Volume 2 Chapter 2: Cause of Death

“Achoo! Achoo!” Frank made a sour face as he sneezed. Following his master’s orders, he rubbed his body over and over until his skin turned red and the ragged linen shirt was washed clean. Only then was he allowed to come back ashore.

Once ashore, apart from his wet hair and beard still making him look like a vagrant, the foul sweat odor resembling dried fish on Frank’s body had disappeared. However, his complexion was pale with a bluish tint, somewhat resembling a dead person, and his whole body trembled as if he was about to faint.

Qin Lun raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise. Although it was nighttime, it wasn’t the cold winter season. He had also been in the stream and didn’t feel particularly cold. Moreover, although Frank had some disability, he was used to doing hard labor regularly, so his physical condition shouldn’t be this poor.

“Cough, cough…” Under the assault of the cold stream water, Frank covered his mouth and had a violent coughing fit. An unnatural flush appeared on his face.

Qin Lun’s pupils constricted. Although Frank quickly put his hands behind his back, under the moonlight, Qin Lun had already seen the trace of blood seeping through the hunchbacked servant’s fingers.

Qin Lun stepped forward swiftly, grabbing Frank’s right wrist to check his pulse. Frank struggled a few times, but upon seeing his master’s stern gaze, he hunched his shoulders and quieted down.

Releasing Frank’s wrist, Qin Lun frowned slightly. The hunchbacked servant’s pulse was extremely weak, almost imperceptible, as if he were on the verge of death. Yet, in Wellington’s remaining memories, Frank had always been portrayed as a monstrously strong figure.

Looking at Frank’s miserable state, Qin Lun felt a slight stir in his heart. Even if the previous Wellington rarely paid attention to this loyal servant, as a doctor, his servant’s physical condition should have caught his notice. It seemed that Frank’s current physical changes must have occurred after Wellington’s death.

Qin Lun closed his eyes, searching through Wellington’s residual memories for relevant clues. After a moment, he reopened his eyes. Indeed, there were no clues about Frank’s physical condition in Wellington’s memories. However, Qin Lun had found the cause of Wellington’s death.

As a young doctor without an official license, Wellington rarely had patients visit him normally. However, recently, there had been an exception. A severe epidemic disease had spread through several small towns near Wellington’s residence. Many poor people in the towns couldn’t afford proper doctors, so they had to seek treatment from the inexperienced Wellington.

But clearly, Wellington’s clumsy medical skills not only failed to cure these patients but also caused him to contract the epidemic disease himself, ultimately leading to his demise. Frank originally had little contact with the patients; he probably became infected while taking care of Wellington.

Recalling this epidemic disease, a cautious expression appeared on Qin Lun’s face. This disease had an extremely high mortality rate and progressed very rapidly. On the first day, patients had a persistent high fever. On the second day, they coughed up blood continuously. There were no outward symptoms, but their internal organs had already begun to rot. By the third day, they would die directly.

Based on the medical knowledge Qin Lun had read, he was definitely at the level of a medical doctor. However, the books he read were all from Earth. In this unfamiliar world, he couldn’t determine the type of this epidemic disease or its treatment plan.

In Wellington’s memories, this epidemic disease didn’t seem to be appearing in the towns for the first time. It had spread before, often appearing quickly and disappearing rapidly, and its infectivity wasn’t as strong as it was now.

Three days had passed from Wellington’s death until today! The fact that Frank lasted until now before showing symptoms of coughing blood indicated that his physique was indeed much stronger than that of a normal person.

On the other hand… a strange expression crossed Qin Lun’s face. This was probably also due to the effect of that medical alcohol. Diluted with water, the concentration of the medical alcohol should have dropped below 75%, but it still tasted at least 40% or higher. This concentration happened to have a disinfecting effect, delaying the onset of the disease inside Frank.

As for why this ignorant hunchback wasn’t poisoned to death by the medical alcohol, Qin Lun guessed that either the medical alcohol wasn’t very qualified, or Frank’s stomach had been “tested” over time and had built up tolerance.

If he didn’t save him, Frank probably wouldn’t last two more days! Qin Lun hesitated for a moment, then made a decision immediately. No matter what, he needed a helper now, and the loyal servant Frank was currently the best choice.

Qin Lun turned the wine flask upside down and, ignoring the hunchbacked servant’s resentful look, poured out all the diluted alcohol. He went to the stream to wash the flask and filled it with some stream water. Then, he took out the crystal bottle containing “World Tree Dew” from his pocket, pulled out the stopper, and gently dropped one droplet of the dew inside.

“Drink it. Don’t leave any!” Qin Lun handed the wine flask back to the servant and commanded with a stern face.

“Oh… so fragrant!” Frank brought his large nose close to the mouth of the wine flask, sniffed, and then drank all the “World Tree Dew” diluted with stream water in one gulp.

“Do you feel anything?” Qin Lun stared intently at the hunchbacked servant, very interested in the effect of the “World Tree Dew”.

“Don’t feel anyth… Whoa…” Frank smacked his lips, still savoring the taste. Before he could finish his sentence, his expression changed drastically. His throat convulsed, his cheeks puffed up, and he bent over and started vomiting.

“Gurgle, gurgle!” The ugly hunchback wasn’t just vomiting from above; even his abdomen seemed to have an adverse reaction. He immediately clutched his stomach and ran quickly toward the grass by the stream. As an adult, even if he didn’t care about his image, he didn’t want to take off his pants and relieve himself right in front of Qin Lun.

“This reaction seems a bit intense!” Qin Lun muttered to himself. He glanced down at Frank’s vomit and immediately frowned again. “It doesn’t look like parasites. This epidemic disease…”

The pile of filthy vomit contained many streaks of blood. Most bizarrely, some dark green, jelly-like unknown substances within it were actually squirming slightly, looking very much like small blobs of slime.

“Young Master, what did you give me to drink?”

A while later, Frank walked out of the woods with unsteady steps. Compared to before, his face was now truly as pale as a dead person’s.

“How do you feel?” Qin Lun again took hold of Frank’s wrist. The hunchbacked servant’s pulse was still somewhat weak, but compared to before, it had stabilized a lot.

“I feel weak all over, but it seems much easier inside my body,” Frank replied weakly. “Young Master, your medicine is too strong!”

Qin Lun nodded noncommittally. In theory, “World Tree Dew” was a plant-based life essence. After being consumed by a person, it should gradually enhance the body’s recovery and immunity, not suddenly turn into a powerful purgative.

The current effect was most likely due to a major conflict between the “virus” inside Frank’s body and the life essence of the dew, which caused the ugly hunchback to vomit and have diarrhea. Although the “World Tree Dew” didn’t serve its intended purpose, it still allowed Frank to expel most of the “virus,” which happened to work out by chance.

Qin Lun glanced at the staggering hunchbacked servant, sighed softly, pulled out the stopper of the crystal bottle again, and dropped another droplet into the wine flask.

Save someone completely, send the Buddha all the way to the west! Since he had already used one droplet of World Tree Dew, he couldn’t let the remaining toxins in Frank’s body relapse. Besides, there were many things for Frank to do next. In his current state, how could he run errands? Qin Lun didn’t have time to wait for him to recover slowly.

“Go fill this with water from the stream. Your illness isn’t cured yet. If you don’t want to die, take a sip of the medicine in the flask every hour.” Qin Lun handed the wine flask back to Frank. “When you can continue traveling, we’ll go back!”

It must be said that Frank’s physical foundation was indeed good. Of course, it could also be that the second droplet of World Tree Dew finally had its intended effect. The hunchbacked servant’s complexion quickly returned to a healthy glow. After resting for just half an hour, he was in high spirits.

“Young Master Wellington, let’s go home. Frank feels his strength has returned!” The hunchbacked servant stood up, excitedly cracked his knuckles, and took the lead walking ahead.

By now, the sky was beginning to lighten. A ray of dawn dispelled the gloom of the forest graveyard and hung on the treetops of the small woods.

Wellington’s home was about five or six miles from the forest graveyard. It was situated on a small hillside, relatively high, overlooking a small town shrouded in morning mist not far away.

It was a two-story small western-style building made of wood and stone. From a distance, it looked quite elegant and quaint. However, up close, one could see that the exterior walls of the small building were heavily stained and peeling, with corners full of wild grass and moss, presenting a dilapidated scene.

“Doot… Warning. This environment differs from this world’s survival conditions. Please leave as soon as possible, Apostle. Otherwise, the Law Body will enter a state of continuous damage!”

The message from the Death Notice made Qin Lun’s expression change slightly. He grabbed the hunchbacked servant who was leading the way, narrowed his eyes, and scrutinized the small building again.

“Give me the wine flask. You stay here!” Qin Lun took a silk handkerchief from his vest pocket, sprinkled some diluted dew on it, covered his mouth and nose, and pushed open the wooden door of the small building.

The furnishings inside the small building were rather simple. Several portraits hung on the corridor walls; these were some ancestors of the Stan Family. In Wellington’s grandfather’s generation, the Stan Family was actually a fairly renowned medical family in this area. Unfortunately, Wellington’s father had no interest in studying medicine and went into business instead, resulting in continuous losses that squandered the family fortune.

After Wellington’s father died, young Wellington had to rely on selling off family possessions to sustain his livelihood and continue his medical studies. In fact, this young man’s medical skills weren’t as poor as Qin Lun imagined. At least in terms of surgical skills, he still possessed the Stan Family’s innate talent for medicine.

Of course, this was also related to Frank occasionally stealing corpses from the graveyard for him to dissect and study.

Unfortunately, Wellington was ultimately inexperienced. Forcing himself to treat those epidemic patients led to his death before he could fully establish himself, completely ending the Stan Family bloodline.

Following Wellington’s residual memories, Qin Lun quickly ran up to the second-floor bedroom, took a small cloth pouch from a hidden compartment in the desk, and put it in his pocket. Then he ran back downstairs, opened a hidden door to a small storage room, and descended a wooden staircase into the basement of the small building.

This was Wellington’s medical research room, as well as his operating room and dissecting table!