The comet remained silent, only relentlessly unleashing heavenly tribulations.

"This humble old man pays his respects to the Supreme God!" The Earth God bowed respectfully, trembling with fear.

Song Yi cut to the chase: "Was this plague caused by Lü Yue of the Plague Department?"

The Earth God's face fell. He glanced around and lowered his voice, saying, "Your Majesty, I am aware! Some time ago, the Plague Emperor Haotian personally led the Plague Department's righteous gods to descend, using the pretext that the people of this place were disrespectful to Heaven and Earth and their hearts were corrupt, to unleash a plague as punishment. Today is the seventh day, and the entire city of Qufu, along with the surrounding villages and towns, has suffered no fewer than 100,000 dead and injured..."

Song Yi then asked, "Did these mortals who died from the plague die a violent death?"

The Earth God was taken aback, scratching his head: "This... Your Excellency, I only guide the souls of the dead to the City God Temple, where the City God and the judge will check the Book of Life and Death before making a decision. If Your Excellency wishes to verify, you will need to go to the City God Temple."

The City God Temple is located in the north of the city and is quite large. It used to be the most popular place of worship in the city. At this moment, the stone lions in front of the temple were covered with dust, and the temple door was ajar.

Before Song Yi even stepped into the temple, a gust of cold wind swept out from inside, and the two large doors suddenly swung open.

A group of ghostly soldiers stood on both sides, holding swords and spears, looking imposing.

Immediately afterwards, a middle-aged man dressed in a red python robe and wearing a black gauze hat strode out, followed by two judges, one in black and one in white, who were the City God of this place.

Upon seeing Song Yi, the City God dared not be negligent and bowed respectfully, saying, "This humble god was unaware of the arrival of the Star Lord and has failed to greet you properly. Please forgive me."

Song Yi returned the courtesy halfway and asked directly, "City God, there's no need for such formalities. I've come here only to investigate one matter: were these people who died from the plague destined to suffer this calamity, or did they die a violent death?"

The City God paused slightly, then turned to look at the civil judge behind him.

Judge Wen understood and immediately took out a thick book from his sleeve. The cover had the three large characters "Book of Life and Death" written on it, and it gleamed with a faint blue light.

The City God took the register and examined it personally. After a long while, he cupped his hands and said, "Reporting to the Star Lord, I have completed my investigation. Those who died in Qufu due to the plague did indeed die a violent death. Among these deceased were those who should have lived to sixty, seventy, and even ninety years old, but the plague sent down by the Plague Department caused them to perish prematurely. According to the laws of the Underworld, this should be considered a violent death."

"Since it was a violent death, it means it wasn't a decree personally issued by the Great Celestial Venerable!" Song Yi felt slightly relieved.

The Plague Department exists because it has responsibilities bestowed upon it by Heaven.

If the billions of humans in Jambudvipa are protected by the gods and enjoy favorable weather and freedom from disease and disaster year after year, the fortune of humanity will continue to increase, burning brighter and brighter like oil being poured into a raging fire.

But what goes up must come down; this is an immutable law.

If the spirit of humanity continues to rise without restraint, it will collapse suddenly when it reaches its peak, and the calamities it will face will only be more severe.

The function of the Plague Department and the Smallpox Department is to cool down the excessive heat of human fortune in a timely manner, so that it rises and falls in a balanced way, preventing the human race from encountering greater disasters in the future.

If this plague was a decree issued by the Great Celestial Venerable and carried out by the Plague Department, then the Book of Life and Death would have the vermilion annotation of the Heavenly Court's edict, and those mortals who died would not be considered to have died violent deaths, but rather it would be the will of Heaven.

If that's the case, Song Yi cannot intervene to save the patient, because doing so would be disobeying the Great Heavenly Venerable's decree and violating the Heavenly Laws.

With a sense of relief, Song Yi took up his broom and flew into the air without further delay.

From above, the entire city of Qufu was shrouded in a yellowish-green plague mist, resembling a stagnant pool.

He took a deep breath and poured all his divine power into the broom.

"go!"

With a sweep of the broom, a golden wave of light rippled outwards, like a spring breeze caressing the earth or clear water washing away dust, spreading outwards in all directions from the city wall as the center.

Wherever the golden light passed, the yellowish-green plague gas melted and disintegrated rapidly, as if hot snow had been poured on it.

The stench that had permeated the air was swept away, replaced by a fresh and gentle feeling, as if a gentle spring rain was falling and all things were coming back to life.

The people in the city felt a cool sensation enter their lungs, their previously blocked nasal passages instantly cleared, their feverish foreheads gradually cooled down, and their violent coughs and vomiting quickly subsided.

The deathly gray on the faces of those critically ill patients who were barely clinging to life slowly faded, replaced by a rosy glow.

When Xiqi conferred titles upon the gods, the two sages appointed Song Yi as having the ability to cleanse the world of its impurities.

The plague-inducing energy released by the Plague Department is naturally a stream of filth.

Of course, the main reason is that the plague that the Plague Department cast on mortals was not innate; otherwise, all the people in the city would have died the moment the plague struck, and there would have been no way for him to come and save them.

"That's a deity!"

"The gods have appeared! The gods have saved us!"

A deafening cheer erupted in the city, and countless people knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly to Song Yi's image in the sky, tears streaming down their faces.

But Song Yi knew that the broom was removing the plague from the city, but the people's bodies had been ravaged by the plague for so many days, and there were still residual toxins in their internal organs, and their meridians and blood had been greatly depleted.

It must be combined with medicinal treatment to achieve a true cure.

"Where is the Earth God?" Song Yi called out.

"This old man is here!" the Earth God hurriedly replied.

"Go to the mountains outside the city immediately and convey my decree, ordering the surrounding mountain gods to collect detoxifying herbs such as Bupleurum, dandelion, honeysuckle, and Coptis. The more Bupleurum the better. Once you have collected them, bring them here immediately without fail."

The Earth God obeyed the order, transformed into a wisp of green smoke, and disappeared underground in the blink of an eye.

The reason Song Yi emphasized the herb Bupleurum was because he remembered an old story.

Back then, Lü Yue used plague magic to besiege Xiqi, and the entire city's soldiers and civilians were infected with the disease, putting them in imminent danger.

Yang Jian was ordered to go to Huoyun Cave to seek medicine. The Human Emperor Shennong once told Yang Jian: Bupleurum can cure the cold and plague in the human world.

Before long, the sky above Qufu was filled with turbulent clouds.

Dozens of wisps of green smoke pierced the air and landed, transforming into several imposing deities clad in green armor and bearing either deer antlers or grass on their heads.

These are all mountain gods surrounding Qufu.

"We, your humble servants, are late. We hope you will forgive us, Star Lord."

The mountain gods bowed in unison, then opened their treasure bags, and a small mountain of herbs appeared out of thin air on the open ground.

The Bupleurum chinense was neatly bundled, and there were also detoxifying herbs such as Isatis indigotica, honeysuckle vine, and houttuynia cordata, making the selection even more complete than what Song Yi had ordered.

Although these mountain gods and local deities are of low rank, they are still local tyrants.

They probably know better than anyone else which medicinal herb grows in the mountains, rivers, and vegetation within a radius of hundreds of miles around Qufu.

In such a short time, he was able to gather such a large quantity of herbs, which was much more efficient than if he had to collect them himself.

"Thank you all for your hard work." Song Yi said calmly, but raised his hand to return the bow. "I will record your merits in saving the people and report them to the Southern Heaven Merit Bureau."