Liu Ruyan was taken to a cave. Along the way, she discovered that there was a cave in the mountains here. The blue sky was exposed above her head, like an inverted funnel. The lower she went down, the wider she became.
What shocked her was that the cave was actually crowded with hundreds of villagers.
There are several huge braziers in the corner, and the smell of herbs, charcoal fire, and filthy smells are mixed together.
There were coughing sounds one after another, some people were breathless, gasping for air with their mouths open; others were holding small children, with tears on their faces, and they kept wiping their tears.
The man who looked like a leader threw a few cloth towels, and immediately someone behind her cut the hemp rope around her wrists with a saber.
The leader said: "If you don't want to get sick, you can wear a cloth on your own."
Zhuge Ming quickly picked up one and covered his mouth and nose, and urged Liu Ruyan to put it on.
At this time, someone approached the leader and said sadly: "Aunt Qiu and Xiaoyu have also gone..."
The man's breath stopped and he turned around stiffly. He saw the bodies of a mother and daughter being carried in front of him. Under the cloth, the woman's skinny fingers were still holding the half-grown child.
His eyes turned red, and he staggered after him. Soon he turned back, grabbed his saber, and roared at Doctor Zhang like crazy: "You quack doctors, give back the lives of my wife and children!"
Doctor Zhang also expressed regret, and the doctor's helplessness was written on his old face: "The deceased has passed away, and the living must be like this. There is nothing I can do about this disease."
"If you don't know how to treat illnesses and save people, what's the use of keeping you!" The man waved his saber with a ferocious expression, "I'll chop you to death, you quack!"
Seeing that the man was about to hurt someone, a villager next to him stopped him in time and advised: "Brother, don't do this, there is still use in keeping them."
The leader stared angrily and blurted out: "What's the use? If the treatment fails, everyone will have to wait for death. It's better to kill these quack doctors and bury them with everyone."
The villager wanted to say something else. At this time, Doctor Zheng, who was watching coldly, whispered: "It's all retribution."
"What did you say?" He walked up to Dr. Zheng with an aggressive attitude, "If you have the guts, say it again!"
Dr. Zheng saw many powerful people in Beijing who bullied others.
Facing a mere villager, he looked quite arrogant: "The epidemic is as fierce as tigers and wolves. If you can't cure it, you will take it out on the doctor. A group of arrogant people with no law. Your wife and children are their lives. Yun Niang died tragically."
Isn’t it just a life? This is all the retribution of your Taiping Village!”
"laugh--"
The saber swung down and struck Dr. Zheng hard. No one even had time to react. They saw this famous doctor from Kyoto lying with his head up in a pool of blood.
"Who else?" The man turned his face, and bright red blood beads rolled down from the tip of the knife. He raised the knife and pointed it at Doctor Zhang, Doctor Zhuge, and Liu Ruyan in the corner. "I said that diseases cannot be cured.
, you all have to be buried with him. From today on, if every villager dies, a doctor will be killed!"
Not far from his feet was Doctor Zheng's body. Zhuge Ming was scared to death. He prayed to the Buddha to worship his ancestors and wished he could leave this place of right and wrong immediately.
Dr. Zheng is also miserable. How can he still think that this is the emperor's feet? Why should he talk to a group of desperate people?
He who knows the current affairs is a hero, and whoever has a sword in his hand is a master.
Zhuge Ming shrank his head, fearing that the knife edge would fall on his own head.
The leader held a saber in his hand, his eyes fixed on the corner. He pointed the tip of the saber at the squatting young man: "Hey, the new guy."
Liu Ruyan raised her eyes, no fear on her face, and said unhurriedly: "My surname is Liu."
Zhuge Ming was so anxious that he stamped his feet.
How long has it been and you still care about this?
The leader retracted his saber with disdain on his face: "Oh, Doctor Liu?"
Liu Ruyan nodded slightly.
Zhuge Ming was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, biting his fingers. Could this guy really be pretending to be a doctor?
He didn't want his life, and he wasn't afraid of being found out and killed with one knife!
Even Doctor Zhang, Zhang Huairen, looked at Liu Ruyan in surprise.
"Okay, since you are Dr. Liu, you have your own skills in treating diseases." The leader crossed his arms across his chest and waved to her, "Come here and treat them."
Liu Ruyan did not move, she just put her fingers in her sleeves and said calmly: "I have already seen it."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was surprised.
However, Liu Ruyan said with a natural expression: "Looking, smelling, asking, and feeling the pulse. Taking the pulse is just a way of consultation in traditional Chinese medicine. Famous doctors from all over the country have seen it before, and Liu can't see any difference. But let me ask.
Did you take the medicines prescribed before on time?"
"Of course there is." the leader replied.
"Since you are taking medicine, do you know that when an illness comes, it is like falling down from a mountain, and when it goes away, it is like spinning silk?"
The other party was stunned for a moment and immediately retorted: "If the prescription really works, why are there still people dying?"
Liu Ruyan did not answer, but pointed to the clear sky at the top of the cave.
"What's the meaning?"
Not only him, but even Zhuge Ming and Zhang Huairen couldn't understand it.
Liu Ruyan put down her hand and let out a sigh: "There is less clean air and more turbid air in this cave. Coupled with the burning charcoal fire, can't you see that the villagers died of exhaustion?"
As soon as these words came out, the patients lying on the mattress nodded one after another.
"I really can't breathe."
"My lungs feel uncomfortable and my chest feels tight."
The leader was stunned.
This natural cave was originally a carefully selected place for them to withstand the severe cold outside and also had a patio to hide the wind and absorb the wind. However, it seems that there is still something wrong with it.
"Then according to Doctor Liu's wishes, what should be done appropriately?" the leader said, his attitude much more respectful than before.
Liu Ruyan lowered her eyes and thought, and then answered him seriously: "Let's evacuate the villagers and divide them into mild and severe ones according to the degree of their illness. It is best to have ten people in one room. I will also evacuate the charcoal pots and other things."
I'm seriously ill in my lungs, and I can't withstand your exposure day and night."
The other party hesitated: "But they are afraid of the cold, how can they be frozen like this?"
She thought for a while: "Is there a hot spring in the village?"
"Yes." A young man immediately responded to her, "There are hot springs under the mountain. It was also for this reason that we chose to stay in the cave."
"In this case, we can dig channels to divert the spring water to the ground, and lay adobe bricks on top. The adobe bricks serve as beds and are heated with hot spring heat. As for those who have persistent heat, there is no need to cover them like this, don't you think so, Zhang
doctor?"
Zhang Huairen nodded: "That's true. For those who are weak and weak, if the high fever does not go away, they should take gypsum, ephedra, cassia twigs and other medicines decocted in water. Remember not to cover them with quilts."
The leader understood the situation and shouted behind him: "You guys, stop being stunned, come over and evacuate the patients, and you, follow me to dig the ditch."
Afterwards, in the huge cave, the villagers were busy everywhere, and they could not pay attention to Liu Ruyan and the other doctors for a while.
Zhuge Ming moved over, raised his eyebrows and said, "You're good, but do you really know how to treat medicine?"
"I only know a little bit about it, but the clear air here is turbid, which is really not conducive to recovery." Liu Ruyan lowered her voice and told the two doctors Zhuge Ming and Zhang Huairen, "Escape as soon as you have the opportunity while they are not paying attention."
Doctor Zhang was still hesitant: "What about these patients..."
"Hey, how long has it been? If you don't leave, you will become a dead soul under the sword." Zhuge Ming hurriedly persuaded, "This disease can't be cured by us alone, so we should escape as soon as possible."
Doctor Zhang is old, but he also knows how to weigh the pros and cons: "Well, I will let you go."
Liu Ruyan pulled off the hairpin and messed up the bun, and then made the two doctors look unkempt. In addition, everyone in the village covered their faces with cloth towels. If you didn't look carefully, it would be difficult to notice it for a while.
"Come with me later, remember, don't look back." She warned again and again.