"???" Doctor Hu lamented, "It’s said that after a person dies, the Underworld’s judges will record everything they’ve done in their life, one by one, for judgment.
I always thought this would be checked only upon reaching Yama Hall, but to my surprise, it has to be verified before even entering the Underworld."
Speaking, Doctor Hu shook his head regretfully, "The two judges can rest assured, I acknowledge everything I’ve done. It is indeed due to my mistakes that those dozen or so lives were lost prematurely."
It turned out this old physician thought they were judges here to record a statement.
"We’re here to consult with you about witch doctors and Gu insects," Bai Junjun clarified their intention.
"Ah?" Doctor Hu, who was rambling on, looked utterly confused.
"We came from your junior apprentice; he has also contracted a strange illness."
"What?" Finally snapping out of his daze, Doctor Hu stared at Bai Junjun and Li Wenli in shock, "You... you?"
Feeling the coldness of the table and the real sensation of his pulse beating, he realized he wasn’t a disembodied spirit; he had genuinely been taken out.
Doctor Hu quickly gathered his thoughts, "You... are also physicians, aren’t you?"
"Yes," Bai Junjun nodded succinctly.
Surely they must’ve also noticed something was amiss to be asking this question!
Doctor Hu, with excitement, grasped Bai Junjun’s hand, "Miss, you must take my words out and tell the County Magistrate that I indeed misdiagnosed before. The illness everyone has is not a plague but Gu poison. That witch doctor is suspect; he is the one who released the Gu poison. All of this must be his own fabrication!"
"Why would you say that, Doctor Hu?"
"Although the patients exhibit symptoms resembling the plague, I tried three different remedies for the plague with no effect. The third remedy even worsened the patients’ condition. At first, I thought it was my fault, but then I realized that even if the third remedy wasn’t for treating the plague, it wouldn’t have been fatal.
But the patients died.
That’s because there was an ingredient in the third remedy that is lethal to Gu insects.
As far as I know, the method to cultivate Gu insects involves having poisonous worms kill each other, with the last one surviving being the Mother Worm. These Gu insects are naturally interested in their companion’s corpses; they become frenzy killers once they consume them.
The medicine killed the Gu insects inside the patients, and those that didn’t die erupted, that’s the truth."
Having explained himself, Doctor Hu still looked mournful, "I can’t deny that my misjudgment indirectly caused the villagers’ deaths, but that witch doctor is certainly not innocent. His true nature must be exposed as soon as possible, or I fear even more people will die needlessly."
That wizard claimed to cure diseases but was heavily profiteering.
It would have been forgivable if he was just profiteering, but he gathered people every day, likely under the guise of treating them while actually breeding Gu insects.
It’s said that in the City of Witch Ancestors, there are both good and evil witch doctors; the one who came to An County is surely not one of the good ones.
After hearing Doctor Hu’s description, the pair thought back to the witch doctor’s bizarre treatment methods and felt even more certain he wasn’t really trying to save anyone.
"How are these Gu insects to be killed?" Bai Junjun asked the critical question, frowning.
"..." Doctor Hu was taken aback, and after a while, he stuttered, "I’m not very sure, but it’s said that if you kill the Mother Worm, the other Gu insects will die as well."
Kill the Mother Worm?
The two exchanged glances, both recalling the skull in the smoky haze.