Chapter 548 - 317: Hell Has No Gates

Chen Yi didn’t even need to say another word.

The moment the word "plague" came out, the neighbors who had just wanted to step forward and watch frantically retreated from the house.

They were both panicked and terrified.

"Mrs. Yuan, your family caught the plague! Why are you screaming blindly? Are you trying to drag us all down to the grave with Old Yuan?"

"To think I rushed over in a panic when I heard the Yuan family’s women crying for help. Is this how you repay us?"

"Damn it..."

Yuan Liu’er’s mother, holding a girl in each hand, also retreated a few steps, turning a deaf ear to the surrounding curses. She looked at Yuan Hao, whose fate was unknown, and then at Chen Yi inside. With a heavy THUMP, she knelt on the ground and repeatedly knocked her head against the floor.

THUD, THUD, THUD...

"I beg you, benefactor, please save my Hao’er! Please save him..."

Chen Yi glanced sideways and ordered the bewildered Yuan Liu’er in a deep voice, "Go help your mother up and take her away!

"I can save your brother!"

Looking at his unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar face, Yuan Liu’er inexplicably believed his words. Without time to overthink, she hurriedly pulled her mother and two younger sisters up, and together they retreated from the house.

"Mother, our benefactor says he can save Hao’er. Let’s wait outside," Yuan Liu’er comforted her. She didn’t forget to shout to the surrounding crowd, "Thank you all, uncles and aunts, for coming to help. Since the benefactor inside can save my brother Hao, he can surely save our lives as well.

"I hope everyone can show some mercy with your words..."

"But that’s the plague! You—!?"

Before the speaker could finish, Yuan Liu’er frowned and looked over. "Uncle Zhao, my mother, my two younger sisters, and I were the first to touch Hao’er.

"Don’t forget, if this plague is truly that fierce, we of the Yuan family will be the first to die!"

Hearing this, the man choked on his words, his expression fluctuating unpredictably. Most of the nearby neighbors resentfully shut their mouths.

However, some still looked indignant and muttered, "It’s not even certain if the guy inside can save your Haozi.

"If the plague really spreads, your Yuan family will be the sinners of our Kangle Lane."

Yuan Liu’er furrowed her brows fiercely. "I don’t even fear death, so why would I fear being a sinner?"

The surrounding people fell completely silent, only staring helplessly through the gaps in the fence to watch the situation in the courtyard.

Yuan Liu’er did the same. Despite acting so tough moments ago, in truth, she was more anxious than anyone else and carried a deep sense of guilt. Recalling the events of the day, she roughly deduced that Yuan Hao must have contracted the plague while playing with the refugees outside the city. If it cost Yuan Hao his life, she would never be able to forgive herself.

With these thoughts in mind, Yuan Liu’er gritted her teeth and walked back into the house. Pretending to be calm, she stood beside Chen Yi and asked, "Benefactor, if there is anything you need, just give the order, and I..."

Chen Yi waved a hand to dismiss her, his focus entirely on examining the aura inside Yuan Hao’s body. "Go boil some water."

"Ah, oh, I’ll go right away." Yuan Liu’er frantically hurried off to start a fire and boil water.

Chen Yi had no time to pay her any mind. As crystalline light flickered in his eyes under the Qi Observation Skill, the aura inside Yuan Hao’s body appeared as a completely tangled mess. He couldn’t help but frown.

At this moment, aside from a stream of black Qi flowing throughout Yuan Hao’s entire body, there were also golden, red, and cyan auras invading his internal organs. It did not resemble highly toxic poison; instead, it contained the Spiritual Essence aura of Wood, Metal, Fire, Water, and Earth. However, this Five Elements Spiritual Essence did not correspond harmoniously to the attributes of the five organs. Instead, they countered them one by one.

For example, the Fire essence went to the Water-attribute kidneys, and the Water essence went to the Fire-attribute heart, completely blocking all circulation of the Qi Mechanism in Yuan Hao’s body.

And that was not all.

The most serious issue was the microscopic poisonous insects within Yuan Hao’s blood—shaped like flying ants, they reproduced at an incredibly rapid rate. In the blink of an eye, the number of these poisonous insects had doubled.

Under such circumstances, Chen Yi had no choice but to be cautious.

The profound mysteries of the Medical Dao flowed through his mind, taking the Yin Yang Five Elements as the foundation, ascending on the left and descending on the right... Soon, he formed a strategy to cure the poison.

He first needed to take out silver needles to trap the poisonous insects outside Yuan Hao’s five organs, preventing them from invading the heart meridian. Next, he would untangle the Spiritual Essence, then neutralize or expel the plague poison to cut off the source of nourishment for the poisonous insects. Finally, he would eradicate the poisonous insects altogether...

But this method was only viable for treating Yuan Hao alone. If the plague poison spread to other people and mixed with their pre-existing illnesses, the detoxification process would be far more difficult.

Understanding this, Chen Yi stopped rushing to treat Yuan Hao. Instead, he reached out with both hands and placed his fingers on Yuan Hao’s wrists to take his pulse, memorizing the condition. Then, he pulled Yuan Hao’s mouth open, examined his tongue, and revealed a thoughtful expression.

"Fire essence violates Kidney Water; the Yang-heat evil Qi drives straight toward the kidney acupoints, and the regulation of Qi is lost.

"Water essence attacks Heart Fire; Yin-cold water Qi rises to bully the sovereign heart, and the God within is disturbed.

"Metal essence harms Liver Wood; the harsh Metal Qi aggressively counters Liver Wood, leaving it powerless to dredge and drain.

"Wood essence insults Spleen Earth; the wind-wood Qi invades the central region, failing in its duty of transportation and transformation, throwing ascent and descent into chaos.

"Earth essence suppresses Lung Metal; stagnant Earth Qi rises to shroud the canopy, obstructing dissemination and descent, completely blocking the airway.

"The reverse countering of the Five Elements causes the Qi Mechanism of the five organs to knot and congest, severing all paths of ascent, descent, entry, and exit throughout the entire body.

"Coupled with those poisonous insects... twelve hours... No, given the frail bodies of those refugees outside the city, I’m afraid they won’t even last that long.

"Six hours, six hours at most..."

If the refugees infected with the plague poison did not receive effective treatment during this period, they would turn into nests for those poisonous insects. And when the poisonous insects swarmed out, anyone nearby would become their new nests.

As Chen Yi figured this out, a frosty expression surfaced on his face.

"The Five Poison Sect deserves to die!"

There was no need to overthink it; those poisonous insects inside Yuan Hao’s body were undoubtedly cultivated by the Five Poison Sect. But it was a complete mystery as to why they would do such a thing.

The figure of Liu Hong suddenly flashed into Chen Yi’s mind—it could only be him!

"That old dog has finally grown desperate, resorting to such a perilous move. His... his schemes must be massive!"