Chapter 2032: Chapter 1486: What Is This Smallpox?
The cold winter wind blew across the Ezo Sea. The lofty Northern Country was vast and desolate. The thousands of armed forces confronting each other, whether from the Kingdom or the Japanese, were like specks of dust along the coast. Even the ten Large Ships facing each other were no more than tiny grains of rice, dotted along the banks of the broad river. Yet the trade taking place here at this moment involved Wealth worth tens of millions, an exchange that would shape the future fate of two continents.
"This... Dada Noble from Mongolia (타타)... please extend your left hand, and allow this Servants to take your pulse..."
The soft, gentle voice, the small, icy-cold hand, lightly rested on Zuwaro’s wrist. His brow rose as he looked at the Medical Woman taking his pulse before him. That delicate face, mild brows and eyes, posture as meek as wind-tossed willow, and the light, slender figure, did not stir up any other thoughts in him, only suspicion.
"Hm? This is the Shaman Doctor of the Great Tribe of Korea? This appearance... is far too different from the Shamans of the Northern Land, isn’t it? Especially that cringing humility, the frail body, and even not daring to look me in the eye—where is there any confidence of a Priestess? Let alone compared to the most important Shaman in the Tribes... Is she really the inheritor of the important Medical Skill of the Korea Tribe?"
Zuwaro frowned, deeply doubting the other side’s identity as a Doctor, and even a hint of killing intent surfaced in his eyes. Doctor Caisan raised her head, glanced at the "Chief Dada"’s vicious expression, her thin body trembled again, and only then did she speak in a low voice.
"P‑please... please change to the other wrist... I still have to feel your... your ’cun, guan, chi’ on the right hand..."
"..."
Zuwaro narrowed his eyes, listened to the Translator’s words, and then switched to his right hand. He was very unaccustomed to this posture of letting a stranger he did not trust hold the vital point at his wrist. Even if this person looked completely harmless, like a frightened cottontail rabbit.
"Are you done?..."
"Ah! Y‑yes... done!... Taking the pulse while standing may not be very accurate... I... I can only roughly describe your condition..."
Doctor Caisan bit her lip and made a deep bow, making it convenient for the Nobles to look down and see everything clearly. As a lowly Medical Woman, she had been taken in by the Korea Official’s Jisheng Hospital since childhood, subjected to a Servants training regimen that was among the harshest in all of East Asia. Before being seized by the Japanese, she had been like an "shadow Servants" trained by the "Korean Priests," her body and mind both molded to serve the will of the Korean Nobles. After being captured by the Japanese, she was likewise nothing more than a plaything of the Hirado Matsuura Clan—only the set of Nobles she served and pleased had changed.
"..."
Zuwaro’s gaze swept over her, and his frown deepened. He had little interest in such a thin figure and grew even more doubtful about this woman’s identity. No matter how he looked at her, she did not resemble a capable Shaman Doctor at all, but rather a slave-girl who served the Nnobility. Yet how could a truly capable Shaman Doctor be a female slave of the Tribes? Could it be that Mori no Kiyoshi had deceived him?
"Speak!..."
"Ah? Right here, in front of so many people?... Y‑yes... yes!... The guan pulse of your left hand has obvious pulse-swirls and is stronger than the others; this is a clear sign of gout, with pronounced pain in the toes and joints. It may be from eating too much rich, greasy food, giving rise to damp-heat evil internally, and then being afflicted by the poisons of wind, cold, summer-heat, and dampness..."
"As for the pulse on the chi position of your right hand, it is deep and faint, the beat is sunken, sluggish, weak and without strength—this is the pulse sign of kidney yang deficiency... ah, which should be due to excessive sexual activity, depleting your essence and qi, often leaving you feeling that your strength does not respond as you wish. It would be best to show some restraint..."
Doctor Caisan answered while trembling, her expression tense. The latter kidney-deficiency pulse she had seen often among the "indulgent" Korean Nobles. The former gout pulse appeared frequently among those Japanese Nnobility who "went to sea." As for this Mongolian Dada Noble who both indulged himself and went out to sea? She was somewhat puzzled, but did not dare to ask more, only bowing deeply once again.
"소인이불경하옵니다!Please forgive this lowly one’s offense!..."
"What?! You say the food I eat is too greasy, and I’ve taken in too much sea wind, so I’ve been struck by the evil poison of a wind Spirit Monster? The occasional pain in my toes and joints is the flare-up of wind poison? And that I’ve sung and reveled too often, so my body is failing and my strength doesn’t respond as I wish?!..."
When the Translator nervously conveyed her words, Zuwaro’s eyes bulged with fury, and his hand closed around the Bronze Axe at his waist like a Fierce Tiger about to devour someone! Yet a few breaths later, his expression grew quite intriguing; even the way he looked at the Medical Woman became much more complicated. He stared fixedly at her for a while, until she trembled in fear and even her neck flushed red... Only then did he turn his head and look at the usually expressionless Loshanda High Priest beside him, who had received professional training and normally would not laugh.
"Loshanda, Chief Divine bear witness! This Female Shaman of the Korea Tribe, although she doesn’t look very formidable, seems to have some knack to her, and may possess some strange Spirit Communication Magic... You come as well, let her hold your hand and perform Spirit Communication for you!..."
"Ah? Let her look at me?... Uh... Yes, Zuwaro High Priest!"
Called by name, Loshanda rubbed his nose warily and stepped forward two paces. He scrutinized the seemingly frail, timidly bowed Medical Woman before him, trying to guess the source of her Mana—just which Divine Spirit of the Western Sea she worshiped? When that soft, small hand touched him, he stiffened as if a Spirit Monster had laid hands on him, his whole body snapping taut with nervous tension.
"Ah! Noble sir, please relax a little... If you tense up like this, your pulse will become chaotic..."
Doctor Caisan spoke timidly, but Loshanda still watched her warily, as though ready at any moment to draw his sharp axe and hack her to death, without the slightest trace of the "desire" with which Nobles had looked at her in the past. She was stunned for a moment, then recalled the tales of the "Dada Nobles" being brutal and bloodthirsty, and instantly began trembling in terror. After a long moment, she shivered and forced herself to answer.
"Th‑this Noble sir... y‑you... the cun pulse of your left hand is somewhat fine yet forceful, your face is flushed... It may be... be a case of blazing heart Fire, an inner blaze of emotional Fire... that is, your emotions are easily stirred, you are prone to insomnia. After you fall asleep, you often dream a lot and sometimes feel palpitations... It would be best to nourish your heart and not brood over things too much..."
"?!... Insomnia and many dreams, thinking too much, with a flame hidden in the heart?..."
At this, Loshanda’s expression changed as well. He and Zuwaro exchanged a glance, and both of their expressions became rather subtle. As they continued looking, the two Priests of the Kingdom gradually turned serious. To the superstitious Nava Tribe, any Shaman who could perform "Spirit Communication" was held in great respect! Even if this one was a thin, small woman who looked nothing like a Shaman...
After pondering for a moment, Loshanda suddenly adjusted the Feather Crown upon his head, and toward the bowed, frightened Doctor Caisan, he formally offered a fist-clasping bow, loudly declaring a few sentences.
"Honored Female Shaman of the Korea Tribe! White-skinned Evil Demons have already appeared upon the islands of the Eastern Sea, bearing a deadly Plague. Before this voyage, Your Majesty instructed me... to pay respects to the honored West Sea Doctor Shamans, and to beseech their aid in bringing back crucial assistance!..."
Seeing this scene, Zuwaro raised his brows, his eyes flickering slightly, but in the end said nothing. This younger brother of his truly "longs for advancement too much"! Faced with a potential "great achievement" that might raise him up, such eager behavior... Enough! The fleets in the Western Sea’s harbor still needed logistical support from the rear, and his own merits were already more than sufficient. This great feat that Your Majesty valued so highly could be shared with Loshanda.
"Chief Divine protect us! This is a letter personally written by Your Majesty. According to Your Majesty’s Prophecy, the Shamans of the Western Sea should also be able to read it!..."
With a solemn expression, Loshanda ignored the stunned Doctor Caisan and the bewildered Mori no Kiyoshi, and drew from his breast a piece of bark-paper he had treasured for a long time. It was the very letter of instruction that Your Majesty had sent him before they set sail. His finger moved quickly to the two characters circled in red and held them up for Doctor Caisan to see.
"Tiān... huā?..."
"Yes! This is the name Your Majesty wrote down for the first Evil Demon Plague that will arrive! May I ask, do you know how to treat this Plague, and how to perform the Spell known as ’smallpox vaccination’?..."
"Tiān... huā?..."
Doctor Caisan opened her eyes wide like a white rabbit surrounded by tigers and wolves being formally addressed. She stared in confusion at the two Chinese characters she recognized, not understanding what the other party meant, and only asked in a fearful whisper.
"Th‑this... this smallpox... what is it?... I’ve never heard of it before..."
"What? You don’t know smallpox, you’ve never even heard the name?! Then you certainly don’t know the Spell of smallpox vaccination?... Mori no Kiyoshi, you actually deceived me!!..."
"Clang!!..."
Once the Translator’s words were spoken, Zuwaro and Loshanda’s faces both changed as they turned to look at the panic-stricken Mori no Kiyoshi. The surrounding Kingdom’s Warriors instantly let killing intent show on their faces, drew their Bronze Axes in unison, and surrounded him tightly!
