CH 050 March Of The Sick

The mechanisms in the treasure trove were very complex, and it took nearly 4 hours for everyone to explore only half of it. And just this half was enough to dumbfound anyone.

Exquisite gold and silver utensils, a variety of unique ancient books and scrolls, foreign treasures, rare minerals, fine wine with exquisite wine cups and goblets, paintings, instruments and chess sets, etc. It was all-encompassing and valuable. However, they also found that some of the items had been destroyed or stolen. But there was no sign of treasure hunters in the treasure trove, only chicken feathers, chicken feces, chicken claw prints and other things left on the ground that showed just who or what was responsible.

It could be seen from the degree of wetness and dryness of the chicken feces that this treasure trove had actually been visited by chickens for a long period of time. The damage was actually not entirely caused by the chickens that had entered with them this time. This showed that this place had been rooted through by chickens long ago!

Everyone couldn’t help but feel a sense of depression that humans were not as shrewd as chickens. In a sense, the chickens in Chicken Nest Village were indeed omnipotent, and even the gods could not stop them from causing harm to the world.

After returning to the village, the disheveled and dusty people went back to their residences to freshen up. There were chickens guarding the treasure trove so there was no need to worry as it was definitely safer than even the palace. If anyone wanted to sneak in secretly, then it was guaranteed that they would be leaving horizontally with tears running down their faces.

When Nie Bufan returned home, Zhang Junshi had already prepared hot water for him and was there to help him undress.

Nie Bufan pushed him out, expressing that he wanted to enjoy the bath time alone. But in truth he just didn’t want the traces on his body to be seen by Zhang Junshi as it was too troublesome to explain.

As a result, he soaked for nearly an hour. It wasn’t until Zhang Junshi came to call at the door that he slowly crawled out, like an old man with weak limbs, putting on his clothes with trembling jelly arms. After that he lay on the chair motionless, a dying call coming from his mouth: “Zhang Third, I’m going to die soon, come and save me!”

When Zhang Junshi outside the door heard this, he thought something was wrong. He quickly kicked the door open and rushed in.

“What’s the matter?” Zhang Junshi asked worriedly when he rushed to Nie Bufan’s side.

Nie Bufan stretched out his hands and said pitifully: “Zhang Third, I am very weak, can you carry me back to the bedroom.”

Zhang Junshi smiled with a huff when he saw him acting coquettish and spoiled. He carried him in a princess hold, and strode towards the bedroom.

When passing by the door, Nie Bufan looked at the two dangling door panels and said: “Zhang Third, remember to fix the door later. You are too rough. Just look at how you bullied the poor door panels!”

Zhang Junshi’s mouth twitched. Who was the one yelling that he was about to die!

After carrying him into the room, he then helped him lie down and change the quilt. Nie Bufan said softly, “Thank you Zhang Third, good night.”

Good night? It wwas only the afternoon. Zhang Junshi rubbed his head and said: “You go to bed first, and I will call you when it’s dinner.”

“No need, I just want to get a good night’s sleep.” Nie Bufan closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep very quickly.

Zhang Junshi looked at him for a long while, then leaned down and pressed a kiss on his forehead before leaving the bedroom on light footsteps.

As soon as he walked out of the room, he saw Li Yi walking towards him.

“Is he inside?” Li Yi asked.

“Just fallen asleep.” Zhang Junshi glanced at him and asked, “What happened in the treasure trove? He looks very tired.”

“I want to know too.” Li Yi said, “Let’s talk about it when he wakes up!”

The two left one after another.

A figure flashed across the courtyard, and Wang Shichan, who was planning to visit Nie Bufan, also disappeared.

Nie Bufan slept for a full 14 hours and did not wake up until mao shi the next day (TN: 5-7 am). Zhang Junshi was the first to notice that something was wrong. When he went into the room he found Nie Bufan feverish and drowsy and obviously sick.

Zhang Junshi was alarmed, and hurriedly sent someone to the city to ask for a doctor.

Everyone in Chicken Nest Village was caught off guard by Nie Bufan’s illness. In their minds, village head Nie was a scourge that couldn’t be beaten to death, wasn’t afraid of falling, and wouldn’t feel pain upon a beating. No one thought that he would actually get sick one day!

Looking at Nie Bufan who was lying on the bed and ocassionally mumbling from hallucinations, everyone was silent and worried. The atmosphere was a little depressed.

Wang Shichan looked at Si Chenyu coldly, and a trace of guilt arose in the latter’s heart, guessing that this illness was probably due to the sex in the underground passage yesterday.

The doctor was quickly dragged in by the collar. He was panting and out of breath. Just as he was about to make a stink, he saw that the room was full of well-dressed and extraordinary characters and couldn’t help being frightened into a sweat. Who would have thought that this remote mountain village was really a crouching tiger, hidden dragon. He began to treat this visit with more importance, treating the sick person on the bed with more caution.

Under the sharp gazes, the doctor came to the bed on trembling legs. After observing his pulse, he breathed a sigh of relief and said to everyone: “There is nothing serious, this young man is just in weak and poor health with an inflammation of the liver, so he should drink a few decoctions of some medicinal herbs. After a few days of recuperation he will be fine again.”

There was another detail that the doctor did not dare to say. This man had obviously had sex with another man recently, and the root cause of the illness also came from this. As for who the other man was, this was not his business. However, he was still obligated to alert them about this.

“Uh……in addition, it is not advisable to have frequent intercourse. You must also clean thoroughly after each time. You can also take certain medicine to improve the physique.”

As soon as this sentence came out, everyone in the room had a weird expression on their faces and the atmosphere became very awkward.

When the doctor saw this, cold sweat broke out once again. He hurriedly wrote the prescription, explained it carefully and then left as if he was fleeing for his life.

Zhang Junshi asked Tu Beng to grab the medicine, and then brought a bowl of rice porridge over, wanting to feed him some porridge first.

Li Yi helped him sit up and whispered his name in his ear.

Nie Bufan woke up in a daze, only to feel dizzy and weak in his limbs.

He pulled Zhang Third and Li Fourth’s arms with both his left and right hands, and said in pain: “Zhang Third, you must take care of my chickens. You can’t sell them. It’s not easy as it is being chickens. Also, the eggs can’t all be made into tea eggs, some eggs can hatch out babies.”

Zhang Third was speechless.

He then said to Li Yi: “Li Fourth, you must get along with your brother, don’t hurt your brotherly relationship because of me. When I’m gone, you can rely on him for elderly support in the future.”

“……” Li Yi’s facial muscles twitched.

“Wang Fifth, Buddha is not easy to serve. It is right for you not to become a monk. In the future, you can specialize in raising chickens. If you can convert them, it will be a virtuous achievement. Isn’t there a saying, “one person gaining the Dao, chickens and dogs will ascend to the heavens”? Whether they will be successful in the future it will all depend on you!” (TN: the idiom “poultry and dogs rise to Heaven” refers to riding on somebody else’s success. For example, once one man gets a government position, all his cronies will get in too)

Wang Shichan: “……”

“Brother Shi……”

“Okay, you don’t have to worry about my business!” Si Chenyu interrupted quickly.

Nie Bufan’s eyes were teary, and he said weakly: “I’m already so sick, and you still won’t let me speak the truth?”

You just have a small fever but you act like you’re giving your last words. What kind of trouble are you up to now?

He knew that even if this guy became sick, he was still a scourge!

Nie Bufan continued to ramble on for a long time, and finally asked: “Zhang Third, tell me honestly, how long can I live?”

Zhang Junshi said solemnly: “There are still a thousand years left for you to live.”

After serving him porridge with much difficulty, all the people dispersed. If they continued to listen to his nonsense, they would probably all go crazy.

However, they all remembered the last words the doctor said. That prescription also included the method of nourishment and they would definitely not let Nie Bufan slack off! Their future marital happiness depended on it!

In the evening, Zhang Junshi brought the boiled medicine over. Nie Bufan hugged the quilt and whined, “I’m fine now, don’t need to take anymore medicine.”

“Be good, take the medicine and heal faster.”

Nie Bufan rolled a few times, procrastinating in getting up.

In just a few hours, his energy had indeed improved a lot. But Zhang Junshi didn’t dare to be careless, worried that his illness might return, so he coaxed him to drink the medicine.

“If you don’t drink, I’ll just force it down your throat.” Li Yi threatened from the side.

Nie Bufan poked out his head with an aggrieved expression and looked at Li Yi with accusing eyes.

The other people also showed no mercy to him, standing in a row like riot police.

Under the pressure, Nie Bufan finally took a sip reluctantly. He then remained silent for a while, before saying with melancholy: “Let me be euthanized! The difficult task of taking medicine is not something I can accomplish.”

Naturally, his pitiful appearance did not receive the slightest sympathy, and the bowl of medicine decoction was fed into his stomach without any drop left behind. Feeding him and helping him drink medicine was like fighting a war. This guy wouldn’t be still and obedient for even a moment. The worries they had when they first learned of his illness were absolutely unnecessary!

Everyone rejoiced in his misfortune as he shouted bitterly: “You are too inhumane. If you bully a weak man like me, you will be punished!”

With the curse still echoing in their ears, no one expected it to be fulfilled so quickly.

The sick Nie Bufan was back to being alive and kicking the next day. But in contrast, the rest of the people in Chicken Nest Village, except Wang Shichan, all fell ill.

In fact, after Nie Bufan, the chickens were the first to get sick. They seemed to have all been infected by him. First, they had a loss of appetite and then they became violent and aggressive.

In just a few days, the Chicken Nest Village was turned upside down by them, as if a tornado had passed by. Everyone was fortunate enough to see the real fighting power of the chickens, flying over the roofs, digging through the ground, making waves in the water and drilling through wood……it was both shocking and eye-opening.

When the chickens finished having their moment, everyone who originally watched the show were all struck with tragedy.

Their condition was different from that of Nie Bufan and the chickens. Their symptoms included coughing, fever, runny nose, and not eating well or sleeping well. They had to drink medicine every day, truly they were under much suffering.

While taking care of them, Nie Bufan thought to himself: Was this the legendary bird flu? It shouldn’t be too serious, right? Although he often cursed them, he didn’t really hope that something would happen to them. Teasing alive humans was much more fulfilling so now that all of them were sick, he was feeling all kinds of unpleasant!

In Chicken Nest Village, only Wang Shichan did not get sick. It was possible that he escaped because he was a vegetarian.

As patient 0 and the ultimate culprit, Nie Bufan resolutely decided to take responsibility and donate all his savings to buy a large amount of medicinal herbs, boiling them into decoctions every day and pouring it down their throats one by one. The food was also mainly light vegetable dishes, eliminating any meat from the diet.

After a few days, everyone lost weight and all of them became lethargic, their eye sockets sunken and eyes tearing up whenever they smelled meat.

They never knew that living could be so difficult before.

Seeing their tortured appearances, Wang Shichan, despite being calm and aloof, couldn’t help but also feel a complicated mix of sympathy and schadenfreude amusement.