Physician's Odyssey

Chapter 739 - The Secret of Balanophora Simaoensis

Translator: Thyaeria

Su Tao survived in the forest for a week, following the hunting tracks of Ying Xiong and those two foreigners to find his way around.

In the end, it was just as he had guessed. Ying Xiong did not enter the mountain to hunt, but they seem to be planning something.

On the seventh day, Su Tao did not continue forth since there weren't any tracks up ahead. That meant that the final destination of Ying Xiong and those two foreigners should be somewhere nearby.

Although it had been days since Ying Xiong and the foreigners left here, there were many rubbish and animal carcasses left behind. It was because of those tracks that were left behind that Su Tao managed to find his way here.

However, he was in a heavy mood since the virus wasn’t only limited to human-to-human transmission. When he investigated the carcasses of those animals, he discovered that they were infected from the Seven Mountain Virus as well.

He had searched a few rounds before he ultimately stood beneath a tree. Retrieving a knife from his medical box, he started to dig out the mud.

After spending a minute, Su Tao discovered two brown bottles and two abandoned syringes. Inwardly sighing, he knew that this must be the reason why Uncle Lame was infected while Ying Xiong and the two foreigners were fine.

According to the powerful infectious ability of the Seven Mountain Virus, Ying Xiong and the rest should be infected as well. However, they were fine, and only Uncle Lame was infected. Thus, that meant that Ying Xiong and the two foreigners must have taken a special medication.

The reason why Su Tao spent so much time in the mountain was to find the traces of the medicine left behind by Ying Xiong and those two foreigners.

Naturally, that meant that the medicine that was once in this bottle might be the cure or the source of Uncle Lame’s infection.

Regardless of either, it’s worth it for him to bring them back.

Taking out a gauze, Su Tao was about to wrap the bottles and syringes when he suddenly felt a cold aura from his right. He immediately ducked to his side as he was nearly bitten by a green poisonous snake.

Su Tao swiftly reacted and immediately shot out a needle, accurately pinning that poisonous snake to the ground.

Observing the snake, Su Tao sucked in a deep breath. This was one of the famous poisonous snakes in Yundian Province. It was thumb-sized with golden spots on its body with black venomous fangs. Two inches down, there were wings. Its head was triangular, and a single bite would spell certain death.

Su Tao had applied realgar on his body, so logically speaking, all snakes would avoid him. But there must be a reason for this snake to attack him.

In the end, his gaze fell on the Balanophora Simaoensis beneath the tree and he fell into thoughts. A brief moment later, he squatted down and picked up the Balanophora Simaoensis before he carefully placed it in his medical box.

Since he had reached the end, then there’s no need for him to continue forth. Glancing at the sky, Su Tao returned according to the path he came from. But after walking for half an hour, he suddenly stopped and locked his brows together before he hollered, “Who is it?”

“Venerable Father, it’s me, your faithful disciple, Bassoon.” A figure hopped down from the tree and kneeled on the ground.

“So, it’s you!” Su Tao smiled as he asked, “And here I thought it was an enemy. What are you guys doing here?”

“Because there wasn’t any news about you for the past few days, we’d received orders to look for you.” Bassoon still kept his head down.

Inwardly letting out a sigh, Su Tao still felt warmth in his heart. He went into the mountain alone, but there were still many people worrying about him.

“Come, let us go down together!” Su Tao smiled.

Nodding his head, Bassoon whistled and seven more people descended to the ground. Sweeping a glance at them, they were all like Bassoon, kneeling before him. Although Su Tao couldn’t get used to this ceremony, he did not stop them since he was their conviction, and it cannot be changed.

When it was around evening, Su Tao finally came out from the forest. He then took out his phone. He noticed that there were many missed calls and messages so he immediately replied that he’s safe.

When he realised that Song Sichen was intending to come to Seven Mountain Village, he immediately gave a call back.

Song Sichen had just arrived in Yundian Province, and when he received Su Tao’s call, his worries had finally been set down.

“Master, you don’t have to come anymore. If it goes according to my speculation, I will be able to resolve this virus by tonight.” Su Tao smiled.

“Is that true?” Song Sichen understood Su Tao well, and the latter wouldn’t speak of anything that he wasn’t confident about.

“That’s right. I made a trip into the mountain and obtained quite a bit of harvest.” Su Tao said with confidence before he continued, “It cannot be explained in a few words, and I have to create the cure as soon as possible. I will explain the entire thing to you after I’m done with it.”

After watching Su Tao enter the medical base, Bassoon and the rest disappeared since they were Su Tao’s hidden force.

After Liao Huashi finished performing acupuncture on a patient, he heard Kong Siyu’s exclamation, “President Su, you’re back?!”

Liao Huashi immediately set aside other things and smiled. “You’re finally back! Your complexion looks pretty good, and it’s even better than mine.”

“I have a few years of experience living on the mountain, so it’s the same as me returning home.” Su Tao smiled.

Wearing a smile, Liao Huashi soon composed himself and his expression turned solemn before asked, “Is there a result?”

“Yeah!” Su Tao took out the Balanophora Simaoensis from his medical box and instructed, “Put it into the Four Energy Soup and feed it to the patients.”

“Balanophora Simaoensis?” Liao Huashi was familiar with all the herbs, and he knew that this was a common TCM herb in Yundian Province, and it’s also called Dioecious Balanophora. It could be used to nourish the liver, stop bleeding, and even combat liver cancer.

“That’s right!” Su Tao did not explain any further and instructed, “Go and brew the medicine immediately.”

It was mainly because he wasn’t absolutely confident, and it was just speculation.

Roughly ten-odd minutes later, Liao Huashi finished adding the Balanophora Simaoensis into the Four Energy Tonic. Half an hour after serving it to the patient, Liao Huashi took the patient’s pulse with shock on his face before it was replaced with joy as he immediately went to look for Su Tao. “President Su, there’s an obvious improvement to the patient’s condition after taking the Balanophora Simaoensis! Can it be that the Balanophora Simaoensis has the composition to combat the virus?”

“It was really a coincidence!” Su Tao pointed at the syringes and bottles on the desk and continued, “When I searched for the traces of those people who came into the mountain before, I noticed that there were many animals infected by the virus as well. In the end, I found the tools that they used to commit the crime. But all of a sudden, a flying snake suddenly attacked me. I have realgar on me, so it’s logically impossible for it to attack me. The only explanation is that it had misunderstood that I was going to take something important and attacked me. Coincidentally, there’s Balanophora Simaoensis lying beside me, so I brought it back.”

“I understand now! The Balanophora Simaoensis can be used to combat the virus, and the snake attacked you to snatch it.” Liao Huashi nodded his head as he sighed.

“That’s roughly it, but it’s a little different from my analysis. The virus was effective against mammals, and the flying snake hunted much prey around the Balanophora Simaoensis. So if I take it away, wouldn’t that ruin the snake’s source of food? And that’s the reason why it attacked me!” Su Tao smiled before he continued, “I have to pay Andrewson a visit and let him know of this good news.”

“Why tell him?” Liao Huashi was baffled.

“We’re in a disadvantageous position when it comes to analysing the composition.” Su Tao patiently explained before he continued, “The Balanophora Simaoensis is a rare herb, and it’s very limited. With a countrywide outbreak, it’s impossible for us to gather so much Balanophora Simaoensis. So I need to have Andrewson analyse it before using western medicine’s technology to manufacture it to resolve the problem.”

“You have considerate thoughts!” Liao Huashi lamented.

“Bring a portion of the Four Energy Tonic with the Balanophora Simaoensis added in it and followed me. We’ll take a look next door!” Su Tao smiled.

When they came to the tent next door, many people greeted Liao Huashi. However, Su Tao noticed that Qiao Xue wasn’t around, and she seemed to be hiding from Liao Huashi on purpose. He knew that the two of them progressed pretty well, and he had underestimated Liao Huashi’s ability to woo girls.

“I’m here with a new Four Energy Tonic!” Liao Huashi handed the bowl to Brute.

Evidently, Brute was extremely trustful of Liao Huashi. At this moment, he would drink it even if Liao Huashi gave him a bowl of poison.

“How is it?” Liao Huashi asked in a concerned tone.

“It’s as terrible as always!” Brute locked his brows together.

Letting out a sigh, Liao Huashi made a note to check on Brute later and asked, “Please get Professor Andrewson to come out for a little bit. Our President Su has something important to discuss with him.”

“I’m afraid that it won’t be easy. Professor Andrewson is currently conducting tests, and no one is willing to disturb him at this moment because he’s like a snarling monster. If anyone dares to make him unhappy at this moment, he will definitely tear them to pieces.” One of the students said in a nervous voice.

“I’ll go in myself, then!” Su Tao whispered in Liao Huashi’s ears before he went to the back.

But just when he was a few steps away from the temporary laboratory, Qiao Xue suddenly came up. “Stop right there!”

After that, she spread her hands open and blocked the door. “The Professor is currently researching the cure right now, and you can’t disrupt him at this moment.”

Su Tao examined Qiao Xue. It was no wonder why Liao Huashi would fall for her. She wore gold-framed spectacles and seemed mature. She had fair skin and a voluptuous figure.

Letting out a sigh, Su Tao replied, “Don’t blame me for making a move if you continue to obstruct my way.”

However, Qiao Xue glared at Su Tao while wearing a righteous expression.

Letting out a sigh, Su Tao gently waved his hand and shoved Qiao Xue to the side before he charged into Andrewson’s laboratory.

Andrewson was currently immersed in his research, so he was immediately startled and jumped up when he discovered that someone had intruded.

Su Tao did not bother beating around the bush and retrieved the bottle and syringes from his medical box then said to Qiao Xue, who had rushed in after him, “Get him to analyse these if they’re the source of the virus.”

Qiao Xue was frozen when she heard that since she had no idea what Su Tao was intending to do and subconsciously translated those words to Andrewson.

Listening to the translation, Andrewson fell into a brief silence. Seeing Su Tao’s calm expression, he took the bottle and syringes with a sincere expression and started to analyse the composition of the substances left behind in them.