Chapter 40 (1/2)
Chapter 40: Working Together to Treat Infectious Disease [4]
Ganghyuk felt terrible right now as they did not have any good soap . He cleaned himself tens of times, but it seemed he still had some of it left on him .
'Oh my G.o.d!' Ganghyuk smelled his hands and then shook his head .
The man who caused the incident was kneeling in the corner . Ganghyuk did not say anything, but he felt the former deserved some punishment .
Looking at Ganghyuk's frowning face, it seemed the man had to put his forehead, palms, knees, and toes to the ground, like a Buddhist way of asking for forgiveness .
However, it was impossible because the room was very small .
”Then, are you good?”
”Yes? Yes . No, sir . I am sorry, sir . ”
Ganghyuk looked at him and then saw his bare legs . He could not help taking his pants away from him . The man had persisted that he would wash and reuse the pants, but the former took them away from him and burned them nevertheless .
”Now, you can have bowel movements here . Use this . ” Ganghyuk said as he gave them a basin . It was quite a luxurious one because that was Ganghyuk's own, not one for dungs actually .
'Goodness!'
It was a shame to give it away, but he could not help it . He did not want to deal with stools again .
The man nodded . Although, he did not feel like going to the toilet again because he had already finished his business earlier on .
”Do it here? No, there are women here as well . ”
Other people who might have wanted to go to toilet later on were full of complaints . But, Ganghyuk had no intention to negotiate with them . Considering human rights, he should not be doing this . But, he could not allow them to go outside and spread viruses everywhere .
”You must do it here . Some time later, more people will come and they will help you . ”
”People?”
”Yes, I sent an errand to the governor . He will send some soldiers . ”
”Governor? Oh my goodness!”
Hearing about the governor, the people who were complaining or about to protest gave up the though completely . They had realized Ganghyuk's status: he was clearly not a simple n.o.bleman, as he could communicate with the governor .
They felt that they had no option but to follow his order, even when it seemed unreasonable and unfair .
Only antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications were left for the less serious patients . The s...o...b..nghwalmyeongeum which contained expensive ingredients was already finished . They were short of even Yanggyeoksan at this point .
But, he had to admit that the s...o...b..nghwalmyeongeum was more effective than he had imagined .
'Some patients in the warehouse have gotten better . Even the pus blisters have subsided . '
It was too fast for cowpox vaccine to be causing the effects . It was a shame though that they could not make more of s...o...b..nghwalmyeongeum .
'I hope Makbong does his job . '
Even though he was slow, he was a member of a performance group . He must be walking without a pause, and might have arrived there already .
The red sun was rising .
”Heok, Heok . ”
As Ganghyuk had thought, Makbong had hurried on his way without taking a rest . As a result, he arrived at Ganghyuk's house early morning .
”Tell me who you are . ” Seungmun asked with a sleepy-eyed face . If he were not on an errand from Ganghyuk, Seungmun would not have met him at all .
The look of Makbong was really strange . As Ganghyuk had told him, he was wearing gloves, a mask, and an operation cap .
”I am called Makbong, sir . ”
”Makbong?”
”Yes, I am serving Master Ganghyuk . ”
”Yes, he is the man . ” Okseok confirmed it from the side . He had seen Makbong going around with Ganghyuk a few times . It was only then that Seungmun found his face to be familiar as well .
”Then, why are you here so early in the morning?”
”Eh… Sir, master Ganghyuk had smallpox…”
Makbong had not encountered a high-ranking n.o.bleman like Seungmun ever, so he was sweating profusely . He had practiced what he would say all the way to the house, but he forgot it all and used some incoherent words, which went in a totally different direction .
Seungmun rushed down to the yard without even wearing shoes, ”What? Smallpox? Ganghyuk caught it?
”No, no… Sir, master had something like immune… . ”
”What are you saying?”
”He told me that we have it when we get pus from cow . ”
”What pus?” Seungmun stared at Makbong . Although the latter did not look like a bad guy, he was certainly a fool .
So, he gave up on finding about the facts from him .
”Why did he send you here?”
”Ah”
When Seungmun asked this question, Makbong thought of the note . He took out the paper while wearing the mask .
Ganghyuk had written the letter while taking care for it not to get contaminated .
”He asked for the herbs and people written in this letter . ”
”Herbs and people?”
”Yes, smallpox…”
Makbong mentioned smallpox often, so Seungmun felt that there must be something serious for sure .
”Do you mean there is a smallpox outbroke in the place where Ganghyuk is staying?”
”Yes, yes . That is what I wanted to tell you . ”
Seungmun was aware that Ganghyuk had gone to the mouth of Mt . Gw.a.n.ggyo . It was not far from his place, so it meant smallpox could spread to here as well . Thinking of this, his face complexion became dark .
”It is a major thing indeed . Okseok, I need to go out . ”
”Yes, sir . ”
”I will go to the governor . We may need help from government office . ”
”Okay, sir . ”
Although Seungmun had many servants, the governor could mobilize more people at once, not to mention of the volume of herbs that they retained .
Seungmun had licorice and deer antlers that he received as present . While Seungmun prepared, Makbong did his work .
”Oooops! It is cold!”
Makbong washed his body in a corner of the kitchen . He was proud of his lice in his hair and body . Therefore, he felt shame when he saw the dirty water flowing from his body . He even felt that he had lost some of his lifespan .
'But, he ordered me to do this, so I should follow . '
He said that if he did not do it, it could bring a disaster to Suwon .
”He told me to burn the clothes . ”
Thus, Makgbong burnt the clothes and gloves in the furnace, and then changed into clothes that Ganghyuk gave him . They were Dolseok's clothes, and they fit him well .
”Where is he?” Seungmun was already dressed up, and was looking for Makbong . Makbong had to run to him with wet hair .
”What did you do?”
”Master Ganghyuk told me to wash my body right after meeting you . ”
”Now?”
”Yes . ”
He remembered that Ganghyuk bathed nearly everyday, and even implicitly asked Seungmun to do the same .
”I see . Let's go . Hurry up . ”