The next morning at dawn, cries of agony emanated from the Security Hall Pharmacy.
"AH!"
"What are you howling for? I haven't even started yet."
Li Ang sat behind the desk, looking helplessly at the patient before him.
Just as he had announced yesterday at the entrance of the Pasture Supervisory Office, today marked the reopening of Security Hall. A slanted wooden sign at the entrance bore a paper that read, "Bone injuries only, consultation fee twenty wen, cost of medicinal herbs additional."
Li Ang had chosen bone injuries as the sole service for the first day of business at Security Hall for two main reasons.
First, without antibiotics and a clean medical facility, even performing minor surgeries like lancing an abscess carried a risk of death, not to mention more invasive procedures like appendectomies.
Only small fractures that required minimal intervention and could be managed by repositioning were likely to ensure a high success rate and survival rate.
Of course, "small" fractures were only relatively so. At least the patients sitting on stools waiting in line, hearing the crackling sounds repeatedly, were all turning pale.
"Turn to the side, put your hand on the table, and don't look at me."
Li Ang instructed the patient to sit sideways and gently asked, "What's your surname and given name?
Where do you live?
What's your date of birth?
Are you married?
Do you have any suggestions for the phase one project that involves encouraging agricultural development in Yizhou City under the subsidy program for rice producers in the third year of Zaiqian?"
"Doctor, my surname is Fu—AHHHHH!"
The patient had just begun to reply when Li Ang grabbed his slightly deformed left index finger, then pulled, tugged, and pushed.
With a CRACK, the patient's left index finger was back in place. The patient—a burly man—cried out in pain, clutching his wrist.
"Ahh, it hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts!"
"Alright, that should do it. Don't move this finger for a month. Don't carry heavy objects, don't pull or tug, don't scrub vigorously, and don't use this finger to pick your nose. It's also better if you abstain from alcohol...
If that's not enough, you can buy some bone injury remedies made from medicinal materials like wooden pipe, pomegranate, and Magnolia.
We sell them here for seventy wen a packet. Of course, you can also purchase them from other pharmacies. The prices are generally the same.
If you recover well, you can go home and tell all your relatives and friends about our Security Hall. We offer fair prices and honest services.
If you can bring more people here, I'll give you a twenty percent discount the next time you visit."
Li Ang casually provided medical advice while glancing over the now bustling Security Hall.
Three rows of stools were lined up against the wall, resembling a local clinic from his memories of the Otherworld. The stools were occupied by patients who were mostly brawny men.
This was the second reason Li Ang had chosen to start with bone injuries—Yizhou Pier.
Yizhou City was a critical node in the north-south water transportation system of Yu Country, home to thousands of laborers who relied on the inland pier.
Boatmen, porters, trackers, cart pullers, horse cart drivers, cargo handlers.
A significant workforce inevitably led to workplace accidents, with people getting injured on the Yizhou Pier periodically.
Falls, slips, impact injuries, brawling injuries, and the most common—work-related fractures.
If fractures are not surgically treated and are left to heal on their own, there are generally three outcomes. First, they might heal on their own without impacting work or life, perhaps even allowing for heavy physical activity just as before. Second, they might heal misaligned. This poses no problem for daily life, but the misalignment is visible, and future heavy physical activity can be difficult, causing pain or severe pain. Third, they might heal with difficulty. A complete fracture can prevent natural healing, leading to internal bleeding or osteomyelitis. In an era without amputation techniques, death is almost certain.
Li Ang thought silently, picked up the pure wine on the table, poured some into his palm, and vigorously scrubbed his hands.
Medically, there are two types of bone healing: anatomical repositioning, where the deformity and displacement of the fracture are completely corrected, restoring the normal anatomical relations of the bone.
The other is functional repositioning, which only satisfies basic functions.
Self-healing corresponds to anatomical repositioning, and misaligned healing to functional repositioning. Yet, in this era, most fracture patients couldn't heal on their own and could only silently await death.
Those present in Security Hall now probably didn't even realize that they were among the fortunate few.
Li Ang shook his head, casting aside his chaotic thoughts, and motioned for the next patient to come forward.
The new patient wasn't a pier worker. He appeared lean, dressed in a gray shirt, and his face looked... somewhat familiar.
Li Ang furrowed his brows slightly, searching his memory. "You are... the storyteller from Baolai Restaurant in the East City? Mr. Luo?"
"It's me."
The storyteller seemed slightly embarrassed. "Ahem, my middle finger was fractured a few months ago. Although it healed, it still hurts whenever I touch it. Young master, please take a look."
"Of course. I even listened to your stories at Baolai Restaurant when I was a child. The most memorable was about the Three Kingdoms."
Li Ang smiled as he squeezed the storyteller's injured hand. The storyteller's face filled with fear, his palm trembled slightly, his calves shook, and he stammered, "About that... young master, will setting the bone be very painful? I saw how terribly they all screamed.
Is there a pain-free way to treat this?
If it's really painful, I'd rather not be treated and just leave it as it is."
Li Ang grinned and said, "Their screaming is mostly psychological; it's not that painful, really.
I used to dislocate my own joints out of boredom, practicing several times a day to prevent my hands from becoming unskilled when setting bones for patients.
The saying 'an injury to the tendons and bones takes a hundred days to heal' actually means that by regularly exercising your tendons and muscles, you can extend your life by a hundred days.
If you are really scared, sir, why don't you tell a story here on the spot?"
"Tell a story here? Alright... let's talk about the Yuanhe Second Year, when the Hua Family was tragically raided by mountain bandits..."
"HA!"
Li Ang suddenly shouted, startling Mr. Luo, the storyteller, and also making the patients sitting on stools by the wall jump.
"It's done."
Li Ang released the hand he had set during his shout and calmly said, "That will be twenty wen."
"This, ah, HISS..."
The storyteller, looking at his now reset finger and grimacing in pain, hopped on one foot, took out two ten-wen coins from his pocket, and placed them on the table. His tone was somewhat resentful as he said, "Young Master, how could you just start without giving me a heads-up?"
"Mr. Luo, when you used to tell stories at the restaurant, didn't you also stop whenever you wished and only continue in the next session if we were to hear how it ends?"
Li Ang calmly replied, "An unexpected thrill, how wonderful."
"HMPH—"
The storyteller fumed, his eyebrows shooting up, but the waiting patients burst into laughter.
Li Ang glanced over there, his gaze lingering on a young man for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing almost imperceptibly.
The young man was dressed in simple blue attire with a turban and long boots. He wore a belt around his waist with several copper rings, from which hung a sachet, a money bag, and a Jade Pendant.
And at his waist, there hung a sword.
Yu Country allowed common people to carry swords, and civilian possession of bows was also permitted; only crossbows and Metal Armor were prohibited. Many scholars liked to carry valuable swords to display their status.
However, the sword carried by the young man was different from ordinary swords—its sword guard was thin and narrow, and the hilt was slender, clearly making it difficult to grip.
The two exchanged glances, and Li Ang greeted him with a cupped fist salute. "Sir, are you also here to seek treatment? Today, Security Hall only treats bone-related injuries and no other ailments."
"Me?" The young man shook his head. "I'm not here to see a doctor, I'm here to..."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a burst of vomiting sounds from outside the door.
Two men, sweating profusely, were carrying a robust man into Security Hall. They pushed past Mr. Luo, who was in the way, while continuously shouting, "Doctor, doctor! Please check on my older brother!"
"What happened?" Li Ang frowned, rising from behind the desk and walking forward.
The man who was carried in had remnants of vomit on his chest, his face flushed, but he was still relatively conscious.
"Help him sit down."
Now was not the time to emphasize treating only bone injuries. Li Ang had the two family members seat the patient on a stool and asked, "What happened? What illness does he have?"
"Water... water dysentery."
The two family members had run until they were out of breath, and their speech was somewhat jumbled. Li Ang had to make an effort to understand them.
The patient, Shade, owned a river cargo ship.
Several days earlier, Shade had returned from Zhou Kingdom in the Southern region with cargo. He had just handed over the goods to the client when he fell ill, plagued by fever, dizziness, diarrhea, and vomiting.
Initially, the family thought it was "water dysentery," a digestive system disease. However, after several days of medication brought no improvement, his condition only worsened. They had no choice but to seek a doctor when his vomiting intensified an hour ago.
"Diarrhea and vomiting?"
Li Ang frowned, moved the table aside, poured a large amount of pure wine on his hands, and began to examine Shade.
There were no abnormalities in the head, chest, or abdomen. The legs... there was a swelling.
Li Ang squatted down, a thought stirring in his mind, and loudly called, "Cui Qiao, bring a small knife."
Without waiting for a response, the young man from the corner stepped forward, unsheathed his sword, and handed it over without a word. "Here."
Li Ang looked up at him briefly, said nothing more, and took the sword to cut through Shade's pant leg.
RIP.
The cloth of the pant leg was cut open. Shade's family, who were watching, along with the other customers in Security Hall, all gasped.
On Shade's left leg, there were striated hard lumps, swelling, blisters, and pustules, looking grotesquely like the diseased flesh of a swollen pig.
"Blisters, huh."
The moment Li Ang saw the striated lumps, a foreboding feeling arose within him. He took a deep breath, poured more pure wine into his hand, steadied the sword hilt, and very gently, cut open the largest blister on Shade's leg.
SQUIRT—
A spectacular amount of yellow fluid gushed from the blister.
However, what was even more horrifying was the sight of a white, long, slender worm wriggling wildly in the ulcerated hole beneath the blister.
"Parasite..."
Li Ang's breath caught. This was one of the most severe and deadly diseases of the era.
He stood up, turned to the patient's family, and shook his head.