Stone Fairy!

On the afternoon of the fourth day, the outline of Yunmei City finally came into view.

Xie Ning slowed down.

The scenery outside the city was worse than when she left.

The city wall was still the same wall, majestic and tall, its dark blue bricks gleaming heavily in the afternoon sun. But at the base of the wall, on both sides of the city gate, and in the open space along the moat, shacks were densely packed together.

Those shacks were simply pieced together from bamboo poles, wooden planks, and rags. They were crooked and dilapidated, with the largest being no more than ten feet long and the smallest just big enough for one person to curl up and lie down.

The shacks were almost packed together, one after another, stretching out from both sides of the city gate as far as the eye could see.

These are all refugees, but there are just too many of them.

Their clothes were tattered, their faces were sallow, and their eyes were sunken. The children ran barefoot in the mud, their bodies filthy, making it impossible to distinguish between mud and skin.

The air was filled with an indescribable odor that was unbearable.

It hasn't been long, and there are already so many.

The old turtle perched on her shoulder, its emerald eyes sweeping over the shacks, and said in a low voice, "The flooding downstream is probably more serious than we anticipated."

Xie Ning quickened his pace and headed towards the city gate.

After walking a few steps, a commotion suddenly arose ahead.

The crowd stirred and parted to the sides, making way for a passage.

Xie Ning looked over and saw a group of soldiers in black armor walking out of the city. They were escorting several wooden carts with people lying on them, covered with straw mats so that their faces could not be seen.

Behind the wooden cart followed several refugees, men and women, their wrists bound with ropes.

They struggled and cried out, refusing to move forward.

"Let me go! I'm not sick! I'm not sick!" A middle-aged woman struggled desperately, the rope digging into her wrists and drawing blood. Her face was streaked with tears, and her hair was disheveled.

"Please, please spare my grandson! He's still so young, he's not sick..." An elderly woman with white hair knelt on the ground, holding a five or six-year-old child, crying and trembling.

The child didn't understand what was happening; he was just terrified and cried loudly, his little hands tightly clutching the old woman's clothes.

A soldier in black armor knelt down, pried open the old woman's hands, and picked up the child.

The child struggled desperately, kicking his little feet wildly in the air, crying until his voice was hoarse. The old woman collapsed to the ground, reaching out as if to grab something, but grasping nothing.

Several people took cloth bags from their waists, pulled out some grayish-white powder, and sprinkled it on the isolated refugees.

The powder permeated the air, emitting a pungent medicinal odor.

The surrounding refugees retreated hastily, covering their mouths and noses, avoiding the area as if they were doomed, their eyes filled with fear.

Xie Ning's face darkened.

She strode forward and found a black-armored junior officer giving instructions.

When the junior officer saw the person in front of him clearly, he froze, quickly loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and bowed his head in greeting.

"Sir!"

Xie Ning had been fighting floods on the front lines with Xie Tian for some time, and since she held a military rank, all the soldiers recognized her.

"What's going on here?" Xie Ning pointed to the refugees who were tied up with ropes, and then to the people covered with straw mats on the wooden carts.

The junior officer's face was somewhat bitter, and he lowered his voice and said, "Sir, this is a plague outbreak."

"A large number of migrants came from downstream a few days ago, and some of them were already sick on the way. At first, they only had fever and cough, and no one paid attention to it, thinking it was just from being tired from traveling."

"As a result, within a few days, those who fell ill began to vomit blood, develop black spots on their bodies, and died one after another."

The junior officer lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard by the refugees: "The doctor in the city examined me and said it's a plague, and it's contagious."

"The city lord ordered that all those who have been infected or have been in contact with patients be quarantined and sent to a temporary camp outside the city, and that they be prevented from entering the city."

Xie Ning's gaze swept over the refugees bound by ropes, and the common people standing far away with fear in their eyes.

Her complexion was not good.

If an epidemic breaks out and cannot be controlled, many people will likely die.

Yunmei City was already struggling due to floods and displaced people, and the plague was like adding insult to injury.

As she was pondering this, a voice suddenly came from behind her.

"I can cure this disease."

Xie Ning looked over upon hearing this and saw that it was Li Qing who had spoken.

"Can you cure it?" Xie Ning's voice carried a hint of uncertainty.

"Yes." Li Qing nodded, her tone firm: "My village once encountered a similar plague. Many people died, but my master cured them using Gu worms."

He paused, then added, "I learned his method."

The old turtle perched on Xie Ning's shoulder, its emerald green eyes narrowing slightly as it glanced at Li Qing and then at the green snake.

Both of them can heal, but they can only heal a small number of people at a time, and it takes a lot of spiritual energy.

If there are thousands or tens of thousands of people, even if the two of them work themselves to death, they still can't cure them all.

Li Qing's Gu worms are different. Gu worms can be cultivated in batches and released on a large scale, making them much more efficient at treating plagues than other types of Gu worms.

Xie Ning took a deep breath and looked at Li Qing with a serious expression.

"There's no rush."

"There are more important things to do."

Xie Ning led Li Qing back to the many courtyards of the Xie family mansion, and they arrived at the gate of that quiet and secluded villa.

The courtyard gate was half-open, and the sound of rustling bamboo leaves could be heard from inside.

Xie Ning pushed open the door.

Everything in the courtyard was the same as before I left: stone tables and benches, artificial hills and flowing water, and the branches and leaves of the old locust tree casting a dense shadow in the afternoon sun.

Daozhen sat by the stone table, holding an ancient book in his hand, looking down at it.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the locust tree, falling on his white robe like scattered gold dust. His hair was casually tied back with a wooden hairpin, a few stray strands falling across his forehead and gently swaying in the breeze.

Daozhen heard the sound of the courtyard gate, raised his head, shifted his gaze from the ancient book to Xie Ning, and smiled slightly.

"You're back?"

The voice was calm and gentle, like a warm breeze in spring. Xie Ning's fatigue from days of travel seemed to ease the moment he heard those two words.

"Yes, I'm back." Xie Ning responded, stepping aside to reveal Li Qing behind her.

Daozhen's gaze fell on Li Qing.

Standing at the courtyard gate, Li Qing looked at the white-robed Taoist sitting under the tree and couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

A refined and otherworldly aura is not something that can be deliberately cultivated; it is a natural quality that emanates from within.

The person sat there like a white stone in a mountain stream, washed clean by the flowing water for thousands of years, pure and cold, yet making people feel warm.

Li Qing stepped forward, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed respectfully.

"senior."

The turtle jumped off Xie Ning's shoulder and landed on the stone table, stretching out its four legs and basking in the sun. The green snake slid off Xie Ning's wrist and coiled itself on the corner of the stone table, its tail tip swaying gently.

Daozhen looked at Li Qing and nodded slightly.

"It's alright, have a seat."