Chapter 164: Chapter 37
To conclude, Kanghyok didn’t need to go out to find suspicious patients since they came to see Joon Huh one by one during the night.
All of them had contact with the patient first, showing similar symptoms.
“Good heavens!”
Certainly, the patient was a very sociable man.
Almost all the village people were coming in droves to see Joon Huh.
It was quite true that smallpox was a terrible disease.
“What should I do?” asked Joon in an embarrassed voice.
He was brewing yanggyoksan with all the medicinal herbs he could gather.
Given the number of people growing by the hour, he felt he needed more yanggyoksan.
“I think we need to ask for help.”
“Help? To whom do we turn to?”
“The mayor and my father.”
“Oh, I think they can certainly...”
As the mayor and Sungmun were the most powerful in Suwon, they could help Joon and Kanghyok to get not only the medicinal herbs, but also rice to feed the patients and some logistics to help isolate them.
“They also need to be informed of this situation anyway.”
Joon and Kanghyok could not hide the fact that a disaster had taken place in the village.
It was not uncommon that a whole people disappeared due to the outbreak of smallpox.
If smallpox would spread to other villages, it would become uncontrollable.
“Who is going to go and let them know?”
Kanghyok looked around at his helpers who were wearing operating caps.
‘Dolsok and Yoni should be here to help me. Yoju should be here for drawing. Joon Huh should be here, too.’
The only person left was Makbong.
Makbong instantly lowered his head when Kanghyok turned his eyes toward him.
“I’ll race to them.”
“Good. Let me give you a vaccination first before you leave.”
“What is a vaccination?” Joon Huh asked while brewing yanggyoksan.
The other people around him were also quite curious.
They were all curious about how Kanghyok did not seem scared of smallpox at all.
He had other people wear gloves, masks and hats, and stopped them from coming near to the patient.
On the other hand, he had no hesitation about touching the patient at all, though he put on gloves.
He was acting as if he was the only Almighty in this hopeless situation.
“I have the power to fight smallpox.”
“Power...?”
“Yes, Yoni and Makbong, you stay here to help Doctor Joon Huh. Let me go out with Dolsok. Yoju, you also stay here.”
Though Kanghyok’s orders sounded like nonsense, they all still followed him.
Dolsok whispered to Kanghyok, “Where are we going at this late hour, master?”
“Didn’t you see the condition of the patients?”
“I did. It looks like several might die.”
“Why are you so calm, Dolsok, when they might die?”
“Well, you can’t do anything about smallpox, right?” In fact, Dolsok was resigned to the situation. He saw too many people with smallpox die since he was young.
Suddenly, Kanghyok felt a kind of bitterness for the Joseon period.
“Just shut up and follow me.”
“Yes, master.”
Holding a torch, Dolsok followed Kanghyok.
Fortunately, the moonlight was bright tonight.
“Where are we going anyway?”
“I told you already. We’re looking for a cow.”
“There are cows here around us.”
“I’m not talking about ordinary cows.”
It was very difficult to find sick cows. At least for now, Kanghyok needed a cow afflicted with cowpox.
“By the way, can we kill a cow anytime?”
“Why?”
“Well, cows are not like chicken...”
“Anyway, I’m looking for a sick cow. If they don’t want to give it away, I can buy it.”
“Buying a sick cow?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you going to buy one?”
“Wait a moment. We’re almost there.”
He noticed a cow standing alone in a shabby barn.
That was the same cow Kanghyok saw before.
“Eww. Why is this cow so dirty?”
“It is suffering from smallpox.”
“Smallpox? Even a cow?”
“Yea, even cows can have smallpox.”
Kanghyok shouted at the door to let the owner know that someone was around.
“Who is it?” asked the owner.
When he turned back, there was an old man pacing up and down with a sickle. He might have thought Kanghyok and Dolsok were bandits.
“Oh, are you the owner here?”
“Yes, I am,” he said with his hand trembling.
“We came here for this cow.”
“Cow? No way, you bastard!”
The owner shook the sickle from side to side.
“Stop it, bastard! Do you know who this man is?” Dolsok shouted at him.
“Hey, Dolsok, stop it. He misunderstood us.”
“No, sir. How can he call you a bastard?”
“Let me take care of him. Step aside, Dolsok.”
Dolsok stepped back gently with the torch.
“Sorry to bother you at this late hour. We’re in so urgent a situation now.”
“You can’t take my cow, though.”
“Let me buy it, not take it for free.”
If he could stop the spread of smallpox, Kanghyok would certainly get the due credit.
Kanghyok began to take out fans from his sleeves one by one.
At that time fans were pretty expensive, so noblemen used them as money.
In particular, the fan Kanghyok took out was very colorful because it was wrought in silver.
Naturally, the cow owner’s eyes widened even further.
“Are you going to give them all to me?”
“Sure. Except for this one, which is mine.”
Kanghyok took back the fan wrought in silver.
“I won’t take your cow forever. I don’t intend to kill it. Let me give it back to you if it’s still alive.”
“Are you going to take back these fans, too?”
“No, those are yours.”
“Great.”
As Kanghyok gave a very good offer, he got curious.
“Where are you going use that cow?”
“Do you want to know?”
“Yes, sir.”
“As a doctor I would like to use it to treat patients.”
“Well, it doesn’t have cow bezoar. It’s just sick.”
“That’s why I need it. Anyway, let me take it quickly now. You can have these fans.”
Kanghyok began to throw the fans over to him one by one.
The old man, who put down the sickle, received them.
“Got it. Please take it now.”
“Hey, Dolsok, let’s go with the cow.”
“By the way, master, this cow is sick as the owner has said...”
“This cow has lots of weeping sores. And that’s why I like it.”
Shaking his head, Dolsok directed the cow.
Fortunately, the cow was capable of walking well.
Kanghyok happily looked at the cow’s wounds that had running discharges.
‘That’s the medicine. Let me inject that discharge into the patients.”
In that process, it would be inevitable for germs to go into their bodies. But Kanghyok could fix that issue with antibiotics.
Fortunately, he had 60 pills of antibiotics, which would be refilled anyway.
Kanghyok stroked the cow with his warm hands.
“Here we are, master!”
Everyone in that house was wide awake because they let the patients use their rooms.
There was constant moaning coming from the rooms.
“What the heck is this cow?” Joon Huh stopped brewing medicinal herbs and asked.
He was done with brewing yanggyoksan and now brewing other medicinal herbs.
“I can obtain immunization effects from this cow. What’s that medicine?”
“This is called sonbanghwalmyongum, which is effective in removing yellow pus.”
“Oh, I see.”
That medicine might also have an anti-virus effect.
With a satisfied look, Kanghyok nodded. Then, he gathered discharge from the cow’s wounds into the syringes.
“Good. Let’s have a shot one by one.”
Kanghyok gave Dolsok’s thick forearm an injection. Dolsok didn’t seem to feel pain at all.
“You are now vaccinated. Next, Makbong.”
“Oh, my turn?”
“You have to travel a long way. Let me give you a shot quickly.”
“Yes, master.”
And then he gave an injection to Yoni, Yoju and Joon Huh one by one.
“Great. Just wait for several days. Don’t go close to the patients. Makbong?”
“Yes, master.”
“Until you arrive at the destination, never take off your gloves. Don’t touch your face, especially your nose, mouth and eyes.”
Kanghyok gave him a kind reminder of what he emphasized so far.
“Don’t worry, sir.”
“Good. Go and get me some medicinal herbs and helping hands. Let me focus on my work here until you come back.”
“Yes, master.”
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