By midday the next day, a row of carriages lined up outside the He Family’s gates. That morning, the entire household had come down with a strange illness—sudden weakness, vomiting, and diarrhea with no apparent cause.
Most doctors suspected an infectious disease. They only dared to enter wearing damp cloth masks, terrified of catching the sickness themselves.
As soon as the mysterious illness appeared, panic swept through the city. Lady Julie Zhou immediately ordered checkpoints set up around the He Family estate, allowing only doctors to pass.
Mr. Oblivion’s stomach growled, but he hadn’t touched the food laid out on the floor.
“Hmph. That bastard is unbelievable.”
Mr. Oblivion smiled. He could only wait until nightfall.
“When are you going to get my brother out of here?”
Xu Fu gave a faint, knowing smile in response to Sheng’s question.
“Don’t worry. Tonight, Wu will bring your brother food. He won’t go hungry. But you know, coming to a place like this, you need to make some money. All the food, drink, and fun along the way, plus the expenses for you and your brother—that’s a hefty sum. We have to scrape off a little profit before we can leave safely.”
“Let’s go over now. If everyone dies in a few days, who are you going to collect money from?”
Xu Fu let out a cold laugh.
"There are so many people in the He Family. If some die, there will always be someone to take the role of patriarch. Even if dozens or hundreds perish, what does it matter?"
A chilling aura seeped from Xu Fu's body.
"It seems this thing only needs a faint exposure to infect the body and cause poisoning. It's like a plague—very useful. Even if you kill someone, others will just think it's the plague. Go guard the He Family well. Go in at night and take care of Mr. Oblivion. Bring some food, and these medicines. Take them—long-term malnutrition needs to be remedied."
As Xu Fu spoke, he handed Wu several pills.
Wu took the medicine and walked onto a street. He saw many people watching. Ahead lay the He Family's residence. Even though it was more than ten meters away, the soldiers guarding it were still afraid of catching the plague. At that moment, several doctors came out. Behind the checkpoint, many large boiling cauldrons were set up. As the doctors approached, someone drew a curtain. The doctors stripped off their clothes and soaked themselves in the boiling water.
Wu watched silently. When the doctors emerged, they began to speak.
"Go notify Lady Julie Zhou that this checkpoint can be lifted. The He Family's people don't seem to have the plague—it should be poisoning. We've checked the water; there's poison in it."
A soldier rushed off toward the Lady Julie Zhou's residence. Wu quickly followed. When they reached an alley, Wu suddenly struck, stabbing the soldier to death with a single sword thrust. He glanced around and used a large curtain to cover the corpse.
"What? Heh, it seems the doctors here are somewhat useful. Heh. So, did you remember the faces of those doctors today?"