Seeing Li Ang shake his head, the faces of the two n turned ashen, and the surrounding crowd also let out sighs.
The people of Yizhou were no strangers to Parasites; they often heard news of people dying from illnesses caused by eating raw fish slices. In the past few years, they had even heard about villagers who consud too many snails and frogs and ended up with bloated stomachs, looking like starving ghosts, only to die shortly after, their stomachs filled with wriggling worms—a horrifying sight.
"Elbow Ergency thods": "Those infected by Water Poison... initially feel chills, a slight headache, and pain when looking at objects... Parasites consu the internal organs, and the resulting heat becos unbearably toxic. If uncontrollable discharge, like severe diarrhea, persists for eight or nine days, even a skilled doctor cannot provide a cure."
"Thousand Gold Formula": "There are people with edema, their abdons huge while their limbs are thin, their bellies as hard as rock... This is a lifelong illness that cannot be forcefully treated."
It was common knowledge that contracting a parasitic disease was almost impossible to cure.
"Doctor!"
One of the kinsn grabbed Li Ang, pleading tearfully, "Please, you must save my elder brother. His mother just celebrated her sixtieth birthday, and his youngest son just turned one month old. He can’t die like this."
"Third Son, let go of the doctor," the patient nad Shade said slowly, suppressing the sorrow in his heart. "Don’t let outsiders mock us."
"Water Poison Bug disease is indeed difficult to cure with dicine or stones." The young man who had lent Li Ang his Sword wasn’t angered by his treasure sword getting dirty; instead, he said solemnly, "At the foot of the Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains, I’ve seen people with this disease. Tiny parasites move beneath the skin. If they reach the eyes, the eyelids swell and itch unbearably, and the person becos sensitive to strong light. If they move to the mouth, nodules form on the face, and occasionally small worms crawl out. If they reach the organs or the brain... death is certain."
Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains? Li Ang looked at him curiously. The Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains, west of the border between the Yu Country and Zhou Kingdom, are an endless range of mountains rich in gold, silver, copper, and iron. But the climate is extrely harsh, and the mountains are teeming with poisonous insects and fierce beasts; even the Yu Country’s army cannot penetrate them. Only a few adventurers and traders who value money over their lives venture deep into the mountains to trade with the local, savage Desert People, bringing back gold and silver, and Exotic Beasts. This young man looks to be about twenty, pale and handso. He doesn’t seem like soone who’s actually been to the Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains.
"If it’s the crackhead worm, then there’s indeed nothing that can be done. If one appears, there are certainly three or four more hidden deeper inside. However, if it’s another type of Parasite, there might still be a one percent chance."
Li Ang turned to Shade, who was sitting in the chair, and said gravely, "You need to tell in detail where you’ve been, what you’ve eaten, and what animals you’ve co into contact with over the past three months. If you want to live, don’t hide a single thing."
)
"Okay."
Shade dared not disobey. Like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, he recounted his experiences over the past three months, even ntioning the ti in the Zhou Kingdom when his friends had almost dragged him to a brothel. His two kinsn by his side occasionally interjected to add details.
"Hmm..." Li Ang pondered for a mont, then asked, "Are you sure you haven’t eaten raw fish sashimi, raw frog at, raw snake at, or snails in the past three months?"
"No, really, no," one of the kinsn said hurriedly before Shade could speak. "Doctor, my elder brother never eats raw food. Even when we were running the boat, he wouldn’t let us eat sashimi."
Li Ang paid it no mind and continued, "Then, have you tried any folk redies, like applying frog at or frog skin to sores or your eyes?"
"Huh? What kind of redy is that?"
"So foolish people believe frog at is cooling and can reduce fevers, so they apply frog at or skin to sores," Li Ang explained casually. "They don’t realize that this only makes it easier for Parasites to enter the body." He then looked at Shade and asked seriously, "Well then... have you drunk unboiled water or eaten raw loaches?"
Shade’s face turned pale. The two kinsn beside him exclaid, "Doctor, how can one avoid drinking unboiled water when working on a riverboat? When coal supplies are low and there’s no firewood to boil water, we can only drink the stored water from the jars or the cleanest river water possible. We’ve never eaten raw loaches, though."
Unboiled water, indeed. Li Ang sighed inwardly. Unboiled water was one of the most common causes of illness in this era. Although the Academic Palace often advocated drinking warm or hot water, practical factors always made it difficult to popularize the habit. The reason was simple: boiling water required a vast amount of firewood and coal. With the Yu Country’s current transportation, organization, and production capabilities, it was impossible to et the fuel demand for four hundred million people to boil their water—it was simply too extravagant. Li Ang himself never drank unboiled water or ate raw fish or at, and he didn’t allow Chai Cuiqiao to do so either. All drinking water had to be boiled, and all at had to be thoroughly cooked. For safety’s sake, the trouble was worth it.
Hmm... According to the newspapers, a type of bottle made from Northern black wood is popular in Chang’an City. It can keep water hot or cold for a long ti, much like the thermoses I rember. They’re sold at an extrely high price, though; the cheapest ones cost seven strings of coins each, affordable only by relatively well-off families. When I have ti, I should check the market to see if they’re available.
Li Ang’s thoughtful silence made Shade and his two kinsn even more panicked. They looked at the thin white worms constantly wriggling on Shade’s leg. They wanted to touch them but didn’t dare, and could only brace themselves and force their gaze away.
"It’s not a crackhead worm," Li Ang said slowly. "It’s a dina Dragon Worm."
The crowd murmured in confusion, "dina... Dragon?"
"It’s similar to the crackhead worm that parasitizes frogs and snakes," Li Ang elaborated. "But when it infests a human host, blisters and pustules appear on the skin. If treatnt is delayed, it can cause paralysis and lead to pathological changes in the eyes, heart, and urinary system, triggering inflammation and other complications." He then added slowly, "There is only one way to resolve this."
"What way?"
"The worm must be pulled out, little by little, very slowly." Li Ang’s eyes glinted coldly as he pointed to the dina Dragon Worm on Shade’s leg. "Let be blunt: I only have about a ten to twenty percent chance of success with this thod. Whether it works or not is entirely up to fate. If you’re not willing to take the risk, you can go ho and lie down. You might hold on for a few years. This disease isn’t easy to die from, but it will tornt you with muscle contractures and chronic arthritis, eventually leaving you paralyzed in bed."
"A few years..." Shade took a breath. The misery he had endured in these few days was more than he had suffered in decades combined: dizziness, vomiting, itching, diarrhea. Seeing the thin white worm wriggling on his leg, he felt that living with it for several years would be worse than death—at least death would be more straightforward.
He imdiately steadied himself and turned to his kinsman. "Er Lang, go ho first and bring my wife and three sons here. Have my sons kowtow to the doctor, and then sign and put their thumbprints on a docunt. Even if I die, it will be by the will of Heaven. No one is to be blad, least of all the Doctor. I ask everyone present to bear witness as well."
With that, he looked steadily at Li Ang and said, "Doctor... please proceed."
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