Chapter 168: Chapter 41

The shamans walked pretty fast as if possessed by an evil spirit.

They already arrived at the top of the hill where there was a large village square.

The mayor, who got there, was displaying various stuff necessary for the exorcism.

‘Damn it!’

How could the mayor gather the village people when the smallpox was spreading?

“Mayor! Mayor!” Kanghyok shouted at him, breathless from running.

In the midst of directing his men, the mayor turned his head. He was happy to see Kanghyok there.

“Oh, Kanghyok. Why don’t you take some rest? I hear you stayed awake althroughout the night.”

“No, sir. I’m alright. By the way…” Holding his breath, Kanghyok looked around.

Various colorful fabrics were fluttering here and there. He noticed sharp knives and straw cutters, too.

Moo~

As if she sensed that she was meeting her final moments, a cow with tearful eyes was mooing on the side.

The exorcism was about to start at any moment at the mayor’s order.

“Do you have to perform this ritual, mayor?”

The mayor smiled gently at Kanghyok’s question.

Fortunately, his reaction was not violent.

“I guess you must be a Confucian scholar.”

“What?”

“I know what you mean, Kanghyok. This exorcism doesn’t make sense, but it’s something I have to perform.”

“To show the people that you’re doing your best, right?”

“Right. You already read my mind. Hahaha.”

“Can you delay showing your sincerity until later?”

“What the heck are you talking about?” Now the mayor’s face hardened a bit.

Kanghyok desperately racked his brain to come up with a proper reply.

‘Do I need to hurt his feelings? What’s the big deal even if a small village here disappears?’

Not all the villagers would survive because there was insufficient pus.

‘No, I can’t do that. Never. Let me make some plausible excuses.’

Pointing at the entrance of the village, Kanghyok said, “There are too many sick people in the village right now.”

As it happened, Joon Huh was coming back after making some rounds.

When he went out he was with seven, but now he was coming back with fifteen.

Eight of them were patients with smallpox.

“What I mean is not all the villagers can gather here.”

“That’s inevitable. What can I do about it?”

“You would be in big trouble if there is anyone sick among the crowd. All of them would be contaminated with smallpox.”

“Can smallpox spread like that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oops!”

The mayor didn’t ask any more, just listening to him.

“Still, I have to do it as I promised this to them.”

“Yes, you can do it, but not now. Can you delay it a bit later?”

“Delay it?”

“Yes, sir.”

This time the mayor was a bit agonized.

More than twenty soldiers were waiting for his orders. At his behest, they would immediately gather the villagers. The shaman would tread on the sharp edges of straw cutters and cut the cow to bleed it out. A circus team would make merry to fan the smallpox god’s excitement. Afterward, the villagers would feel relieved to see all that.

“Hmmm….”

It seemed difficult for the mayor to make a quick decision.

After turning it over in his mind for a while, he opened his mouth, “How long do you want me to delay it?”

Kanghyok recalled his knowledge of smallpox.

‘Smallpox starts with red spots on skin… blisters would stop and calluses would form, which is the point where the smallpox will be eliminated…’

That meant it would take at least ten days.

To be on the safe side, Kanghyok needed fourteen days.

“Please delay it for fourteen days.”

“Fourteen days? That’s rather long.”

“But this is absolutely necessary. I’ll do my best to stop any further spread within that period.”

“Hmmm…”

It was none other than Kanghyok’s request.

As always, he was confident and optimistic.

And Kanghyok had never failed his expectations so far.

“Got it. Fourteen days, but no more.”

“Yes, that’s enough.”

If the smallpox in the village didn’t spread any more, fourteen days would be enough.

As soon as the mayor answered clearly, he now made up his mind.

“Hey, let’s stop this ritual today.”

At his shout, several shamans busy with preparing the exorcism turned back with surprised looks. One of them came running over to the mayor. She was a very old woman.

“Sir, what if the smallpox god gets mad…”

How could a non-existent smallpox god get mad?

Kanghyok shook his head, dumbfounded at her statement.

“Don’t worry. Let me host it in fourteen days.”

“What? You made the promise already…”

“You can show more of your sincerity for the next fourteen days.”

“But…” With a sullen expression, the old shaman looked at the mayor.

But the mayor already made the final decision. “Enough. Do as instructed!”

“Yes, sir. I’ll follow your order.” Though she was angry, she had to grin and bear it.

From her point of view, the smallpox god was a dreadful presence, but the mayor’s order was much more dreadful because she could be killed at his order.

Kanghyok passed by the embarrassed shaman to head back to his examination room.

Yoju followed him in vain, as she didn’t get to draw the exorcism. But she didn’t feel it regrettable.

“It looks like you aren’t scared of anybody.”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“How can you dare disobey the mayor’s intention?”

“Oh, it’s because I felt I would be safe even if I did.”

Though Yoju might not know, Kanghyok was a veteran professional with years of working with and meeting many people in modern Korea.

“Even my father, Changkwon, would not have put off the mayor’s schedule today.”

“Really? Your father?”

“Yes, even my father.”

That was something Kanghyok didn’t expect.

“Anyway, I have bought some time, so let’s make the best use of it.”

Kanghyok hurriedly went into the examination room.

There were lots of patients crowded there, all sent by Joon Huh.

At a glance, Kanghyok was convinced that they were all smallpox patients.

‘Yea, Joon has a discerning eye.’

Now it’s Kanghyok’s turn to show his magical medical skills.

“Let me put the cox’s pus into their noses.”

Though Kanghyok’s order was preposterous to them, these patients, all farmers, could not refuse it. All of them gave out groans whenever Kanghyok put it into their noses. Depending on their symptoms, they also had to drink brewed herbal medicine.

“Let me take care of them,” said Joon Huh, who was in the midst of preparing the herbal medicine.

He already brew yanggyoksan, sunbanghwalmyongum and other new herbal medicine.

“Oh, this is something new.”

“Ah, that herbal medicine is called kamibulhwangumchongisan, which can be used for the patients without pus.”

Kanghyok took note quickly, and Yoju drew the medicinal herbs one by one.

After using a fan for a while, Joon suddenly looked at Kanghyok. “By the way, it looks like the patients’ conditions in the warehouse are worse…” Joon said.

Kanghyok, who was a bit complacent a while ago, became alert once again.

“How about their condition?”

“I see blood in their phlegm when they cough.”

“Blood? Oh my god…”

Regardless of any disease, it would be a bad sign if one bled. In particular, hemoptysis was fatal.

Kanghyok headed into the warehouse quickly.

“Cough!”

He noticed a patient who kept coughing.

“Are you alright?”

Of course, he was not.

The patient’s condition couldn’t be any more serious, with a high fever and internal bleeding.

The empty sap hung on his arm was dangling here and there.

As Kanghyok had no more sap, he just looked at that patient helplessly.

‘Hemorrhagic smallpox… I can’t do anything about this patient.’

Hemorrhagic smallpox was an infectious disease that ensured 100% fatality.

Nobody could save a patient in that condition.

Kanghyok recalled what he learnt long ago, which was that he had to make a choice between the patient’s life and death sometimes.

And sometimes reducing the patient’s pain would be the best treatment.

‘This is just meaningless pain for him.’

Kanghyok gave him an injection of narcotic analgesic three times in a row.

That was more than enough to reduce his pain.

“Be patient for a moment. You’ll feel better.”

“Thanks…”

The patient kept lowering his head without knowing what kind of injection Kanghyok gave him.

“Take a rest then.”

“Yes, doctor.”

Then he came out of the warehouse with that final word to that patient.

Suddenly, he recalled the Hippocratic Oath he took when he became a doctor.

‘I think I have to concentrate on those who I can save first. I’ve delayed the exorcism anyway. I think I won’t have any rest.’