Chapter 6: Medicine for Sword and Knife Wounds

  Sun Tang stood up, he was very tall, although nearly seventy years old, standing still had one meter nine.

  Song Kai could only look up at him.

  "Xi Mei, thread them together and tie them with saltpeter," Sun Tang's face was stern.

  It seems this woman should be called Sun Ximei, although her name is auspicious, she always has a gloomy face, which doesn't quite match her name.

  Xue Weihai also stood up and looked nervously at the middle-aged man on the bed.

  Sun Xi wrapped the croton and saltpeter together neatly.

  Song Kai took two steps forward and looked at the middle-aged man on the bed, whose condition was quite critical. A wound of over ten centimeters was exposed on his shoulder, with the edges curled outwards, clearly already festering, constantly oozing yellow pus.

  At a glance, Song Kai understood that Sun Tang used croton and saltpeter to "disinfect" the middle-aged man. Ancient doctors had recognized the harm of infection, but they did not have strong liquor, disinfectant water, or antibiotics. They could only use some special methods to disinfect, such as burning with fire or using toxic drugs like croton to kill bacteria.

  However, although croton can play a role in killing bacteria, its toxicity is very high. If this middle-aged man was seriously injured and added the poison of croton, it's estimated that he would be 80 or 90% likely to die.

  "Dr. Sun, how is Zhou Daliang's condition?" Xue Weihai asked.

  Song Kai was startled, a doctor? A Tang Dynasty doctor? Oh, it's probably an official title. It seems that Sun Tang should be a small official in charge of medical affairs in Suzhou City.

  Sun Tang shook his head, "The situation is not good, I hope he can get through it, sigh."

  Xue Weihai's lips trembled twice after hearing this.

  Sun Ximei has already packed the broad beans and saltpeter over there.

  Song Kai hesitated for a moment before speaking up: "Hold on, Dr. Sun, I came to see you today..."

  "Can't you see I'm treating a patient!" Sun Tang shouted sternly, without regard for Xue Weihai's face beside him.

  Xue Weihai simply looked at the middle-aged man on the bed and did not speak.

  Song Kai took another step forward, "Sun Daifu, I'm saying that your method won't save this patient."

  "Get out of here!"

  Sun Tong suddenly stood up straight, staring at Song Kai. Firstly, he was infuriated by a young man's contempt for his medical skills, and secondly, speaking such words in front of the patient was very unlucky. Tang Dynasty doctors believed in these folk superstitions, and even Sun Tong was not immune to them.

  Song Kai was startled, this old man is quite majestic, the key is that he is too tall, people who are too tall have a strong aura, his own body, at most 1.7 meters, can't even see the old man's neck.

  Sun Ximei walked over and pushed Song Kai away.

  Song Kai waved his hand and ignored the woman, staring at Sun Tang with a hint of anger, saying word by word: "Doctor Sun, how confident are you that you can save this person?"

  "Old man... Hmph, I have three... two successes, but who are you?" As he spoke, Sun Tang looked at Xue Weihai, thinking that Song Kai had come to find him.

  Xue Wei Hai was still staring at the person on the bed, with some tears in his eyes.

  Song Kai sneered, "Twenty percent? I'm afraid it's not even ten percent, Doctor Sun. Are you hoping that the person on the bed is healthy and can recover on their own? Oh, there was a slight possibility at first, but if you use this medicine, there won't be any chance at all."

  Sun Tang's hands were shaking.

  Sun Ximei rushed to the door and was about to call for help to drive Song Kai away.

  Song Kai bowed his hands and said calmly, "Sun Daifu, I came this time to sell you an ancestral recipe passed down in my family. Anyway, this prescription is useless in my hands, so it's just right that Song's ancestral recipe is exactly for treating sword wounds."

  "Huh?" Sun Tang's body trembled.

  Xue Weihai by the bed also turned his head towards Song Kai.

  "But looking at Mr. Sun's expression, he doesn't seem to want this ancestral medicine formula anymore," Song Kai sighed and shook his head, turning around as if to leave.

  Actually, Song Kai had no intention of selling any sword wounds medicine. He was originally here to sell Qi Sheng Wan, which is a prescription for treating some physical weakness, but now that he has encountered such a knife wound patient, he changed his mind temporarily.

  "Don't go," Sun Tang grabbed Song Kai's arm.

  "What does Mr. Sun mean by this?" Song Kai turned around and took a step back.

  "This... the prescription in your hand, is it really for treating knife wounds?" Sun Tang took a deep breath and asked cautiously. It wasn't that he didn't believe him, but rather that in this era, there were very few prescriptions for treating external injuries. The number one person in surgery was Hua Tuo of the Three Kingdoms period, but Hua Tuo's medical books had not been passed down, so the Tang Dynasty's surgical medicine was very backward.

  "If you don't believe me, then forget it," Song Kai said with his hands behind his back.

  "Can't or can't, hehe, can't you first let me take a look at this prescription?" Sun Tang squeezed out a bit of a smile, and his voice softened.

  Sun Ximei walked over, looking at Song Kai, her mouth curled up slightly, "Grandfather, this person is not a doctor at all. How can there be an ancestral prescription in his family, and it's still a prescription for treating knife wounds?"

  Sun Tang waved his hand and glared at Sun Xi Mei, signaling her to shut up. At this moment, Zhou Dou's situation on the bed was critical, and Sun Tang didn't want to miss any opportunity.

  Song Kai didn't mind Sun Ximei's questioning, and said: "Of course, we can take a look. This prescription isn't complicated, but the person on the bed is injured too severely and has developed an infection. How about this, I have internal and external prescriptions here, packaged for sale. Why don't we use this person as a test subject? If he's cured, you'll have to give me more copper coins. If not, well, that's just it, consider it a gift to your family."

  Sun Tang looked puzzled, Xue Weihai was even more surprised and uncertain as he stared at Song Kai, who suddenly showed great magnanimity, which made the two old men somewhat suspicious.

  "Song Langjun, you... aren't you... aren't you here to deceive me?" Xue Weihai asked seriously.

  "Old man, you have saved my life, how can I cheat you? It's a real prescription for treating sword wounds. I'll write it down, and you can use it if you want to, or not if you don't," Song Kai said.

  Sun Tang waved his hand and put down the brush, saying: "Alright, you write."

  Song Kai picked up his pen and suddenly sighed bitterly, his old mother wouldn't be able to read Tang Dynasty characters.

  "Hey, Xi Mei, come here, I'm telling you something," Song Kai ordered casually.

  Sun Ximei glared at Song Kai, "You can't even write yourself!"

  "Yes, I'm illiterate, come over and write it quickly," Song Kai said bluntly, who let this woman look down on him.

  "I'm not your slave!"

  "Come on, Xi Mei! Come and write," Sun Tang said.

  Sun Ximei gritted her teeth and hummed, then picked up her brush and looked at Song Kai.

  "External application, musk one tael, cinnabar three taels, borneol one and a half taels, myrrh one and a half taels, dragon's blood three taels, danshen three taels. Grind together, mix with strong wine... uh, that is, distill the wine again and collect it, apply to the wound." Song Kai furrowed his brow, this prescription was a famous external medicine from the Qing dynasty, first-rate treatment for sword wounds, however, some of the medicines seem not to be commonly used nowadays.

  Sun Ximei frowned, finished writing, and looked at her own grandfather.

  Sun Tang was initially still somewhat skeptical, but upon hearing Fang's words, he seemed to be deep in thought and asked: "All the other medicines are easy to explain, but I don't know why you've included Musk and strong liquor as medicines?"

  Song Kai waved his hand, "Specifically, I don't know either, but in a bit, I can help you find it. It might not be called 'Rou Xiang' after all. Anyway, there must be some in the medicine cabinet. As for the strong liquor, hmm...I'll help get some later. This stuff is great for treating sword wounds, it can kill bacteria...ahem, anyway, it can prevent festering and rotting. Hmm, also, there's an internal prescription, let me grab it and decoct it first."

  Song Kai gave another prescription for a Huo Luo Effulgent Pill, which included Huang Qi to promote granulation and muscle growth, Ren Shen to tonify Qi, and Dan Shen to nourish the blood.

  After writing down the prescription, they found the musk and Song Kai instructed Sun Xiamei to fetch some of the strongest wine, then find a large pot and start distilling.

  Distilled liquor is to separate ethanol and water by utilizing the difference in boiling points between ethanol and water. However, without a condenser, it's impossible to get high-proof distilled liquor. Forty degrees will do, let's just make do with that for now, after all, it won't kill anyone.

  Sun Ximei was ordered around by Song Kai, moving pots and pouring wine. She pinched her waist in resentment: "You're a big man, how can you just stand there flapping your mouth without lifting a hand?"

  "Mind your own business! Hurry up, put this bamboo pole on the pot, dig a hole in the lid, and connect it to the wooden bucket on this side. You're so stupid!" Song Kai teased Sun Ximei.

  Sun Ximei glared at Song Kai with hatred, vowing in her heart that she would find an opportunity to severely punish him.