Chapter 34: Down to Earth (I)
Captain Hong sat beside his men, but he didn't dare to look at the little things wriggling on his men's wounds. Huo Chong didn't observe all the time. It was not only that Huo Chong didn't like to watch that kind of scene, but there were more things to do.
Quickly dissolve the maltose as much as possible with water, add salt to it, and stir it into a liquid food that is easy to absorb. If the wound is just festering, maggots can be an effective treatment. However, when these three injured people were brought in, they had been suffering from high fever for an unknown period of time.
Although high fever can curb the growth of bacteria in the body to the greatest extent, it will also consume a lot of nutrients in the human body. Huo Chong did not know how to make infusion equipment and had no preparations. He could only supplement sugars for the human body through non-infusion methods.
Seeing what Huo Chong brought, Captain Hong looked uneasy. Faced with such an impolite performance, Huo Chong directly scooped two spoonfuls and ate them. Then he handed the wooden spoon and bowl to Captain Hong. Captain Hong understood that Huo Chong wanted him to eat a few bites as well. Although it was obviously not a good match, Captain Hong still carefully scooped a little and brought it to his mouth and sipped it.
After tasting it for a few times, Captain Hong took another sip. This time he obviously took more than the first spoonful. Frowning, Captain Hong asked, "Sweet? Why is it salty?"
Huo Chong told the truth, "I used maltose to mix water and added salt. These brothers can't eat anything now, so I have to use this to fill their stomachs."
Captain Hong still frowned, not sure whether he couldn't believe what Huo Chong said or couldn't believe how useful this thing could be.
At this moment, a subordinate beside him groaned softly. Captain Hong turned his head to look, and Huo Chong reached out and touched the man's forehead. After the alcohol cooled down, the man's high fever was greatly relieved. But at this time, it was obvious that his body temperature had risen again. Huo Chong ordered his sixth apprentice brother to continue applying alcohol to the man.
The Sixth Junior Brother covered his mouth and said, "Big Brother, I want to go out for a while."
"Hey! Ask your junior sister to come over." Huo Chong sighed. He felt that this sixth junior brother was really unreliable.
Not long after, Qian Qing came in. Huo Chong ordered Qian Qing to apply strong liquor to the three people to cool them down.
Qian Qing saw the movement on the wound and took a few steps back in fear. Although she was frightened, Qian Qing did not scream, but looked at Huo Chong. Then she lowered her head, turned her body away, and turned her back to the wound. She used cotton cloth dipped in alcohol to gently wipe the areas of the three people that were particularly clean because they had wiped the strong liquor.
The pus on the wound of the injured person was gradually being devoured by the maggots, and his body temperature was gradually dropping. Finally, the originally slight groaning sound became louder, and it was obvious that consciousness was beginning to recover.
When these people finally became a little sober, Huo Chong asked Captain Hong to feed them the prepared nutrient solution.
The room gradually darkened. Huo Chong turned his head to look at the window, and saw that the sunlight shining on the window paper had completely disappeared. When he walked into the yard, he saw that the window paper that was originally illuminated by the sun could no longer be seen.
When they walked into the yard, the sun was setting. Huo Chong was about to ask his fellow apprentices to cook, but his third apprentice brother came running over and said excitedly, "Big Brother, there are a lot of people gathered outside. I don't know what they are going to do."
Huo Chong walked to the door and saw through the crack that the road across the door was already full of people. From the angle of view through the crack, there was no open space at all.
When they opened the door, they saw people outside. Maybe everyone in the village was outside. When they saw Huo Chong coming out, everyone backed off, but no one ran away.
Huo Chong looked left and right, and saw two groups of people in the middle. One group was Liu Laowu, and the other group was Uncle Zhu, Zhu Youquan, and the sect leader Liu Yannian. Huo Chong walked a few steps towards these people, then stood still and asked, "What do you want to do by instigating so many people to come here?"
"Huo Chong, you have to explain your sorcery to everyone!" Liu Laowu shouted at the top of his lungs.
Huo Chong sighed, he really underestimated the power of playing tricks.
When I was taking care of the patient just now, I couldn't help but think about this matter over and over again, and I think I have found some ideas.
Zhu Youquan and his people chanted various sutras and performed shaman dances. These are all things that ordinary people can repeat. As for Zhu Youquan's claim that he can bestow blessings, anyone can do it. People can believe it if they want to, and not believe it if they don't want to. This is called playing tricks.
Huo Chong's trick was something that Huo Chong could do, but no one else could do. He could set his palms on fire by waving his hands, and the fire could also ignite bundles of hay. The villagers not only didn't know the principle, but they couldn't imitate it at all. If the villagers believed that Huo Chong could really summon fire, then they would believe that Huo Chong could use fire to kill people at will and burn the villagers' houses at will.
Zhu Youquan's tricks couldn't hurt anyone, or even scare them. Huo Chong's tricks were not fake, but he used real fire to scare the villagers.
This is intolerable. No normal person would accept such a threat. As soon as Liu Laowu and his men called, the villagers would of course come to Huo Chong to ask for an explanation.
Huo Chong turned to his third apprentice brother who was following him timidly and said, "Brother, bring some wine. Also, bring a wooden board and a bundle of straw. Also, bring a lighted torch."
The third brother was also confused at this time. He kept forgetting this and that. He ran back and forth four times before he got all the things out.
Huo Chong put the wooden board on a stool, poured wine on it, and lit it with a torch, and the potato alcohol started to burn. It was the first time for the villagers to see something so flammable, and they were all shocked.
Huo Chong poured some more wine on the hay bundle, bent down and touched the wooden board. When he raised his hand, the alcohol on his hand was burning.
Seeing this, the villagers exclaimed again. But this time they were not as confused as before when Huo Chong was playing tricks. Because they saw the whole process clearly, the smarter ones were already staring at the glass bottle filled with wine next to Huo Chong.
Huo Chong pressed his burning hand onto the hay bundle sprinkled with wine, and just like before, the wine on the hay bundle ignited. Soon, the burning wine ignited the hay bundle.
The villagers exclaimed again. But Huo Chong heard that some "smart people" had already shouted to others: "I understand! I know! It's all because of the... that water in the bottle."
Huo Chong had already seen Liu the Hunter, so he put out the flames on his hands and went over to ask Liu the Hunter to come out.
When Liu Liehu heard Huo Chong say that he could try this, he waved his hands repeatedly. But he couldn't hide his eagerness to try.
"Brother Liu, if you get burned, I'll compensate you." Huo Chong talked about money, which was what Liu the hunter cared about the most.
As expected, Liu the Hunter immediately plucked up his courage. Although he was still very timid when grabbing the fire, when he saw that his hand was indeed on fire, but not hot, Liu the Hunter was already looking at the flame burning on his hand with surprise, and shouted loudly: "It's not hot, it's really not hot!": As Liu the Hunter shouted, a kid who had been eager to try it also ran over and grabbed a handful of burning alcohol on the wooden board. Then he raised his burning palm high and shouted to the family in the circle: "It can really catch fire! It can really catch fire!"
A middle-aged man immediately rushed out of the crowd and slapped the boy directly on the forehead, cursing, "Are you going to die?!"
The boy refused to accept the defeat and stretched out his burning palm in front of his father. Without waiting for him to speak, his father quickly slapped the boy's hand and quickly extinguished the flame. Then he grabbed the boy's hand and looked at it from left to right.
Seeing that his son's hand was fine, the middle-aged man turned his head and glared at Huo Chong, then grabbed his son's ear and shouted, "Come home with me. I'll beat you to death when I get home!"
Seeing the lively scene between the father and son, everyone burst into laughter. The tense atmosphere just now disappeared immediately.
When Liu the Hunter repeated Huo Chong's fire performance, everyone felt relieved. However, Liu the Hunter was still not satisfied and played it again, then walked into the crowd with a feeling of unsatisfied desire.
Halfway through the walk, Hunter Liu stopped, sniffed, and said in confusion, "It smells really good!"
Huo Chong laughed dryly. Alcohol smells good when it evaporates to a certain concentration. The villagers with sharp noses shouted, "I smelled it a long time ago. It's alcohol. It's alcohol."
Seeing that everyone's hostility had dissipated to a safe area, Huo Chong took the opportunity to shout: "Everyone! This is the wine I brewed using my method. It's very strong. It will burn as soon as it is lit. It's not some magic."
Everyone didn't believe it, so Huo Chong took out a few bowls, poured a few bowls, and asked everyone to taste it.
No one dared to drink, they just put their noses close to the wine and smelled it. Even so, many people couldn't stand it anymore and quickly put down their wine bowls.
Huo Chong used a torch to light the wine bowls and saw that they were all on fire. Some villagers retreated while others pushed forward. This reduced the danger level in the chaos.
Seeing that Huo Chong had actually resolved this "witch hunt crisis", Liu Lao Hu shouted at the top of his lungs: "Huo Chong, you dare to lie to everyone in public! You are a liar! You are a liar!"
Hearing Liu Laowu's noise, the villagers were stunned again. Although they no longer looked at Huo Chong with hostility, they still had doubts in their eyes.
Huo Chong immediately cursed back: "What did I lie to you guys about? My wine can burn, it can burn! You all saw it with your own eyes."
"You...you!" Liu Laowu was not a scammer, and was directly rebuked by Huo Chong's words.
Without waiting for Liu Yannian to interrupt, Huo Chong shouted, "As for the matter of planting blessings, I have to say that you are the liars. You think you can invite gods by jumping on the stage and humming something that I don't know what? Are you inviting gods or calling ghosts? Forget about inviting gods. You come to our house and do this. Do you think you are here to invite us or to make fun of us?"
After being cheated by Liu Yannian before, Huo Chong thought he should let it go, but in fact he didn't.
Liu Yannian relied on his experience to create an atmosphere where he had the power to judge. This time, Huo Chong had to create an atmosphere where he also had the power to interpret.
Seeing that the villagers resonated with the "etiquette" described by Huo Chong, Huo Chong was about to continue talking about the road, but the door behind him rang, and Captain Hong rushed out and shouted to Huo Chong: "Brother Huo, my people are saved! They are saved!"
Many villagers saw the festering wound with their own eyes, and when they heard that Huo Chong could actually save such a person, there was a burst of amazement from the crowd. It was an exclamation of genuine admiration.
