“It’s all because of the outer city. Who knows what evil wind is blowing—just this month alone, over twenty people have died. With so many people needing medicine, of course the price has gone up!”

“Over twenty people have died already? How could there be so many?”

A customer buying medicine exclaimed in shock, “Th-this couldn’t be a plague, could it?”

In this era where even a chill could be fatal, a few deaths were nothing unusual. But for more than twenty people to die of illness in just one month was truly horrifying.

“Who could say?”

The pharmacy shopkeeper, weighing out herbs as he spoke casually, said, “If you think it’s too expensive, just wait a few days. Soon enough, the caravan bringing herbs from Shunde Prefecture should be back…”

“Can illness wait?”

The customer glared, quickly pulling out money to buy the herbs he needed.

‘We need to move as soon as possible…’

Samuel Bennett’s heart sank as well.

He remembered his grandmother mentioning at noon that in the alley where he lived, two brothers had also fallen seriously ill.

If this really was a plague…

His heart tightened, and Samuel Bennett no longer wanted to haggle. He took out the ten taels of broken silver he’d gotten from Charles Harris and bought enough herbs to last seven or eight days.

He hurried out of the pharmacy and rushed home.

As the sun set and the sky grew dim, Samuel Bennett quickened his pace, barely making it back to the outer city before the inner city gates closed.

“Xiao Yu? Why did you buy so many herbs? Is someone at home sick?”

Turning a few corners, just as Samuel Bennett was about to head home, he heard someone call his name.

He turned to see several yamen runners carrying a straw mat out from a nearby alley. The one at the back, holding a small straw mat, was none other than Edward Carter.

“You all go ahead, I’ll have a word with Xiao Yu.”

After saying this to his companions, Edward Carter shuffled over, a foul stench wafting over and forcing Samuel Bennett to take a step back.

“What’s this?”

Seeing the corner of a swaddling cloth sticking out from the straw mat, Samuel Bennett’s face darkened.

“Sigh. Who knows how many days this family’s been dead? By the time the neighbors found out, the bodies were already rotting…”

Edward Carter’s face was somber:

“This child… has been dead from starvation for days…”

Halfway through, Edward Carter couldn’t go on, and Samuel Bennett fell silent as well.

“By the way.”

After a while, Edward Carter seemed to remember something and said, “Yesterday I heard someone say that someone overheard ‘Three-foot Liu’ scolding Constable Harris, apparently about the compensation for your father…”

“…This morning Constable Harris brought it over…”

Samuel Bennett paused before replying.

“That’s good, then.”

Edward Carter looked around, and seeing no one nearby, leaned in and lowered his voice: “Xiao Yu, listen to me—take the compensation and buy a vacant house in the inner city. Even if it’s expensive, it’s worth it…”

Samuel Bennett was moved. “Do you know something?”

Although both he and Edward Carter were yamen runners, their jobs were different. Thanks to his arithmetic skills, he worked in the storeroom.

Edward Carter, on the other hand, patrolled the streets every day, doing the dirty and tiring work like ‘collecting corpses,’ ‘cleaning the county office,’ and ‘moving supplies.’

He was much better informed than Samuel Bennett.

“I can’t say much.”

Edward Carter hesitated for a moment, then, seeing no one around, said, “I’m only telling you—don’t tell anyone else.”

Without waiting for Samuel Bennett to nod, he continued:

“The illness in the outer city is strange. I’m afraid it’s a plague. You—you should leave as soon as you can…”

“Edward Carter!”

A loud shout from the distance interrupted Edward Carter.

He hurriedly responded, bid farewell to Samuel Bennett, and followed after, carrying the straw mat.

“A plague.”

Samuel Bennett sighed.

With the sanitation in the outer city, a plague wasn’t impossible. Whether it really was or not, he couldn’t be sure, but what was certain was that it was no longer safe to stay in the outer city.

With that in mind, Samuel Bennett didn’t go home. Instead, he turned back, went to the inner city gate, took out two qian of silver, and asked the gatekeeper to wait a moment.

Then he hurried home, didn’t bother packing much, and quickly carried Mrs. Bennett back to the inner city, to the small courtyard he had just bought but hadn’t yet received the deed for.

The inner city had four districts—east, west, south, and north. The south was the most prosperous, the north the most desolate. Naturally, he had bought in the northern district.

Though not as good as the southern district, it was still far, far better than the outer city.

Seeing Samuel Bennett pry open the door with a broken knife, Mrs. Bennett grew worried. “Xiao Yu, isn’t it bad if someone sees us doing this?”

“The sooner we get in, the sooner we can rest easy. Besides, we’ve already bought this house. It’s our own door—who can say anything?”

Samuel Bennett didn’t mind at all.

The courtyard was small: two rooms facing south, two facing north, a side room, and a small yard with two water jars and an old tree.

He tidied up quickly and settled his grandmother in.

Samuel Bennett didn’t rest either. He set a pot to boil water and began decocting the herbs. Two hours later, he poured the finished medicinal liquid directly into a large vat.

He added the prepared hot water, tested the temperature, then stripped down to his underclothes and jumped in.

“Blood cleansing…”

Samuel Bennett calmed his mind and began adjusting his breathing according to the method taught by William Walker.