Village Doctor's Women-Chapter 104 - 99 poisonous insects

「At Wang Jian’s home.」

Both women had stayed up late last night and were severely exhausted, so neither of them woke up early.

Fortunately, Xu Qian had already bought groceries. This meant she didn’t need to rush to the market, allowing the usually diligent woman to catch up on sleep in her room.

By the time Xu Qian returned to her room, she could barely keep her eyes open. In that moment, she felt that if she didn’t leave soon, she might just fall asleep right where she stood. If Cai Qiong found her walking out of Wang Jian’s room the next day, she would never be able to explain herself.

Once she reached her room, her fear was proven correct—the moment her head hit the pillow, she was dead to the world.

As for Wang Jian, he felt refreshed and invigorated when he woke up the next morning. Even as he practiced his standing meditation in the courtyard, he had the mistaken impression that his flesh and blood were recovering faster. Of course, this was just an illusion. He had no superpowers; compared to the characters in superhero movies, he was just an ordinary person.

Wang Jian was in the middle of changing his stance to continue his meditation when he heard a knock at the door, which he then walked over to open.

"Li Shuang?"

"Village chief?"

Wang Jian was taken aback when he saw Li Shuang, but upon seeing Li Dayu, he knew something was amiss.

Noticing the black bag in Li Dayu’s hand, Wang Jian didn’t wait for him to speak. "What happened?" he asked directly.

Li Dayu sighed. Wang Jian’s direct question saved him the trouble of explaining. He glanced at Wang Jian’s shoulder and continued, "He was fine yesterday, so I didn’t think much of it. He took two doses of medicine, but this morning, while taking his dose, he just collapsed."

"Collapsed?" Wang Jian asked with surprise. "Did he vomit anything?"

As he asked, his gaze was fixed on the bag. Clearly, he had already guessed its contents.

Li Dayu didn’t hesitate, opening a slit in the bag to reveal what was inside. Li Shuang, standing nearby, was hit by a foul odor before he could even get a clear look.

"Holy shit, what the hell is this?!" he choked out. "It stinks!" He gagged and stumbled over to a nearby wall, dry-heaving.

The expressions on Li Dayu and Wang Jian’s faces weren’t much better, but they managed to bear it. Wang Jian hadn’t been practicing medicine for long, but he’d seen his share of disgusting things, so he could stomach it.

Inside the bag, apart from some filth, there were small white worms squirming about. They looked a lot like parasitic worms that had been expelled individually.

"What other symptoms does he have?"

Wang Jian frowned. Zhao Chunming’s reaction was alarmingly severe—far more intense than what the pulse diagnosis and checkup had suggested. Something was very wrong.

Li Dayu paused. "Well... as for his symptoms, when I arrived, he was just lying on the bed. His face was pale and his forehead was covered in sweat. He wouldn’t respond when I called his name. He was just muttering something, but I couldn’t make it out."

"It was as if he was hallucinating," Li Dayu added.

"When did it start, and how long has it lasted?" Wang Jian asked.

Li Dayu shook his head. "I really don’t know. When I got there, his son and daughter-in-law were by his side, both absolutely frantic. I didn’t get a chance to ask much."

Wang Jian nodded. He knew he wouldn’t get much more information this way; it would be better to see for himself. However, the worms Li Dayu had brought made him less than optimistic.

He had initially thought it was a simple case of toxin buildup and had prescribed some strong medicine to stimulate the metabolism. Now it turned out that it wasn’t toxins coming out, but parasites. This was trouble. Wang Jian’s mind raced, already trying to formulate a plan. Zhao Chunming seemed to be on the verge of shock; they couldn’t waste any time.

"Is the Zhao family home far?" Wang Jian asked as he started for the door. "How long will it take us to get there from here?"

"Probably..." Li Shuang said, returning after his bout of retching. He carefully kept his distance from Li Dayu and stood beside Wang Jian. "About fifteen minutes."

"Alright," Wang Jian nodded. "I’ll grab some things from the clinic, and we’ll head straight over. Talking here won’t solve anything." Fortunately, it wasn’t far, so they should make it in time. "Something unexpected has happened. We can’t delay."

"That’s wonderful!" Li Dayu exclaimed, his confidence in Wang Jian skyrocketing. It was exactly what he’d been hoping for. "I was just worrying about how to ask you to go. I know you were shot yesterday."

"The injury’s fine," Wang Jian said with a smile. "I’ll be okay as long as I don’t move my shoulder too much. It’s just a flesh wound, so it won’t stop me from treating a patient."

"Oh, you’ve always been such a kind-hearted and good kid. Now that you’re a doctor, you’ve stayed true to your roots."

Li Dayu’s praise was so awkward that even Li Shuang felt uncomfortable. He changed the subject as they walked with Wang Jian toward the edge of the village. "What exactly is this illness? Those bugs..." His voice trailed off, haunted by the memory.

"It’s nothing particularly special, actually," Wang Jian said after a pause, organizing his thoughts. "Look at these worms. Don’t they resemble parasites?"

"Parasites?" Li Shuang was stunned. He thought it was poisoning. "But I’ve never seen parasites like these."

"Of course you haven’t," Wang Jian said slowly. "This is the first time I’ve seen them myself. If I hadn’t read about them in Ancient Medical books, I probably wouldn’t have recognized them either."

"There are many kinds of parasites. Some are symbiotic, while others are purely predatory.

"For the symbiotic kind, people who raise cattle and horses might know. Their animals have symbiotic parasites in their stomachs. The parasites get nutrients from the livestock’s food, and in turn, their life cycle provides protein to the livestock.

"But the worms on Secretary Zhao don’t just steal nutrients; they also release toxins that damage the body’s functions.

"To put it in simpler terms, it’s bug poison... Gu Poison."

After Wang Jian finished, Li Dayu’s expression became one of dawning realization, as if he had already suspected it.

Li Shuang, however, stared at them in shock. "Gu Poison? Are you writing a novel or something?"

Li Dayu slapped him on the back. "What nonsense are you spouting? If it wasn’t for that, do you think I’d look so troubled?"

"You really think this stuff doesn’t exist?" Li Dayu said with lingering fear. "I suspected it the moment I saw those white worms. I just didn’t dare say anything out loud since Xiao Jian hadn’t mentioned it."

Li Shuang finally understood. No wonder the neighbors were all pointing and whispering when they got to the Zhao family’s gate. This business had clearly frightened many people.

"Uncle Li, you’ve seen this before?" Wang Jian asked, surprised. If he hadn’t read the old texts, he would have thought it was something out of a novel, just like Li Shuang. But Li Dayu’s reaction was clearly the fearful hindsight of experience.

"Well," Li Dayu’s brow furrowed, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening. "That was a long time ago."

Wow, he really has seen it before. Not just Wang Jian, but even Li Shuang was hearing this from his father for the first time.

"Dad, you’ve really encountered it?" Li Shuang’s eyes widened. "When was this? How come I never knew?"

"That was before you were born. I hadn’t even met your mother yet, so where would you have come from?" Li Dayu said, annoyed. "It wasn’t anything that special. Back in those days, there were all sorts of crooks and charlatans around. It wasn’t surprising to run into one or two with real skills."

Wang Jian nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Actually, Gu Poison isn’t some mystical thing. It’s just based on things like bacteria and parasites."

"I’ve even heard of people who were obsessed with cultivation using Gu Poison bacteria to murder people according to the Five Elements just to harvest their organs for Alchemy."

Li Shuang sucked in a sharp breath. In just a few sentences, it felt like his entire worldview had shifted. His perspective on everything had changed. Compared to this, getting swindled in a business deal really wasn’t a big deal.

Thinking of this, Li Shuang suddenly remembered his own pressing issue and quickly interjected, "By the way, Xiao Jian, after this business with Uncle Zhao is over, I might have something else I need your help with."

Without thinking, Wang Jian asked, "What is it?"

Li Dayu glanced at his son. Li Shuang, understanding the priorities, said slowly, "It’s about the trouble Liu Zi and I are in. We might need to pull some strings. But Secretary Zhao’s issue is more urgent, so let’s talk about it later."

Wang Jian gave Li Shuang a deep look. For some reason, he felt that this troublemaker he’d disliked since childhood seemed to have matured quite a bit.

The three of them reached the village entrance without stopping, getting into Li Shuang’s Cadillac and heading straight for the Zhao family’s home.