Chapter 353: Chapter 353: Fish Head Village Disaster Relief
Leading seven women to the flood-stricken area for disaster relief...
The Seven Immortal Maidens?
But bringing along the women from Five Beauties Manor does indeed offer more safety. After all, I occasionally travel to modern times and cannot always stay by Liu Qingyan and Du Yueyao’s side.
If that’s the case...
Let’s depart!
First, we picked up Du Yueyao, then gathered all the Liu Family’s medicinal stock, and set off together.
Yes, besides Du Yueyao, she also brought her maid Yu Lan and two guards.
Lu Zheng and his party of eleven headed northwest, and shortly after leaving the county, they saw many villagers leading the elderly and young.
All the way against the tide, not paying attention to most common folks, but whenever encountering someone sick or weak, they stepped forward to assist.
Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan diagnosed, administered acupuncture, and prescribed medicine, Yu Lan and the Five Beauties Manor women helped make medicine, and the two guards lent a hand, either chopping wood or tidying luggage.
For several consecutive days, they got closer to the disaster area, and affected villagers became increasingly numerous.
...
Lingbei Dao, Yu State.
The state capital hardest hit by the flood, with several breaches along the Yi River within the state, flooding almost all counties, turning them into a land of swamps. Only a few highlands in the south escaped.
Lu Zheng and his group arrived at Yu State, marking their entry into the heart of the disaster area.
Before, on the way, Lu Zheng thought he had seen enough suffering among the escaping villagers, but now upon entering Yu State, he realized how young and naive he was.
The Court had already done its utmost to provide relief, and cultivators also came to help, but ordinary people were numerous, and the situation remained grave.
The main problem is...
Malaria had started appearing among the refugees, and many people had fallen ill.
"Hurry, hurry!"
"The porridge station is serving porridge, hurry and queue up!"
"Daoist Duan is here, Daoist, please check on my mother. She says she’s feeling uncomfortable!"
Arriving at Yu State, they didn’t rest for a moment. The Court’s forces were strongest in Yuzhou Prefecture; supplies were ample, allowing them to delve into counties and villages.
Set up porridge stalls, boil porridge for distribution, diagnose illnesses, administer acupuncture, and prescribe medicine.
...
Huanshui County, Kao Mountain Town, Fish Head Village.
The second day after arriving at this mountain village.
"Doctor, doctor! My mother, her stomach hurts. Can you take a look?"
A dust-covered little girl rushed before Liu Qingyan, immediately kowtowing.
Liu Qingyan stood up immediately, grabbed her medical kit, and followed, with Du Yueyao hastily joining.
A moment later, Liu Qingyan returned, and Lu Zheng saw her nodding and saying, "It’s still malaria. I’ve administered acupuncture and prescribed medicine for that elder sister, but her condition is somewhat serious, not sure when she’ll recover."
After pausing, Liu Qingyan pondered aloud, "I found that although the malaria treatment recipes in medical texts are mostly similar, they lack Star Grass and Tongqi. Is it because the authors did not discover these two herbs?"
Lu Zheng blinked, "Possibly."
After all, they were from a parallel world’s medical writings. Even if the worlds were quite similar, differences in species were only too normal.
Liu Qingyan pondered, "I want to try several more recipes. Perhaps it could yield faster results and save more lives."
Just then, a man appeared supporting an old woman.
"Doctor Liu! Doctor Liu! My mother says she’s on her last legs."
"Quickly, help the granny sit down!"
Liu Qingyan hurriedly let the old woman sit and began pulse diagnosis.
"How is it?" Lu Zheng asked.
"Star Grass one qian, green wormwood one qian, Chaihu seven fen, Huang Ling seven fen, Tongqi five fen, Madam Zhi three fen..."
Liu Qingyan listed a new prescription.
Lu Zheng also gained some Light of Fortune in medical skills but lacked practical experience, thus was slightly inferior to Liu Qingyan in medicine.
Upon hearing Liu Qingyan’s recipe, validating in his heart, he realized it was worth trying.
"I’ll handle it!"
Lu Zheng personally brewed the medicine, enhancing it with True Qi for a moment, quickly brewing the decoction and giving it to the old woman.
After downing the decoction, the old woman’s face looked noticeably better.
"Take these additional two doses home. Consume them for three days. If not recovered, come for a follow-up; if cured, do inform me."
"Yes, yes! Thank you, Doctor Liu." The man left with his mother, expressing endless gratitude.
Thereafter, Liu Qingyan began trying the new recipe on malaria patients.
Although this recipe was certainly effective, its strength still needed verification. Since the flood had just receded and the epidemic was just emerging, it was the right time to test the formula.
Seeing Liu Qingyan enter the zone, with Du Yueyao assisting beside her, Lu Zheng left the crude shed, surveying the surroundings.
In the open space by the village head eastward, Yu Lan and the Five Beauties Manor women were serving porridge to everyone, while on a nearby highland, two guards were helping build simple houses for shelter.
At the village center, houses were completely submerged, leaving knee-deep water, utterly uninhabitable.
Hundreds of people from Fish Head Village gathered on a nearby highland, resting on the ground under the open sky, without any shelter.
Lu Zheng said nothing.
He thought of many things, yet seemingly nothing, as images and videos from the modern internet blended with the scene before him in his mind.
"Lu Lang~"
Liu Qingyan appeared beside him, holding his hand, "What are you looking at?"
"Nothing." Lu Zheng shook his head.
Liu Qingyan tightened her grip on Lu Zheng’s hand, "We need to stay around here for three days, at least to cure those infected with the epidemic and see the effect of my prescriptions before leaving."
"Hmm." Lu Zheng nodded, then went to the highland to help build temporary housing.
...
After a busy half-day, they finally had a place to stay, and medical consultations and porridge distribution were completed.
Villagers settled in, and some carefree children started playing with the women, gradually raising smiles.
Lu Zheng also took out milk candies, crisp candies, and peanuts and sunflower seeds from the gourd, sharing them with everyone.
Villagers had previously seen Lu Zheng taking out provisions from the gourd, so they were not too surprised, knowing he was like an Immortal, hence showing respect and hesitating to get too close.
However, the children were fine, more curious and hopeful than respectful. They had only eaten some malt sugar during town markets, scarcely ever tasted rock candy. Now, with their mouths full of White Rabbit Milk Candy and Xu Fu Ji Crisp Candy, they almost swallowed their tongues.
Seeing the villagers’ smiles, Lu Zheng felt good too.
But this good mood only lasted for a short moment before it was interrupted by two voices.
"Hahaha! Some good food today, time for a feast!"
"Pick the tenderest ones, then find other villages!"
"Save, save! Just pick a few children then!"
"A virgin will do too!"
"Hahaha!"
Across his sight, two figures rode on waves with Water Manipulation, one corpulent with a round head and big eyes, the other strong and robust with a long face and broad mouth.