Chapter 2374: Chapter 2438: Controlling the Situation
"Aunt Wang, she..." Li Yifei asked.
Brother Wang’s face was full of grief as he said, "My mom... she’s gone!"
"My condolences. Can I take a look at Aunt Wang?" Li Yifei also sighed inwardly. If Chen JunXiao found out about this, he didn’t know how heartbroken she would be. One of the very few people in this world who treated her well, the old grandma who had truly pitied her these past few years, was gone. In the future, she wouldn’t even know who to repay.
Brother Wang wiped his tears, nodded, and said, "Of course. Mr. Li, when my mom passed, she was very peaceful. She just didn’t get up after a nap!"
"Mm. I... will first pay my respects." Li Yifei strode over to the coffin. Aunt Wang’s face was a bit pale, but there was indeed a touch of black qi gathered between her brows. Under the gazes of the people around, Li Yifei held Aunt Wang’s hand and said sadly, "Aunt Wang, I came to see you. It’s a pity I was one step too late!"
What a loyal and affectionate man, the Wang Family people around thought to themselves. They all understood it as Li Yifei regretting not seeing Aunt Wang one last time. But in reality, what Li Yifei was thinking was that if he had come yesterday, Aunt Wang probably wouldn’t have died, because the real culprit that killed her was that Evil qi. He didn’t know where this qi came from; it erupted out of nowhere and killed Aunt Wang.
Holding Aunt Wang’s hand, Li Yifei still thought of making a last effort. Unfortunately, the old woman was completely dead; her body was already stiff. So he only used True Qi to drive away the Evil qi, said a few words, and then let go of her hand.
"Brother Wang, my condolences." Li Yifei turned around and said.
Brother Wang finally couldn’t hold back and burst into tears. "Mr. Li, I will. It’s just... my poor mom, she only had a few good days, and then..."
"Those of us alive should enjoy more on behalf of the dead." Li Yifei grasped his hand; his True Qi entered and he found that Brother Wang once again had Evil qi in his body. It wasn’t dense, but it had already begun to affect him. Under such overwhelming grief, that Evil qi seemed to grow even stronger.
After clearing out the Evil qi, Li Yifei released his hand and said, "Brother Wang, come with me. I have something to say to you alone."
Brother Wang was slightly stunned, then nodded heavily. He followed Li Yifei into the house. After driving everyone else out, he said, "Mr. Li, I don’t know what you need to tell me?"
"Do you still remember a few days ago, when I helped treat your illness?" Li Yifei asked.
"I remember. After that, my body felt much better!" Although Brother Wang didn’t know what Li Yifei had done to him, he had indeed felt clear-headed and refreshed afterward.
"That was a kind of illness. You can think of it as an infectious disease; it’s contagious to everyone. You had already been infected with that illness, which was why your body was so weak, and that illness can be life-threatening, so..."
When Brother Wang heard this, his eyes immediately widened and he pressed, "Mr. Li, are you saying my mom also got that illness, and that’s why... she passed so suddenly? Then doesn’t that mean I infected her?"
"No, you didn’t infect her. Aunt Wang didn’t have that illness in her body before. As for the cause of the disease, I’m here to find that out. Don’t panic. I’m telling you this so that you don’t concern yourself with Aunt Wang’s matters for now. Mm, I know that might seem a little unfilial, but the living’s health is more important. Right now, call your family members over. I’ll check them one by one. Anyone carrying that illness, I’ll treat immediately. Once they’re treated, you’ll all pull out of the village first. I’ll have people arrange a place for you to stay. Don’t worry, you can take your bankbooks and such with you. If anything in your home ends up missing, I’ll compensate you for every last thing!"
"There’s no need for compensation. I understand what you mean, Mr. Li. You’re a good man. I’ll go call them in right away."
"Remember, tell them not to touch each other. I don’t know how this illness spreads, but if you can avoid physical contact, then don’t touch."
"Okay, okay!" Brother Wang forced down his grief, gathered the Wang Family people outside, and after getting everyone to quiet down, he repeated what Li Yifei had said. Naturally, the Wang Family were all shocked and then started asking questions in a flurry.
Brother Wang was actually quite authoritative. After he quieted everyone down, Li Yifei came over and checked them one by one. He found that some people did not have Evil qi in their bodies; either they were adult men in robust health or people who had just arrived. But those who had been living in the village all along were without exception all infected with Evil qi.
After clearing the Evil qi from those people’s bodies, Li Yifei led them toward the edge of the village. A group of people coming out naturally drew the attention of the other villagers, but when they saw Li Yifei, those people wisely chose not to follow.
There were still curious people trailing behind, though, so Li Yifei said to Brother Wang, "Brother Wang, go stop them. With me here, you don’t have to worry about that illness. I came precisely for this. I won’t let you be in danger again. Also, go ask whose patients are in more serious condition. If it’s convenient, carry them here to the village entrance. If it’s not, then take me over immediately!"
"Okay!" Brother Wang knew how serious this was and didn’t dither. He took the order and left at once. Several young men from the Wang Family went with him. After they understood the situation—that there was a terrifying infectious disease in the village—they were initially quite worried, but once they heard that Li Yifei could treat it, they calmed down and threw themselves into the rescue effort.
Li Yifei didn’t waste time either. He led the rest of the Wang Family to the village entrance and handed them over to Hu Yu’er, explained a few things, then turned back.
After thinking a moment, Li Yifei still pulled out his phone and reported what was happening here to Murong Yuanqing. The old man was shocked when he heard and quickly said, "You did the right thing. Seal that place off immediately. I’ll contact the local government and have the police move in and lock things down. Under no circumstances can this thing spread. I’ll rush over as soon as I can. Oh, I’ll contact Yao Lingfu right now; she’ll probably get there before me!"
"Got it. I’ll do my best to keep things under control and first figure out the cause!" Li Yifei said.
"You’re working hard. Alright, I’ll go make arrangements now!" Murong Yuanqing hung up after speaking. How things were being arranged on that end, Li Yifei didn’t know yet, but on his side he immediately plunged into the rescue work. Brother Wang hadn’t had a high status in the village before, but after the incident with Aunt Wang and Chen JunXiao, everyone in the village knew the Wang Family had hit the jackpot and latched onto the Hu Family’s high branch. With that relationship alone, the Wang Family could practically throw their weight around in the town, and even the town chief had to show him some respect, so naturally the villagers treated him very respectfully as well.
Brother Wang first went to the other two households with dead family members and called over the people in charge. He solemnly repeated what Li Yifei had said. When they heard there might be some kind of infectious disease, those people were terrified. Brother Wang’s face darkened as he said, "All of you calm down. With Mr. Li here, this illness can be cured. If anyone panics and ruins things, you’ll bear the consequences yourselves!"
"But... how do you treat this illness? My wife got sick for just a little while and then died. I... does that mean I’m infected too?" a man said in panic.
"I was infected too, but now I’m fine. It was all thanks to Mr. Li’s treatment," Brother Wang said.
"Then where is Mr. Li? Where is he? Brother Wang, I’m begging you, please have him save me too!" That man pleaded at once.
"Shut up. Asking you to come here is to save you. If you keep acting like this, don’t blame me for leaving you alone!"
"Okay, okay, I’ll shut up, I’ll shut up!" The man quickly said when he heard that.
When Li Yifei arrived, one of the families had already gathered everyone together in a line, with the elderly and children in front and the adults behind. Li Yifei nodded and checked them one by one. After clearing them, more than ten minutes had passed—this was already as fast as Li Yifei could go.
Meanwhile, over on Xu Shanshan and Hu Yu’er’s side, they also ran into people—several villagers were trying to leave the village. They seemed to have realized something was wrong, and when they saw so many cars and people at the village entrance, they panicked even more. After a round of checks, they found that all of them carried Evil qi.
Xu Shanshan cleared it out first, then had people take them away.
Li Yifei couldn’t be the one clearing Evil qi all the time either. His True Qi was a blazing yang energy, so it had a strong restraining effect on Evil qi. Xu Shanshan, on the other hand, had to expend more effort and consumed more energy. If Li Yifei took care of more of the clearing, Xu Shanshan could ease up a bit. Of course, if it were just the two of them, it would still be impossible to cleanse all three to four hundred people in the village in a short time. Even just checking each person one by one would take a long while.
This wouldn’t do. Li Yifei frowned slightly, looked at the heads of the few families, and said, "Send someone to get the village chief. You, take your family members out of the village first. Remember, absolutely no physical contact. Once you’re out, you can’t just wander around either. I’ve already had someone arrange a place. Go there and wait. Keep your own people in line—if anyone tries to sneak off and causes trouble, don’t blame me and the Hu Family for being ruthless!"
When they heard that, how could they not be afraid? They all nodded repeatedly, and only then did Li Yifei say, "The heads of a few families stay. From now on, I’ll treat the serious cases first. Those who aren’t too sick will have to wait a bit. As long as I’m here, no one else will die. But if anyone dares to make trouble at a time like this, don’t blame me for being rough!"
"Yes, Mr. Li, I’ll go right away!" With Brother Wang taking the lead, the others all nodded in succession. They quickly left, while Li Yifei calculated inwardly: "I’ve taken care of three households, but there are still more than fifty left, and this is only in one village. Even the air is full of Evil qi. It seems there’s a problem with that cave abode over there; otherwise it wouldn’t be this serious!"
The phone rang; it was Murong Yuanqing. "Yifei, I’m already on my way to the airport. Yao Lingfu has set out as well. Stabilize the situation first. I’ve already contacted the departments over in Southern Sky to mobilize. While you’re making sure ordinary people don’t die, also look into what’s causing this!"
"I’ll do my best. Right now roughly ninety percent of the people are infected. It’s really a bit tricky!" Li Yifei said bluntly.
"I know. Fortunately, you’re there. Try to buy us some time and don’t trigger public panic. I’ll hurry!" Murong Yuanqing said.
