Ch. 10 - Sandalwood Scent

Unlike the other cases, two cases did not record the patient's names and histories, nor did they have a specific date, but still can find clues from some details.According to the records of this particular case, the age of this adult man was 'around the year of not confused', that is, about forty years old, which was different from the previous cases. In other cases, the patient's age was specified but not on this entry.

'Around the year of not confused' is a general concept. In traditional Chinese medicine, the patient's age greatly influences diagnosis, treatment and prescription. His master would never use such an ambiguous statement unless he was unaware of the patient's age. It was evident that the master could not determine the specific age of this male patient at that time.

In addition, the case also recorded that ' the adult man's words were so urgent that blood spilt out of his mouth and nose. ' This sentence means that the blood spilt as long as the person spoke too much or he spoke too fast, which shows that this adult man could speak at that time. If the patient could speak at the moment, then why didn't Master ask about his right age? As for this person's symptoms, the master's record was, "Frequent coughing and vomiting of blood, shortness of breath, swollen face, numbness of hands and feet, and repeated tugging of long hair to prevent headaches."  Master was from the older generation, and the words used to record medical records and cases were relatively simple, But Wu Zhongyuan had followed Master for many years and had become familiar with his note-taking habit, and keenly found another clue from this passage, 

When this man had an unbearable headache, he would pull his long hair.

It was something he had overlooked before. After recalling carefully, he was forced to accept the truth that the rotten corpse he saw in the coffin that day indeed had long hair.

Regarding this person's disease, the master used the exclusion method, firstly he excluded common cough, then excluded wheezing, hissing, and Asthma, since the patient's condition did not worsen when he was lying on his back. Then he ruled out tuberculosis since the patient was not thin. In the end, it was diagnosed that this person had a disease that affected the lungs, which is also known as lung cancer at this time. The medicines used were raw astragalus, raw atractylodes, dried almond, aster, winter flower, earthworm, ephedra and raw liquorice.

After the consumption of medicine, a slight improvement was observed.  On the second day of consumption, 'The wheezing is slightly flat, but the hemoptysis still persists. ' 

Master used three sets of medicines, and it was evident that this person received three days of treatment. It was recorded in the case that 'In the morning and night, the disease is relieved. However, during the early morning and evening hours, the patient's condition got aggravated.'

This also means that the treatment was in progress. During the period, Master stayed with this person all the time. Otherwise, it would be impossible to observe so meticulously. Master did not record the final result of the treatment. But according to the fact that the amount of prescript medicinal herbs had been increasing or decreasing, he could assume that Master failed to find an effective treatment.

Then there was the record about the eight-month-old baby. If there are no mistakes, this eight-month-old baby should be Wu Zhongyuan. As for the baby's age, master has recorded 'about eight months of tooth age', which means that the master judged his age based on the teeth he had just grown and not from the words of the grown man.

Since this man can speak, and he stayed with Master for three days, then why didn't the two communicate? Could this grown man be a lunatic? After carefully thinking about it, Wu Zhongyuan rejected the possibility because Master would never record this case if the patient was a lunatic. The baby's symptoms were similar to those of that man, except that they were not as severe. Master did not specify what was wrong with him but only wrote down the names and dosages of the herbs used to calm the lungs and relieve cough. By going through the notes, it can be seen that Master was very puzzled at the time because the baby had the same symptoms as the adult man. 

And according to Master's diagnosis of the adult man, it must be lung cancer. However, cancer is not contagious and Master might have known that his diagnosis was incorrect. 

After carefully reading these two records, Wu Zhongyuan became more and more puzzled. The clues sorted out from the cases were fragmented. First, he was with the man in the coffin at that time.

Second, he was only eight months old when he met his master. 

Third, the man lived for three more days after treatment by the Master; he could talk but did not communicate with the Master.

Fourth, he and this man had the same disease at the time. 

There was also proof that this man used to wear clothes when he met Master,

"There are two bloodstains on the front of his clothes, which should be left behind by vomiting blood."  

The man was wearing clothes at the time, then why was he buried naked? Could it be that Master was worried that it may be some infectious disease and burned his clothes? Wu Zhongyuan ruminated over another thought, No. It is not right.  Even though there is no difference between burning and burying,  burying people naked was disrespectful to the dead.

The dormitory was very quiet that night, so Wu Zhongyuan worked hard to sort out many clues in his mind, but not only the clues were small fragments, but also very strange and suspicious. Master did not mention anything unusual about the man's appearance in the case, which failed to make any sense at all. 

If Master knew that this person had a beak, it would have been impossible to treat him as an ordinary person. Moreover, although the Master was a Taoist priest, he was not very courageous. If this person had a beak, he would have been frightened. It's a pity that Master didn't have the habit of keeping a diary, and right now, the only journals that were left behind were case reports, not diaries. The clues were incomplete and fragmented, and it appeared difficult to connect them. 

It doesn't feel good to be kept in the dark. The more he failed to figure out, the more dubious Wu Zhongyuan grew, and the more dubious he turned, he was eager to seek the truth.

Thinking is very tiring, and critical thinking was even more tiring. Soon Wu Zhongyuan was exhausted and turned groggy as he wanted nothing but sleep. Even though he sat on the bed and unbuttoned his shirt, his mind was still in doubts,

All of a sudden, a flash of inspiration popped into his mind.

"Clothes,"

Although Master's medical record did not specify what clothes the patient  wore at that time, there was a sentence,

' There is a foreign fragrance on baby's swaddling clothes., which should be the soothing sandalwood. ' 

Wu Zhongyuan couldn't remember what his swaddle looked like, and he had never heard about it from Master, but he knew that both his and Lin Qingming's mosquito nets had purple patches. The patches were scented with sandalwood to repel mosquitoes. 

Lin Qingming had taken his mosquito net to the mine a few years ago and he might have thrown it away by now. Since Wu Zhongyuan had to go to the school dorm, so his patched mosquito net was left at home.

The patch on the mosquito net was part of his swaddling clothes, which is also an important clue.

He is overjoyed when found this clue, but the joy quickly turned into annoyance when he suddenly recalled his home got demolished. 

It must have been seven or eight days, and what was leftover might have been pulled away already. He couldn't fall asleep while thinking about it. 

Well, he can't wait for dawn to come, so he quickly put on his shoes and ran downstairs.

It was late at night, so he didn't go through the gate, but jumped over the wall while performing his inner energy for light kungfu.

After running for a few miles, he suddenly remembered something, 

Oops, there were surveillance cameras everywhere,

He was worried about how to explain his actions if he got caught by surveillance cameras. He had some money, but he was reluctant to use it. So he climbed over the trucks at the intersection and went home.

When he reached the mountain's foot and saw the pile of ruins, he felt relieved. 

Practising Qi (inner energy ) was part of Kungfu training and those who practice qi can see things clearly at night, even if there is no proper light.  Without wasting time, he began to rummage through the ruins. Luckily, the mosquito net with two purple patches was still there. He quickly tore them off and sniffed them, 

Even though it started to fade, the scent of sandalwood was still there.

He packed three packets of apricots and took the early bus on his way back to the dorm. After getting on the bus, he gave the driver a packet in gratitude to send him to the hospital when he fainted on the bus. He also wanted to give Lin Qingming the apricots, so he called his brother when he arrived at the county station. 

However, Lin Qingming was with his boss to the capital on a business trip and got to know that his brother was not in the county.

Wu Zhongyuan hung up the phone and went to the factory where Huang Ping works so that he could give her a pack of apricots.

Since Lin Qingming was away, he was left with an extra packet. He cannot have it, so, he decided to go to the hospital and visit President Wang.

Last time, they waved off the medical expenses and sent him home by car, so this can be a " Thank you " present. President Wang did not expect that Wu Zhongyuan would take the initiative to look for him and it was indeed a surprise to see him. 

President Wang politely sent away his visitors and enthusiastically welcomed Wu Zhongyuan.

Sometimes, what people value is just an attitude. President Wang has had plenty of valuable gifts, but he was very happy to accept Wu Zhongyuan's apricots. It shows that this young man is a polite person who repays his gratitude.

Without waiting for Wu Zhongyuan to speak, President Wang right away talked about his blood sample. 

The blood test has no news yet. To avoid the results affecting Wu Zhongyuan's life, President Wang did not conduct an open detailed test in the country. Few blood samples managed to be entrusted and taken abroad to do the test by an old classmate, but he didn't receive any response yet. However, there has been some progress regarding the tattoos on Wu Zhongyuan's body.

The dragon head tattoo on Wu Zhongyuan's chest was very different from the common dragon shape in modern times, and there was nothing similar to it. 

However, President Wang's scholar friend has seen similar dragon-shaped patterns. He took out his mobile phone and opened the photo album, before handing it over to Wu Zhongyuan, 

"Look at it yourself. There are several pictures." Wu Zhongyuan took the mobile phone and looked at each picture carefully. 

It was the photo of a bronzeware that he could not name, but it had a whole dragon cast on it. Looking closely at the dragon head, it did look somewhat similar to his tattoo but was not the same. 

"This was a sacrificial copper bottle from the Shang Dynasty." President Wang said as Wu Zhongyuan returned the phone to its owner, 

"It's a bit similar, but the dragon's beard and the horns are different, and the eyes are also different. That dragon has bigger eyes than mine."  "You're right," President Wang nodded in agreement, "I have also compared the pictures carefully.  There are indeed differences, but overall they are still very similar. It is inconvenient for me to expand the scope of research making sure that it won't affect your normal life. It is uncertain which of these patterns is older and unfortunately, it is impossible to verify the patterns on a larger resource, that too in a short period."  

"Thank you, President Wang." Wu Zhongyuan said. 

President Wang waved his hand and then asked, 

"Have you finished your exams? How was it?"  

"It's okay," Wu Zhongyuan replied. President Wang knew of Wu Zhongyuan's situation, so he made an offer.  

"If there is no other arrangement, then why don't you work on a part-time job in the hospital to earn some experience in advance?"

"Thank you, President Wang." Wu Zhongyuan who was surprised to hear such an offer sprang up from his seat and thanked the doctor. 

"What kind of work do you like?"  

"As long as not the night shift in the morgue, everything else is fine," Wu Zhongyuan smilingly said. 

"Hahaha," President Wang broke into a cheerful laugh when he heard the young man's answer, "the hospital's morgues are locked, so there's no need to have a guard. So let's appoint you to direct the parking." All Wu Zhongyuan could do was thank him again.

President Wang picked up the phone on the table and dialled the extension number, 

"Is there a place to live?"  

"I still live in the dorm." Wu Zhongyuan honestly admitted. 

"The school is too far from here, come and stay here. I'll arrange a room for you." As he spoke, the phone got connected, President Wang briefly said a few words and hung up the phone, 

"You go to the eighth floor and ask for  Section Chief Gao, and he will make arrangements for you." 

Wu Zhongyuan thanked president Wang and got up to leave, but he could walk out of the room.

"Is there anything else?" President Wang inquired when he saw the boy's hesitation. Wu Zhongyuan stopped in his tracks and turned around

"President Wang, I have something here. Can you find someone to test it for me?"  

"What things?" President Wang asked in doubt. 

Wu Zhongyuan walked back to the table and took out the patch from his pocket,

"This." 

President Wang picked up the patch and carefully studied it. 

"The hospital can't run tests for these kinds of things. What is this? Where did you find it?" 

"This was the quilt wrapped on me when I was a baby." Wu Zhongyuan admitted. When President Wang heard this, he hurriedly gets up from his seat.

"Let's go, I'll take you to a place to test this." 

"It's okay. You are busy and I'm not in a hurry." Wu Zhongyuan was a little embarrassed.  sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NøᴠᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

"You're not in a hurry but I am. I haven't slept well in the past few days." President Wang opened the door and walked out.

When they reached the eighth floor, President Wang went to explain a few words to Section Chief Gao himself, and even walked Wu Zhongyuan downstairs, only to take him somewhere in his car. 

"Go to the Institute of Botany." He instructed the car driver.

Once the car started running, Wu Zhongyuan asked again,

"President Wang, I have another question for you." 

"Yes." President Wang said as he still kept looking at the patch. 

"Is there a disease that causes coughing and vomiting blood, shortness of breath, swelling of the face, and numbness of hands and feet?" "According to your description, this should be an acute disease of the respiratory system." President Wang casually replied. 

"When the patient is in pain, he or she can't help but pull hair." Wu Zhongyuan added. 

President Wang frowned slightly as he started to think hard, but did not answer. Wu Zhongyuan added more details when his supplements failed to provide President Wang with plausible proof for judgement.

"The symptoms of this disease can be relieved at 9, 10 am morning and 9, 10 pm night, and gets worse at 3 or 4 in the afternoon and the early morning." 

"Insufficient oxygen supply," President Wang immediately made an accurate judgment, 

"This disease is directly related to the change in air pressure within a day. So it is also related to the altitude. The situation you mentioned will occur when the people from here suddenly appear on Mount Everest ."

"Apart from the altitude difference, is there any other possibility?" Wu Zhongyuan asked.