Chapter 26: The Coming of the Age of Magic (continued)

What's worse is that even if the poisonous gas is released in a frenzy to eliminate the single living animal in the contaminated epidemic area, it is still far from enough.

Because Yersinia pestis is a very tenacious thing, according to the medical level of the Middle Ages, it is almost immortal and inextinguishable, it is very resistant to low temperatures, and can survive in the freeze for months to years; Able to sleep for decades in the furniture and clothes left behind by the deceased; Able to wait patiently in rooms, cellars, suitcases, handkerchiefs, and piles of waste paper until a full generation later

So, in the medieval and modern European countryside, there are often horror legends about a running bear child who finds a frozen corpse in the snowy wilderness, picks up some expensive luxury ornament from the corpse, and excitedly takes the spoils home...... Then, the long-vanished disease crawled out of the corpse and resurfaced, devouring the hapless village bit by bit......

During the spread of the Black Death in 1348, a similar situation occurred - most ordinary people avoided the houses and belongings left behind by the deceased. But there are also many daring outlaws, such as thieves and mercenaries, who will sneak into these abandoned empty houses, steal all kinds of valuable gadgets inside, and then resell these crooked gadgets through the black market that exists in all eras...... As a result, these blankets, clothes, and utensils stained with plague bacilli circulated in the markets of Euro 6 again and again, passing through the hands of countless merchants, and finally spread the terrible Black Death to every market town and village.

(Those who have watched the American drama "The Borgias" should know that assassinating political opponents with plague-stained letterheads or gifts was a common method used by medieval European magnifices to assassinate each other, so enemy letters cannot be read casually, and you may die if you read them.) ）

Of course, Yersinia pestis is not an invincible killer, it is very resistant to dryness, heat or ultraviolet rays, and can be killed by boiling for one minute, as can common disinfectants such as cresol, bleaching powder and ethanol. But the problem is that with ten rooms and nine empty rooms in the city of Marseille and no one in the city, the traversers simply cannot organize so many manpower and material resources to carry out a comprehensive sterilization and cleaning of such a huge slum.

And, at least for ten years, no one will want to move into these shabby huts...... The better houses are still empty

“…… Alas, as things stand, we're afraid we'll have to use the simplest and roughest way to burn this place down."

Wang Qiu pointed to the slum under his feet, shrugged his shoulders helplessly and sighed, "...... That's how it can be done...... It's just a little too violent."

“…… Violence or anything is a small problem, the problem is that it is easy to set fire to the city, but if it gets out of control, it will be miserable."

Looking at these extremely flammable thatched houses, Ma Tong rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead, "...... What if it turns out to be a fire? ”

“…… That's right, so before setting fire to a house, you have to put up a fire barrier in advance...... There's just a nice spell here. ”

Wang Qiu nodded, then turned the "magic book" in his hand to a certain page, and recited it aloud: "Dusk, blood is red, and the time is buried[, Great Ru Ming, I swear secretly, I wait for the front to stand [, Foolish, I Ru Li, etc.