Mo Yinhe accompanied her. Both dressed in protective gear, they walked into the small villa where Zhang ii lived.
Ban Chugang had developed a fever. He had locked himself in his room, refusing to let Zhang ii enter, and insisted she imdiately disinfect the entire house.
Zhang ii, extrely anxious about her husband, had urgently called her grandson Zhang Muguang and her beloved disciple Si Mingjing at the sa ti.
Zhang Muguang rushed to Yecheng University but was stopped at the police cordon at the entrance. Only Si Mingjing and Mo Yinhe were allowed in.
Once inside, Si Mingjing handed a set of protective gear to Zhang ii.
"Master, put this on first. You can’t stay in this room. I’ve arranged for you to go sowhere else."
"No, I want to stay here. Mingjing, your Master Ban and I have weathered a lifeti of storms together. What haven’t we experienced? I can handle this. I’m not leaving."
Zhang ii was adamant.
She had heard from her disciple that this illness was very serious, and she did not want to leave Ban Chugang at such a ti.
Si Mingjing wanted to persuade her further, but Mo Yinhe shook his head.
"Just let Master stay here. If it were you who was sick, I wouldn’t leave either. Try to understand her feelings."
"But..."
Wearing protective gear made hugging difficult, so Mo Yinhe took hold of her arm. He sensed she was more flustered tonight, not her usual composed self.
After all, it’s her Master, a family mber. Mo Yinhe could understand.
He stood as steadfast as Mount Tai, wanting to offer her a taphorical tranquilizer with his deep yet powerful voice. "We have the dicine, and we know how to treat it. It’ll be alright. All your dical skills were taught by your Master. Don’t you trust him?"
Si Mingjing then stopped insisting. She asked, "When will the dical team arrive?"
When Ye Jingzhe was first infected, Mo Yinhe had dispatched a team of experts to the Mu Continent. They, along with Si Mingjing, researched treatnt plans.
Those experts had as much experience in treating this illness as Si Mingjing did.
Before departing, Mo Yinhe had called the expert team, urging them to hurry over.
Mo Yinhe checked the ti. "They should be able to arrive within ten minutes. Let’s go in and see your Master Ban first."
Si Mingjing nodded.
They knocked on the door, but Ban Chugang wouldn’t open it.
Ban Chugang still feared infecting them. Even though he knew Si Mingjing had antibodies and had cured others, he remained unconvinced.
With no other choice, Mo Yinhe forced the door open, and they finally entered the bedroom.
Ban Chugang lay on the bed, shivering violently.
Si Mingjing touched his forehead. He was burning hot.
As she took her Master’s pulse, Ban Chugang saw his wife trying to co in and roared, "Get out! Don’t co in!"
"I’m already wearing protective gear."
Zhang ii insisted on entering, standing nearby and saying, "You can’t drive away! If anything happens to you..."
"Master, it’s nothing serious, just a mild case," Si Mingjing reassured him. "I’ve brought the brewed dicine. Let’s help Master sit up and drink it."
Once it was confird there was an outbreak in Yecheng, Si Mingjing had begun decocting dicine. She stored the finished decoction in the refrigerator, not expecting it would be needed so soon tonight.
She said, "I’ll go heat up the dicine..."
"Let ." Mo Yinhe took a bag of Chinese dicine and went to heat it.
Si Mingjing pulled up a chair and sat by the bedside. "Masters," she said, addressing both of them, "please try to recall carefully how you might have been infected. The virus has an incubation period of seven days. That ans about a week ago, did you et any outsiders, or handle anything that ca from outside?"
Zhang ii and Ban Chugang both searched their mories.
Ban Chugang, shivering, said, "Seven days ago, the lab received a package containing so soil. I don’t know who sent it, but I took it for research. Call Academician Zhou and check on his condition. He was also researching it at that ti."
However, being from the Traditional dicine Research Institute, they were not accustod to examining soil under a microscope for viruses.
Ban Chugang added, "I don’t know if the soil is the problem, but other than that, I can’t think of anything else unusual."
Si Mingjing nodded.
She called Academician Zhou. When the call connected, she heard his coughing.
Si Mingjing’s breath hitched; she sensed sothing was terribly wrong. "Academician Zhou, what’s wrong with you?"
"COUGH, COUGH... It seems... I’ve been infected."
Just as I thought.
Si Mingjing suspected that the box of soil was definitely the problem.
"Academician Zhou, please don’t move. I’m sending soone to pick you up now. I’ll treat you."
"COUGH, COUGH. Okay... I’m in the lab."
That lab must be sealed off!
Si Mingjing stepped out of the room and told Mo Yinhe about the situation, suggesting the virus might have co from that anonymously sent box of soil.
Mo Yinhe finished heating the dicine, turned off the stove, his face grim.
"I understand."
He made a call to arrange for the laboratory to be strictly cordoned off. He also dispatched dical personnel to the lab overnight to investigate the package of soil.
Then, they also had Academician Zhou brought over.
By then, several Atlantis experts, experienced in treating this disease, arrived.
They all wore protective suits and carried dical equipnt.
After entering, they set up two rooms as isolation wards, one for Ban Chugang and the other for Academician Zhou.
Then, Si Mingjing and the experts discussed treatnt plans together.
Thanks to their experience with Ye Jingzhe’s recovery, they quickly formulated treatnt plans, no longer feeling the initial helplessness of facing an unknown virus.
Furthermore, the experts hadn’t been idle during this ti. They had been continuously researching the virus and had developed an injectable Western dicine.
The situation wasn’t as dire as they had initially feared.
Now, the most important thing was to identify the person who had sent the box of soil to the lab.
Mo Yinhe ordered an investigation.
「The next morning.」
Fengjue returned from his investigation and shook his head. "The sender of the package couldn’t be traced; they covered their tracks very well."
That was understandable. If soone had gone to such lengths, they certainly wouldn’t leave clues.
Si Mingjing had been busy all night and was now resting on the couch. As she lay there, she listened to Fengjue’s analysis. "Why target the Crown Princess Consort’s Master’s lab? Does the perpetrator have a grudge against her Master? Should we look for her Master’s enemies?"
Her Master actually had quite a few enemies.
That was because Ban Chugang had once been a Poison Doctor.
Now that he had been brought back to Earth, perhaps soone didn’t want him to live.
But this virus had never broken out on land, only in the Undersea World. Her Master had no enemies in the Undersea World, and certainly none on the Mu Continent.
Mo Yinhe shared her view. "Master Ban’s enemies are unlikely to be from the Mu Continent. Think about other possibilities."
Fengjue added, "I’ve checked the soil. It’s not from the Undersea; it’s terrestrial soil. Could it be from the island where the virus was first discovered? Shall I send soone to investigate?"
Mo Yinhe, still in his protective suit, found stroking his jaw sowhat cumberso. He was clearly thinking. He nodded. "Go investigate. Be careful. Seal off that island completely. No one is allowed to enter from now on. Assign dedicated personnel to guard it."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Fengjue bowed and withdrew.
Si Mingjing sat up from the couch, an idea forming in her mind. "Let’s release the news that my Master and Academician Zhou are critically ill, hanging by a thread."
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