Deities Are All Just My Food
Chapter 576 - 283 Dae Jang Geum and the Tiger Hunter Army_1

Chapter 576: Chapter 283 Dae Jang Geum and the Tiger Hunter Army_1

"What’s finished?"

The big-bearded man stared at the young woman and shouted loudly, his gaze cold as if looking at a lowly commoner.

Lin Baici did not recognize the attire from this world, but the Koreans did. This young woman holding a medicine hoe wore a green skirt with a sleeveless hemp smock over it, tied at the waist with a green cloth as wide as a hand. Even though she was dirty and her face was covered in dust, there was no doubt about it, this was the attire of a medical woman.

Medical women were mostly born as official slaves, or daughters of lowly commoners from outside the palace. Although they possessed some medical knowledge, in this patriarchal ancient era, due to their humble origins, medical women were generally of low status. Even during the reign of King Yeonsan, medical women became medical courtesans, pleasing men with their charms.

The young woman shrank her neck in fear, turned, and tried to walk away.

With a wave of the big-bearded man’s hand, the soldiers immediately raised their bows and arrows.

Thud!

The woman knelt down.

"It looks like she might be the medical woman of this clinic; perhaps she knows something?"

Gu Qingqiu analyzed and directed Lin Baici to take action, "Warn them, don’t scare her off!"

Lin Baici felt that the big-bearded man was being too impolite to the woman.

"The medical woman has some medical knowledge, calling her a nurse would be more appropriate, but in Goryeo..."

Gu Qingqiu, well-read, knew the living conditions of medical women, so he was not surprised at all by the big-bearded man’s attitude.

"Where is the Big Doctor?"

"What happened here?"

"How did those monsters get here?"

The big-bearded man strode forcefully to the medical woman’s side, clanking as he drew his side blade, and placed it on the medical woman’s neck: "Speak, or I’ll cut your head off!"

The medical woman hung her head silently, her body trembling like a quail frozen in deep snow.

"Speak!"

The big-bearded man waved his sword, pretending to chop off the woman’s head.

"Stop scaring her!"

Lin Baici shouted and hurried over, pushing the big-bearded man away, then helped the woman up, "What’s your name?"

The big-bearded man was not stupid. He knew Lin Baici was playing the good cop with a softer approach, so he grunted and glared at the medical woman, "This is Sir Lin from the Heavenly Dynasty; you better take good care of him!"

The medical woman, about twenty, was deeply bound by feudal norms. Hearing the big-bearded man’s words, she quickly knelt down, preparing to kowtow to Lin Baici.

Lin Baici forcibly stopped the medical woman with a strong hand, "What is your name? I came to find the Big Doctor to eradicate this plague, to save the common people from dire straits, and to relieve the distressed populace!"

"My name is Dae Jang Geum!"

After speaking, the medical woman hesitated, ultimately shaking her head.

Some things, if spoken, are punishable by death.

"Did you create those living dead?"

Gu Qingqiu, not one for beating around the bush, went straight for the jugular as soon as he spoke.

"No... it wasn’t us!"

Dae Jang Geum quickly denied, her eyes darting, afraid to meet Gu Qingqiu’s gaze.

Her demeanor was a clear giveaway to anyone that she had a problem.

"You don’t seem to be surprised at all when you hear the words ’living dead’!"

Gu Qingqiu assessed Dae Jang Geum, "Is the problem the pot of meat soup?"

"..."

Dae Jang Geum became even more panicked.

"A poor village stricken by famine, why could those patients afford meat? I’ve seen their clothes are very tattered, they probably can’t even afford to buy medicine, can they?"

Gu Qingqiu pressed, "Explain that to me!"

"It was... meat brought by a brother from the Tiger Hunter Army!"

Dae Jang Geum said in a low voice, trying to disassociate herself.

"The Tiger Hunter Army is an elite unit, famous for each member having the strength to hunt a tiger single-handedly!"

Kim Myungjin added, "In ancient times, if one couldn’t pay taxes, many chose to hunt tigers in the mountains. Merely offering up a tiger could offset the taxes."

"What kind of meat?"

The big-bearded man interjected, realizing that there was something wrong with that meat.

Gu Qingqiu thought for a moment, then frowned suddenly, "Human flesh?"

Upon hearing this term, Dae Jang Geum’s body shook, and she lowered her head deeply.

"Damn!"

Lin Baici couldn’t help but curse, and Kim Myungjin was taken aback before recalling the look of that pot of soup.

No wonder some of the bones looked familiar!

Gross!

The kimchi girl felt like throwing up.

"Turning into a monster after eating human flesh?"

The big-bearded man was quite calm. In years of great disaster, he had seen cannibalism out of necessity, so what he was more concerned about was how those living dead appeared.

"I... I don’t know, but from what we can see, it seems that after contracting leprosy and then eating human flesh, one would turn into the living dead!"

Dae Jang Geum had been in the mountains gathering herbs and wasn’t at the clinic. When she returned, she found everyone eating and drinking heartily, claiming a brother from the Tiger Hunter Army had hunted a tiger.

It was winter, and tigers were rare, especially given that the brother had no injuries on him, which didn’t match the aftermath of fighting a tiger.

Being a medical woman with medical knowledge, Dae Jang Geum only needed to skim through the pot to determine the truth from the shapes of the bones and pieces of meat.

"What’s so terrifying about these monsters?"

The big-bearded man continued to inquire.

Dae Jang Geum remained silent.

"Speak!"

The big-bearded man roared.

"Only by destroying their skulls can you kill them."

When the first monster appeared, it was that brother named Lee Taehyun from the Tiger Hunter Army who discovered it and killed it in time. Then, realizing the situation was dire, he dragged Dae Jang Geum out and locked the clinic’s main door.

Afterward, those patients began to mutate. Worried that the monsters would escape and harm people, Lee Taehyun cut down bamboo to make spears and placed them atop the walls.

"So they’re just hard to kill, not invincible?"

The big-bearded man reassured himself, thinking that some dirt-stained commoners turned into monsters were still no match for the soldiers.

[Once a person becomes a living dead, their strength will increase, they won’t feel pain, and the more humans they devour, the quicker they evolve.]

[Those bitten by the living dead will also turn into living dead!]

Eater God’s comment caused Lin Baici’s eyebrows to immediately furrow.

It was indeed contagious!

In this ancient era, where there were no firearms, the only way to kill the undead was through close combat, which was extremely difficult.

"What do you mean by ’it’s over’?"

Kim Myungjin pressed.

"I want to study these undead to find a cure!"

Dae Jang Geum’s face was filled with urgency. Shangqing Mansion was currently grappling with an epidemic where anyone who ate human flesh could potentially turn into a monster, wreaking havoc in the neighborhood and causing many deaths.

"Now that you’ve burned the undead, I don’t have any corpses to study!"

Dae Jang Geum was terrified of these undead, convinced that there were still unknown fatal dangers. She wanted to quickly figure it out before a massive outbreak, or else the country would be doomed.

[It’s not that those who have contracted the epidemic and have eaten human flesh will turn into the undead!]

[The undead in this medical center are second-generation, biting people afterward will infect them and turn them into undead.]

"Second-generation?"

Lin Baici was puzzled: "Where are the first-generation?"

Eater God did not reply.

Lin Baici pondered. Could it be there was something wrong with that pot of meat soup? "Who was that person they ate?"

"It’s... it’s..."

Dae Jang Geum hesitated.

"Lord Lin is asking you a question, speak up!"

The big-bearded man urged.

"It’s the disciple of the Big Doctor!"

Dae Jang Geum felt guilty.

"He must have been eaten after he died, right?"

Gu Qingqiu felt that even the ruthless Tiger Hunter Army wouldn’t kill a living person for food.

"Yes! Yes! He was already dead!"

Dae Jang Geum hesitated before speaking out, defending the Tiger Hunter Army: "Actually, Lee Taehyun meant well. Everyone was on the verge of starvation, better to die a glutton than to starve!"

"Lee Taehyun said, when he dies, everyone can eat him too, as his atonement."

Lin Baici disregarded these details: "How did that disciple die?"

"Don’t know!"

Dae Jang Geum confessed honestly: "The Big Doctor came back with his corpse!"

"Came back? Where had the Big Doctor gone at that time?"

Lin Baici sensed this might be the origin.

"To the palace, to treat the Great King!"

Speaking of this, Dae Jang Geum glanced at the big-bearded man. The Great King’s health status was always a taboo subject, not to be discussed carelessly.

"Is there something wrong with this Great King?"

Kim Myungjin suspected.

"What ailment did the Great King have?"

Lin Baici knew that Goryeo referred to their emperor as the Great King.

This was a question the big-bearded man didn’t dare to ask, or even hear.

"Don’t know!"

Dae Jang Geum indeed didn’t know.

"Where is the Big Doctor now?"

The big-bearded man had a premonition that this matter was going to be troublesome.

"He went into the mountains to gather herbs!"

Dae Jang Geum looked at the sky: "And he hasn’t come back!"

Given the Big Doctor’s status, he normally wouldn’t personally go herb-picking, especially not in the deadly winter cold.

"Could he have fled out of guilt?"

Kim Myungjin had just finished speaking when Gu Qingqiu suddenly cried out.

"Bai Ci, look quick!"

Everyone turned their heads to look at the burning village, where some figures were swaying and walking their way on the dirt road in the middle of the village.

The big-bearded man didn’t take it seriously, but Lin Baici became immediately alert.

"Prepare for battle!"

After Lin Baici whispered the command, he reminded Gu Qingqiu and Kim Myungjin, "We’re in trouble, the infection has spread. Stick close to me!"

After glancing back, Dae Jang Geum immediately began shouting anxiously, "Be careful, it’s the undead!

I knew we couldn’t keep it contained!"

Dae Jang Geum sighed.

A patient had stolen some meat soup and brought a bowl to his child at home, thus creating new undead. Now, with the sun setting and night falling, these undead hidden in the shadows began to move.

With Dae Jang Geum’s scream, they were alerted, and the next second, these staggering undead suddenly rushed towards them like mad dogs.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

As they roared, other places in the village also echoed with howls, and those undead began to run this way.

"Run!"

Lin Baici didn’t want to fight monsters; he mounted his horse and galloped over to where Dae Jang Geum was. Bending over, he grabbed her and pulled her onto his warhorse.

The undead were running over, and they were fast.

The soldiers who had no horses ran for over thirty meters and were very nervous when they saw they were about to be overtaken. A few soldiers stopped and began to shoot arrows.

"Xiba, we can’t escape, shoot them to death!"

A tall man bellowed.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Arrows whistled by, hitting a big-headed undead in the chest. Had it been a normal person, they would have fallen to the ground already, but the undead kept rushing forward as if nothing had happened.

Seconds later, the big-headed undead charged over.

The tall man turned to run but was tackled down by the big-headed undead. Then, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as he was bitten.