Giant Ship Across the Song Dynasty: My Supplies Come from My Motherland

Chapter 19, Damn it! Let's do it!

After putting the things in the shop, Lin Zhou followed Black Panther to the South District.

This so-called South District is actually the legendary Lower District. Although it's called the Lower District, from Lin Zhou's perspective, it's a very absurd and incomprehensible world.

First of all, there is no real road between the so-called upper city and lower city. The two places are blocked by a river, and there is no bridge across it. In fact, because it is a moat, no one is allowed to cross it.

The absurdity of this incident is so great that it has not been recorded in any history book, because the people who record history also live in the Upper Town, and many of them never even cross this boundary in their entire lives.

Then comes the second absurdity: if you want to cross this river, you have to go around for ten miles, exit from the east or west gate, and then enter from the south gate. This place, which is right in front of you, requires you to walk for nearly twenty miles to pass a place that is less than fifty meters away.

Before entering through the south gate, one must undergo various questioning and checks. This is a form of artificial isolation, but it is done in a reasonable and justifiable way...

This kind of thing, in the eyes of a socialist overgrown child like Lin Zhou, can only be described as outrageous.

He followed the black leopard all the way, his self-assembled camera clicking away, capturing everything he saw and heard.

Finally, upon entering the southern district, the scene was... well, how can I describe it?

Previously, Lin Zhou had seen the photos above, which showed the largest city in a certain South Asian subcontinental power. On one side, there were towering buildings and bustling traffic, while on the other side, there was poverty and stench.

Here, the things that could only be seen in photos were perfectly replicated. Inside the high walls of the South District, there was a stench of all kinds of things. On the dark streets, there were corpse collectors pulling carts with bodies of all sizes on them.

At first, Lin Zhou didn't know what was on top, but when he got closer and the torchlight shone on it, he almost lost all his sanity. At the very top was a withered, sallow-yellow dead child, just like a dead chicken or a dead duck, thrown onto a cart. The corpse collector was holding up his thin, small legs and arranging him neatly.

As the corpse collector manipulated the child, the unclosed eyes of the dead child were touched by the torchlight, and they seemed to come alive for a moment, flashing light so brightly that Lin Zhou was so frightened that he took several steps back.

"Young man, this area has been plagued by disease these days. If you don't take action soon..."

He only said half of what he wanted to say, but seeing such a scene was indeed distressing. Lin Zhou frowned deeply and covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve. The stench of dysentery lingered in the air for a long time.

It's highly likely that the spread here is related to water pollution. And this is in the dead of winter, when even heating is a challenge. Asking them to use precious firewood to boil water is probably easier for them to freeze to death than to die from diarrhea.

"I'll go and make arrangements with them first thing tomorrow morning."

"I'm entrusting everything to you, brothers. If you can save this place, I, Black Panther, and the brothers on the road will obey your orders!" This gangster in the Jianghu is just like the heroes in the Water Margin. He is a real gangster, but he also has a real air about him.

"I'll try my best..."

This time, Lin Zhou didn't make any definitive statements. After all, after these days of training, leaving room for maneuver in his words had become a basic skill.

How many people live here?

"Nearly 10,000 people in total..."

"I'll ask about it tomorrow, if possible..."

After Lin Zhou finished speaking, he suddenly realized that with the environment here, medicine alone probably wouldn't be enough. After all, this thing is transmitted through the fecal-oral route. As long as these bastards are still drinking raw water, even if he had Laozi's Purple Gold Gourd, it wouldn't work.

"Brother Leopard, there's something you need to do here. We can't let them drink raw water anymore, and the well needs to be soaked in lime before it can be used again."

"This..." Black Panther took a deep breath: "Alright, I'll go make the arrangements right away. If it doesn't work, I'll just tear down my family's ancestral hall."

Lin Zhou was still a little confused at this moment, wondering how not drinking raw water was related to demolishing ancestral halls, but maybe it was just their custom... we can't really say.

After learning about the epidemic situation here, Lin Zhou stayed up all night that night to start packaging the highly concentrated medicine. This stuff is very potent; each dose only requires the size of an ear pick, plus a level spoonful of flour, a little water, and a ball. It's simple, but it's incredibly labor-intensive...

So he simply gave up on all that trouble, took the medicine for ten thousand people from the car, and, with a blank expression, stirred it into the water tank...

"If you administer medicine without authorization, you'll be half dead, if not dead."

Suddenly a voice rang in his ear. He looked up and saw a person in the darkness. He squinted and saw that it was none other than Cheng'er.

"Where have you been these past few days, you little rascal?"

"Protecting you secretly, I guess." Cheng'er stepped forward, arms crossed, watching Lin Zhou pour medicine powder into the large water vat. "I saw you go to Nancheng with my cousin just now, and then I saw you rush back. I knew you were going to get yourself into trouble."

"Cousin? That black leopard is your cousin?"

"My name is Xu Cheng, and his name is Xu Shang. What do you think?"

"Why can't it be your uncle? Isn't your father also named Xu Ping?"

Cheng'er rolled her eyes, took a deep breath to calm her rage, and said, "I shouldn't have bothered with you. I should have just let you get beaten to death."

"What? What? Why are you going to kill me again?"

"Let me ask you, what is your intention in administering the medicine without authorization? Are you gathering the crowd to plot something sinister?"

"You're talking nonsense!"

"Heh, you're not after money, women, or fame. You're overstepping your bounds, disrupting the court—are you plotting a rebellion?"

Lin Zhou was stunned for a moment before he reacted, then looked at Cheng'er with sweat dripping down his face...

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Xu Cheng remained silent, but walked to the side, took out a stack of yellow paper, pulled out three sheets, and threw them into the water vat.

"There is no crime in applying talismanic water."

Lin Zhou was stunned, straightening up: "Hey! You son of a bitch, I look like Zhang Jiao now?"

"Even so, those who want to get rid of you will still do so, but you're willing to save even orphans outside the city. You probably wouldn't do something like standing by and watching someone die."

"So, should I...?"

"Yes." Xu Cheng nodded. "Go ask first. If it doesn't work, we'll deal with it later. Ask that Cao dog. If he lets you administer the medicine, then do it directly. If he doesn't, then you'll have to guide the people. However..."

"But what?"

"My father found someone to cast a talisman on you."

"Who?"

"Yi'an Jushi"

Lin Zhou scratched his head, feeling that the name was familiar, but as someone who had lost all his skills after nine years of compulsory education, he really couldn't figure out who this Yi'an Jushi was.

"Just tell me your name, I don't recognize it..."

"Li Qingzhao, Li Yi'an. Yi'an Jushi is highly respected, comes from a distinguished family, and has some connections in the city. No one can criticize her for handling this matter."

"Ah!" Lin Zhou slapped his thigh: "Why didn't you just say it was Li Qingzhao earlier? That would have solved everything!"