novelapdf Chapter 72 Spread
Chapter 72 Spread
A dream of the future.
After having breakfast, Zhou Qiuyuan prepared to head to the outskirts of the eastern city to see the Blackwater Swamp.
Just then, he heard a shout from afar: "The philanthropist Ma is giving away meat porridge! Don't miss it if you're passing by!"
Zhou Qiuyuan looked towards the south of the city and saw a large number of beggars and thin people holding bowls, forming a long, dark line.
Many people from well-off families who liked to take advantage of others disguised themselves and joined the group, hoping to get a free bowl of meat porridge.
Zhou Qiuyuan looked into the distance and could vaguely see several porridge distribution stalls.
Distribute porridge?
Rice prices in the city have skyrocketed, leaving many people so poor they can't afford to eat and haven't tasted meat in ages.
When they saw that someone in the city was distributing meat porridge, they called their friends and flocked to the scene.
Zhou Qiuyuan didn't think much of it and made his way to the East Gate.
Just like yesterday, fighting still broke out outside the East City, with both sides fighting to the death.
Zhou Qiuyuan didn't want to be implicated, so he turned around and left without hesitation, heading all the way to Xicheng.
The area outside the west gate was quite deserted. Because of the porridge distribution, there were far fewer scavengers than before, and I didn't see many people.
The farmland outside the city had been trampled by something, causing severe damage to vegetable and medicinal herb fields, which the serfs were now frantically trying to harvest.
Zhou Qiuyuan walked about twenty miles west and saw three wild wolves in the distance.
The three wolves were ordinary wild animals, their bodies not yet mutated. Upon seeing Zhou Qiuyuan, they bared their teeth and tried to intimidate him.
Zhou Qiuyuan intended to ignore it, but then he seemed to notice something and looked at the wolf's back a few more times, where he could vaguely see small sores.
This is... a human-faced sore!
Zhou Qiuyuan stretched out his finger and pointed it at the wild wolf. A solid purple sword light quickly condensed at his fingertip.
The next moment, the sword light flew out of his hand and accurately hit the lead wolf.
The other two wolves, seeing their companion die tragically, fled in terror, but their escape speed was no match for the Spirit Rhinoceros Sword Pointing technique, and they too fell to the ground and died one after another.
Sure enough!
Zhou Qiuyuan carefully examined the wolf carcass and saw even more human-faced sores, his face turning grim.
The three wolves were just ordinary wild animals, no match for the zebu cattle. How did they get infected with human-faced sores?
Zhou Qiuyuan dug a pit in the ground and quickly buried the three wolf corpses to prevent the human-faced sores from spreading.
He followed the wolf tracks on the ground and searched around until he finally found the carcass of a zebu in one place.
The flesh of the zebu was gone, leaving only bones and blood-stained fur.
Three wolves devoured the flesh and blood from the carcass of the zebu, which is how it turned into its current form.
Zhou Qiuyuan searched the vicinity again but found no trace of other wild or strange animals, and was unsure how the zebu had died.
He circled around the western city several more times, but unfortunately, he was unlucky and did not encounter a single strange beast.
Zhou Qiuyuan glanced at the already late sky and returned to Black Swamp City.
Swish!
Along the way, I could hear the rubbing sounds of scratching my skin from time to time.
He looked up and saw a small, inconspicuous sore on the neck of a person not far away.
This is... a human-faced sore!
Zhou Qiuyuan had personally experienced laughing sores and was all too familiar with them. The feeling of sores constantly sprouting from his body was a nightmare he would never forget.
How did this person contract the human-faced sore?
Zhou Qiuyuan looked into the distance and saw that another person was doing the same.
"Have you eaten any meat recently, or been in contact with anything?" Zhou Qiuyuan took out ten coins and casually tossed them over.
The old man happily accepted the ten coins, and the itching on his body seemed to lessen a bit.
"My family is so poor we can't even afford to eat. We haven't had meat in a long time."
"By the way, I had a bowl of meat porridge at Ma Dashanren's porridge shop this morning."
Ma Dashanren's meat porridge?
Zhou Qiuyuan's face was grim as he unknowingly arrived at Chen's General Store.
Zhou Hui was arranging goods, her hands unconsciously scratching at her clothes. "Sir, what would you like to buy?"
Hearing footsteps, she thought a guest had arrived, but when she saw it was her younger brother, she quickly smiled and said, "Xiao Yuan, what brings you here?"
Zhou Qiuyuan glanced at the inconspicuous sore on the back of Zhou Hui's neck and asked in a deep voice, "Did you have meat porridge at Ma Dashan's shop?"
Zhou Hui sighed and said, "When your brother-in-law heard there was a good deal to be had, he brought his whole family and got five bowls of meat porridge."
Seeing her brother's increasingly gloomy expression, she realized something was wrong. "What's wrong?"
Zhou Qiuyuan forced a smile and said, "Quite a few people went to get meat porridge today. I thought you had gone too, but I was just asking casually."
He chatted with Zhou Hui for a few more minutes before leaving in a hurry.
So many people developed facial sores after drinking Ma Dashan's meat porridge, so the porridge must be problematic.
Based on the zebu carcass he found outside the city, Zhou Qiuyuan could easily guess that it was Ma Dashan who killed the zebu and, under the guise of charity, mixed zebu meat into the porridge.
This kind of meat is extremely evil, and there is also a malevolent sore called the Human-Faced Sore. After being deliberately spread by evil people, the Human-Faced Sore will break out in the city at an alarming speed.
That's so vicious!
Once the human-faced sores spread within the city, they become extremely difficult to prevent.
Zhou Qiuyuan might have been able to avoid it if he had been careful, but Zhou Hui and her brother-in-law's family fell victim to it that very day.
Once the human-faced sores break out in the city, even if Zhou Chengwu and Shen Wan take precautions, they will probably not be able to escape unscathed.
If no problem had been found, that would have been fine, but now that we have encountered one, we cannot simply ignore it.
As long as the source of the problem is found in the dream in the future, and the authorities are notified in reality, this matter can be handed over to them to solve, allowing them to cut off the source of the problem.
Having made up his mind, Zhou Qiuyuan wasted no time and headed straight for the South District.
Before long, he saw the soup kitchen, where people were coming and going.
After finding out where Ma Dashan's house was, they secretly sneaked in.
Although Zhou Qiuyuan's Wind Listening Technique has not yet reached perfection, he can still hear heartbeats and breathing sounds within ten feet, thus determining where people are.
Having evaded the guards and servants, he easily sneaked into the kitchen.
In the kitchen, ten large pots were filled with porridge broth, bloodstains were on the floor, and a severed finger with fleshy sores resembling a human face was in the corner.
Zhou Qiuyuan took a deep breath. Now that the source of the pollution had been found, he would leave the rest to the authorities.
Without hesitation, he turned and left decisively.
Just then, his killing intent senses detected a strong killing aura approaching him, and he subconsciously looked in that direction.
A familiar figure in green robes appeared not far away.
This is the cultivator who is suspected to be from the Chu family of Tianqiao City.
How did he end up here?
Could the spread of human-faced sores in the city be related to this person?
"Hey, a little bug has sneaked into the house!"
Green vines tore through the ground and began to coil around Zhou Qiuyuan.