Should we eliminate these schistosomiasis worms?"
"Forget it, it's impossible. It's not that easy to eliminate mutated schistosomiasis," Shen Feng immediately rejected Chu Zhaoyan's suggestion. "Let's go, we need to get back to camp and cook. We've been traveling all day, I'm starving."
After speaking, Shen Feng stood up and prepared to leave the village. The others quickly followed.
Seeing Shen Feng's attitude, Chu Zhaoyan couldn't help but say, "I thought you were asking about the plague god to dispense justice, but I didn't expect you to be so disappointing."
Shen Feng ignored Chu Zhaoyan and walked out of the village. Yang Chang, however, began to explain, "Miss Chu, eliminating schistosomiasis is not that easy! Schistosomiasis is distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, spanning over a dozen provinces. How many people do we have? It took the mobilization of several southern provinces to eradicate schistosomiasis back then. Now, we don't know the intermediate host, nor the distribution range of schistosomiasis. How can we eliminate it?"
"But won't schistosomiasis harm people in the future? Is it really okay for us to stand by and do nothing?" Chu Zhaoyan couldn't bear it. She thought of the people in the schistosomiasis-affected areas, all with swollen bellies, men, women, and children, and felt uneasy.
"Then what should we do? We still have to go to Yanjing. If we're delayed, Yanjing might be even more dangerous, with its ten million people!" Yang Chang said helplessly.
In fact, Yang Chang wanted to say, "It's none of our business," but upon careful consideration, that seemed too harsh. So, he decided to persuade Chu Zhaoyan by emphasizing the bigger picture.
Chu Zhaoyan's conviction began to waver. She had always believed that with everyone united, there was nothing they couldn't achieve. As long as the zombies on land were eliminated, peace would reign. At most, they would have to kill a few mutated beasts, and then there would be no more danger. But now, Chu Zhaoyan realized that she would face enemies they couldn't defeat. This sense of despair made her question whether the peaceful life of the past would ever return.
"The zombies are eliminated, then there are mutated beasts. If the mutated beasts are eliminated, there are plague gods. Has humanity's doomsday truly arrived?" Chu Zhaoyan's mind was in turmoil.
Previously, no matter when, Chu Zhaoyan had firmly believed that peaceful times would return. But after learning more information, she suddenly had a premonition that the era of peace was actually gone forever, and she would never see a peaceful world again in her lifetime.
Upon returning to the camp, Shen Feng picked up a bowl of cornmeal porridge and began to devour it. As an ability user, he required a lot of energy daily, and his appetite was two to three times that of an average person. After a whole day of traveling, Shen Feng was starting to feel the strain.
For side dishes, there were a few pieces of braised crocodile meat, and mostly pickled vegetables. Nowadays, everyone could only eat such monotonous food, but it was enough to fill their stomachs.
The children from the woods were all wolfing down their food. They had changed into some loose-fitting clothes and looked much cleaner. Smiles had appeared on their faces.
Among them, the one with the worst table manners was the adult male from the woods. He appeared to be in his thirties and ate like a starving ghost, shoveling food into his mouth without any regard for appearance. His cheeks were bulging, and he had difficulty swallowing, making one wonder if he might choke to death while eating.
Shen Feng couldn't help but say to the old woman, "Brother over there, why don't you try to advise him? He shouldn't eat so ravenously; there's enough food."
"This fellow, just ignore him. He's a quack doctor. It's better if he chokes to death than starves to death," the old woman replied indifferently. She seemed to have no good feelings towards the only young survivor in the village, directly calling him a quack doctor and showing no pleasant expression.
The quack doctor seemed to have overheard Shen Feng's conversation. He laboriously swallowed the cornmeal porridge in his mouth and said, "What are you pretending to be polite for? Only what goes into your stomach is real. It's rare to have a full meal; who knows when the next opportunity will come. Eat your fill while you can."
As someone once said, everything else is fake. Eating a pancake rolled with braised meat is real. Even if you die, there'll be some oil and water in your stomach, unlike a starved rat.
"Why do you say that? Isn't it a bit exaggerated to say there won't be any more full meals in the future?" Shen Feng asked, puzzled.
The quack doctor, while eating, replied lazily, "You people are definitely leaving. I heard you're going to fight. We can't follow you. So, it will be very difficult for people like us to survive in the future. A bunch of children can't work. Therefore, in the long run, there will be no more opportunities for full meals!"
Hearing this, Shen Feng found it somewhat amusing. He couldn't help but say, "You're healthy and strong. Even if you worked alone, you could support yourself, right? It seems to me you're just lazy and gluttonous. The other adults in the village died searching for food and water, while you, having survived until now, are merely a coward."
The quack doctor didn't get angry. Even when ridiculed by Shen Feng, he maintained his view, "Actually, effort is useless. People nowadays are getting worse generation by generation. Take me, for example. No matter how hard I try, I can't surpass my predecessors. Since that's the case, effort is just a futile struggle. It's better to just lie down."
At this point, the old woman tried to advise Shen Feng, "Young man, don't bother with this useless person. Even if he surpassed the previous generation, he's still a quack doctor. If you don't believe me, I'll tell you."
Shen Feng, seeing that he had nothing else to do, said, "I'd be happy to hear it."
The old woman then began her story. It was a long tale about how the quack doctor's profession was passed down through generations, with each generation becoming worse than the last.
The first-generation quack doctor treated symptoms as they appeared, head pain with head treatment, foot pain with foot treatment. Although it couldn't cure the root cause, it at least had some effect.
The second-generation quack doctor treated head pain by treating the face and foot pain by treating the face. As long as the illness wasn't outwardly apparent, everything was fine.
The third-generation quack doctor chose the path of treating head pain by silencing the patient and foot pain by silencing the patient. As long as the patient couldn't speak, the facade could be maintained.
As for the current quack doctor, who was wolfing down cornmeal porridge, he was the fourth generation. Unable to pass the physician's qualification exam, he could only wander aimlessly in the village.
"Looking at him, it seems there won't be a next generation. A quack doctor is a quack doctor!" the old woman finally concluded.
Hearing this, Shen Feng frowned, unsure of what to say. This matter seemed beyond his imagination; generations of quack doctors were truly a strange tale.
However, Chu Zhaoyan, as if hearing a bizarre anecdote, pulled out her notebook and began to record it, clearly intending to spread the story because it was so ironic.
Shen Feng considered that there were only a dozen or so people here, and he certainly couldn't take them all with him. So, he directly said, "Old woman, thank you for your earlier reminder. When we set off tomorrow, we will leave you three hundred jin of cornmeal, which should be enough for you to eat for a while. From now on, you should either farm in the village or find a way to go to the city. In short, find a way to survive."
"Thank you so much, young man," the old woman said, thanking Shen Feng profusely. Shen Feng's offer to leave them some provisions was already a life-saving act.