Village Chief Liu pleaded again.
"Doctor He, I beg you!"
As he spoke, he turned to look at the villagers who still did not know what had happened.
He Zhiran reminded again: "I suggest you temporarily keep the plague a secret for now to avoid panic, which will only make things worse.
Also, you all have the potential to become infected now, so to avoid harming more people, no one can leave the cave without my permission from now on.
If you can do as I say, I will try to treat you all."
Hearing that He Zhiran would try to treat them, Village Chief Liu saw a ray of hope.
He nodded repeatedly and promised: "Doctor He, please rest assured, I will definitely not spread this matter."
With Village Chief Liu's promise, He Zhiran took out a package of silver needles from her sleeve while hiding it from view.
She was currently unable to prepare medicines to treat the plague, so she could only use acupuncture to temporarily stabilize Li Tiezhu's condition and prevent it from deteriorating further.
Sure enough, she skillfully inserted silver needles at several acupoints on Li Tiezhu's body.
Mo Jiuye silently accompanied her at her side.
After about a quarter of an hour, Li Tiezhu's breathing became much smoother, though he still had not regained consciousness.
He Zhiran put away the silver needles and told Li Family Madam, "He should wake up within half an hour."
Li Family Madam thanked her profusely, thinking Li Tiezhu was fine now.
"Thank you so much for saving his life, doctor."
He Zhiran had wanted to tell her that Li Tiezhu had only temporarily stabilized and was still not completely out of danger.
But seeing Li Family Madam's relief, she held herself back from saying it.
Moreover, He Zhiran felt that there was no need to isolate everyone at this point. Those who would have contracted it have already been exposed, so to put it bluntly, everyone present had the potential to become infected with the plague if they did not take preventive medicine in time.
He Zhiran got up, and solemnly pulled Mo Jiuye to the mouth of the cave.
"I need your help."
Mo Jiuye knew the situation was urgent. All he could do was fully cooperate.
"Just tell me what you need me to do."
He Zhiran roughly explained her plan to Mo Jiuye in a volume only the two of them could hear.
Mo Jiuye nodded without hesitation: "Alright, I'll go talk to Brother Peng right away."
Peng Wang had returned to the cave of the officials. Seeing Mo Jiuye come over, he quickly asked, "Brother, how are things over there?"
Likewise not wanting the plague matter to startle too many people, Mo Jiuye pulled Peng Wang to a secluded spot.
"Brother Peng, my wife diagnosed the patient with plague."
Hearing the two words "plague", Peng Wang felt a tingling sensation on his scalp, even thinking about the possibility that they too could become infected.
Peng Wang's usual composure was gone, and he stared intently at Mo Jiuye, seemingly making some big decision.
"Brother, shouldn't we run now?"
Peng Wang understood how the imperial court dealt with the plague — not a single infected person would be spared, all were sentenced to death.
And it was because he understood this that Peng Wang panicked into losing his reason.
He certainly did not want to be trapped somewhere waiting to die. If they ran now, at least they still had a chance to live.
Mo Jiuye hadn't come to ask Peng Wang for escape ideas, but to convey He Zhiran's request.
"Brother Peng, we can't leave."
Peng Wang did not understand: "You're not leaving? You want to stay here and wait to die?"
In fact, Mo Jiuye was tense too, with so many of his relatives here.
If infected with the plague, no one stood a chance of surviving.
But still, he was willing to trust in He Zhiran.
"Brother Peng, my wife said that when she was coming up the mountain earlier, she saw some herbs that might be able to prevent and treat the plague."
While not denying He Zhiran's medical skills, Peng Wang still did not think it would work for the plague, which was different from other diseases. Not only did it spread rapidly, but most fatally, no drug could cure it.
"Brother, I know you're a tough guy, but think about your family too — what if there's no cure? Won't we all die here?"
Mo Jiuye chose to believe He Zhiran, and regardless of what Peng Wang said, he did not change his mind.
"Brother Peng, just give us some more time. I'll accompany my wife to collect herbs. With the flooding below the mountain now, even if we wanted to escape from here, it would be impossible. Why not let my wife give it a try?"
Thinking about the flooding below the mountain, Peng Wang finally realized that they really could not leave this place.
Then to survive, their final ray of hope could only lie with He Zhiran.
"Alright, hurry up and be safe. Pay attention to safety." As he spoke, Peng Wang grabbed two bamboo hats for Mo Jiuye.
Mo Jiuye gave Peng Wang a reassuring look, took the bamboo hats, and left.
When He Zhiran went to ask Mo Jiuye for help just now, she had already anticipated that she would have to reveal her secrets to him again.
Nevermind whether or not she believed Mo Jiuye's moral character, facing the problem now of so many lives potentially endangered by the plague, she had to place her own secrets as secondary priority.
Going down the same path as before, the two set off briskly while wearing bamboo hats.
It was dark, the roads were slippery, and for He Zhiran's safety, Mo Jiuye did not let go of her hand at all times.
He Zhiran thought, my secrets are going to be revealed a little bit more anyway, so I might as well give people some additional room for curiosity.
So, she directly retrieved a national treasury-grade night pearl from her space.
As soon as the night pearl appeared, the surroundings immediately became clear.
Mo Jiuye took a look at the night pearl, barely stopping himself from asking where on earth she took that thing out from.
But then again, her suddenly producing a night pearl wasn't much different from her taking out so much charcoal and some other items.
He figured she must have something like a magic bag of holding. Otherwise, Mo Jiuye really couldn't think of any other reasonable explanation at the moment.
It was He Zhiran's first time openly using her space in front of Mo Jiuye, already going way beyond cheekily hiding little things.
Though she felt strangely apprehensive, she immediately pointed to a flat area not far away to prevent Mo Jiuye from getting a chance to inquire further.
"Let's go over there."
Mo Jiuye nodded and walked on ahead to guide the way.
The two came to the spot He Zhiran had indicated, and a military tent suddenly appeared out of thin air.
This was a top-tier military tent, housed in He Zhiran's medical office space. The exterior and practicality were both superb.
While Mo Jiuye stared blankly, He Zhiran had already pulled him into the tent.
Without the rain striking them, it immediately became much more comfortable.
To prevent anyone from again passing by and noticing something abnormal, after entering the tent, He Zhiran stowed away the night pearl back into her space.
"The place where I store my treasury items has medicinal ingredients. To avoid suspicion, let's stay here for an hour before returning."
Mo Jiuye nodded: "Okay."
Seeing Mo Jiuye tactfully complying, He Zhiran again took two chairs out from her space.
