It was getting late now and the room was even darker.
Zhang Muqiu blinked hard, fearing that he was dazzled and hallucinating.
Mrs. Liu lit the oil lamp placed beside the bed, and the flickering light allowed Zhang Muchiu to see clearly what was going on on the bed.
A man was sitting on the corner of the bed. You could tell he was a man based on his clothes, but you couldn't tell his age based on his appearance.
The man's eyes were dull and empty, and his hair was thin and yellow.
He was thin, but his face was swollen and shiny. The skin on his face was tight, like a hard-shell mask, making it difficult for him to express any expression.
The man's breathing was shallow and weak, and there was no visible flaring of his nose. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest and abdomen with his breathing, it would be impossible to tell whether he was a living person or a dead corpse.
The skin on his neck was loose and wrinkled, with large and small dark spots and even clumps distributed in it, so densely packed that it made the hairs stand on end.
The man's legs were covered with a quilt, and the hands resting on them had deformed. At first glance, they didn't look like human hands at all, but rather like eagle talons.
The skin is like a dehydrated and shriveled vegetable leaf, tightly wrapped around the bones. It looks thin and fragile, as if it will be broken by the slightest external force.
There were many open wounds on the knuckles, and the skin and flesh were turned out, like small scarlet mouths, all of them silently screaming how miserable they were.
As if Mrs. Liu still felt that Zhang Muqiu had not been stimulated enough, she suddenly stepped forward and lifted the quilt covering the man's legs, revealing a pair of even more terrifying legs.
No trace of normal skin could be seen on the legs. Everything was rough, black, and uneven. The blood vessels and veins were bulging and knotted, intertwined like a spider web.
The tips of seven of the ten toes have become ulcerated and turned black, and the nails and flesh are peeled off and damaged, making it impossible to tell what they should have looked like...
"this……"
This was the first time that Zhang Muqiu saw such a miserable patient. He was speechless for a moment and didn't know what to say. He could only turn his head and look at Mrs. Liu as if asking for help, trying to get some effective information from her.
Mrs. Liu put the quilt back on her son's legs, reached out and touched his head, and then whispered: "Doctor Zhang, let's go to the outhouse to talk."
When they got to the outside room, Mrs. Liu asked the three of them to sit down.
Zhang Muqiu couldn't wait to ask before he could sit still: "Auntie, what's going on with your son? Why is it so serious that he needs to see a doctor?"
Mrs. Liu sighed after hearing this and said: "We only have one son, how could we not take him to see a doctor!
“Ever since he got sick a few years ago, we have taken him everywhere to seek medical advice. Our family’s savings have been exhausted and we have to borrow money to take him to see a doctor.
"But no matter whether he took medicine or applied medicine, he didn't see any improvement. Later, his condition became more and more serious. He could no longer walk, and his family really couldn't borrow money. Then...
"But I really can't bear to see him like this. I can't just watch my son die like this..."
After saying this, Mrs. Liu finally couldn't bear it anymore, covered her face and started crying suppressedly.
Zhang Muqiu has heard similar words many times since he started practicing medicine, but he still feels uncomfortable every time he hears them.
Especially the condition of the Liu family's son is even more heartbreaking.
But Zhang Muqiu could only tell the truth with great helplessness: "Aunt Liu, I don't want to lie to you. I have never seen or heard of your son's illness before. I may really disappoint you."
When Madam Liu heard this, a look of disappointment immediately appeared in her eyes.
But I heard Zhang Muqiu change the subject and said: "But if you are willing, you can tell me in detail your son's process from the onset to the present. When I go back, I will ask our wife, she is more knowledgeable than me, maybe she will Know."
"Okay, okay, let me tell you." Mrs. Liu's eyes immediately burst out with hope, and then she said with a look of recollection, "I think my boy was also a talented person back then. At that time, my wife and him were working outside. I made money and the income was very good. Gradually, my family's financial situation became much better than that of my relatives, friends and neighbors.
"So my vision is higher than others, and I always want to choose a wife who is good in all aspects for him. I finally fell in love with one, and I decided to make a decision after contacting her again.
"Who would have known that my boy would always say that he was not feeling well during that period. When he caught a cold, his hands and feet would become cold, and his fingers and toes would turn white and turn purple. In severe cases, he would even have cramps, and the veins would protrude and become entangled together. It looked very scary.
“When he first told me about it, I didn’t take it too seriously. I just told him to wear more clothes when he went out and not just worry about how he looked.
“Unexpectedly, the attacks became more and more frequent, and I began to feel that something was wrong, so I quickly urged him to see a doctor.
“The doctor he saw at the time didn’t tell him what the problem was. He only prescribed a few medicines and asked him to soak his feet and hands in hot water and be careful not to catch cold.
"That time after seeing the doctor, there seemed to be some improvement, but not long after, the condition suddenly became serious. At first, the hands were red, swollen and itchy, and then the arms, chest and back, and even the neck and face became like this. .
"I don't know who is spreading rumors outside that my boy is ill and disfigured. As a result, the family that was about to get engaged suddenly regretted it.
"I was worried about my son at the time and didn't care whether we were engaged or not. I accompanied him everywhere to see a doctor every day. Unexpectedly, I had been seeing him for more than two years.
“I don’t know how much medicine I took, how much medicine I applied, how much money I spent, but instead of getting better, my condition got worse.
“The originally red and swollen area slowly began to turn black and hard, and now his entire face is tight and hard, making it difficult to even speak.
"The first affected fingers and toes went from red and swollen to hard, and then turned into what you see now. Not only were they skin and bones, but they also started to break, become rotten, and turn black..."
Mrs. Liu started to cry again when she said this.
"Although I don't know medical skills, I know that after a long time, other parts of his body will become like his hands and feet...
"When that happens, won't this person be completely ruined...
"If anything happens to God, can't he retaliate on me? Why do you torture my son like this..."
The three of them all felt the hairs on their backs stand up as they listened to Mrs. Liu's story.
There is such a terrifying disease in the world. It's like killing someone with a blunt knife, and it's even more torturous than Ling Chi.
The hall echoed with Mrs. Liu's painful cries.
Just when Zhang Muchiu was thinking about how to comfort her, the courtyard door outside suddenly creaked.
Soon, an old man who looked to be in his sixties or seventies came in with a stooped waist. His whole body exuded a certain state - tiredness.
His slack eyelids drooped feebly, and he was unable to lift his feet, dragging himself on the ground.
It wasn't until he reached the middle of the main room that he realized there was an outsider in the room. He raised his eyelids with difficulty, and the first thing that caught his eye was the medicine box on the table.
"Old lady, are you going to ask the doctor again?" The old man was exhausted. His eyes widened and he shouted at Madam Liu, "Are you afraid that I will die from exhaustion?"
