Chapter 10

Faber in Sachon Family - Chapter 10 (10/187)

Reverse Interview 5

When the girl regained consciousness, the old man from Chilsan immediately checked her condition.

He then immediately asked the village chief to gather the sick people again.

"Since the effect is better than expected, could you gather the sick people again?"

"Ah, I understand!"

As the village chief was about to run out to do as the old man from Chilsan asked, he shouted to stop him.

"Wait!"

Chagas disease has an incubation period, and even if someone is infected, only about 20-30% develop severe symptoms.

Therefore, if the medicine was to be taken, everyone in the village needed to take it.

There would be many more carriers than those who showed symptoms.

"How is this, young swordsman?"

"Sir, if the medicine can be given to everyone in the village, it must be given to everyone. Since it doesn't cause immediate illness, we can't determine who is sick or when they will get sick."

The old man from Chilsan, after rechecking the girl's condition, nodded his head.

"Hmm... Then we need to mix it with water and distribute it. It seems the girl was given a bit too much."

It seems that after checking the girl, he concluded that dissolving parasites didn't require as strong a component as dissolving gu (蠱).

Thus, under the village chief's instructions, people gathered in front of the village chief's house in the middle of the night.

The head of the Sachon Family, the old man from Chilsan, mixed the Wu Gu Rong Hua Dan (巫蠱熔化團) with water and gave a spoonful to everyone in the village.

This was to treat both the patients and the carriers.

"Ah! They are regaining consciousness!"

"The fever is gone, and they are feeling clear-headed!"

"Thank you, truly a savior of the village!"

"Sniff, sniff..."

As the old man from Chilsan had said, even after distributing the medicine mixed with water, quite a few people regained consciousness or recovered their condition.

Although the old man was a bit overenthusiastic, it was enough to feel the effect.

When the people gathered and praised the old man's medical skills, he shook his head and said,

"I just distributed the medicine. It's all thanks to this young swordsman. If he hadn't identified the cause, it would have been difficult. So, the true savior of your village is this young swordsman."

"Thank you, young swordsman!"

"Thank you, young swordsman!"

"The young swordsman is our village's savior!"

In a black company, it's common for a superior to steal the achievements of an intern, but the old man from Chilsan, despite treating the people with his own medicine, gave me the credit.

I revised my evaluation of the Sachon Family.

Giving credit to subordinates means he has good character.

It means he would be a good superior.

'+100 points. The old man from Chilsan seems like a good person, even though he slapped me.'

That way, the village, which was on the brink of death, regained its vitality.

Of course, many people regained consciousness, but it didn't mean everyone was fully recovered.

Chagas disease, caused by parasitic invasion, can lead to organ malformation and enlargement, as well as central nervous system abnormalities. Therefore, those who collapsed likely had a high probability of developing permanent issues in their heart or organs.

Even if all the parasites causing Chagas disease were killed, the already enlarged heart or organs couldn't be restored.

In my previous life, if the heart enlarged for various reasons, the only treatment was a heart transplant.

But in this era, a heart transplant was impossible, so most people would have to live with disabilities.

The village chief's granddaughter was one of the luckier cases.

She collapsed due to her weak physical strength, but since her heart hadn't developed major issues, after taking the Wu Gu Rong Hua Dan (巫蠱熔化團), her irregular heartbeat disappeared.

The old man checked her pulse several times and concluded that there was no problem with her heart, which was somewhat reassuring.

After giving a spoonful of the medicine to everyone in the village, the old man said to the village chief with a regretful look,

"It seems there's nothing we can do for those whose hearts are already severely affected. When I return to Sachon, I'll mention it to the Medicine Immortal (醫仙) and the Medicine Immortal (藥仙). Since this is a disease caused by parasites, they might come out of curiosity."

According to the old man from Chilsan, there are two famous doctors in the Central Plains: the Medicine Immortal and the Medicine Immortal.

They are described as immortals of medicine and immortals of medicine.

He was asking the village chief to have them take a look at the villagers.

The village chief, with a grateful expression, replied,

"No, no. This is already a great help. I thought everyone would die, but it's a relief that they are alive."

The atmosphere became warm.

The joyful voices of the villagers who had regained consciousness and recovered filled the night, but I reminded them that the work wasn't over yet.

There was still the most important task left.

"Don't celebrate yet, elders. The work isn't over."

"What do you mean, young swordsman?"

"Oh, right. It's not over yet."

The village chief, tilting his head in confusion.

The old man from Chilsan seemed to understand my meaning and first checked how long the effect of the Wu Gu Rong Hua Dan (巫蠱熔化團) would last.

I hoped it would have a lasting effect.

"Yes, sir. How long does the effect of the Wu Gu Rong Hua Dan (巫蠱熔化團) last?"

"Originally, when taken, it not only dissolves the gu but also prevents it from settling in the body for about three months. Since it was mixed with water and distributed, it might last about two weeks."

Fortunately, the effect lasted for two weeks.

I asked the village chief,

"This disease is transmitted by insect bites. If they are bitten again in two weeks, what will happen?"

"Oh, right. We need to get rid of all the insects! Young swordsman."

Yes, the kissing bugs hide in the roofs and crevices of houses and come out at night to bite people.

The Yao people in Hainan Island use palm leaves to thatch their roofs, so there were likely many kissing bugs living in the crevices.

These bugs look like cicadas but belong to the bed bug family, so their main habitats are the roofs and crevices near houses.

I asked the old man from Chilsan, who prides himself as a poison expert,

"Sir, do you have any poison to kill insects?"

Since he boasted about his knowledge of poisons, I thought he might have something to deal with insects.

We needed to make insecticides.

And something to prevent insects from approaching.

The old man smiled at my question.

"Is that what you mean? At our main house, we have Chong Chong Ju (除蟲菊) from the Western Regions, but we don't have it here. So, let's boil and sprinkle the bark of the cinnamon tree (桂皮) and the fruit of the Sichuan pepper (山椒).

These are very effective against insects. They act as poisons to insects. They will die if they come into direct contact, and they won't approach even if they just smell it. That should be enough."

'Ah, right. I remember cinnamon and Sichuan pepper were used as insecticides in the past.'

A memory from my previous life when I studied insects and venomous creatures.

The old man's words reminded me that the eugenol in cinnamon and the sanshol in Sichuan pepper have excellent insecticidal properties.

"Yes, I remember hearing about it. Village chief, could you gather cinnamon and Sichuan pepper? Let's boil them in water and sprinkle them around the houses, roofs, and crevices in the village.

And hang cinnamon and Sichuan pepper in the beds to prevent kissing bugs from coming close while people sleep."

"Understood, young swordsman. I'll gather cinnamon and Sichuan pepper!"

The village chief's urgent call started a large-scale pest control operation in the entire village.

"Gather cinnamon and Sichuan pepper! Today! We will kill all these evil insects!"

An excited pest control operation by the villagers.

The operation to eliminate the kissing bugs, which come at night and leave sinister kisses, began, and soon the entire village was filled with the faint scent of cinnamon and Sichuan pepper.

***

The noisy pest control operation of the previous night should have made everyone tired, but the village in the morning was in a complete festival atmosphere.

No, it was a festival.

It was as if the fact that they had treated us poorly the day before didn't exist, and a village festival was being held.

We were invited to a place like a village hall early in the morning, even though we were tired from staying up late.

A long table with bamboo trays.

On the trays were various dishes, including meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables.

"This is our Yao people's welcome feast, Chang Zhuo Yan (长桌宴). Please eat heartily, saviors. We are truly sorry for yesterday!"

"We are truly sorry!"

The Chang Zhuo Yan, a feast with a long history and tradition.

As the name suggests, it involves sitting at a long table and eating the dishes prepared for each person.

For someone who usually eats lizards, snakes, and rice or vegetables grown in the village or behind the temple, it was truly delicious.

I usually sold snake skins to buy meat, but I could only afford rice.

So, this was the first home-cooked meal I had since my rebirth.

'How nice. I never thought home-cooked meals could make me so happy.'

As I greedily ate the dishes like when I ate deer meat, the village women gathered around, smiling and serving more food.

"Young swordsman, would you like more meat?"

"Yes? Yes, thank you!"

"Try more fish. They are quite delicious."

"Oh, even more fish!"

As the old man from Chilsan and the warriors enjoyed the food and drinks, the village chief, who was sitting with us, asked cautiously with a very apologetic look.

"Sir, about what you said at the village entrance yesterday."

"About what I said at the village entrance?"

"You mentioned that you were looking for a village where people had disappeared."

"Oh, right. Why is that?"

While we were busy curing the Yao people, our original goal was to find the hiding place of the great demon Zhaoyunyang, who practiced the Blood Hand Demon (血手羅刹) martial art.

To master the Blood Hand Demon martial art, he needed human blood and bone marrow, so we were looking for a village where a large number of people had disappeared.

Thus, when the village chief asked, the old man from Chilsan nodded, and the village chief, with a brightened face, replied,

"I have no way to repay your kindness, so I looked into it, thinking it might be helpful. I heard a strange story."

"A strange story?"

"Yes, among the women who regained consciousness last night, there was one who had married into the village from another place. She said that a few years ago, her hometown experienced a strange phenomenon where people started disappearing one by one..."

We all looked at each other, seemingly having the same thought.

'There it is!'

"So, where is it!?"

"That place is over there..."

The village chief pointed west in response to the old man from Chilsan's urgent question.

***

Ghost Village.

The Yao village in the southwestern mountains of Hainan Island, which we arrived at after the village chief's information, was a ghost village.

There was not a single living person in sight.

"There's not a single person in sight?"

"It feels like they left the village in a hurry. Although it seems old, the items are still inside the houses."

"However, if a strange phenomenon where people disappeared occurred, they would have fled and informed the surrounding areas, which is strange."

Even if the demon was a fearsome and cruel person, the village seemed to have had about two hundred people.

Feeling the strangeness of the completely deserted village, we continued our search up the mountain.

When we were almost at the top of the mountain, a foul smell hit us.

The old man from Chilsan, with a darkened expression, muttered to himself,

"Corpse odor..."

And he quickly darted into the forest using light steps.

Corpse odor means the smell of decaying bodies.

I, along with other warriors from the Sachon Family, followed, pushing through the underbrush in the direction the old man had gone.

We then came upon a large cave.

A large cave entrance blocked by bamboo bars appeared.

"Here?"

"Ugh. This, this!"

At the clearing next to the cave, there were bones from skeletons to bodies that had died not long ago.

Numerous bodies were piled up.

Worms were hatching from the bodies, and many insects and venomous creatures had gathered to eat the worms.

Even snakes were there to eat the insects.

And there were dead snakes and venomous creatures, with insects laying eggs on them.

A hell of life and death repeating itself.

A terrifying scene unfolded.

"Even poison has emerged..."

"Terrible. Young swordsman, don't look!"

'No, if you were going to block it, you should have done it earlier...'

The warriors from the Sachon Family tried to block my view, but I had already seen the gruesome scene.

It was like witnessing a live mass slaughter from a documentary in my previous life.

It was so unreal that I couldn't believe these were real bodies.

After a moment, we regained our composure, broke the bamboo bars, and searched inside the cave for any survivors, but we found none in the cave, which was stained with filth.

According to the old man from Chilsan, the presence of recently deceased bodies suggested that the last survivor had been alive until recently, and it was likely that the demon had killed everyone after mastering his martial art.

Thus, he thought the demon might have attacked the old man from Chilsan.

The old man's father was a very fearsome person, and attacking him meant not fearing him.

'Good riddance.'

Feeling depressed for a moment due to the terrifying scene and the lack of survivors.

However, a cave where the demon had lived was found right next to the cave, and the old man from Chilsan and the warriors from the Sachon Family continued searching to recover the secret manual.

While I was sitting and watching the insects and snakes crawling into the cave entrance.

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings.

-Flap.

Turning my head at the loud sound, I saw a large bird land on the pile of bodies.

"Huh? Was there such a bird?"

I'm not an expert on birds, but I've seen many, and I had never seen this one before.

The bird was as large as a big eagle, with long legs and purple feathers that reflected light, giving off a greenish glow. The golden feathers on its head resembled a king's crown.

What was even more peculiar was that, at first, I thought it was going to eat the bodies, but it was walking among them, cutting off and swallowing the heads of the snakes that were crawling around.

As I stared at this scene in a daze,

One of the warriors, who had finished searching, approached.

"Young swordsman, what are you doing? Huh!? That bird? It can't desecrate the bodies further."

Thinking the bird was going to eat the bodies, the warrior took a few steps forward, picked up a stone, and threw it at the bird.

It seemed he thought the bird was a scavenger like a crow.

-Clunk!

-Caw!

Instead of flying away in surprise, the bird let out a loud cry and looked at the warrior with red eyes.

It seemed to be glaring.

The warrior picked up another stone and threw it at the bird.

"Annoying beast!"

-Flap!

The bird started to take off, and at the same time, a strange phenomenon began.

As if a shadow had fallen over the ground,