Cha Wenbin subconsciously took a step back, keeping a distance from the insect. The insect didnt seem to mind, twisting its plump body as it slowly crawled towards its companions in the middle.
Zhuo Xiong looked at Chao Zis gnashing teeth and asked, "After being bitten by this worm, how did your class leader end up getting amputated?"
Chaozi continued: "That day, I went to the hospital with my instructor. When I sent the class leader back to the regiment, he was already unconscious. When I lifted his pant leg and removed the bandage, I saw that the bitten flesh weighed at least three or four liang (a unit of weight). The wound was as big as a small bowl and had started to turn black. Although it was cold in the Tibetan Plateau, there was already a faint smell of rotting flesh. When we took off his clothes, we found that his entire bodys skin was a dark purple color. We dragged the class leader into the ambulance and sped all the way to Lhasa, rushing him straight into the emergency room."
I was telling the instructor about what happened outside, but he just couldnt believe that this exemplary soldier who had always been proud of his entire companys training and was ready for promotion would be bitten by an insect like this. But this place has never lacked mystery, the instructor warned me not to tell anyone about this, it can only rot in my own belly.
An hour later, when the doctor came out to discuss with the instructor that now only amputation can save the life of the class leader, the instructor immediately went crazy in the hospital, smashed several chairs and rushed into the directors office, demanding that they send the class leader back safely. Later, this matter shocked the head of the military region, our instructor was one of his soldiers at that time, after the head came, he severely reprimanded the instructor, and convened a meeting with the hospitals elite to come up with a final plan.
At that time, when the class leader was hospitalized, all hospital experts came out to discuss the diagnosis, and the result was consistent with the previous judgment. The only way to save his life was amputation. When the instructor learned of this news, he punched the glass where the fire extinguisher was placed and almost cut off his own wrist tendon.
The doctor carefully examined the class monitors wound and found that he was not bleeding too much, but rather his wound was filled with a kind of black thread-like substance. These black threads were frantically drilling into his body along his blood vessels, destroying his bodily functions. The doctors took local cleaning measures against this unknown black thread, but they were at a loss because there were too many of them, much finer than ordinary hair, similar to the silk spit out by silkworms, only this thread was black and highly toxic!
The black threads have now spread to the base of his thighs, temporarily tied off with a tourniquet to stop them from growing further. However, this is not a long-term solution, and if left for too long, the lack of blood circulation will cause his legs to rot. But if left unattended, the black threads will continue to develop, and if they reach his internal organs, there will be no way to save him.
The military commander pulled our instructor out to smoke a cigarette, and after a few minutes, the instructor came in with red eyes. The military commander called the hospital leaders to arrange for surgery as soon as possible.
Two hours later, the class leader was sent to the intensive care unit. The black color on his skin had faded and turned pale due to excessive blood loss. The surgery was very successful. According to the doctor in charge of the operation, the class leaders amputated thigh was full of that black silken substance, which had even invaded his muscles and nerves. Fortunately, the surgery was timely; otherwise, it might have been impossible to save his life. Apart from this mysterious black silken substance, a toxin had also entered his body. Judging by the symptoms, it seemed like snake venom, but the specific result could only be known after laboratory tests. However, the local area did not have the necessary conditions for such tests. The doctor hoped that the principal could contact Beijing to arrange for him to send the samples for testing.
According to the doctor, both the thread-like substance and the toxin in Class Monitors body could have taken his life. Apart from our timely arrival, the herbal medicine applied to the wound seemed to have a certain inhibitory effect on that toxin, which is why we were able to save a life. The instructor asked me to go back and thank that herdsman properly.
Later, when the monitor was discharged from the hospital, it was still me and the instructor who went to pick him up. From then on, the monitor began to become taciturn and introverted, spending his days cooped up in the dormitory watching us practice outside. It is said that the instructor had also considered keeping him in the company and giving him a logistics officer position, allowing the troops to support him for life. This plan was also approved by the military district chief at the time, but the monitor was a man with a very stubborn temper, a Shanbei Hanzi, who said he would rather go back home and beg for food than stay in the troops as a useless person, eating idle rations. Because of this, the instructor had more than one argument with him, each time the two of them parted ways unhappily, and then cried bitterly. I always felt that I owed him an apology, if only I could have stopped him from going up the mountain, maybe things wouldnt have turned out like this. But every time I brought it up with him, he just smiled and said it was fate! Two months later, the monitor chose to retire from the army, and the troops awarded him a third-class merit. He was originally the training ace of the whole company, a combat model soldier, who could have stayed in the army and been promoted, or even had a limitless future. Because of this incident, he forever put an end to his military career.
After retiring from the army, the squad leader returned to his hometown in the county town. Because he had a handwritten letter from the head of the military region, the local government also gave him great help and arranged several good public jobs for him to choose from. However, he still had that bad temper and refused to accept other peoples kindness. Later, he opened a small mutton bun stall in his hometown. When I went to northern Shaanxi for archaeological work, I saw him once again. Both of us were drunk, and he said that the thing he regretted the least in this life was joining the army, even if the cost was one leg, he still didnt regret it.
After the monitor retired, a message came from Beijing that it was a kind of unknown insect silk, suggesting that we could provide samples for further research. On the same day, the company organized another large-scale gathering, led by the instructor in person, with our battalions troops armed to the teeth, and I led the way straight to that mountain head.
When we arrived at the scene, nothing was found except for a cow skeleton and black threads wrapped around the bones. On the way down the mountain, a soldier discovered a large black cocoon under a cliff, similar in size to a shell casing. The instructor tried to poke it with a stick, but it was too high and out of reach. He raised his rifle and shot it down. After the outer layer of the cocoon was shattered, a huge moth slowly opened its wings. After flapping several times, it turned out to be even larger than our military washbasin. Whats more frightening is that after its wings were fully spread, the pattern on them formed a naturally perfect Bagua diagram!
At that time, everyone in our squad was stunned. With a huge bat-like wing, the moth flew into the air. The instructors hand moved swiftly and with another shot, it fell to the ground. The corpse of this moth and the broken cocoon were sent to Beijing. It wasnt until I retired from the army that news came back.
The report said that the components contained in this cocoon are the same as the black silk-like substance in the monitors body, and the eight trigrams pattern on the back of the moth is considered a natural coincidence, because the butterflys pattern is originally colorful and varied. The report also said that the white insect we encountered before should be the larval shape of this moth, and the larvae will eventually become this giant moth after molting. They studied and called it a new species, belonging to the first discovery, suggesting that the team could provide more research materials, because they suspected that the larvae of this moth are carnivorous and can spit out black silk, the liquid on the silk contains highly toxic substances that can kill people. At that time, in order to remember, they called this insect "Corpse Silkworm"!
"Whats wrong with the silkworms?" Zhang Wenbin asked.
The super son looked at the wriggling white thing in front of him with disgust and said, "Yes, they say that this worm is actually similar to silkworms, except that silkworms eat mulberry leaves and spit out silk, which people then separate into silk threads. This worm, on the other hand, makes a living by eating corpses and spitting out black silk to make its own cocoon!"
Zha Wenbin thought of the countless white bones that had been left in the pool, and the countless corpses that were gnawing at the bones here. At this moment, he couldnt help but feel nauseous too. Had this place ever been a human purgatory?!
Zhuo Xiong listened to Chao Zis account, sympathizing with the class leader on one hand, and also starting to worry. Since he knew how formidable these insects were, retreating was no longer an option, so what about going forward? Was he supposed to feed himself to the insects and become their snack? Thinking of being gnawed by the insects, he couldnt help but retreat to a corner and start vomiting again...
read3;
