Ten days later, outside Chengdu Prefecture in Yizhou, there was a small county called Xu County.
A procession of people entered the county town.
This pair of people looked a little embarrassed. They had obviously taken the mountain road to the river, and everyone's faces were full of fatigue.
But there was also excitement among the tiredness. Looking at every scene in Xu County, they were discussing something with each other excitedly.
Xu County is a bit desolate. There are not many people on the streets. The streets are covered with yellow sand and dead leaves. It seems that no one has cleaned them for a long time.
Xu County is the closest county to Chengdu and the transportation hub into Chengdu, so it should not be so desolate.
At the front of the team, Xia Shang drove a carriage. Behind the carriage was not a carriage, but a flatbed cart for loading goods.
The cart was piled with things, wrapped in a layer of black cloth, and I didn't know what they were.
Behind Xia Shang, Xian'er and Min Xiner were on the left and right, looking at the street of the county town with some confusion.
This is the main road of Xu County. It goes straight ahead. I don't know how far it is. But at this glance, I didn't see anyone on the street. The only thing I saw was a small vendor selling low-quality jewelry pushing a truck away.
Min Xiner whispered in Xia Shang's ear: "Brother-in-law, something seems wrong here. I came to this county two years ago. This county has a large population and the streets are very lively. It's just after noon now, and the streets should be lively.
Time, this situation is not normal.”
Xia Shang nodded and said to the people behind him: "Don't joke, everyone, follow closely and pay attention to the surrounding situation."
Not long after the group left, Bian Rong, who was at the end of the group, suddenly ran over: "Doctor Xia, there seems to be someone over there."
"Is there anyone?" Xia Shang was confused and looked around.
Every house on both sides of the street was closed, and there was no one around.
Bian Rong pointed to a corner: "Dr. Xia is over there."
Xia Shang looked along what Bian Rong was pointing and discovered that in the dark alley between the shops, there seemed to be a figure squatting.
Sure enough, there is someone!
Xia Shang was slightly confused and said to everyone: "You guys wait here, I'll go take a look."
Xia Shang left, and Bian Rong rushed to follow him.
After walking a few steps ahead, the figure in the alley seemed to notice the person coming, became a little nervous, and walked quickly into the alley.
Xia Shang didn't see anyone, but he heard a clear cough, so he shouted: "Wait for that person, we are not bad people."
Unexpectedly, the other party not only didn't listen, but ran faster. In a blink of an eye, he reached the corner at the end of the alley. When Bian Rong saw the person running away again, he was a little anxious and called out: "Doctor Xia, wait for me over there. I'll go there."
Chase."
Bian Rong's speed was not slow and he disappeared in front of him in the blink of an eye. When Xia Shang also chased him to the end of the alley, he realized that Bian Rong had already caught him.
The man looked unkempt and looked like a beggar, but when he got closer, it seemed that he was not. Because although his clothes were dirty and messy, they were not very tattered. Judging from the material, they were still of good quality.
Just as Xia Shang was about to ask, he heard the man coughing violently. The man coughed incessantly and felt as if his lungs were going to explode.
This situation...
Xia Shang and Bian Rong looked at each other, and for a moment, both of them frowned.
"Go get the things quickly!" Xia Shang said.
"Doctor Xia, you'd better go and get it. I'll guard here to prevent this kid from running away again."
Xia Shang nodded, turned around and left.
He was very familiar with this situation, it was clearly malaria.
It seems that the situation is not optimistic. Malaria patients can be found in Xu County, which is so close to Chengdu.
This shows that the plague is not over yet and is continuing to spread.
Although Xia Shang had foreseen this, he did not expect that the matter would be so serious. A kind of uneasiness arose in his heart, and he did not know what he would experience when he entered Sichuan this time.
Xia Shang ran to meet the team, without saying anything, he took a package of prepared medicine from under the black cloth on the cart, and then left quickly.
The people in the team frowned when they saw Xia Shang getting the medicine, and they probably guessed what was going to happen.
A quarter of an hour later, Xia Shang and Bian Rong came back with the patient.
Everyone hurriedly gathered around to take a look and found that the patient had fainted.
Just by looking at the patient's complexion, everyone knew it was caused by the plague.
Perhaps among the people in the world, only the Xia and Shang people were an outlier. Instead of panicking when they saw the plague patients, they were very calm.
They had just experienced the plague, but they seemed not to realize the pain this disease caused to people. It was also the patient's good fortune to meet a team like Xia Shang who could take him in.
After placing the patient smoothly on the cart, the team continued moving forward.
Xia Shang looked at the sky and decided to rest one night in Xu County before setting off for Chengdu the next day.
Someone suggested staying in an inn tonight, because we haven’t had a comfortable sleep in the mountains for a long time. And after tonight, we can get to Chengdu tomorrow, and the people in the team don’t have any spare money. Therefore, this suggestion
It was quickly adopted by the team.
Although it is good to stay in an inn, looking at the current situation in Xu County, it is still a question whether it is possible to find an inn to accommodate so many people of unknown origins? But you have to give it a try.
In order to avoid unnecessary problems, Xia Shang took Xian'er and Min Xiner to explore the way ahead. Bian Rong followed behind with his team. After Xia Shang had negotiated with the inn, the team would follow.
…
Although the streets of Xu County are deserted, inns and some restaurants are still open for business and there are many customers inside.
Xia Shang visited several houses but found nothing suitable.
Only when we walked to a remote street did we find a relatively deserted inn.
There weren't many people inside the inn, and both the shopkeeper and the waiter were in low spirits.
The shopkeeper was dozing off while fiddling with the abacus in front of the counter, and the waiter was weakly sweeping dust in front of the door. On the other hand, the customers inside were very lively, and they didn't know what they were talking about.
Xia Shang took the two women to the front of the store. The waiter was perked up when he saw the two women beside Xia Shang. Although their faces were covered by veils, they were still fascinated by the sight. Even when they spoke, they were trembling: "Beat, beat."
Take a… hotel or stay in a hotel?”
"Is there enough room?"
"Enough!"
"There are more than a dozen of us and we need at least five rooms."
"Five rooms!" The waiter was overjoyed. He dropped his broom and bowed to signal Xia and Shang to come in.
"It's from the shopkeeper! It's from the shopkeeper!"
The waiter ran in front and shouted.
But the shopkeeper seemed to be in low spirits, a little impatient, and yawned: "What are you yelling about?"
"Shopkeeper, we have a big business coming! More than a dozen people, five rooms."
When the shopkeeper heard this, he also became energetic, wiped the corners of his mouth, and greeted Xia Shang's smiling face. It could be seen that there were only three people who arrived, but they were still a little confused.
"This young master, I heard that you want five rooms... but your people..."
"Our people are behind and will arrive soon." (To be continued)