Chapter 409: The More You Know Lin Beifan, the More Terrifying He Becomes!
So, in order to achieve his own immortality, the Great Yan Emperor spared no effort, regardless of the lives of the common people, to collect the words of heaven and earth and refine the elixir of immortality.
This led to unrest among the people, and grievances were on the rise! “The days are already so difficult, and he’s still thinking about his own immortality dream?”
“His Majesty must have been misled by sorcery, he’s lost his mind!”
“For the sake of his own immortality dream, he’s wasting the people’s resources and disregarding their lives… a foolish ruler! A truly foolish ruler!”
“Great Yan has no hope left; we can’t survive these days, so we might as well revolt!”
“Yes! Let’s revolt against him!”
As a result, farmers from all over the country rose up in rebellion, and chaos swept across the nation.
The Great Yan Emperor was extremely angry and sent out his armies to suppress the uprisings. Meanwhile, monarchs from other countries, knowing about the legend of the Elixir of Immortality that the Great Yan Emperor was said to be refining, sent experts and spies to the capital of Great Yan to gather information, determined to obtain the alchemical secrets of Divine Elixir.
The first to act was the Emperor of Great Xia.
He was already quite old and didn’t have many years left. Especially after experiencing a severe ice disaster, his health had declined significantly. Therefore, he was very eager to obtain such a divine elixir to extend his lifespan, or even achieve immortality. So, he sent one of his grandmasters and many other experts to the capital of Great Yan, ready to seize the opportunity.
The Emperor of the Dayue Dynasty did the same, sending many skilled individuals. Even the King of the White Elephant Kingdom, despite his weak power and the turmoil within his own country, still held the desire for immortality and dispatched some capable individuals to Great Yan.
Some ambitious figures from the martial world and other experts also dared to come.
All the events and conflicts in the world converged on the capital of Great Yan. They learned that even though the previous alchemical attempt had failed, the Great Yan Emperor was not willing to give up. He wanted to collect materials and refine the elixir of immortality once again, and they followed suit in gathering the necessary ingredients.
Whatever the Great Yan collected, they collected as well. They did this not only to make it easier for themselves to refine elixirs but also to hinder the Great Yan Emperor’s pursuit of immortality.
They learned that the Elixir of Immortality came from the Great Yan Imperial Teacher. Due to his extraordinary actions, he is currently recovering from severe injuries within the palace. Therefore, they dispatched experts to infiltrate the Great Yan Palace, hoping to persuade the reclusive Imperial Teacher to leave with them.
They also discovered signs of several grandmasters visiting the palace at night. To prevent others from succeeding, the Great Yan Emperor sent many skilled individuals, including a court protector, to keep watch over the Imperial Teacher day and night for twelve hours.
Empty Void Daoist had no freedom whatsoever. Even when he needed to relieve himself, he felt like someone was watching his every move, making even such a simple act quite challenging.
Even the Empress was puzzled. “A fake Elixir of Immortality has stirred up all this turmoil in the world! Sir Lin, you really know how to cause chaos! Each of your moves is grand and dramatic, turning the world upside down over and over again!”
“If I didn’t know the truth, I might not have been able to resist either!” she continued, still shaken. “Fortunately, Sir Lin is my man, loyal to Great Wu! If he were from another country, my Great Wu would have been in trouble long ago!” The Empress couldn’t help but express her relief.
The more she understood Lin Beifan, the more terrifying he seemed. Despite having incredible strength that could easily dominate, he chose to play the game of intrigue. Each of his moves was meticulously calculated, making it impossible to defend against, even when people knew it was a trap. His manipulations were truly fearsome!
“Fortunately, he’s mine!” the Empress said proudly, gazing towards the cabin. There, Lin Beifan was diligently reviewing reports.
Although he wasn’t the Emperor, he had almost exercised the Emperor’s authority. With the emergence of the Elixir of Immortality, monarchs from various countries pursued their dreams of immortality, disregarding the lives of their commoners and depleting resources. As a result, the world became even more chaotic.
Amidst this chaos, Great Wu remained stable, peaceful, and prosperous, like an oasis in the turmoil. More people from other countries flocked to Great Wu to seek a better life.
Great Wu welcomed people from all walks of life, as long as they had skills and were willing to work diligently. If you had expertise and were capable, willing to contribute to Great Wu, you were welcome.
The overall quality of Great Wu’s citizens was slowly improving, and everything seemed promising. However, at this moment, Lin Beifan and the Empress were still enjoying themselves, touring Great Wu, enjoying the scenery, and having a great time.
After a few days, they finally arrived in the eastern part of the country. This region had been firmly under the control of the court, experienced fewer disasters, and received the most support from the imperial government. Therefore, it was flourishing and prosperous. The Empress and her companions were quite satisfied with what they saw.
The Empress laughed and said, “This is how Great Wu should be! If the whole world were like the eastern region, with people living in peace and prosperity, we’d have an era of peace and prosperity!”
Lin Beifan smiled and replied, “Now that we have unified Great Wu, achieved social stability, and have the officials and the people working together, we are in an unprecedented period of transformation. We need stability for development, and our days will only get better!”
The Empress burst into laughter, filled with ambition. “Sir Lin, you’re absolutely right! Our days will only get better! I, through my own efforts, will create an era of peace and prosperity!”
Just then, they noticed something unusual. They saw a group of people queuing up to enter a medical clinic, their expressions filled with pain.
“What’s going on? Can someone please tell me?” They all looked at the local magistrate, but even he shook his head and said, “I’ve only just found out about it, and I’m not sure about the reasons. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!”
The Empress didn’t blame the local magistrate, as there were indeed too many matters to attend to.
“Let’s go and take a look!”
They arrived at the front of the medical clinic, and their faces grew even more astonished. Not only were there many patients outside the clinic, but there also appeared to be similar symptoms among the patients inside.
This situation seemed to be quite serious.
At this moment, due to the Empress and her group’s discreet visit, the patients didn’t recognize them.
The local magistrate waved for one of his officials to go inside. Soon, an elderly doctor with a white beard came out. Seeing the local magistrate, he was taken aback and quickly bowed, “This humble one pays respects to the…”
The local magistrate interrupted him, “Now is not the time for formalities! Come and explain to me and these esteemed guests what’s going on here.”
“Yes, sir,” the doctor bowed again.
He glanced at Lin Beifan and the others and, although he couldn’t recognize them, their luxurious clothing and noble demeanor indicated they were people of wealth and status. Having the local magistrate personally accompany them was beyond his expectations and something he couldn’t afford to offend.
So, he explained, “In recent days, we’ve received a large number of patients from Embroidery Village seeking medical treatment. Their symptoms are mostly the same: fever, cough, wheezing, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, among other things. There are approximately 50 people with these symptoms, and we’ve learned from them that there are about 30 more in Embroidery Village who are experiencing the same condition but haven’t come here due to mobility issues.”
“To have nearly 80 people with the same illness in the same village is quite serious,” Lin Beifan said with a serious expression. “What disease is this? Do you have any conclusions?”
The doctor shook his head slightly. “Because the symptoms are similar, there is currently no conclusion. However, we’ve contacted several renowned doctors in the city to discuss this illness together. We believe we will have a conclusion soon. At the same time, we’ve reported this matter to the authorities in the hope of drawing their attention.”
“This matter may be more serious than you think,” the Empress said seriously. “Take us to Embroidery Village to see.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the local magistrate bowed.
“Your Majesty?” The doctor was astonished.
“This person here is the current Emperor of Great Wu,” the local magistrate introduced.
The doctor’s eyes widened. “It’s actually Your Majesty! Oh my, I’m ignorant and couldn’t recognize the Empress. Please forgive me.”
“No harm done. Let’s go to Embroidery Village,” the Empress urged.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
So, the local magistrate gathered some well-known doctors from the city, and they all went to Embroidery Village to examine the patients and gather information.
After half an hour, they finally arrived at Embroidery Village. At this moment, there was a doctor treating patients under a makeshift tent.
Lin Beifan’s gaze swept over and saw there were more than 50 people, 20 more than what the doctor had mentioned. Most of them were young and had similar symptoms of coughing, wheezing, abdominal discomfort, and diarrhea.
“These are all new patients! They were fine just last night, but overnight, they became like this. It’s truly a disaster!” the doctor treating them said.
“It does look severe. If not resolved promptly, it could cause panic among the people and endanger the lives of the city’s residents. What conclusions have you reached, and how can we treat it?” Lin Beifan asked seriously.
“We can’t make a conclusive diagnosis yet due to the similarities in symptoms. As for treatment, it will vary from person to person. However, after discussing it, we suspect that it might be… a Gu Worm Disease.”
“A Gu Worm Disease?” Lin Beifan frowned. “Gu Worm Disease, also known as Gu Poison, is mentioned in the ‘Zhou Hou Fang.’ It’s caused by the imbalance of seasons and the invasion of damp and toxic qi, gradually affecting the meridians and organs, just like when Gu insects infest a person’s body…”
After quoting the text, the doctor continued, “When I was young and traveling the country as a wandering physician, I encountered this disease quite commonly in the Southern Jiang region, so I’ve reached this conclusion.”
“Yes, I also believe it’s Gu Worm Disease! Normally, it’s more prevalent in the summer and autumn seasons and is usually found in the Southern Jiang area. However, it’s spring now, and it’s occurring in Northern Jiang, so we’ve hesitated to make a conclusion.”
“But judging from the current situation, it does indeed seem to be Gu Worm Disease.”
Various doctors expressed their views. Lin Beifan grew increasingly puzzled. This sounded remarkably like… schistosomiasis?
