Hezhou.
As soon as the group got off the ship and exchanged things at the dock, Qiao Song asked Duan Yelin for a leave of absence, and the time he asked for was quite long. Duan Yelin was very curious, but Qiao Song blushed and said that he had something to do at home, so he approved it.
Xu Hang looked at Qiao Song’s departing back and followed him for a moment.
Duan Yelin raised his eyebrows: “This is the first time I’ve seen him ask for leave so irresponsibly.”
“Didn’t he say something happened at home?” Xu Hang said lightly, “Maybe his wife is pregnant and he’s in a hurry to go back and take care of her.”
“Oh? If that’s true, that’s great. I have to prepare a generous gift for him!” Duan Yelin was naturally happy to see that good things were about to happen to his adjutant.
On the dock, Duan Zhanzhou was walking forward while smoking a cigarette. When he saw Duan Yelin’s hand leaning on a cane, his eyes darkened: “You’re lame?”
Duan Yelin patted his shoulder and said, “You can’t expect any good from me!”
This hit didn’t hurt Duan Zhanzhou, but it frightened Duan Yelin. Because Duan Zhanzhou was so thin that his shoulder bones were protruding, but it couldn’t be seen through his thick military uniform, so it hurt his hand when he hit him.
Duan Zhanzhou laughed dryly and said, “I don’t have time to welcome you. I have something very important to tell you now.” He looked to the side and saw Xu Hang, so he added, “You’re welcome to come too, if you’d like. We still need a physician’s input on this matter, after all.”
The two people who had just experienced life and death looked at each other, frowned, and suddenly felt that a dark cloud was covering their heads.
They hurried back to Xiaotong Guan and went directly to the morgue.
There were several corpses in the morgue. There were large areas of ulcers on their surfaces, their faces were hideous, and they died miserably. It seemed that they all died of the same cause.
Duan Zhanzhou, wearing a mask, pointed at the bodies and said, “I found these bodies on the outskirts of Hezhou a week ago. Over the past few weeks, dozens of bodies have been found in the surrounding area. These are only the ones found last night. The earlier ones have all been disposed of.”
Duan Yelin frowned and took a look: “The cause of death is similar?”
“It’s more or less the same,” Duan Zhanzhou put his hands in his pockets. “The forensic doctor said it was a mutation of some virus. A soldier who was carrying a corpse accidentally got his hand stained with the blood of the corpse, and he died within four days.”
“So fast?!” Duan Yelin was shocked by this. “This is much more terrible than the plague.”
Speaking of plague, Duan Zhanzhou remembered something: “Do you still remember the newspaper report about the plague in Nanjing?”
“I remember, why?”
Duan Zhanzhou pulled out a photo from his pocket, which looked like it was torn from a newspaper. “Take a look at the people who died of the plague in Jinling. Do they look like the bodies here?”
Although the black and white photo is not very clear, but one can see the large areas of festering on the bodies, which are exactly the same.
This photo made Duan Yelin understand the clue: “Do you suspect this was man-made?”
“How far are Jinling and Hezhou? The disease was first discovered in Jinling, and the second case was in Hezhou. If it’s not man-made, could it be airborne?”
The two brothers pondered and actually had the answer in their hearts. Japan was conducting extensive germ warfare and human experiments in China. Perhaps this was their latest research plan.
While the two were talking, Xu Hang had already put on gloves and approached the body to examine it carefully. As he turned the body over, Duan Yelin nervously said, “Shaotang! Be careful of infection!”
This disease was so aggressive and unprecedented that Xu Hang did not dare to move. He stood up and said, “Since this disease is contagious, there must be a source of infection. Are there any common characteristics between all the corpses?”
Duan Zhanzhou called Xu Hang over just for this reason. He told Xu Hang about his previous investigations: “For now, the bodies were found in the suburbs. The dead were porters, peddlers, and the like. To put it bluntly, they were poor people. There are really no other characteristics.”
Xu Hang slowly took off his gloves and said, “Have someone draw a map of where the bodies were found for me. I have to go back and rest today. Tomorrow I will take people to the scene to investigate. We must find the source. As long as this disaster is not eliminated, Hezhou will be in danger.”
Based on previous experience in dealing with epidemics, Duan Yelin added, “Is there a way to develop a vaccine? If it is a plague, it will be useless to just investigate our area. The best solution is to prescribe the right medicine for the disease.”
It is easy to avoid an open attack but difficult to guard against a hidden arrow. If someone really wants to spread the disease, there are opportunities everywhere for them to take advantage of, and they have no way of preventing it. The spread of the disease is only a matter of time.
Hearing this, Xu Hang rubbed his brows and said, “I’ll try my best.”
They were right in their guess. The Japanese were the culprits for the disaster in Hezhou City.
In the Japanese consulate, Kuromiya Keiko had just finished a phone call with the Shogun and reported the latest plan. As soon as she walked out of the Japanese-style room, she heard someone announce that a master was waiting to see her in the tea room.
Wasn’t the only master in Hezhou City who could know Kuromiya Keiko the one in Faxi Temple?
If it were in the past, Kuromiya Keiko would have been delighted to change her clothes and dress up, but ever since her last confession was rejected and she lost face and gave up, she has been in a desperate situation and is now gradually giving up on herself.
She did not go to see Chang Ling immediately but went out to attend a cocktail party. Three hours later, she came back from outside, slightly drunk.
She staggered into the tea room, pretending not to see Chang Ling, unbuttoned her coat, revealing her round shoulders, and opened the window to let in some fresh air, which helped to dissipate the smell of alcohol. He squinted at Chang Ling, but Chang Ling just looked at his own nose.
“Master Changling is both a rare and a distinguished guest… I can’t even invite you on normal days, so why would you condescend to me today?”
Chang Ling clasped his hands together: “I came here today to ask you for a favor.”
“Oh?” Kuromiya Keiko dragged her chin, “Isn’t Master indifferent to worldly affairs? How can I help you with anything?”
Deliberately ignoring the alienation in Kuromiya Keiko’s words, Chang Ling continued, “Please show mercy and spare the lives of the people in Hezhou.”
A few days ago, Chang Ling saw a group of Japanese dragging some corpses and abandoning them in the suburbs. In Hezhou, the only one who could order these Japanese was probably Kuromiya Keiko. Recently, he heard from people who came to burn incense that there was some infectious disease in the suburbs. After connecting the two, he could roughly guess what happened.
After hearing this, Kuromiya Keiko seemed to laugh happily: “You begged me? Heh… haha… what makes you think that if you beg me, I will listen to you?” She moved closer, and the faint smell of alcohol on her body puffed on Chang Ling’s face: “Or do you think that if I say I like you, you can let me do whatever you want? Huh?”
The strong fragrance of the girl made Chang Ling step back a little, and he put his hands together in embarrassment: “God, God is merciful. I think you are a kind person by nature.”
“I’m really sorry, you misunderstood. I am just a vicious woman. It’s my nature to take people’s lives lightly!” Kuromiya Keiko didn’t want to hear him say those dry words anymore. It hurt her heart to hear them.
She was very angry, angry at Chang Ling’s benevolent attitude, so she deliberately put on a charming look, took two steps forward, and hooked Chang Ling’s chin: “But… Master, if you are willing to exchange yourself, I can consider it.”
Chang Ling’s tranquility finally broke a little. He looked at Kuromiya Keiko with a struggling look in his eyes: “Only in this way will you let the people of Hezhou go?”
Kuromiya Keiko’s eyes were full of charm, hiding her gloom and ecstasy. She slowly sat down on the tatami, with a lazy posture that captivated everyone: “If you stay, I may not stop, but if you don’t, I will definitely not show mercy.”
Having said all that, Chang Ling had no choice.
He sat back on the mat beside the tea table, moving the Buddhist beads in his hand, swallowing back his sigh.
