"Ah..."
Another heavy sigh rang out. It was far from the first Cao Cao had heard.
The great epidemic that had first erupted in Runan Commandery had spread, in a short time, to every corner it could reach, carried by fleeing commoners and the crisscrossing waterways.
Cao Cao no longer needed to worry about Liu Biao, Liu Bei, Luo Chu, and the others coming to make trouble for him.
Disease had broken out in all three armies, leaving them too overwhelmed to look beyond their own troubles.
But he would rather have fought all three with real blades and spears than live like this, trembling in fear every day.
Almost every day, people died in the epidemic. Disease never considered how exalted a person's status was; it descended upon everyone equally.
This was judgment!
Either endure it or die. No one was given a third path.
The powerful clans and gentry of Yuzhou, whose disposal had once given Cao Cao a headache, were dying in swathes beneath the epidemic, their households extinguished one after another.
The sight brought Cao Cao no joy whatsoever. Instead, it made him tremble all the more, afraid that the Cao Clan would follow in their footsteps.
As Cao Cao worried over what he should do next, Xun Yu suddenly rushed in. This usually composed man spoke with rare excitement. "My lord.
"Young Master Xuan of the Luo Clan, Zhang Ji, courtesy name Zhongjing, Dong Feng, courtesy name Junyi, and Hua Tuo, courtesy name Yuanhua, have arrived together. There is surely hope against the epidemic now!"
Cao Cao sprang to his feet. Every one of those four was renowned, a master of medicine known throughout All Under Heaven.
Over the years, they had practiced medicine throughout the land and established an organization of physicians, becoming the