Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 156: A Surprise

The road was rough.

Even with anti-skid chains on the tires, the truck still got stuck in mud pits.

The three of them were long used to it.

They exchanged a look and resignedly began to put on their protective gear.

The heavy protective suit, specialized face mask, and thick gloves—the getup was enough to give a man heat rash, but it was better than being eaten alive by mosquitoes.

"Ready?" Li Yuewei pulled down his mask, his voice turning muffled. "Let’s move. I don’t want to spend a second longer in this godforsaken place."

The moment the truck doors opened, the buzzing of the mosquito swarm intensified, sounding like a broken engine.

The three of them quickly got out,

slamming the doors shut behind them.

They had to prevent the insects from getting inside the cab.

Otherwise,

they’d have the troublesome task of clearing the mosquitoes out when they got back in. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Yang Tian was the last one out. As he took his first step, a faint scent of mugwort drifted from him.

Then, the incredible happened.

The swarms that had been madly rushing them suddenly stopped short as if they had hit an invisible wall, halting about two meters away from Yang Tian.

They were still flying, but they didn’t dare come any closer, forming a bizarre, empty zone around him.

"Holy crap..." Li Baoming’s mask was askew. He stared blankly at his surroundings. Usually by now, his protective suit would be covered in mosquitoes. But right now, the bloodthirsty insects had all retreated to a distance of over two meters, as if held back by some unseen force.

"What’s going on?"

Li Yuewei and Yang Tian were also stunned.

’Have the mosquitoes changed their nature?

Are they not biting people anymore?

No, that’s not right...’

Li Yuewei was the first to react. He checked himself first, seeing if he was carrying anything unusual.

A quick check

revealed nothing out of the ordinary.

And then,

he caught the scent of mugwort.

He’d smelled it in the truck too,

but hadn’t paid it any mind.

’Could it be?’

Li Yuewei looked at Yang Tian. "Are you carrying a Mugwort Bag?"

Yang Tian’s hand instinctively went to his chest. He nodded. "Yeah."

"Go over there."

Li Yuewei told Yang Tian to walk toward a denser swarm of mosquitoes.

Yang Tian took a few steps away.

As he approached,

the mosquitoes over there frantically retreated.

At the same time,

the mosquitoes closed in on Li Yuewei and Li Baoming again.

In an instant, their bodies and masks were covered with them.

"Get back here, quick!"

Li Yuewei shouted urgently.

"Okay."

Yang Tian understood now.

The Mugwort Bag his sister had sent him really worked—no, it wasn’t just effective.

It was *too* effective.

It was absolutely game-changing!

Yang Tian walked back to Li Yuewei’s side.

BZZZZZZ~

The mosquitoes around Li Yuewei and Li Baoming flew away once more.

The three men stood by the mud pit, surrounded by a swarm of mosquitoes that dared not approach, creating a bizarre scene.

Muddy water gurgled from under the wheels, reflecting their astonished faces.

"This damn thing..." Li Yuewei’s voice was actually a little choked up. "This damn thing is a godsend!"

It truly was a godsend.

If every soldier wore a Mugwort Bag,

they wouldn’t have to wear these thick clothes and suffocating masks on patrol anymore.

The mere thought of such a scenario was blissful.

"Let’s get to work. When we get back, call your sister and ask her where she bought it. I’ll submit a request to headquarters to buy a huge batch,"

Li Yuewei said excitedly.

"Uh... Captain, today isn’t a designated day for phone calls," Yang Tian reminded him.

Li Yuewei glared. "This is a special situation! Forget the rules. I’ll handle the paperwork when we get back. You can make the call whenever."

"Roger that."

Yang Tian accepted the order with a smile.

"Haha, don’t just stand there. Let’s get to work."

Because there were no more mosquitoes biting them,

they didn’t need to wear the cumbersome protective suits.

All three of them took them off.

Li Yuewei then ripped off his mask and took a deep breath of the humid air—a simple luxury in North Bay.

Usually, any exposed skin would be swarmed by mosquitoes within three seconds.

"Damn, this feels good!" Li Yuewei tossed his protective suit into the truck bed and stretched his shoulders.

Sweat trickled down his neck, but not a single mosquito dared to bite him.

Yang Tian and Li Baoming also shed their heavy gear.

For the first time, the muggy North Bay wind blew directly against their skin, carrying the scent of grass and earth.

The Mugwort Bag in Yang Tian’s pocket swayed gently with his movements, its unique scent especially distinct in the hot, humid air.

"Let’s do it!" Li Yuewei rolled up his sleeves, revealing pale arms that rarely saw the sun.

The three of them pushed the truck together.

"One, two, three!"

With Li Yuewei’s count, the pickup’s tires finally ground over the gravel at the edge of the mud pit with a cringe-inducing screech.

Yang Tian wiped the sweat from his face and suddenly laughed. "Captain, this feels amazing."

"Of course it does."

Without the harassment of the mosquito swarms, they managed to push the pickup out of the mud pit in half the usual time.

Li Baoming even started humming a little tune, something that was simply unimaginable outdoors in North Bay.

On the way back, Li Yuewei kept studying the premium Mugwort Bag, his eyes as fervent as if he were looking at a rare treasure.

"Yang Tian," he said suddenly, "do you know what this means?"

Before Yang Tian could answer, Li Baoming cut in, "It means we’ll never have to wear those damn ’steamers’ again!"

He slapped the steering wheel, and the windshield wipers swung, scraping away a few mosquitoes that had splattered against the glass.

Li Yuewei studied it for a long while, muttering, "It’s so strange. It’s just mugwort and a few other herbs in here. Why is it so much more effective than what we’ve used before?"

"Right, do we have any of the mugwort mosquito repellent liquid left?"

"We’re out, but there was some in the supplies we picked up today."

"Get it out. Let’s see."

Li Baoming stopped the truck.

Yang Tian went to the truck bed, opened a box, and took out the mugwort mosquito repellent.

"Spray it over there."

Li Yuewei pointed at the mosquitoes dancing in the air nearby.

PSSSH~

PSSSH~

A mist of repellent sprayed out.

It landed on the mosquitoes.

They scattered.

But they quickly regrouped.

The mugwort mosquito repellent had some effect, but it was just average.

"What’s the deal?"

Li Yuewei couldn’t figure it out and gave up.

"We’ll find out when you ask your sister."

As the pickup truck drove into the camp, the afternoon sun fell on the anti-mosquito netting, shrouding the entire camp in a white grid.

From a distance, the camp looked like it was inside a giant cage—this was the North Bay Border Defense company’s last line of defense against the mosquitoes.

"Everybody out!" Li Yuewei suddenly ordered. "Take off your jackets."

Li Baoming and Yang Tian exchanged a glance, understanding their captain’s intention.

The captain wanted to give their comrades who had stayed behind a surprise.

The three of them neatly took off their camouflage jackets, wearing only their short-sleeved shirts, and swaggered toward the camp gate.

"Has the captain gone crazy?" The sentry’s mouth fell open, the registration book in his hand almost dropping to the ground.

He watched, wide-eyed, as the three men exposed themselves to the mosquito swarms without any protective measures.

"Medic! Get a medic!" the sentry yelled at the top of his lungs, thinking the captain and his men had gone crazy.

Even if they hadn’t,

exposing your body to those mosquito swarms would,

at best, leave you covered in welts. At worst, you could be bitten until you passed out.

...