"Quick, co inside."
As he called out, Liu Zheng quickly turned and cleared the adjacent bed.
Then, the second sister-in-law carried the child in and laid him on the bed.
"Second sister-in-law, I don’t seem to recognize this boy."
Liu Zheng was certain that the boy wasn’t from the village, and judging solely by his clothes, he was sure there was no connection to the village.
"He’s a distant relative from my husband’s side. He just arrived yesterday, intending to stay for the weekend, but who knew he’d suddenly start having stomach pains."
"Don’t worry, I’ll examine him first. By the way, what did he eat last night?"
"Just, just regular ho-cooked food, and I even specially slaughtered a chicken for him. We generally don’t even eat chicken at ho, but I thought we should treat a guest. But, no one else in my family is ill."
"Young friend, can you hear ?"
He gently pushed the boy, but discovered the boy gave no response. His brows were tightly furrowed, and he continued to moan softly, his breathing even more rapid than before.
"My initial diagnosis is food poisoning. It’s not serious. I’ll give him an injection now and then wait a bit before giving him so dicine to drink. Once he vomits, he should start feeling better."
"What did you say? Food poisoning? How, how could it be food poisoning? Plus, everyone in my family is fine."
"This situation is quite dangerous. Fortunately, you brought him here in ti. If the poisoning were more severe, he wouldn’t be able to wake up."
Liu Zheng offered a simple explanation and walked over to retrieve a syringe.
He filled the syringe with a liquid and then slowly injected it into the boy’s vein.
Finally, he took out a few pills, pried open the boy’s mouth, and forced the pills inside.
He noticed the boy’s throat moved a few tis. Clearly, basic swallowing function was still there, so if that was the case, it seed he didn’t need to worry too much.
"Okay, about half an hour, at most. He might vomit out so black substance, but he should be fine after that."
"So you’re saying, he’s no longer in danger now?"
"Right, no danger. He’s been tily detoxified. By the way, I want to remind you again, in the future don’t just give your chickens to outsiders to eat. It’s fine for your family, but not necessarily for others."
"What, what do you an? Dr. Liu, are you implying I deliberately poisoned it, that I intended to harm the boy?"
Aghast at his words, the second sister-in-law beca anxious. Being accused like this was sothing she couldn’t bear.
"Second sister-in-law, listen to my explanation. I’ve seen that chicken from your ho before. It always roams outside, doesn’t it?"
"Yes, our chickens are free-range. We never bother with them; they naturally co ho after they’ve eaten their fill."
"Have you never thought about what it eats outside?"
"This, how would I know? A chicken will eat whatever it likes, right? It’s probably just insects from the fields."
"Exactly, they eat insects. But these particular insects are unique to our village. That is to say, you’ll find them about three centiters down in the soil."
"Are you talking about ’di tou huang’?"
"That’s right, ’di tou huang’."
"Now that you ntion it, this insect really is unique to our area. Apart from this village, other villages don’t have it. So, you’re saying the problem lies with this insect? But all the village chickens eat those, right?"
"We don’t get ill because we’ve adapted to the local soil and water. Our water cos from deep wells, which contain a special substance that neutralizes the ’di tou huang’. Therefore, it doesn’t cause any issues in our village."
"So you an ’di tou huang’ is toxic?"
"Indeed, it’s toxic, but not extrely so. However, it can still cause paralysis of the nerves and a few other systemic diseases. Inevitable, really. Most importantly, this child likely had a dose of antibiotics just before coming to the village."
"Antibiotics? What’s that an?"
"It’s a kind of anti-inflammatory drug. You can think of it that way. It’s because a substance within the antibiotic had an adverse reaction with it, causing the symptoms of poisoning."
"I see. That scared . I truly thought it was sothing I fed him that produced a toxin. So, he should be alright now, right?"
"Rest assured, I already told you he’s fine. What else is there to worry about?"
"That’s good, that’s good. Ah, by the way, did you hear anything strange last night?"
Out of the blue, the second sister-in-law’s secretive question plunged Liu Zheng back into the events of the previous night.
"What? Strange noises? Did sothing happen? I didn’t hear anything. I slept well in my room and no patients ca knocking all night."
"Not that, I heard it, soone was yelling and screaming."
"Yelling and screaming? I didn’t hear it. Weren’t you at the edge of the village? I’m in the middle of the village; maybe I didn’t hear clearly. Could it have been soone passing by, or maybe soone drunk?"
"That screaming, it was nearly identical to the one we heard from the vagrant before. That’s why I didn’t dare go outside the whole night."
"That’s impossible, didn’t he already have an accident? And if he’s still alive, he’d be in the hospital by now."
"Sigh, Dr. Liu, don’t talk like that. There are too many unsettling things happening in the village recently, often these ghostly disturbances. I think we need to consult the village chief and seriously consider offering prayers to the gods."
"As for , I never believe in that stuff. You shouldn’t worry so much. Just lock your doors and attend to your affairs inside; leave the rest alone. Oh, by the way, where’s the second brother? Has he co back recently?"
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