Chapter 20
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S T E L L A R C L O U D
[Celeste S.] [Azurixa] [Robert K.]
O R A N G E S T A R
[Talia R.] [K.Rom]
Y E L L O W S T A R
[Camille] [Linds] [Esther D.]
The elderly woman was lying sideways on the ground, her face was covered with her disheveled hair, and her body, dressed in a plain cloth gown, was dirty. Gu Jiao's first thought was that she must be a resident of this village who had just returned from the field and somehow fainted at her door.
The loud noise just now should be her head hitting the door of her house. It was evident from the wound on her forehead which was bleeding a little.
It wasn’t that Gu Jiao hadn’t seen such a scam where you deliberately injured yourself to extort the other party in her previous life, but looking through her memories, it seemed that there was no such thing in this life.
The other party had genuinely fainted at her door.
Gu Jiao crouched down to see which family she belonged to, so she could send her back. However, as soon as she moved the other party and laid her flat on the ground, Gu Jiao discovered that something was wrong.
There were evenly shaped, pale skin lesions and reddish spots on her face. It wasn’t clear how much the discolored patches had spread on her body, but she also had it on the back of both hands.
Gu Jiao's eyebrows frowned slightly. This was clearly...
"Big sis! We’re back!"
Just then, Gu Xiaoshun, carrying an old book bag, rushed towards Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao turned to look at him with a grave expression and said, "Don't come over here!"
Gu Jiao had never spoken to Gu Xiaoshun in such a stern tone before, so Gu Xiaoshun was stunned for a moment.
"Big sis..." He took two steps forward.
"I said, don't come over here!" Gu Jiao's tone grew a bit colder.
This time, Gu Xiaoshun didn’t dare to move at all and just stood blankly a dozen steps away from Gu Jiao.
He could see Gu Jiao, naturally, he could also see the elderly woman lying in front of Gu Jiao.
His intuition told him that it had something to do with that elderly woman.
He asked, "Big sis, who is she?"
Gu Jiao fixed her gaze on the elderly woman and replied, "I don't know, you should go back to the Gu Family first."
She originally planned to call Gu Xiaoshun over for dinner, but now that something like this had happened, the safety at home couldn’t be completely guaranteed, and she didn’t want to harm Gu Xiaoshun.
Gu Xiaoshun wasn’t willing, but since his big sis said so, he could only go back first.
"Well then, brother-in-law, I shall be going." He turned around and said to Xiao Liulang who had suddenly arrived behind him.
Gu Jiao was slightly startled. Xiao Liulang was also back?
Not just Xiao Liulang, Feng Lin had also come along.
Feng Lin helped his deskmate review his lessons, and his deskmate gave him a basket of grapefruit as a token of gratitude. He gave Xiao Liulang half of it directly. Worried that Xiao Liulang couldn't carry it home, he accompanied him back to the village.
Though there was Gu Xiaoshun around, he always bullied Xiao Liulang before, so Feng Lin was still a bit uneasy about leaving Xiao Liulang to go home with him. It could be said that his coming along this time was also to keep watch on them.
Xiao Liulang and Feng Lin both noticed the elderly woman on the ground.
"You should not come over here either." Gu Jiao said to them.
Feng Lin scowled and found it strange, "Is she dead? You didn't kill her, did you?"
"Hey! Don’t you talk groundlessly!" Gu Xiaoshun really hated this pretty boy who always slandered his sister.
Feng Lin grunted, "Am I wrong? Something must have happened to that elderly woman, otherwise why not let us go there? "
Xiao Liulang walked over with a cold look on his face.
"You... Don't come over here." Gu Jiao said.
Xiao Liulang still came over to her.
In fact, he could already somewhat tell what was wrong from a distance. When he got closer and had a close look, it could be said that the conjecture from the bottom of his heart had become a fact.
Feng Lin saw him go there and hurriedly followed suit.
"Ah! Why did you both go there? Big sis, I... I... "Gu Xiaoshun scratched his head anxiously.
When Feng Lin arrived beside Xiao Liulang, he looked at the elderly woman and saw red spots and white patches across her whole face. A sense of foreboding welled up in his heart, "Brother Xiao, this is..."
"Leprosy." Xiao Liulang frowned and said.
Feng Lin trembled all over and nearly fell down!
"This, this, this, this... This elderly woman is a leper..." Feng Lin stuttered in alarm.
Everyone knew that leprosy was one of the most terrible infectious diseases. It was said that as long as there was one infected person in the village, the whole village would catch it. Moreover, there was no cure for this disease. If you got it, you could only wait for your death.
In the previous dynasty, there was this tragic event where tens of thousands of people died because they didn't pay enough attention to leprosy.
The first major event after the founding emperor of this dynasty ascended the throne was to establish the Leprosy Mountain, where all leprosy patients were sent for centralized management.
"Did you touch her?" Xiao Liulang calmly looked at Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao nodded.
However, even though she touched her just now, her own skin still didn’t show any damage at the moment, so the chance of being infected wasn’t high.
Only, other people might not think the same.
If people knew that Gu Jiao had been in contact with a leper, they would definitely send her to the Leprosy Mountain together with the patient.
Leprosy Mountain was such a place where once you go up, you would never come down again.
Feng Lin took Xiao Liulang more than a dozen paces away from her and said in horror, "You heard what she said. She touched the leper. She must be sent away immediately! Otherwise, your entire village will be infected!"
Xiao Liulang knitted his brows.
Feng Lin stamped his foot and said, "Come on, Brother Xiao, what are you still hesitating about? Haven’t you always wanted to get rid of that wicked woman? It is she who touched the leper herself, and nine times out of ten she is infected. According to the imperial court law, she has to be sent to Leprosy Mountain. This is a legitimate chance to get rid of her!"
Feng Lin had thought about it. Xiao Liulang was a scholar and it would ruin his reputation if he just abandoned his wife. What was happening now was simply a timely opportunity. Not only could he preserve his reputation, but he could also get rid of that wicked woman!
"No one will be sent to Leprosy Mountain." Xiao Liulang said calmly.
Feng Lin stared blankly at him.
Xiao Liulang walked toward Gu Jiao on his crutch and said, "Bring me a dry cloth."
Gu Jiao didn’t ask much and just went into the house to get a clean piece of cloth.
Xiao Liulang took the cloth from her hand and squatted down in front of the elderly woman.
Realizing what he was going to do, Gu Jiao said, "I'll do it."
"No need." Xiao Liulang wrapped the cloth around the elderly woman's face, so that her nose and mouth were blocked, then he said, "Let’s carry her inside."
"Alright." Gu Jiao nodded.
"Ah! Brother Xiao!" Feng Lin spoked to stop him.
At this moment, Gu Xiaoshun had also heard bits and pieces. The elderly woman was actually a leper who came from nowhere, and his sister didn't let him come over because she was afraid he would be infected.
But was he, Gu Xiaoshun, such a disloyal person?
Gu Xiaoshun ran over to help his sister and brother-in-law carry people into the backyard.
Feng Lin stamped his feet anxiously.
Crazy!
All of you were crazy!
Then, he also gritted his teeth and entered the house despite the risk of being infected!
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Also, please also have a look at our other translations!
Everyone But Me Is Reborn
Her father is a coward and senselessly filial. Her mother is weak and gullible. Her elder brother is a wastrel.
When she married into the Wangfu, she suffered and was coldly treated. And by the time she was in labour, she was fated to die with the unborn child in her belly.
This was supposed to be Ning Nuan's life.
However this time, everyone but her is reborn.
Ning Nuan is at a loss. She felt that her dad has suddenly become the pillar of the family, her mother’s temper became fierce, and even her elder brother, who would only walk the dogs and play with birds all day, has begun picking up books and reading them carefully.
There is also that juvenile that shows up at the wall of her courtyard everyday, calling her “Ah Nuan, Ah Nuan” with an honest face.