It's snowing season, and it's getting colder and colder.
Coincidentally, this place is called Wuxue.
Gui County has seven counties under its jurisdiction. In addition to Xueyuan, there are six remaining counties. Wuxue is the first county entering from Beifeng Pass.
Song You and his party walked for two days.
As Governor Liu said, when you arrive in Guijun, you can hardly see the mountains, and even the land rarely sees undulations. When the weather is good, you can see the edge of the horizon at a glance. If it is dusk, the setting sun can stretch people's shadows. It's blurry and cannot be seen, and there is no end.
I passed through some villages and met passers-by.
Some villages are empty, while others are still inhabited. If there are people living in them, when outsiders come, the doors of every household are closed and the windows are not even dared to open. It is no different from an empty village.
So far, apart from them, there are only two types of pedestrians on the road.
One type is a postman official who communicates between counties, and his identity can be seen from his clothes.
These people usually come and go like the wind, covering their mouths and noses tightly, and riding horses to pass quickly. No matter what Song You and the swordsman say, they will never stop for even a step. There are even those who are vigilant. If they see them from a distance, they will drive their horses under the road and bypass them in the fields.
These people ensure the connection between the government offices of various counties in Guijun.
One is the medicine collection team in each county.
The Dayan court did not choose to end the plague by slaughtering and burning the city. Instead, it established a medicine application bureau in Angzhou and sent teams from outside to Gui County to deliver medicine to Beifeng Pass. Each county organized its own People come to collect it and then take it back to the county seat.
Occasionally, these people would ask and question Song You and others from a distance.
There are roughly three types of medicines sent by the imperial court: Ganoderma Baidu Powder, Jindi Kudan, and Bodhisattva Jishi Pills, which are currently commonly used medicines to treat epidemic diseases. I just heard that it has no effect on the demon epidemic in Gui County. At most, it can only delay the death of people who will die in nine days to ten days.
This epidemic is called the demon epidemic.
Song You walked around for two days and got to know something about it.
After the outbreak of this epidemic, the eyes will be bloodshot at first, which can be easily recognized, and then symptoms such as coughing and nosebleeds, vomiting and diarrhea, high fever and vomiting blood, pale skin, hair loss, atrophy of limbs, and body erosion will occur almost every day. Brand new symptoms. By the time of final coma, people are no different from ghosts. Most people will die on the ninth day after the attack, for a total of eighteen days.
Therefore, it is also called the nine-day epidemic.
This epidemic is so severe that there is no cure.
Fortunately, transportation is inconvenient these days, and epidemic prevention these days mainly relies on inconvenient transportation.
After the war, chaos and severe drought in the north, the land was even more sparsely populated. The nine-day epidemic mainly broke out in the cities. Officials from various places almost immediately blocked the cities and prohibited entry and exit. Most villages were not seriously affected, except for a few due to inexplicable diseases. After being infected due to strange reasons, he died.
In addition to inconvenient transportation, this is another great solution to deal with the plague these days——
dead.
Once people die, the plague will naturally end.
Sometimes the government even resorts to massacre and burning of cities, which sounds cruel but is really helpless.
At present, Gui County has not done this. Instead, it has strictly closed the city, set up disease relocation centers, and actively isolated people. If someone dies, some will be burned or buried deeply. When buried, a layer of lime must be spread. If someone is communicating or getting medicine, When people enter and exit the city gate, they must use various methods such as fire and smoke to eliminate the virus.
The court also provides subsidies to the family members of the deceased.
I heard that in the epidemic, if more than six people in a family die, they will be given five thousand yuan for burial. If there are more than four people in the family, they will be given three thousand yuan. If there are more than two people, they will be given two thousand yuan. It is said to be burial money, but in fact it is. Subsidies for living people.
Although it is a backward era, people have used great wisdom to deal with the virus and tried their best to survive. Their attitude is not inferior to that of later generations.
Therefore, in the past few months, although there have been countless deaths in several small counties, the epidemic has not continued to spread.
It's just that Song You went to take a closer look. Although the nine-day demon epidemic was rumored to come from Xueyuan, it was not a simple demon or sorcery, but a real epidemic, and it was extremely ferocious and terrifying. It was far from... The common plague diseases in the world can reach it, and the sick people die miserably, which really looks like the work of a great demon.
If I don't have any medical skills, I can only remove evil magic and magic, but I can't cure complex pathological diseases.
Although the spiritual power of the four seasons has many wonderful uses, this disease is too complex. Spiritual power is not omnipotent. It can make healthy people healthier to avoid illness, and it can help people recover from injuries. However, it only amplifies the human body's own abilities and cannot accurately solve the problem. Remove the different symptoms all over the body of the sick person.
That is the power of divine healing.
It might be possible if you go to the Calamity Vine.
However, Song You did not bring the disaster-removing vines with him. The founder who was good at this method is no longer alive, and all the disaster-removing vines existing in Fulong Temple cannot save even half of the village.
However, there are ways to prevent and cure it.
Among the twenty-four solar terms, rain and grain rain are full of vitality and the most nourishing. Although they cannot cure people who are already sick, if they fall as spiritual rain or melt into wells and springs, it will not be like that in Changjing. , coincides with the season, seducing the spiritual power of the season can benefit the entire Changjing and surrounding areas, but it can also benefit a village and a city. The people are full of vitality, good health, spiritual power protects the body, and diseases are naturally difficult to invade.
If you are sick, you may feel better because of it.
This is what he can do.
Song You thought of the miracle doctor.
All the way forward.
Gradually walking from Wuxue County to Yuluo County and then to Yuntai County, getting closer to Hansu, the plague became more and more serious.
There are more empty villages on both sides of the official road. Occasionally I encounter people living in them, and there are often patients. I hear coughing when I pass by in the middle of the night.
People use any method to cure their illnesses.
There are various folk remedies, praying to gods and praying to Buddha, abstaining from food, doing good deeds, even eating earth, swallowing gold, cutting meat and letting blood. Don’t think it’s ridiculous, it’s all about people’s cherishing of life and their struggle in the face of death.
Occasionally, I heard that some villages were not connected to the outside world, but for some reason, some people were infected with the disease.
Some said it was a disease brought by the wind, some said it was someone who sneaked out at night and came back, some said that people who died of illness in other villages were not buried properly and their graves were dug up by wild dogs, and some said it was caused by demons.
I often hear rumors about Dr. Cai.
The further you go, the lonelier you become.
Without being able to enter the city, even if you meet pedestrians on the village road, few people are willing to communicate with them, and the world seems to have become much quieter because of this.
Soon the winter moon came.
Entering the seventh day of Guijun, night.
A village called Wujiacun.
The sky was hazy, and the whole village was filled with coughs. An old man with bloodshot eyes and a young Taoist stood opposite each other. Miraculously, it was the old man who was suffering from the disease who was more afraid.
A few feet away, a swordsman looked at this side. Behind him, two horses, one black and one red, stood quietly. At his feet, a calico cat wearing gray linen clothes and a hood was also observing this side from a distance.
"I have to make an agreement with my father-in-law. The water made from the elixir may not necessarily cure the disease. At most, people who are not sick can drink it, so they are less likely to be infected by the disease. If people who are already sick drink it, they will feel better at most. Some, live a few more days, one bowl a day, drinking too much is useless." The voice of the young Taoist came from afar, accompanied by the whimpering of the dog in the distance, "If it is combined with the medicine of Doctor Cai, it might be good for those who are sick. It also has some therapeutic effects on people.”
"Thank you sir. Thank you sir."
Muramasa bowed repeatedly and expressed his sincere thanks.
In fact, how can ordinary people tell clearly what medicine is useful? What medicine didn’t work?
But civilians also have true feelings.
There is no cure for this disease, and death is almost certain within nine days. It is also very contagious. Sometimes you don’t know where it comes from. Ordinary people don’t even dare to go into the village. Even if they don’t hear the cough, they stay away from people they meet on the road. Stay away from him, and if he hears coughing, he is even more afraid to avoid it.
Who would know that half of the village is sick and see that he is obviously sick, yet dare to come and talk to him?
Not only did he talk, but he also delivered medicine.
People often say that people seek medical treatment immediately when they are sick. In fact, this is not only a behavior, but also a state of mind.
People are willing to take risks to send medicine, even if it has no effect, they have the heart of a Bodhisattva. If it really has some effect, it will really be a god descending to the earth.
What's more, after just one sip of this water, a mortal feels his dizzy and dizzy brain is much better.
This alone has been of great help.
"If it doesn't work when combined with the medicine from Dr. Cai, please don't be offended." The Taoist continued, "If it works, it's a blessing, and the credit should go to Dr. Cai."
"Thank you sir."
"You're welcome, I just want to ask Muramasa, where did Dr. Cai go after he left today?"
"I heard it's going north."
"Thank you."
Song You thanked him and went on his way.
The swordsman and cat next to him followed, but Muramasa quickly backed away, covered his mouth and nose with a cloth, and watched them go away.
A group of people walked along the village at dusk.
The village was filled with a strong aura of death, which seemed to be three times stronger than the evening mist. I don’t know how many people have died during this period, and I don’t know how many people will die in the next few days. The strong stench contrasts with the deathly mist. Death is really an undignified thing.
Song You didn't walk fast, looking left and right as he walked.
The calico cat followed the Taoist with small steps, then turned to look left and right, its eyes clear.
"Squeak~"
Suddenly a door was opened.
"Little sir."
A shout came.
Song You stopped and turned around to look.
For a moment the wind here stopped.
An unknown old woman stood at the door. Even though she was covering her mouth and nose with a cloth, she could see that her face was wrinkled and her clothes were torn and dirty. In this chaotic world in the north, I am afraid that I have tried my best to live, but I encountered this plague.
I saw her standing across the yard from Song You. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face was as pale as paper, and most of her hair was missing. In the dusk, it was hard to tell whether she was a ghost or a human.
The nine-day epidemic has probably reached the seventh or eighth day.
Song You looked at her and was silent for a moment, then asked:
"What's the matter, old lady?"
"Ahem..."
While coughing habitually, the old woman raised her eyes to look at him, not daring to move forward: "Sir, he is capable. If I don't ask him to save his life, he won't be able to save his life. I just cough, I heard that people will die." I turned into a ghost and went to the underworld. I want to ask the little gentleman if it is true or not?"
"Maybe."
Song You thought for a while before answering.
After looking at her again, he bowed and left.
Coughing sounds were heard all over the floor, accompanied by howls and cries of pain, one after another.
The crows are constantly crying, and the dogs are crying.
People contain ghosts, and ghosts take over people's spirits.
Most people you meet during the day are ghosts; ghosts you meet at dusk are suspicious of people.
But in fact, it is difficult to tell whether it is a human being or a ghost. Not only is it human, but the ghost itself cannot tell the difference either.
Song Xingxing arrived at the entrance of the village, looking back he still sighed.
I just ask you to go ahead and don’t ask where you are going back. Life is so miserable, what difference does it make between heaven and earth?
(End of chapter)
