Lin Taichu did not answer immediately. Instead, he took a small porcelain bottle from his robes, poured out a little transparent liquid, and dripped it onto the disciples' cuts. The liquid showed no reaction upon touching their skin.
Lin Taichu frowned. "There are no obvious abnormalities for now, but to be safe, Sect Master, please have these five disciples live separately and monitor their condition every day. If they feel unwell in any way, notify me immediately."
The Sect Master nodded and promptly arranged separate courtyards for the five disciples.
After giving the disciples a few more precautions, Lin Taichu returned to the Healing Immortal Medical Hall with Elder Li. On the way back, Elder Li asked, "Are you worried those puppets carried some kind of virus?"
"Yes." Lin Taichu's voice was grave. "The Netherworld Cult's corpse-reanimation secret arts are inherently sinister. The production process for low-level puppets must be even less regulated, making them highly susceptible to breeding viruses."
"Moreover, they deliberately sent those puppets to the Lingxiao Sect. They may have intended to spread the virus to the Lingxiao Sect's disciples through the puppets' blood and bodily fluids."
Over the following days, Lin Taichu went to the Lingxiao Sect every day to examine the five disciples.
On the morning of the fourth day, Lin Taichu had just risen when he received an urgent message from the Lingxiao Sect: two disciples had begun vomiting and suffering from diarrhea, and they had fevers and weakness throughout their bodies.
Lin Taichu did not dare delay. He immediately rushed to the Lingxiao Sect with his medicine chest. When he arrived at the isolated courtyard, the two disciples were lying in bed, pale-faced and vomiting continuously. Though the other three had not vomited, they said they felt somewhat dizzy and had lost their