# 1633
Chapter 1633: Ominous Star Crosses the Heavens, Doomsday Draws Near
Wu Quan's injuries were more severe than Lin Qiye had imagined.
He sat inside the medical clinic, watching as these people set his bones, applied medicine, and bandaged him. They busied themselves until dusk. When the leading elder wiped the sweat from his brow and sat down in a chair, Lin Qiye stepped forward.
"How is he?"
"This young man's injuries are quite strange. They don't look like wounds from a collision, nor do they appear to be from combat..." The elder had already reset his bones. The severe wounds have all been treated. As long as he rests sufficiently, changes the dressings regularly, and takes the medicine for a period of adjustment, he should recover."
"How long is 'a period'?"
"Bone injuries need a hundred days to heal. With his current condition, he needs to stay in bed for at least half a year before making a full recovery."
Half a year?
Hearing this answer, Lin Qiye's brow furrowed... Six months of bed rest and medicine recuperation—didn't that mean they'd have to stay here for half a year?
No, he still didn't know why they had come to this era, nor how to return. There were too many mysteries before Lin Qiye, and there were many things to do in the modern era. How could he peacefully recuperate here for half a year?
If he left Wu Quan here alone, Lin Qiye wouldn't feel at ease either. They had no money, nor anyone reliable to care for Wu Quan. Doing so would be too dangerous.
Just as Lin Qiye was deliberating, an apprentice carried up several packages of medicine and carefully handed them to Lin Qiye.
The elder试探性地开口："这位好汉，老朽已经治好了这少年，这些药也足够他吃上一个月，老朽已经把药方放在里面，若是吃完了，再拿着它去找药房抓药即可，您看……我们是不是能走了？"
Lin Qiye glanced at the crowd. They all lowered their heads, their expressions somewhat apprehensive.
"You may go. I'll stay here for one night and leave tomorrow." Lin Qiye stepped aside from the doorway. "I'll come back in a few days to settle the medical fees. Don't alert the authorities... uh, the officials. Otherwise, you know what the consequences will be."
"Yes, yes."
Their expressions finally relaxed. They filed out through the door, glanced at the sky above, their faces changing slightly, and hurried home.
"Why aren't you leaving?" Lin Qiye asked the elderly physician, who still hadn't departed.
"Ah... this is my clinic. I live here."
He pointed to a side door of the clinic. Beyond it was a cramped courtyard, and behind that, a room.
Lin Qiye nodded. "Go ahead. We'll sleep in the front hall tonight and won't disturb you."
"This warrior." The old man who had treated Wu Quan was about to leave when, after a moment of hesitation, he turned back. "When you stay here tonight, be sure to lock the doors and windows. It's best not to light any candles either. No matter what happens outside, absolutely do not open the door..."
Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
The elder was slightly stunned. "Is this your first time to the northwestern frontier?"
"...You could say that."
"On your journey here, didn't you encounter anything strange?" The elder frowned. "Now the ominous stars fill the sky, doomsday is near, and evil spirits run rampant... During the day they still hold back somewhat, but at night, the outside world becomes their domain!
These past few days, people have been dying both inside and outside the city. Your strength is indeed admirable, warrior, but when facing those evil spirits, brute strength may not be effective. It's better to play it safe."
Hearing these cryptic words, Lin Qiye furrowed his brow, seeming somewhat puzzled.
The sky gradually darkened. The elder picked up a lamp from the table, closed the side door to the front hall, and shuffled toward the back courtyard.
Bang——
With a soft click of the door closing, the entire front hall of the clinic fell silent.
Lin Qiye walked to the open clinic door and looked around. The road that had been bustling with activity during the day was now deathly still. Under the dim sky, not a single pedestrian could be seen anywhere. The doors on both sides of the road were tightly shut, and even the windows were all sealed. Night was falling, yet not a single candlelight flickered anywhere.
Lin Qiye knew that ancient cities had curfews, so there wouldn't be many people out at night. But this scene far exceeded what a simple curfew could explain.
"Ominous stars fill the sky, doomsday draws near, evil spirits run rampant?"
Lin Qiye murmured the elder's words, then looked up. In the gradually darkening night sky, several crimson stars hung high, like scarlet eyes. Under their glow, the surrounding ordinary stars had already faded to insignificance.
"What are those?" Lin Qiye stared at these blood-red stars, his brow furrowing deeper.
Lin Qiye had never seen red stars before. In the modern night sky, these stars didn't exist... What had happened in this era?
Lin Qiye gazed at these crimson stars, an ominous premonition rising in his heart.
Just as he was about to close the door and return inside, his peripheral vision caught a corner of the street. In this ancient city gradually falling into darkness, only one tavern remained brightly lit.
"That is..." Lin Qiye's eyes narrowed.
...
"What?"
Inside the tavern, the deputy general stood up, frowning at the county magistrate before him. "No black dog teeth?"
"That's right. We've searched the entire city, but there's none to be found!" The magistrate said miserably, lowering his voice subserviently. "I've found and delivered everything else... But this black dog, I really can't locate!"
"A city this large, and not a single black dog?"
"There were plenty before, but you know the recent situation... Evil spirits run rampant, they're eating people everywhere! If people can survive, that's already good enough. If someone kept a black dog in their house, the barking at night would only attract those evil spirits, right?
Just a few days ago, the townspeople spontaneously cooked all the dogs. Now, not just in our Xue County, but even if you go to Bian County or even larger places, it'll be hard to find a black dog!"
After hearing these words, Huo Qubing, seated at the center of the round table, furrowed his brow and fell into contemplation.
"Marquis, it's truly not that I'm not trying my best, I really—"
"Alright, I understand. You may withdraw." Huo Qubing didn't wait for the magistrate to continue his lamentations and directly cut him off.
Upon hearing this, the magistrate was overjoyed, quickly thanked him, then led the hundreds of armored soldiers behind him to swiftly depart the tavern, hurrying toward the county office, as if afraid something was chasing them.
"Marquis, no black dog teeth... What should we do?" The deputy general sighed.
From the corner, kneeling on the ground, the female prisoner coldly laughed:
"If you can't gather all the materials, why not just let me go? Having me with you is a burden anyway, isn't it?"
"Shut up! Don't tempt me to kill you right now!"
"Oh? Then go ahead and try?"
"You!!!!"
Snap——!
A sharp sound interrupted the two's bickering. Huo Qubing put down his chopsticks, slowly stood up, and walked to the tavern window, gazing out at this dead city shrouded in darkness.
His brow furrowed tighter. "Their numbers... are increasing..."