Chang’an, East Market, sick house.
The news of Penicillin’s advent brought a tremendous flow of people to the sick house; the curious, the sick, and those who believed themselves to be ill formed long lines on the already cramped streets.
Through the open doors of the sick house, one could see a peculiar sight. Glass bottles filled with a transparent solution were suspended from the ceiling beams by netted pouches. The openings of the round glass bottles pointed downward, extending a slender rubber tube that connected to the back of the patients’ hands.
All the patients wore masks, sitting on benches, either chatting and laughing or looking up, somewhat anxiously, at the round glass bottles.
This was a new medical device that appeared alongside Penicillin. According to Mr. Li from the Academic Palace, it was called an intravenous drip. It could also be called a drip bottle. The name was quite fitting.
Two streets away in a restaurant, an elder dressed as a Hu Shang, or rather, Situ Zhi, plucked a walnut from his plate and tossed it into his mouth with a smile.
Beside him, a child with pale hair and skin spoke softly, "Those carriages..."
Situ Zhi’s gaze swept over the carriages behind the sick house. Without guessing, he knew they were filled with Chang’an elites suspected of having syphilis.
Li Ang had already stated in a Natural Science journal that Penicillin was a specific cure for syphilis.
For the ill elites, they wanted to regain health without exposing themselves to ridicule, so the best method was to invite Li Ang to their mansions for discreet treatment.
But Li Ang was not an ordinary doctor with no connections, easily swayed by any request.
Moreover, according to him, intravenous infusion required professional personnel and equipment, only feasible within the sick house.
His teeth crushed the walnut. Chewing, Situ Zhi took a deep breath, mulling over and savoring the subtlest changes in the air.
The disease had been cured. The drug called Penicillin had truly dispelled the morbidity festering in the patients, allowing their bodies to continue functioning. A miracle.
Situ Zhi, a playful smile on his face, rubbed his fingers together, flicking off the walnut crumbs clinging to his fingertips. "Lian Xuanyao will be back soon."
The pale child blinked. "Are we leaving Chang’an?" New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel~fire~net
Situ Zhi nodded. "It’s a pity. If I had another three months—no, just one and a half—I’m confident I could have deciphered his medicine."
"There will be a chance."
The pale child whispered softly, "Next time, Teacher, you will win it back."
Situ Zhi raised an eyebrow, looking at his disciple with a smile. "Do you think we lost this time?"
The disciple did not answer, only furrowed his brows to express his stance.
"No. This time, we did not lose."
Situ Zhi turned his head to look again at the sick house two streets away, as if trying to see through the brick and tile walls to where Li Ang was bustling about.
"My dear disciple," Situ Zhi affectionately tousled the child’s hair and smiled. "You still don’t understand the true meaning of disease. The essence of a disease is to spread, to exchange, to proliferate.
"A person floating alone in the endless void, having no contact with the outside world, will never fall ill; they will only starve, thirst, or age to death.
"But as a person walks among the mortal realm, they inevitably come into contact with the world.
"Their every lapse in dietary care, drinking water, getting wounded, even contact with animals and other people, increases the likelihood of them falling ill.
"They might contract malaria from a mosquito.
"One might contract pox from a brothel.
"One might get a Blood Sore from a knife cut.
"Or just by passing through a certain village, one could catch a ’chilling wind,’ or rather, leprosy. Their entire body would be covered with bright red rashes, hair would fall out, limbs would waste away, and large areas of swelling or tumor-like growths would develop.
"Do you still remember our travels across the Endless Sea to various island nations, recording data related to disease types and population numbers?"
The apprentice nodded. "Isolated islands with sparse populations tended to have fewer types of diseases. However, if an epidemic of some non-fatal, persistent disease broke out, such as leprosy, they would find it very difficult to stop the spread. It could plague them for decades, even centuries. Conversely, islands with larger populations and frequent contact with outsiders had a greater variety of diseases."
Situ Zhi smiled with satisfaction. "The larger the population, the more food and livestock they need, which means more developed agriculture and closer proximity between people and animals.
"People have their diseases, and animals have theirs, with only a tiny number being transmissible between the two.
"But when this probability is magnified to the nth degree, domestic animals inevitably transmit diseases to humans, and diseases inevitably begin to mutate, evolve, and spread.
"Crowded, noisy, metropolitan cities with people coming and going from all directions become the perfect breeding grounds for diseases."
He stood up and began pacing the room, speaking with animated pleasure, "Syphilis, pox, these are just some of many.
"Li Ang may have developed effective new medicine, but he is utterly powerless to curb the spread of diseases along the Chang’an Trade Route into all corners of Yu Country.
"People always shy away from discussing and seeking treatment for illnesses, especially those considered shameful. Consequently, there will always be those, knowingly or unwittingly, who spread diseases. These diseases will take root and thrive in places Li Ang and Yu Country cannot reach.
"And those newly emerged, more terrifying diseases will only become more numerous and uncontrollable. This will happen with the development of Yu Country, the concentration of its population, and the construction of its cities.
"Until one or several diseases powerful enough to sweep across the land, unstoppable by anyone, emerge."
Situ Zhi danced with excitement, his expression wild, murmuring to himself, "The meat eaters are lowly; Yu Country will not realize this. As for that Li Ang—I’ll admit he’s brilliant. He might perceive the subtle shifts in fate,
"but he can’t halt the progress of Yu Country’s development or the construction of cities. He can only choose to drink poison to quench his thirst, following behind Yu Country, patching up this mess.
"We align ourselves with natural selection, creating weapons, while he is responsible for forging shields for passive defense.
"Little does he know that a prolonged defense inevitably leads to failure.
"In this war, we will never lose."
Situ Zhi walked to the window and gazed down at the bustling Chang’an Street below, intoxicated. "There’s a myth in my hometown.
"The gods crafted a box, filling it with evils born from humanity: lies, slander, jealousy, pain, diseases, grief...
"Out of a desire to know, the box will ultimately be opened, unleashing all manner of afflictions, and humanity’s last hope will forever be buried at the bottom of the Magic Box."
He turned, once again ruffled the disciple’s hair, and smiled. "Let’s go. Let us hasten this process."
The disciple stood up subconsciously. "Where to?"
"One of Yu Country’s centers for shipbuilding, river, and sea transportation," Situ Zhi announced. He stepped out of the room, his voice echoing, "Jiangnan."