Physician's Odyssey

Chapter 727 - Arriving in the Seven Mountain Village

Translator: Thyaeria

“Andrewson’s team is looking down on us!” Liao Huashi furiously complained after Su Tao finished setting up the bet with Andrewson. He had witnessed the entire process.

Shaking his head, Su Tao replied, “It has nothing to do with him. Most importantly, we still do not have any achievements to let them know that there’s something they can learn from us. In the field of infectious diseases, Andrewson is a top specialist in the medical field, so it’s tough for him to acknowledge the worth of TCM. So aside from treating those patients in Seven Mountain Village, we also have to show Andrewson the worth of TCM.”

Hearing Su Tao’s words, Liao Huashi felt much better in his heart and said, “Thousands of years ago, TCM had already come in contact with all kinds of infectious diseases with many experiences being accumulated. I don’t believe that we will lose to him.”

“We will be making our way to Seven Mountain Village in the afternoon. After our lunch, we’ll rest a little before we move out. The journey to Seven Mountain Village won’t be easy, and we will have to walk five kilometers. Furthermore, there’s still an infectious disease waiting for us, so we must ensure that everyone is in their top condition. All of you have learned TCM, so you should know that it’s easy to fall ill when you’re tired.”

Nodding his head, Liao Huashi replied, “I’ve mixed a tonic to strengthen the body, and I’ll get everyone to drink a bowl before we leave. It’ll ensure that everyone will maintain their immunity for three to four days.”

Su Tao knew that Liao Huashi was capable since he came from a TCM family. His family even produced Imperial Physicians in the past, so it’s not surprising that he had some unique prescriptions.

After taking lunch and a brief rest, Liao Huashi had already finished brewing his tonic. When Su Tao took a mouthful, he went over to whisper in Liao Huashi’s ears.

Listening to Su Tao’s words, Liao Huashi’s face drastically changed since he was left speechless. “If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t let you drink any of it. Now, this prescription that was passed down from my family has been stolen by you.”

“Your prescription came from an Imperial Physician in the Ming Dynasty, Wu Youke. But it has been simplified, mainly to strengthen the energy in a person’s body to increase their immunity.” Su Tao laughed.

“Since ancient times, physicians have been using prevention as their treatment method.” Liao Huashi nodded.

“This is also our line of thought to keep the virus under control. Although many people in the village have fallen ill, a portion of them is still fine. Perhaps the key to resolving the disease might be in those villagers.” Su Tao solemnly said.

Listening to Su Tao’s line of thought, Liao Huashi was impressed. Judging from Su Tao’s tone, Liao Huashi could tell that Su Tao already had a method to deal with this disease.

After a brief rest in the afternoon, ten off-road vehicles drove out of the city. Roughly two hours of a shaky journey later, they finally arrived at the entrance of the mountain. It\'s currently raining with a muddy floor.

“According to the guide, we will arrive at Seven Mountain Village after a five-kilometer journey from here.” Rui Lei sighed.

“Let’s get out and walk!” Su Tao nodded.

After that, he wore a raincoat and left the vehicle before splitting the herbs to several men to transport. However, Kong Siyu wasn’t willing to fall behind and also wanted to help out in the transportation, but she was refused by the gentlemen as they teased, “We’ll not give you the chance to be a masculine woman!”

The condition might be terrible, but the atmosphere was pretty good since it was mainly related to Su Tao’s meticulous arrangements. They’d suffered quite a bit of grievances along the way, but Su Tao had swiftly resolved them.

The members of the Qihuang Charity Funds’ rescue team had gotten out of their vehicles and had already made their preparations.

However, the team from International SOS encountered trouble. Aside from medicine, they also had to transport some medical equipment. They’re not like Su Tao’s team, who had considered everything, so the medical equipment did not have any waterproofing.

“Professor, it’s impossible for the car to travel in the rain. What should we do now?” Qiao Xue asked in a worried tone after seeing the team from the Qihuang Charity Funds getting out of their vehicles.

Andrewson had also noticed this and asked, “What are they intending on doing? They’re not going to enter Seven Mountain Village now are they?”

“They must be!” Qiao Xue said with a complicated expression. She might be Chinese, but she’s still standing on the professor’s side. After all, Andrewson was one of the top specialists in the world when it comes to virology. If they encounter a new type of virus, only he could resolve it.

Just like Andrewson, Qiao Xue did not believe that Su Tao’s group could do anything to help out during this mission.

“Let them go first! After all, there’s nothing we can do without medical equipment.” Andrewson sighed as he continued, “We’ll wait for the rain to stop before we make our journey to Seven Mountain Village. The equipment can’t touch water or they will be destroyed.”

On the other hand, Su Tao and his team did not rest while every single one of them carried at least ten-odd catty of herbs while journeying on foot.

Su Tao walked at the front, and many places had serious water accumulation conditions. He couldn’t tell where the holes were, so he could only remind Liao Huashi from time to time, who was following behind him. As for the only female in the team, Kong Siyu, she was surrounded and protected by everyone.

“Mr. Rui, why have you come?” Su Tao asked when he turned around and saw Rui Lei closely following behind with Liao Huashi.

“I also wish to investigate the situation in Seven Mountain Village!” Rui Lei honestly replied. Generally speaking, Rui Lei’s job would be completed after sending Su Tao’s team to Rongquan City. However, his determination to follow into the epidemic center made Su Tao look at him in a new light.

Although the receiving process back in Yundian Province gave Su Tao a terrible impression, Su Tao admired Rui Lei for his bravery at this moment.

As the rain slowly got heavier, the team walked even slower. Normally speaking, a journey of five kilometers could be done in an hour, but they took three to four hours before they arrived at Seven Mountain Village.

The village here wasn’t the same as others, every household was far apart. When they arrived, the Village Secretary, Lu Hongguo, and Village Chief, Fan Mingcheng, were waiting outside for the first batch of the medical team.

Their first response when they met Su Tao’s team was that they’re personnel to deliver supplies, so they did not expect that this was a team of TCM specialists.

“I’m Rui Lei, the Chief of Yundian Province’s Disease Control Department in the Health Bureau. These people are specialists that were sent by the Health Bureau. Don’t underestimate them because of their age, they’re all capable physicians, especially President Su as he’s a National Healer. He came leading elites from all over the country for this mission.” Rui Lei introduced with a smile.

“Specialists have finally come!” Fan Mingcheng’s tone was emotional as he continued, “The villagers can finally be saved!”

“Where are we going now?” Rui Lei curiously asked. Due to the households being separated, even he had no idea what to do right now.

“Let’s go to my home! All the medical personnel that was sent from the county are all in our houses.” Fan Mingcheng passionately handed out an invitation before he continued, “As for those patients, they’re all living in their homes. Every day, the medical personnel will pay a visit to them and distribute medicine along with health check-ups.”

“This isn\'t appropriate!” Su Tao shook his head as he continued, “Judging from the current situation, the virus is extremely contagious, so we have to isolate those healthy ones from those who are sick to control the outbreak. Is there any empty location nearby for us to set up a temporary medical base and conduct medical treatment for those who are in serious conditions?”

“Actually, we wanted to set up a medical base in the past, but the idea was abandoned.” Fan Mingcheng sighed.

“Why?” Su Tao locked his brows together.

Standing to the side, Rui Lei sighed since this was information that could only be known after coming to the frontlines.

The patients might be isolated from the outside world, but the patients weren’t isolated in the village. Setting up a medical base was the appropriate method since it could slow down the rate of infection to put the virus under control.

Judging from Su Tao’s questioning, he was meticulous and had come prepared. He already had an idea to control the outbreak.

“Let’s not delay and quicken up the pace to set up the medical base. This way, we will be able to control the rate of infection.” Rui Lei discussed with Lu Hongguo, the Village Secretary.

“But we don’t have enough manpower!” Fan Mingcheng honestly replied before he continued, “Although there have been several batches of people sent from the county, only seven to eight of them remained behind.”

Listening to the report, Rui Lei’s expression became unsightly. According to the information that he received, there should be at least ten-odd medical personnel here!

“We can help out in setting up a temporary medical base!” Liao Huashi stood up.

When Fan Gongcheng saw the sincerity from Su Tao’s team, his nose became sour since he had finally met a proper army after so many days.

Although there were medical staff dispatched from the county, they were all doctors and nurses with low standards. There were even two doctors who rushed back home at night after coming here because they were afraid when they showed signs of infection after coming in contact with the patients.

However, no one from the village left. The village might be small, but everyone was united. They’re all relatives, so were they going to abandon their relatives because of their fear of death?

When it was approaching evening, everyone finally prepared the temporary medical base.

The medical base was formed with large tents, and a single one can contain twenty-odd people. When the virus outbreak occurred, the army nearby immediately sent over the tents and set them up before leaving. However, they were never used.

There were so many patients, and the medical personnel was insufficient. If the patients were gathered together, it’s impossible for the medical personnel to take care of all of them. Hence, the villagers would rather stay at home and take care of their families.

Liao Huashi took the lead to smoke every tent with mugwort leaves since it had an antibacterial effect.

An hour or two after the rain stopped, Andrewson’s team carried their medical equipment and arrived at the village as well. Due to the fact that there’s a limit that everyone could carry, they could only bring the convenient medical equipment along with a portion of medicine.

But even so, they were exhausted from it.