Chapter Thirty-Four: Maggots Cure Illness

  Two green Dongfeng Warrior off-road vehicles are parked in the courtyard, with no license plates on them.

  Song Jian swept his eyes and stopped the car. He and Li Mengya got out of the car together and walked into a small sanatorium in front of them.

  A chill ran down his spine.

  Song Jian did not retreat in the slightest, and strode forward with big steps. In those days, he could come and go as he pleased in the Great Song Dynasty Imperial Palace, let alone this small convalescent home. Perhaps the bodyguards of today are much stronger than the palace guards of that year, but that is under the condition of having guns. If it were just a matter of combat value and aura, how could these bodyguards compare to the top masters of the Great Song Dynasty?!

  An old man wearing an old military uniform behind a window on the second floor saw Song Jian's calm expression and couldn't help but exclaim, "Huh?"

  Li Mengya took Song Jian with her and walked quickly forward, went upstairs to the second floor, and came to a hospital room.

  Two men in military uniforms stretched out their arms and blocked Song Jian and Li Mengya.

  "I came to see Grandpa, and I brought this doctor with me." Li Mengya explained.

  Two men in military uniforms did not back down.

  "Let them in," at this time, a man walked out of the room next door, with a flat head, white hair, and a hard stubble covering his entire chin. He was wearing an old long military uniform, and his whole person had a calm and majestic aura.

  Song Jian saw this person and his first feeling was that this person is very powerful!

  "Grandpa Pan, I...I brought a doctor to see you," Li Mengya said, hastily pushing open the hospital room door.

  Inside the ward, there was a blue semi-transparent plastic sheet surrounding the space. Li Mengya's grandfather lay in that blue-sheeted sterile space at this moment. Two nurses wearing long-sleeved nurse uniforms sat upright on chairs beside them.

  Seeing Li Mengya and Song Jian come in, the two nurses said: "Sorry, this is a sterile ward, please go change and disinfect first."

  "It's okay, I don't need it."

  From within the blue cloth, a hoarse and aged voice emerged.

  Li Mengya's tears fell again.

  "Take away this blue cloth, it doesn't make any difference whether it's here or not." The old man's voice was weak but full of authority, and the two nurses carried out his order despite its irregularity.

  Song Jian took two steps forward, looking towards the hospital bed. On the bed lay an old man in his sixties, lying straight as a board. He was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, with a thin towel covering his belly. Above the old man's left knee, the flesh had completely rotted away, and when the blue cloth was removed, a strong stench wafted up to Song Jian's nose. The smell was very similar to that of a rotting corpse.

  Song Jian's eyes stared at the rotting part for a few moments before he looked up and sized up the old man.

  The old man's whiskers were shaved very clean, his eye sockets sank a few points, and the flesh on his cheeks was much less, but even with such a serious illness, the old man still had an air of superiority!

  "How's that, young man." The old man was the first to speak up, with a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth, as if afraid that Song Jian would be tense, so he deliberately relaxed the atmosphere.

  Song Jian also smiled and said, "Old man, I think it's not too serious yet. With immediate treatment, there should be a 70% chance of recovery."

  "Really?" Li Mengya suddenly walked up to Song Jian's side and grabbed his arm with both hands.

  The old man on the bed was not as excited as Li Mengya, he just smiled and said: "You're quite confident, tell me, what's going on with my leg?"

  Song Jian slightly shook his head and said, "I have no idea what the reason is, but I think you should have been injured at your knee, poisoned by some kind of toxin. This toxin causes your wound to fester, and since it's not caused by bacterial infection leading to muscle decay, even the best antibiotics would be ineffective."

  "Oh?" The old man on the bed was very calm, even though his voice was weak, but the momentum in it was still sufficient. "What you said, every doctor knows, but when it comes to treatment, haha, it's not that simple."

  Song Jian turned around and said, "Old man, I'd like to discuss this with your attending physician. If the doctor doesn't have any other methods, perhaps we can try my treatment approach."

  The old man waved his hand at a female nurse standing aside, and the nurse pressed something on the wall and said, "Dr. Zhang, the chief wants to see you."

  Before long, a slightly prosperous middle-aged doctor walked in. The doctor wore thick black-framed glasses and was somewhat short and stout, but at first glance, he gave people a sense of profound knowledge.

  "Director." The doctor greeted the old man on the bed.

  The old man said: "Little Zhang, this young man says he can cure my leg."

  "Huh?" Dr. Zhang was taken aback, turning his head to look at Song Jian. He didn't underestimate Song Jian just because of his youth. "Hello, my name is Zhang Xiang, I'm a direct disciple of the late national medical master Li Zhenyu."

  Song Jian and Zhang Xiang shook hands briefly and said, "What is Lao Li's current treatment plan?"

  Zhang Xiang saw that Song Jian didn't introduce his background, but instead asked about his treatment plan directly. He was slightly displeased, but since there were many arrogant young people these days, Zhang Xiang didn't take it to heart and said: "All the treatment plans have not been able to effectively stop the spread of necrotic flesh, so for now...there is no treatment plan."

  Song Jiandao said: "Since it's like this, I have a plan, but the method is a bit disgusting. Let me tell you and listen."

  Zhang Xiang nodded.

  Song Jiandao said: "I think no matter what toxin causes the wound to rot, it's estimated that it will be difficult to develop a specific drug for this toxin in a short period of time."

  Zhang Xiang murmured in agreement.

  Song Jian couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder at how easy-going the chief physician was. A doctor who could treat the elderly patient in bed must have a very high status, yet such a highly respected doctor could still humbly listen to a young man like him discuss the illness. It was clear that this person's heart and stomach were both quite broad. If it were an ordinary hospital's chief physician, they would have likely scolded Song Jian by now for talking so much.

  "Since there is no specific medicine, for now we can only treat the symptoms with all our heart. To remove the rotten flesh, we need to dissolve the rotten flesh and grow new flesh." Song Jian said.

  Zhang Xiang furrowed his brow and said, "What you said is not wrong, but it's indeed difficult to get rid of this rotten flesh. Even if we surgically remove the rotting muscle tissue, the wound will still continue to fester. Antibiotics are useless in this case, and even traditional Chinese medicine's blood-activating and stasis-resolving drugs have little effect. We've been using red flower and sanqi medicine to clean the wound every day, but it can only delay the progression of the disease for a while."

  Song Jian nodded and said, "It seems that our methods are consistent, both of which aim to promote new life. Ordinary blood-activating and stasis-resolving medicines have no effect, but Dr. Zhang forgot one method - maggots."

  "What maggots?" Zhang Xiang and Li Mengya asked in unison.

  Song Jian nodded, "Now Li's leg muscles are too severely rotten, ordinary blood-activating and stasis-resolving medicines can't take effect at all, so we can only use an extraordinary method. You also know that maggots have the characteristic of devouring rotting flesh and purulent blood, while they devour the rotting flesh, they can also promote the circulation of normal blood. In fact, using maggots to treat this kind of severe muscle rot disease, our ancient doctors used it very often, because in ancient times the sanitary conditions were poor, many people suffered from this disease, and the therapeutic effect of maggot therapy has been tested by history."

  Li Mengya heard this and stared blankly with her mouth agape, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on Song Jian.

  Zhang Xiang suddenly stomped his foot and slapped a big palm on Song Jian's shoulder with a loud "slap".

  "What you said is absolutely right! If my master were still alive, he would have thought of this treatment method too. But I had forgotten about this folk remedy! You make perfect sense!" Zhang Xiang's meaty palm slapped Song Jian's shoulder three times in a row.

  Fortunately, Song Jian took the Washing Marrow Pill, otherwise he would have been slapped to death by Zhang Xiang.

  "Mr. Li, can you accept this treatment method?" Song Jian asked, after all, in a civilized society, ordinary people really couldn't bear it.

  "Haha, I'm almost dead, and yet I still care about this little difficulty. Zhang Xiang, since you also think it's effective, go with this young man to come up with a treatment plan." The old man on the bed revealed a hint of a smile, but it was very faint, and he didn't get excited because he had a chance to survive.

  Zhang Xiang pulled Song Jian out of the ward and into an office, where Song Jian quickly explained his treatment plan. This method had been used by Song Jian in the Song Dynasty before, so it was easy to implement this time as well. After designing a plan to remove the festering wound and promote new tissue growth, Song Jian scribbled down two prescriptions for activating blood circulation and removing stasis, which he handed to Zhang Xiang with instructions to use them alternately.

  Zhang Xiang took a look, then stared at Song Jian with a shocked face. If the initial worm treatment method was just a flash of inspiration from Song Jian, then the two prescriptions he casually wrote out now were enough to demonstrate his profound foundation in traditional Chinese medicine. This foundation was far more impressive than that of Zhang Xiang's teacher, Li Zhenyu!

  In the ward, Li Mengya knelt in front of the bed, holding the old man's hands with both hands, "Grandpa, grandpa, you're really going to be okay, you're going to be okay!"

  The old man gently stroked Li Mengya's hair, "Hmm, my little Ya, don't be sad, Grandpa won't die. You see, Grandpa said before, he will watch you get married, have children, and then close his eyes."

  "Grandpa!" Li Mengya buried her head and sobbed bitterly.

  At the door of the ward, Pan Grandpa, who was wearing an old military uniform, stood quietly. At this moment, a hint of a smile appeared on his ancient face, and he stretched out his hand to gently wipe away the corners of his eyes. After countless life-and-death struggles, the two elderly people had long regarded each other's lives as their own.

  Song Jian simply did something very ordinary, his expression calm and composed. He walked out of the office and into the ward, saying to Li Mengya: "Officer Li, we had an agreement, didn't we? As long as I can alleviate your grandfather's pain, you'll teach me shooting techniques."

  Li Mengya turned her face, wiping away tears and snot, nodded at Song Jian, "En en, I will fulfill my promise, as long as Dr. Zhang's treatment plan is out, I'll go teach you."

  Song Jian shrugged and said, "Alright, I guess it'll be fine soon."

  "Hey young man, your medical skills are quite good. How come you want to learn shooting?" The old man with the surname Pan asked suddenly from the doorway, his voice calm and cold.

  "Perhaps it will come in handy," Song Jian said with a bright smile at the old man.

  Old Man Pan nodded, he spent twenty minutes investigating Song Jian's background, but these twenty minutes also made Old Man Pan aware of all the difficulties Song Jian was currently facing.

  "You saved Lao Li's life, so if you need it, I can help you get rid of the leopard head, pull it out from the roots." Old Pan suddenly spoke up.

  Song Jian's eyes changed, "You investigated me? You know?"

  "There's no need to be so cautious, I'm afraid you have an identity problem." Old Man Pan said with an unchanged expression.

  Song Jian glanced at the old man and thought for a moment before saying, "Alright, if I need help, I'll ask you."

  Song Jian did not directly ask Old Man Pan to take out Leopard Head, because Song Jian knew that once Old Man Pan took care of Leopard Head, he and Li Mengya's grandfather would also be even. Song Jian didn't like owing others favors, but he liked it when others owed him favors, so dealing with a Leopard Head might not require the use of this old man in front of him.

  This old man's feelings will be useful later!