Living Pill
The walkie-talkie fell to the ground, the outer plastic shell broke, and the broken parts inside were scattered all over the floor.
It happened so suddenly that no one expected the cat in my arms would do this, and no one had time to stop it.
The young man was timid and was so frightened that he screamed and quickly jumped behind me. Fortunately, he didn't use me as a shield and pushed me away.
I was stunned, thinking what the hell! This was the first time I encountered such a sinister face.
I couldn't stop in time and was forced to the front. I said "I'm done" in my heart without saying a word, and then I felt a chill and pain, and something heavy hit my toes.
My face was twisted, and I was hit so hard that I was ready to face a powerful enemy, as if some evil thing would pounce on me. But when I looked again, I was immediately confused.
It turned out that in addition to a bunch of rusty and broken springs and knobs, there was only a two-finger-wide bug in the walkie-talkie. It looked dark red, crystal clear and motionless.
It does look no different from that evil leech, but I had just been hit hard by it and I already knew that it was made of jade, carved so lifelike and delicately that even the weight was not compromised at all.
What the hell is this?
Is there anyone who would use real money to plot against others? This exquisite jade insect would be enough to kill me if it were replaced with a brick.
Just as I was wondering, the unreliable young man exclaimed again. I was so angry that I asked him if he had something to say. Why wasn't this exclamation over yet?
As a result, the young man's eyes widened, and he forgot to be afraid. He couldn't help but squeeze forward and said stupidly: "This... This is a medicine."
"What?" I was stunned.
He no longer had any regard for me. He was staring at the jade insect intently. He wanted to lie on the ground and kept muttering to himself, "It's worth it."
Seeing that he was a young, frivolous man, he seemed to be an expert in a very special field. I immediately became curious and withdrew my hand that was about to lift him up. I sighed and deliberately asked:
"Are you familiar with this jade leech?"
"Of course!"
Without even looking up, he said excitedly, "The instructor just asked me to go to that crappy hospital to do some work, of course it's because I know the ins and outs best."
This is not a leech at all, just like what those people wrote in their records, this is a yellow sprout!"
Huangya? I thought of the "medicine" he just mentioned, and subconsciously asked, "The Huangya of Baixue Huangya?"
He nodded vigorously, and finally looked up at me, excited as if he had found a confidant: "Yes, that's why I said it's not a bug, it's a medicine, and a living medicine at that."
I stopped him and asked him to stop saying these weird words and explain the origin of the insect.
He was immediately in a dilemma. After thinking for a long time and stuttering a few words, he finally asked, "Advisor, have you seen Journey to the West?"
I was very curious. Which child didn't have Monkey King in his childhood? Why did he talk about this?
The young man then heaved a sigh of relief and explained that the 17th chapter of Journey to the West mentioned alchemy, and the original words were "set up the tripod and the furnace, knead the sand and refine the mercury; white snow and yellow buds, there is a path outside the door."
To put it bluntly, "white snow" refers to mercury, and "yellow sprouts" refers to lead and mercury. The ultimate goal of the pursuit is naturally to take the so-called golden elixir that can greatly nourish and prolong life.
There is a saying that when the ancients were refining these toxic compounds, their technology and equipment were very limited, and by chance they discovered that a yellow bud-like substance would be produced in the cauldron.
People at that time did not have much knowledge of modern chemistry, so they believed that this was a manifestation of vitality, and that is why it was called "yellow buds".
Regardless of where this rumor came from and whether it is reliable or not, I still understand a little bit of it and I am skeptical:
"So now this jade product is a symbolic totem figurine?"
"Then at least carve it into green leaves and sprouts. Wouldn't it be pretty to carve a vibrant image? How can you carve a lousy insect to make it look fresh?"
The boy's face was still red, and he quickly retorted, "No, no, haven't you read the Monkey King? In the book, Tathagata divides the world into five kinds of immortals and five kinds of insects, namely heaven, earth, man, gods, ghosts, insects, scales, hairs, and feathers.
It can be seen that the word "worm" had a lot of meaning in the past, so how can it be replaced casually? "
I saw that he was getting more and more confused the more he talked, so I just nodded perfunctorily: "I understand."
He was delighted: "What do you understand?"
"That group of psychopaths has no reason to touch traditional culture."
The young man stared at me with his eyes wide open, and it seemed like he was going to argue with me. I laughed it off, pushed him back, into the arms of another guy, and ran away quickly.
He was so anxious that he jumped up and down behind his back, and shouted angrily: "Advisor! Advisor!"
I pretended not to hear anything. The little devil was so angry that he almost cried. He howled, "I don't want my original name anymore. From now on I'll be called Huang Yazi." He looked as if he wanted me to take his name literally next time I saw him and not forget that precious theory.
Finally, the broker's wife looked at me in silence and took the young man away. After a while of confusion, the team leader came over with a stifled smile and asked me what I thought.
I shook my head. “Don’t overthink it. Those people have their own theories and use insects as medicine and symbols. That’s their business. We just need to know that there is such a thing.”
Zhang Jia even laughed at me: "Oh, you are so resigned to it. Young Master, you used to love to get to the bottom of things."
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and I didn't bother to pay attention to him. I pondered for a while and concluded, "In short, this group of people have gone crazy with alchemy, and they believe that relying on things like insects can make them immortal."
I had already put away the jade carving. Now I took it in my hand and looked at it carefully. It was indeed very strange.
The name "yellow bud" is quite appropriate. The dark red translucent jade in the palm of your hand really looks like a slightly twisted new bud, or a leaf with veins rolled up and not stretched out, and the texture and veins are very clear.
The only thing that is particularly creepy is the carving of the insect's head, which is a baby's face that seems to be smiling but not smiling.
I recalled the live leeches I had seen at Taizi's place, and determined that they should be the same thing, and slowly found the idea:
“They must have found a strongly deformed insect, which is likely to have strong mimicry and survival abilities, and can carry certain information when contaminating the human body.
Considering that you have personally witnessed those yellow sprouts crawling all over the reception room, and the patterns on its back vaguely grew out of the prophet's quarrying map, it is possible that it has a strong adhesion to other strange stories, and can achieve some kind of parasitism or symbiosis with them. "
But there are too few clues now. I am not sure whether they accept all strange stories or can only integrate the remains of strange stories like carrion microorganisms.
Also, I have a guess:
"The insect mist of the moving rats can transform and fuse the human body into one, and it may be of the same origin as the yellow sprout. But the moving rats are too dangerous, I don't think they can get close to An Ran to get the materials.
Maybe they had to settle for the next best thing, so they found something similar and used it as raw material."
Zhang Jia's face changed: "Are you saying that they seal the bugs in the pills and let people eat them?"
"So... after those bugs become medicine?"
"Still alive."
I said, feeling a chill on my back, "Didn't Huang Yazi say that in their records, the medicine is still alive?"
Zhang Jia's face turned pale, as if he had thought of something, and he immediately made a phone call in a hurry.
When it was getting dark, he came back with a message saying that he and other guys had gone to check to see if there were any signs of large-scale circulation of special drugs more than ten years ago.
As a result, no information about the drug was found, but instead an old piece of seemingly unrelated news was uncovered.
It is said that a large number of sugar pills expired in a certain place, and the sugar pills that were originally given away for free to children as part of an event all grew mold for some reason.
Some parents accidentally discovered that the children around them were suffering from frequent vomiting and diarrhea, and there were suspicious hairs in their vomit. After asking, they found the candy that had not been finished.
When I opened it, I found that only the outermost layer looked smooth and sweet, while the sugar coating was dark and gray, as if it was made of wax and low-quality flour. When I squeezed it open again, the inside was even more hairy, with strands of webs and insects.
When asked, the children were all confused and seemed not to notice anything unusual. They couldn't even explain who they got the products from or which brand was advertising the products. After talking for a long time, the adults became a little worried and thought it was a ghost, so they didn't dare to investigate further.
After briefly telling the news, Zhang Jia gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, these people poisoned me on purpose!"
When I asked for the place, I found out it was far away from my hometown. If it wasn't for chance that made me suspicious and checked, I would never have made the connection.
Zhang, the clerk who investigated that area, also recalled that a parent kept a piece of candy pill and did not throw it away. The clerk offered a price and asked them to sell it. He took it out of the biscuit box where the child kept his old toys. It turned out that it might have been improperly stored, and there was only a small pool of powder left inside.
Zhang Jia took out his mobile phone and played me the voice recording that the guy had specially backed up.
In the recording, a voice hesitated and said, "It feels like something hatched from inside and escaped. These remnants outside are very fine powders, basically white, and have a salty and bitter smell."
I shuddered and met Zhang Jia's ugly face. For a moment, I was even a little bit unbelieving, "White salty powder?"
Zhang Jia smiled bitterly and asked me to look at the photos and videos I took. He said that he had found out that the people were still on their way back, but the information could ensure that there were no deviations or misunderstandings.
I quickly flipped through it and my heart sank. Yes, it was the same as the broken limbs and remnants that had been transformed by the Prophet.
"…Tell others to expand the scope. There may be more than one such incident. Otherwise, it would not make sense for us to run into and investigate so quickly if there was only one crime."
I calmed myself down and realized that things were serious.
If the yellow sprout is a parasite that has mutated from the remains of the prophet, then the period of time they discovered the yellow sprout would not be too short.
Ten years is enough time to do a lot of things.
Moreover, they may be unfamiliar with it at first, and the sugar pills may be discovered quickly and they may be wary of it. But later on, they will become more and more proficient, and the traces left behind will become fewer and fewer.
God knows how much "medicine" they have spread, and what side effects the "medicine" has when it becomes more mature.
When Pingping was targeted by them, it might have been just an unusual case.
But for the other potential victims, there isn't a single child at home who could notice something was wrong and stop it in time.
I felt a chill in my heart, and I grabbed Zhang Jia's shoulders and said hurriedly:
"If the sugar pill incident was not a deliberate trap, then it must have been an oversight on their part earlier. From the perspective of the criminals, among the many random choices in a series of incidents, the initial location and person were most likely closely related to the area and conditions where they were originally active."
Zhang Jia said solemnly: "I understand. The lair of these bastards, or at least their former lair, may be nearby."
"Then their victims will slowly radiate out from this center, and then there may be a large span and movement."
"Captain Yan has already gone there. He said he wants to find the children who experienced the sugar pill incident and send them to our own hospital for another examination. The nearest branch is only a few counties away. The results will be out as early as tomorrow afternoon."
I felt a little relieved after hearing that. Yan Mo is indeed experienced and considerate. If I were to fill in the gaps without him, it would be impossible.
But, "Hasn't Yan Mo been keeping an eye on Zhang Tianyi for a while and hasn't had much rest? Can he handle it?"
Seeing that I didn't shy away from this matter, Zhang Jia was stunned for a moment, as if he had let go of some psychological burden. He hesitated for a moment and said:
"...Actually, I have an idea as well, but I need to confirm it with you, Master."
I nodded, "It's okay, go ahead."
Zhang Jia took a deep breath and said, "I was wondering why they put out the yellow sprouts in the first place."
I frowned, understanding his doubts. This was something I couldn't figure out at once. Since those people were hiding in the dark and crazy about drugs, why were they distributing drugs on such a large scale? Was it just for test data and results?
But I always feel something is wrong.
How should I put it? With the precedent of that madman who shouted that he wanted to leave and go back to find someone, but ended up laughing manically in our house and then jumped off a tall building, I vaguely felt that their logic was different from that of normal people.
They don't seem like the kind of people who can weigh the pros and cons so rationally.
Maybe Huang Yazi was right. Both "medicine" and "insects" were very important, and I should first regard them as some kind of fanatics.
So their act of spreading the yellow sprouts is pretty creepy if you think about it carefully.
Moreover, "Don't you find it strange? After those children took the sugar pills, they had a similar rejection reaction, and almost all of them had vomiting and diarrhea. It seems that those drugs don't seem to have much effect on the human body and can't be absorbed at all." Zhang Jia said slowly, seeming to be very cautious.
I suddenly understood what he meant and my eyelids twitched.
"You mean, those people anticipated this, so when they found out that those children were incompatible with Huang Ya, they abandoned these candidates without any regrets."
He sighed, "——But your brother was determined not to let your sister take the medicine. In front of a madman, why not just pretend to be polite and say something to deal with it? Why make it so confrontational? If you attract the attention of that group of people, won't your family be at a disadvantage because you are alone and weak?"
"It was as if he knew Xu Ping was different from other children and must not touch drugs. Even the slightest possibility must be eliminated."
I was shocked. Zhang Jia was right. I was confused as to what I was doing.
"--They are looking for a child who can react to Huang Ya."
I said, with unprecedented clarity, coldly, "Or rather, they are screening, trying to find children who are easily labeled as strange stories."
Yes, since it is "White Snow and Yellow Buds", how can only the yellow buds be useful now?
They were looking for the missing ingredient in the medicine. Including Pingping, all the children they had targeted, plus Huangya, would make the "medicine" complete.
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