HCB Chapter 128 Past Events
Chapter 128 Past Events
"Is this the antidote for the miasma in the southwest?!" Doctor Wu looked at Li Xi with shining eyes.
"You can try." Li Xi didn't say it with certainty, but she felt that it shouldn't be a big problem.
"Arsenic, hairy wool, Polygonum multiflorum, Bupleurum, Brucea javanica, Astragalus, Artemisia annua..." Doctor Wu identified the herbs in the medicine tray one by one, and the lines in his mind gradually became clear. Although these medicines seemed to be randomly mixed, a closer look at their medicinal properties showed that they could indeed cure the miasma in the southwest.
Although it is said that the miasma in the southwest is difficult to cure, there are examples of cures, just few. Coincidentally, he once cured a case.
That happened several years ago, but he still remembers it vividly.
He was studying in the southwest at the time and met a southwestern garrison soldier who was lost in the mountains and forests, a young man who looked to be in his twenties. When he met the young man, he had already fallen into a coma. Fortunately, he was only unconscious and did not lose his breathing.
He walked over and examined the patient. He found that the man was in a coma, his face was pale, he kept shivering, he was sweating all over, and he had a high fever.
There was no way he could carry the tall young man down the mountain by himself. Fortunately, he found a local old man named Bayi to be his guide. However, when the guide saw the young man's appearance, his face changed drastically and he retreated in panic.
"Old man, come here quickly!"
Not only did he step back himself, he also asked Doctor Wu to stay away from the young man.
Doctor Wu was puzzled. "My dear father-in-law, he has a fever. Please help me carry him down the mountain."
"He has a fever..." The father-in-law muttered a few words, his face full of fear, "He has a fever!"
He covered his mouth and nose and retreated dozens of steps. "Old man, please stay away from him. He has been poisoned by miasma. There is no hope for him."
"Poisonous miasma?" Doctor Wu looked down at the young man who was leaning against a tree stump with his quilt.
In the Sui Dynasty, Chao Yuanfang recorded this in his Treatise on the Origin and Symptoms of Various Diseases: "People born in the south of the ridges carry the miasma of the mountains. They experience chills and fevers that come and go at certain times. This is all due to the miasma and poisonous dampness from the mountain streams and ridges."
He had heard of the reputation of the southwestern miasma before coming to the southwest, but this was the first time he saw it with his own eyes. It turned out that this was the legendary deadly southwestern miasma.
For a doctor, especially an aspiring doctor, they are never afraid of difficult and complicated diseases. On the contrary, they like to face challenges head-on.
"Yes, chills, sweating, high fever, that's right, this is miasma, this miasma is contagious, old man, you should just leave it alone."
It's not that the old man Bayi is cruel, it's just that he has experienced too much. This is miasma, an incurable miasma. If you are a little soft-hearted, you will lose your life.
"No, I can't just ignore him like this."
As a doctor, Doctor Wu would never let an ordinary person die just like that, not to mention that he was wearing Dayan's armor.
For Doctor Wu, who worked as a military doctor in the military camp for many years, it was impossible for him to watch the soldiers who fought bravely for Dayan die in such an unclear way.
When Doctor Wu hired Ba Yi Lao Zhang, he told him that he was a doctor and wanted to go into the mountains to collect some herbs, so Ba Yi Lao Zhang knew his identity as a doctor. Ba Yi Lao Zhang didn't believe that a doctor didn't know what southwestern miasma was, but since he knew it, why did he make this decision which seemed stupid to him?
"Old sir, if you want to stay, then stay. I, an old man, dare not lend a hand," said the father-in-law of Baiyi, and took out two small silver coins from his pocket. This was the commission that Doctor Wu had given him earlier.
The mountains in the southwest are full of dangers. If it weren't for the generous money given by the old gentleman in front of him, he would never have brought him here.
But despite this, he was not going to risk his life for these two silver coins. He looked at the two small silver coins in his hand, carefully picked up one, put it back in his arms, and then threw the other one to Doctor Wu.
"Old sir, I can't take you with me on this road, but I won't take advantage of you. I'll return this silver to you. I'll mark the road when I go down the mountain, and you just follow the mark."
Ba Yi's father-in-law saw that he was reluctant to leave the person who was poisoned by malaria. In this case, it would be better for the two of them to go their separate ways. Although his life was worthless, he still cherished it very much.
Doctor Wu understood his concerns and did not force him. He had no choice but to break off a branch to make a crutch, put the young man on his shoulder, gritted his teeth and helped him up, then walked down the mountain step by step following the marks left by the Palestinian father-in-law.
He knew that the miasma was contagious, so after coming down the mountain he did not take him to the clinic, but took him back to the courtyard where he rented through a small path.
At that time, I specially found a yard far away from human habitation for the sake of peace and quiet. Now it seems that it was fate.
Doctor Wu heaved a sigh of relief after putting the unconscious young man on the bed. The way from the mountain to here was not short, and he had to hold on with all his might to bring him back.
After a pause, Doctor Wu stood up, took the silver needle bag, and checked the unconscious young man's pulse again.
He had read about the symptoms of being poisoned by malaria in a book before. The main symptoms were chills, high fever, and profuse sweating, accompanied by headaches, body aches, fatigue, and the fever was mainly intermittent.
The man's symptoms were exactly as described in the book. He put down his hand with a serious expression and inserted the needle carefully.
As the silver needles were inserted one by one, the unconscious man gradually relaxed his frown, but the cold sweat on his forehead continued to flow. If it continued like this, he would lose water. This could not go on.
There has never been an effective treatment for miasma, and Doctor Wu knew that the only way to cure it was to give it a try. After thinking about it, he finally adopted the bloodletting therapy.
Doctor Wu was not sure whether bloodletting and acupuncture were effective. At that time, he was just trying to give it a try.
Fortunately, his bet was right this time. After two hours of observation by Doctor Wu, the young man's condition was gradually improving. Seeing this, Doctor Wu was overjoyed. In the next two days, he boiled medicine and performed acupuncture and bloodletting. Only then did the unconscious man open his eyes on the morning of the third day.
This was the first case of malaria that he treated, and also the only one that he successfully treated.
After the first success, Doctor Wu soon encountered the second and third patients with malaria. Unfortunately, he was no longer as lucky this time. He also used acupuncture and bloodletting therapy, but this time, the unconscious people never opened their eyes again.
Under the successive blows, Doctor Wu left the southwest and never mentioned the issue of malaria again.
But miasma has always been a knot in Doctor Wu's heart that he could not untie, and he has never been able to get over it.
That's why when he heard Li Xi say that this was a medicine that could cure miasma, he reacted so strongly.