Chapter 309
Chapter 309
As Shen Lang leaned his ear closer, he accidentally brushed it against the divine maiden's lips, releasing a wave of floral fragrance. Then, Xue Yin recited a line of scripture into his ear.
In that instant, a wave of fatigue washed over Shen Lang, and he immediately fell into a deep sleep. Before he succumbed, he managed one last word.
“Divine Maiden, you have a fever again!”
For the past few days, she had frequently run a fever. Could such a potent poison also cause a fever?
* * *
The next day.
When Shen Lang awoke, the Divine Maiden Xue Yin was already gone. Of course, she hadn't left for good; she had gone to help the people of the State of Jiang again.
*Divine Maiden, aren't you being a little too dedicated to other matters, neglecting your own life?*
But as she put it, this was a form of ‘atonement.’ It was also, she said, a way of accumulating merit for someone whose existence she couldn't even be sure of.
Though she couldn't move her hands, she managed to brush her teeth and wash her face on her own. Moreover, she didn't just tend to herself; she even squeezed toothpaste for Shen Lang.
That's right. Toothpaste—another one of Shen Lang's inventions. The Divine Maiden Xue Yin was quite fond of it.
* * *
Today was the day Shen Lang would open the doors of the newly built Sacred Temple and welcome its first visitors. It was an event everyone was watching.
It was a matter that would determine whether he could become the savior of all the people of Jiang. If Shen Lang succeeded, the people of the State of Jiang would be free from the threat of smallpox forever.
The first test subjects were a thousand slaves captured from the State of Yue. Dozens of Shen Lang's warriors guarded the Sacred Temple, and each time, ten blindfolded people were led inside.
Shen Lang administered the cowpox vaccine to them in sequence. Inoculation on the arm was the only way to prevent smallpox.
On Earth, this method had completely eradicated smallpox.
You might ask where the cowpox vaccine came from. In truth, there was an overabundance of materials to use for the vaccine.
The State of Jiang lacked many things, but it never had a shortage of cattle, especially cows infected with smallpox that had developed pustules.
After the cowpox inoculation (a method involving the injection of pus from an infected cow into a human), all that was left was to wait for the cowpox virus to slowly emerge within the human body.
The resulting illness was usually very mild. This was because the cowpox virus had very low pathogenicity (the ability of a pathogen to cause disease in a host) in the human body.
A few days after the virus entered the body, a mild fever would develop, along with a few papules on the thighs. About ten days later, the scabs would fall off, and the person would be fully recovered.
From then on, that person would have permanent antibodies to smallpox and would never be infected again.
In ancient China, during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, the practice of variolation already existed. However, for various reasons, this method carried certain risks.
This time, however, Shen Lang had made several modifications to greatly weaken the cowpox virus.
After receiving the cowpox vaccine, the thousand refugees from the State of Yue waited quietly in the temple.
With a thousand people gathered in the five-to-six-hundred-square-meter temple, the stench was so overwhelming it was hard to keep one's eyes open.
But they had to be managed all at once. They couldn't be allowed to relieve themselves indiscriminately, and they needed to be provided with food and water.
Moreover, they were gripped by fear, making them especially prone to causing trouble. They were like a powder keg, ready to explode at the slightest spark.
Shen Lang didn't find the task bothersome in the least, but the Divine Maiden Xue Yin took over all the responsibilities from him.
She was truly remarkable, managing a thousand slaves by herself every day in the foul-smelling temple.
From among the thousand slaves, she selected a hundred squad leaders, ten company leaders, and one chief.
The test subjects, who had been mired in fear, instantly grew calm just by seeing her and hearing her voice, and they treated her every word as sacred decree.
Although the entire temple was filled with a foul odor, the fragrance emanating from her body seemed to overpower it all, filling the space with a constant floral scent.
A divine maiden was a divine maiden, no matter where she was. A white lotus blooming on a snowy peak is beautiful and noble, but it is just as beautiful and noble blooming in a muddy pond.
Merely seeing her and smelling her fragrance was enough to calm people instantly, filling their hearts with hope.
For several days, the thousand test subjects inside the temple had nothing to do. So, Shen Lang gave them a task.
He had them create a plaque inscribed with the words "Sacred Temple" and also had them carve several wooden statues.
For instance, Confucius and the Duke of Zhou. In any case, they carved statues of several sages.
With a thousand people working together, the temple's plaque and the statues of the sages were all completed in just three days.
Did they look like the sages? They were decent enough. Although not as majestic as the statues in the sacred temples of Yue, this was the State of Jiang, after all. Given the poor conditions, just having statues was impressive. One had to cut them some slack.
* * *
When night fell, Xue Yin still returned to bathe and change her clothes. But she no longer slept.
She went several days and nights without sleep. She said that since she only had four days left to live, she didn't want to waste that time sleeping.
Now, with only the final four days remaining, Shen Lang racked his brain every day. He even set aside all other matters to focus entirely on tackling the strange poison in Xue Yin's body.
But he still made no progress; he couldn't even identify the poison she was afflicted with.
Grandmaster Zhong Chuke had not yet returned, and Shen Lang was afraid she wouldn't last until he did.
The final day arrived. According to Xue Yin's calculations, today was her last day.
She was about to die. When the poison struck for the last time, her entire body would freeze as if turned to ice, unable to move at all, and she would slowly perish.
It sounded like ALS, but it was different.
The Divine Maiden Xue Yin's muscles didn't atrophy; instead, her body would become like a jade statue, completely frozen.
Moreover, each time the poison acted up, a thick fragrance would spread. As the final hour approached, Shen Lang was on the verge of madness.
*No. I must save Xue Yin. I have to save her! She's a spirit living in the mortal world. A noble, flawless divine maiden.*
Although she always explained her actions by saying it was for atonement or to accumulate merit, Shen Lang couldn't fathom what sin she could have possibly committed.
If he failed to save her, it would surely become a lifelong regret for Shen Lang.
If he couldn't even save a human fairy like her, what was the point of being called a divine physician?
*Divine Maiden, I will save you. I swear I will.*
But as the final hour drew near, Shen Lang still couldn't find a single clue.
*Why am I so useless? Shen Lang, you're a worthless idiot, an idiot.*
The Divine Maiden Xue Yin lay on the bed, dying, waiting for the final moment, for the ultimate poison to take its course.
At the same time, inside the Sacred Temple, the thousand slaves from the State of Yue were weeping.
They didn't know what had happened, but the Divine Maiden's absence today was the worst possible news for them.
They knew that the Divine Maiden couldn't move the upper half of her body and that she didn't have much time left.
One of the refugees from Yue among them suddenly said.
“What are you all still waiting for? Shouldn't we do something for the Divine Maiden?”
Then, hundreds of them brought forth the finest wood. It was pure white in color, without a single flaw.
Hundreds of refugees carved swiftly, tears streaming down their faces.
They didn't know who Confucius or the Duke of Zhou were, but they had been very serious when carving them.
Nevertheless, they couldn't pour their souls, their hearts full of love and reverence, into those statues.
But when they carved the Divine Maiden Xue Yin, they poured all of their emotions into the work.
And so, in less than two hours, the statue of the Divine Maiden Xue Yin was complete.
It was a truly magnificent statue. Her eyes, in particular, were pure, warm, and filled with infinite compassion.
The face and figure carved into the statue were indistinct, yet it was a perfect likeness in spirit.
Her noble soul looked as if it could ascend to the heavens at any moment. This was truly a masterpiece of art.
“Raise it, raise it up. Let's raise the Divine Maiden's statue.”
And so, the thousand refugees from Yue raised all the statues, placing the one of the Divine Maiden Xue Yin in the center.
“Hang the plaque, hang it up!”
Then, dozens of them moved to hang the plaque of the Sacred Temple.
To some, this Sacred Temple might be seen as a shrine to sages like Confucius, but in the eyes of the countless refugees and the fearful people of Jiang, it was the Temple of the Saintly Maiden (a shrine dedicated to a saintly maiden).
They had erected the statues and hung the plaque before Shen Lang had even given the order.
At that moment, the King of Jiang, the royal family, and countless others were stunned.
The State of Jiang had only one faith: the Heavenly God.
There was only the Snow Mountain Divine Temple in the State of Jiang; how could a second sacred temple possibly exist?
* * *
In the room.
The Divine Maiden Xue Yin was waiting for the final throes of the poison, while Shen Lang was still racking his brain, trying to find a way to save her.
But after wracking his brain to no avail, Shen Lang could bear it no longer and slammed his head hard against the wall.
“Agh, agh, agh! Shen Lang, you idiot, you worthless idiot! If you can't even cure the Divine Maiden, what good are you for?”
Shen Lang not only started banging his head but also began slapping his own face.
“Stop. Good child, come here.”
Xue Yin said gently. Her voice always had the power to calm a person.
Shen Lang went to her and, unable to hold back, buried his face in her embrace.
“Divine Maiden, I have to cure you. I'm supposed to be able to do anything, so why can't I cure you?”
There was no trace of fear in the Divine Maiden Xue Yin. Unable to use her hands, she caressed him with her soft gaze instead.
“When living brings no joy, what is there to fear in death?”
There it was again, that same line.
“Good child, I truly am not afraid of death. Regardless of my brother Zhong Chuke, I was meant to die long ago.
But I have lived until today because of an obsession that may not even be real. I have already lived a wretched twenty years longer than I should have, so there is nothing wrong with dying now.
When I die, I can meet His Majesty again and ask him. Ask him why someone so magnificent had to pass away so suddenly.
With His Majesty's death, we became orphans with nowhere to turn.
When a great tree falls, the vines that clung to it, the nests built upon its branches, and the small grasses and flowers beneath it all lose their support and perish.
You probably don't understand. His Majesty's death didn't just signify the fall of a nation; it signified the utter destruction of an era and of a single hope.”
As she spoke these words, the Divine Maiden Xue Yin shed tears. It was the first time she had sobbed in front of Shen Lang.
So, the Divine Maiden could cry after all. Her tears fell, drop by drop, trickling through Shen Lang's hair.
“Lang'er, did you know? When I was young, I was fond of a certain man. He didn't look like you, but his personality was a bit similar.
Someone who seemed bad on the outside but was actually a good person. When you said you had improper thoughts about me, I was actually very happy to hear it.
For a clever man like you, a boy like you, to have improper thoughts about me... doesn't that mean I still seem young, at least?
I am about to die. To think that the person who would be with me at the end would be you, of all people.
Child, whatever you want to do, whatever improper thoughts you have, you may act on them.
This isn't a reward; I just want to leave behind a memory. It would be too lonely to leave this world without a sound, wouldn't it?
Just watching over a good child like you has been wonderful. But for you to have improper thoughts about me before I die... isn't that a compliment, in a way?
Kiss me. Child, compliment me!”