The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2292 - 2267: Metaphor (April Bonus Vote Add-on 14)

Bai Shan saw the gathering crowd and his brows furrowed. The number of elderly people in this village was almost equal to that of the young adults. There were nineteen children over the age of nine, but only five under nine, and three of them seemed to be only two or three years old.

They all had some peculiarities, whether in their eyes, like one that was particularly large and sunken, or in their flat noses...

These were visible defects, and there were probably many more that weren’t visible.

The village chief was right. If there are no newborns in this village, it won’t be long before the youngest children grow up and most of the villagers will have passed away.

But...

Bai Shan’s gaze slid over the children. Yet, having children like this wasn’t fair to them. Is it really good for such children to live in this environment?

Bai Shan felt a heaviness in his heart, even more so for Manbao.

She knew more, especially since she had once thoroughly studied the matter to detoxify the crown prince. Despite Teacher Mo avoiding certain topics, she knew that this kind of condition couldn’t be cured even in Teacher Mo’s very advanced world.

Much like Yin Huo’s condition, at best it could be stopped from worsening.

But the damage was already done, and the heartache and worry would only cause distress without changing anything. So Manbao rolled up her sleeves and said, "Bring out the tables and chairs, let me have a look at everyone."

The village chief agreed happily.

While having people set up tables and chairs, he guided the children forward, and even ordered his own house to be tidied up for them to stay in.

But after Bai Shan strolled around, he declined, pointing to two abandoned houses, saying, "We’ll just stay there."

Those were houses left by families without heirs, with the courtyards overgrown with weeds. Despite the drought, there was moisture in them. The village chief felt that it wasn’t appropriate to host esteemed guests there, so he didn’t agree.

Bai Shan just chuckled, "We are used to camping out in the open. Having a roof over our heads is already quite good, and we brought our own bedding, so it’s not troublesome."

Daji and the other guards: ... Master, you have it, we don’t.

The village chief tried persuading a bit more, but seeing his persistence, he could only agree regretfully and led people to clean up the house for him.

First, they cleared the weeds in the courtyard, then blocked the holes in the walls with straw, replaced the straw on the roof, lit a fire to walk around inside the house two or three times, and wiped down the planks of the bed to make it ready.

Because there were so many people and they were enthusiastic, it was done very quickly.

While Bai Shan was having the guards take the carriage and horses to the courtyard, Manbao had finished examining the twenty-four children and teenagers, and then it was the youths’ turn.

She only took their pulses and didn’t prescribe medication. While taking their pulses, she spent points for Keke to take photos and videos, planning to send them to Teacher Mo after examining everyone.

She vaguely felt these data would be useful to Teacher Mo. Even if they couldn’t be completely cured, finding some way to alleviate their conditions would be good.

Before sunset, Manbao finished taking pulses of everyone, including the village chief, and then slightly shook her head under the village chief’s expectant gaze.

The village chief was very disappointed, wanting to say something but finding he couldn’t speak.

Manbao then said, "We brought some gifts for everyone when we came."

Bai Shan then had the guards take the items tied to the carriage down for them.

There were some cloth, rice, flour, and also some pretty ornaments and toys, obviously prepared for the children.

They hadn’t seen these things in a long time; everyone was quite excited, especially the teenagers and children, who started chatting away.

On those very ugly faces appeared radiant smiles, bright enough for Bai Shan and Manbao to think they were beautiful.

The guards, who had been averting their gazes, paused for a moment and then became more earnest, no longer avoiding the villagers’ gaze.

Though they couldn’t heal the children, the village chief was still very happy to see these items. He perked up, asking people to slaughter the sheep they were raising, wanting to treat the faraway guests to a grand meal.

Manbao had Keke send the pictures to Teacher Mo, then asked, "Are there any toxic stones left in the village or surroundings?"

"No." It had scanned during approach and found neither toxic stones nor recordable organisms.

While Manbao and the others sat around the bonfire, eating roast lamb, they mentioned the purpose of their visit.

The village chief was startled, asking, "What are you looking for these bad stones for?"

"To destroy them," Manbao said, "They’ll remain harmful as long as they exist in this world, with the toxicity possibly lasting many years. To prevent anyone from picking them up unknowingly, we want to collect and destroy them all."

After a long silence, the village chief asked, "Sir, can we really not be healed? For us elderly, it’s alright, but those young children..."

Manbao lowered her gaze and said, "They aren’t much different from average people now. It’s just better not to marry and have children."

The village chief didn’t understand, "Why can’t they have children? Didn’t you say the poison was cured, and they can live healthily like normal people, without nosebleeds or weakness, so why not have children? Is it because this place is cursed, and if they leave..."

"It has nothing to do with where they live." Seeing everyone’s eyes fixed on her, Manbao paused, deliberated for a moment, then said, "If you perceive children as gifts from the gods, then you should understand that the children born of you will have the bloodlines of both parents, correct?"

This concept wasn’t hard to grasp, and even the twelve-year-old kneeling beside them nodded along.

Manbao slowly explained, "The gods place the child’s spirit in the mother’s womb, but that’s only the spirit. Its formation requires the father’s bloodline to combine with the mother’s bloodline, and then through the mother’s gestation, it can gradually grow."

This was also comprehensible, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"But there’s a problem with the parents’ bloodline."

This was where the villagers didn’t understand. The village chief persisted, "But you said we’ve detoxified..."

Everyone stared at Manbao, similarly not understanding. Didn’t they detoxify?

Manbao picked up two white buns from the plate, tearing a small piece from one to show them, "This represents your bloodline. When you were poisoned, it was like this..."

Manbao tore off bits from the bun little by little, "Detoxification stops this process. After consuming the antidote, nothing would further damage your bodies, and the antidote would balance your body’s changes and keep you alive."

She pointed to the bun with a large piece torn off, "But the torn part cannot be restored to its original state. When you try to have children, the bloodline combines and forms a new bloodline, which would still be missing a piece."