194 – White

On the third night, he focused on fungi. Scientists had estimated that there should be more than 100,000 fungi in the Yunan region, but only 6,000 were found. It was difficult to find fungi and even when they were discovered, it was difficult to recreate conditions to grow them in botanical gardens.

But for Li Yun, with his ability, he would have an easier time to find them and to recreate a suitable environment for them to survive. There were two concerns about collecting fungus, first was whether they could survive the trip. It was why he waited until the third night to collect them. The other problem was higher toxicity, which increased the amount of time his body needed to process the poison. If it was something deadly, it might even knock Li Yun out for the night.

Trogia venenata, a little white mushroom, for example, had caused unexplained deaths in over 400 people. Li Yun was not sure if he was immune from something that deadly and he wasn’t about to experiment them anytime soon, but collected the fungi and bugs to test their toxicity in the lab.

<Trogia venenata: researchgate.org>

Li Yun found a dozen rare fungi, and four unknown species. However, before he could continue, he heard a commotion and rumbling from the forest. It was from the location of the camp.

He dashed back to the camp, moving past the tangled vines, but wishing he had a hatchet to slice it out of the way. He quickly took out a swiss knife and cut his way through the vegetation.

On arrival, he readjusted his eyes to see the electric lamps from people coming out of their camp to see what was going on. 

“Dr. Dong! What’s going on with Professor Taoren!?” The scientists were all concerned.

Dong Sun looked through his equipment and took out his stethoscope. He quickly checked the chest air. Professor Taoren was unconscious and his face was pale. 

“What happened?” asked Dong Sun.

“We were all sleeping in the tent, when suddenly, Professor Taoren cried out for help, before he experienced a seizure and collapsed!” One of the scientists exclaimed.

Dong Sun checked the rest of Professor Taoren’s body, which was heating up and sweating profusely. He opened his bag and shifted through different pieces of equipment, but the only thing he could do was provide IV solution to keep him hydrated and antihistamine.

At that time, Li Yun entered the camp and asked quickly what had happened as he touched the elderly’s man forehead. Li Yun also looked at another scientist, who also looked sickly.

“Professor Roe, you’re also sick?” asked Li Yun.

“Just a little tired,” he yawned. The commotion had just woken him up, but his stomach wasn’t feeling too well.

Li Yun checked Professor Roe’s condition, there were the same foreign materials in his blood system. They had all been eating the same pre-packaged food, so he ruled out food poisoning. It was likely a bug's sting. There were a lot of different types of poison out there, but Li Yun had a few bugs in his tent he could test out.

From Professor Roe’s reaction, the venom was less active. Unfortunately for Professor Taoren, it was likely the sting had entered directly into his artery, causing a more severe reaction. His body was trying to fight off the venom, but it was going to be difficult the more his body fought back.

Li Yun grabbed onto Professor Taoren’s pulse again, but this time, he focused on the dantian. The pyramid was spinning around itself, activating the meridians to assist the body to fight off the poison.

He had yet to understand the intricacy of the meridians, but it was sending signals to his body to produce a compound. As to whether the body could understand the signal, it remained to be seen.

The compound that the meridian wanted to produce was unknown to the body. Typically, the immune system could produce antibodies from existing catalogs of over a trillion codes for antibodies hidden in the DNA. Li Yun wondered how the meridian was able to produce a new antibody from scratch, and why when the body already had something in its arsenal.

“Doctor! Doctor! My father!” One of the local tour guides ran into the tent.

“Dr. Dong, give Mr. Luhno a small dosage of trypsin for possible hornet's venom!” Li Yun directed as he took out a syringe and acupuncture kit.

Dr. Dong grabbed his kit and ran to assist Mr. Luhno while Li Yun injected it into Professor Taoren. Mr. Luhno and three other members of the team who were likely stung but were not feeling any symptoms yet. Li Yun also performed acupuncture on Professor Taoren and Mr. Luhno to slow down the spread of the venom.

The transport team was already contacted, and they arrived a few hours later to meet with the research team near the edge of the forest, bringing along the infected members to a local hospital. On the way back, Li Yun tested out the different bugs he had collected. Between the spiders, centipede, mosquitoes, and hornets, Li Yun thought it was most likely to be mosquitoes or the Giant Asian hornet.

As the Giant Asian hornet stinger's penetrated into Li Yun's veins, he felt the venom, very similar to Professor Taoren and Mr. Luhno, entering and circulating through his bloodstream. Within twenty minutes, Li Yun barely felt any symptoms and his body had already created an antibody to destroy the venom. Luckily, his first assumption was correct, so he didn't need to test the other bugs.

Once they arrived in the local hospital, the doctors worked around the clock to monitor their condition. Three members were recovering, but Professor Taoren and Mr. Luhno hadn't regained consciousness.

With Li Yun's ability, he had a better understanding of what was going on. Professor Taoren and Run Luhno’s bodies were fighting off the venom, but they were fighting beyond their ability while their immune system slowly tried to find the correct code for the antibodies that could combat the venom. The problem with the venom was that it was evolving. With more contact with humans, venoms were becoming more complex and evolving to stop predators like humans from invading the rainforest. The hornets were simply protecting their homes.

Li Yun isolated himself in the small corner and focused on a lymph node. He had the antibody for the venom in his body. The problem was replicating it for use. Traditionally, it would take 18 months to recreate antibodies by injecting venom into domesticated animals. Li Yun wanted to see if he could force his body to recreate the antibody.

He simply needed to communicate with his meridians and let it actively guide the production of antibodies and latch itself onto a lymph node near the anterior foreman and LU-5 acupoint. The instruction was simple, but he spent the entire night before his node swelled up. Li Yun quickly took a syringe and inserted it into his node. He slowly pulled the syringe back, and a milky liquid filled up the syringe.

"F***!" Li Yun thought his crazy idea might really work. Luckily, there wasn't an ethics committee regarding self-produced antibodies.

He looked at the white fluid that was 98% antibody, and 2% of various lymph. With two syringes filled with the antibody, Li Yun returned to meet the other doctors.

“Dr. Li, what medicine are you using?” Dr. Dong and the local doctors were curious when Li Yun arrived with what looked like antivenom.

“It’s an antivenom from the Shennong factory that I had shipped in,” said Li Yun. “It has just arrived, but it's an experimental drug.”

The matter was pressing, and the local doctors didn’t know who had jurisdiction on the patients. However, if the doctor wanted to use the medicine, as long as it wasn’t administered by the hospital and they didn’t have to be responsible, no one raised their voice to ask. Dr. Dong and Li Yun were technically in charge of the excursion's team health.

With the consent form quickly approved by Mr. Luhno's daughter and Professor Taoren's close kin over the phone, Li Yun injected the antivenom into both patients. By noon, much of the venom was destroyed, and the patients woke up around the same time in the afternoon.

“Dr. Li, your medicine is amazing!” Dr. Dong didn’t know an antivenom that worked as well as the one Li Yun had provided.

Professor Taoren, from his bed, looked like he was ready to be discharged. “I really don’t know how to repay you. Everyone has been telling me how quickly you were to acquire the antivenom.”

"It's nothing much," Li Yun replied, other than being drained of his energy and fluid to produce the antibody, it wasn't that bad.

"Really, do you have any request this old man can assist you with? I might not know as many doctors as old Tan, but I know a lot of people from the scientific community."

“I do have a small favor,” Li Yun remembered, Academician Tan mentioned that Professor Taoren was part of an international cooperative and was friendly with foreign consulates. “I am planning a trip to the States and North Beauty Country. Can I list you as a reference in the visa application?”

chocomug