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As March gradually warmed, the grass grew lush and the orioles flew, with peach blossoms floating on the water and the fish becoming plump. For fishermen, this time marked a prime season for catching fish, but for Xue Fugui, it had recently turned into a nightmare.
In late spring, in the eastern outskirts of Luoyang, Xue Fugui rose before dawn. The fish he had caught yesterday were still swimming lively in the pond, and he needed to deliver them to the fish market in Luoyang South Market before it opened to secure the best price.
Setting out early was essential, especially since Luoyang City was so vast. About fifteen years ago, in the first year of the Sui Dynasty's Great Year, the emperor constructed the eastern capital of Luoyang City. It was bordered by Mang Mountain to the north and Yi Que's mouth to the south, with the Luo River flowing through it. The palaces were built extravagantly. Although after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Shichong was defeated in Luoyang in the fourth year of Wude, leading to the destruction of Luoyang's palaces and the downfall of Sui's eastern capital, Luoyang's scale and commercial significance remained unshaken.
The Luo River flowed from the north of the city, cutting it naturally into northern and southern halves. Today, there were twenty-eight wards and one market to the north of Luo River, while to the south there were eighty-one wards and two markets. The South Market that Xue Fugui aimed for was located in Luoyang's southern city, considered the most prosperous area.
Xue Fugui's village lay to the east of Luoyang City, beside a tributary of Luo River—a blessed place to live. Here, villagers fished and cultivated rice, relying on Luo River's bounty for a peaceful and harmonious life. Although years of warfare had affected the village, its favorable environment allowed it to quickly regain vitality once peace returned.
With life becoming more comfortable, people became less calculating. In Xue Fugui's fishing village, harmony prevailed among neighbors. Most families fished on Luo River, leading to a tradition where a few honest and reliable young men were selected to deliver fish to South Market for sale. This arrangement allowed others in the village to fish without worry or excessive travel. Xue Fugui was one such chosen fish courier.
Today was March 7th, marking Xue Fugui's first trip to South Market in two months. He felt somewhat embarrassed; spring was indeed a busy season for fishing deliveries. However, his younger brother had gone to Bianzhou for business years ago and recently married a good woman from a respectable family there. For over a month, Xue Fugui had been helping his brother with wedding preparations before finally returning home to Luoyang.
Having not delivered fish for a long time made him feel invigorated as he got back to work. After changing into his coarse cloth garments, he loaded all the collected fish into baskets and onto a large cart purchased collectively by the village before heading next door to knock on Ping Liu's door.
Ping Liu was in his twenties but had yet to marry due to his less-than-attractive appearance. Having lost both parents early on, he lived alone. The two families had been neighbors for many years. Despite his plain looks, Ping Liu had a kind heart; whenever Xue Fugui was away from home, he entrusted Ping Liu with looking after things without any issues arising between them. Since Ping Liu was also one of the selected fish couriers from their village, Xue Fugui always called on him first.
However, today Ping Liu did not come out to answer the door. After knocking for a while, Xue Fugui sensed something was off. It was unusual for Ping Liu—who was typically diligent—to still be asleep at this hour.
Worrying about his friend, Xue Fugui found a branch and slipped it through the gap in the door to lift the latch before entering the yard. The yard was eerily quiet; no lights were lit inside either. Pushing open the door and stepping inside, he called out softly, "Ping Liu?"
What answered him were heavy breaths followed by low groans.
Xue Fugui's heart tightened as he quickly searched for a lamp and struck a match to light it. When he illuminated the room, he gasped in shock. Ping Liu lay on his bed with flushed cheeks and closed eyes, barely able to move as he groaned softly.
Xue Fugui stepped forward and touched the patient, his hand recoiling as if it had touched a hot coal. Just yesterday, he seemed to be fine; how could he have fallen ill so severely? This was bad; he needed to call for the doctor quickly!
Without delay, Xue Fugui hurried to knock on the door of Mr. Hu, the village doctor who had some medical knowledge. To his surprise, Mr. Hu was not home at such an early hour. Mr. Hu's wife explained that he had been called away late last night, apparently to attend to someone with a severe illness, and he had yet to return.
A severe illness? A terrible premonition suddenly arose in Xue Fugui's heart. After a moment's thought, he quickly made his way to the village chief's residence.
His ominous feeling was indeed confirmed. Overnight, four individuals in the village had fallen gravely ill, each exhibiting extreme fever similar to Ping Liu. Mr. Hu had examined them but was utterly helpless; he attempted to brew some fever-reducing medicine for them, but it proved completely ineffective.
For Xue Fugui, this reality seemed even more foreboding than his initial premonition. He was shocked to discover that the four patients—Ping Liu, Zhao He, Qian Cheng, and Liu Er—were all fellow fishmongers from the village, just like him.
The patients were gathered in a large room for care. By noon, not only had their high fevers not subsided, but red spots began to appear on their bodies, soon oozing pus and festering.
The village chief and Mr. Hu were alarmed; they had never seen or heard of such symptoms before. They quickly dispersed the villagers from the large room, leaving only the patients' relatives inside to care for them, fearing this might be some contagious disease that could spread to others. Simultaneously, the village chief urgently dispatched several people to nearby towns to fetch renowned doctors.
In total, the village chief sent out four groups to seek doctors; it was uncertain whether this would be effective or not. One group returned in less than two hours.
They brought back a wandering physician. This doctor had encountered the villagers on the road and, with a mindset of treating a dead horse as if it were alive, listened as they described the illness. To their surprise, this physician had seen such symptoms before and even experimented with remedies for it. The villagers were overjoyed and quickly brought him back to the village.
This physician was truly extraordinary. After examining the four patients' conditions, he promptly cleared out the relatives who were caring for them inside the room, stating that close contact could easily lead to infection. He then took out his pen and prescribed several herbs for brewing while also retrieving various bottles and jars from his medicine pouch for mixing unknown concoctions. Soon enough, the medicine was prepared and administered to the four patients; remarkably, their high fevers began to alleviate quickly.
Worried about his fellow fishmongers' safety, Xue Fugui waited nearby to see if there was anything he could do to help. Eventually, when the village chief emerged praising the physician's remarkable skills, Xue Fugui learned that Ping Liu and the others' symptoms had improved, allowing him to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Fugui," said the village chief, "stay here and keep an eye on things. If the divine doctor needs assistance with anything, help him out. I need to reassure our fellow villagers and prevent any panic."
Xue Fugui nodded; that tense feeling within him began to ease at last. He climbed onto a bed and propped himself up against a pile of blankets at the headboard, intending to rest for a moment.
He had been asleep for less than half an hour when he suddenly heard a piercing scream coming from the next room.
Xue Fugui jolted awake, leaping off the bed and rushing toward the main house. As he reached the courtyard, he saw five or six figures in black, their faces masked, wielding bloody knives and axes as they leaped onto the roof. The black-clad figures glanced at him, seemingly hesitating whether to silence him, but after exchanging glances, they used their light-footed skills to float effortlessly across the rooftops and vanished in an instant.
Xue Fugui was so frightened that he fell to the ground, taking a moment to gather his voice before calling for help. Before long, villagers gathered around, including the village chief, and he trembled as he recounted what he had just witnessed.
The village chief called over a few brave and strong men, armed with hoes and iron tools, and they entered the main house to investigate. Upon entering, even the boldest among them were struck with terror at the sight before them; their legs turned to jelly.
Several patients lay there, their throats cleanly slit. But the physician was not so "fortunate." When they entered the main room, they found his head placed upright on the table, his expression twisted and eyes wide open, facing the door. His body had been brutally dismembered and discarded all over the floor.
It was a scene straight out of hell! Xue Fugui leaned against the doorframe and began to retch like everyone else.
An inexplicable plague, mysterious assassins in black, a wandering physician who had tragically left no name or home behind—such brutal and terrifying methods of murder. This horrifying tale spread quickly through the village, sending panic rippling through the eastern outskirts of Luoyang.
The official authorities arrived to examine the bodies. Fearing that the deceased might carry a contagious disease, they ordered the corpses to be cremated after inspection and buried the ashes deep underground. The physician’s belongings contained no documents to identify him, leaving his origins a mystery.
What exactly had happened? Were those mysterious assassins there to kill the four infected individuals and happened to murder the physician as well? Or were they specifically targeting him while Ping Liu and the other patients were merely collateral damage?
Even now, Xue Fugui remained utterly perplexed. (To be continued...)
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