The Bai family's residence is right next to the Holy Tower.
Xiao Qingyin arrived in the evening, when there was almost no one at the Holy Tower, but now there are two long queues.
The entire line was made up of patients.
The people in the other group looked fairly healthy, each carrying large and small bags, as if they were going to a market.
Xiao Qingyin asked Linglong, "What are they doing?"
Linglong pointed to the group of patients and said, "These are the ones receiving the holy water."
Then, pointing to another group, he said, "This is to fulfill a vow."
What is holy water?
"The holy water given by the Holy Spirit can cure all diseases."
Xiao Qingyin: "..."
She believed that "bags" could cure all diseases, but she didn't believe that holy water could cure all diseases.
"And what about fulfilling a vow?"
"Those who receive the holy water need to come to the Holy Tower to give thanks, which means donating money to express their gratitude for the Holy Spirit's grace and protection."
Are there any rules about how much to donate?
"Yes, receiving holy water once requires donating a quarter of your family's wealth. If you want to receive more protection from the Holy Spirit, it is best to also come to fulfill your vow on the first and fifteenth of each month."
Xiao Qingyin: "..."
This was truly the most expensive holy water she had ever heard of.
She glanced at the ragged people queuing up, then at the magnificent pagoda and the four grand architectural complexes with their carved beams and painted rafters.
He sighed inwardly: "They really eat people alive without spitting out the bones."
She asked, "How many years has your Holy Church been ruling the country?"
"Eighty years."
Xiao Qingyin sighed again.
Eighty years is enough time for them to plunder the entire country's wealth.
However, she had some doubts. Even if the people here were ignorant, several decades would have been enough time for them to see through the scam.
Why do they still believe it so strongly?
Just as I was thinking this, I heard a crying sound.
"Mother, my feet hurt so much! Why haven't they gotten better even after drinking the holy water so many times?"
Not far away, a little girl was crying to the woman beside her.
The woman patted her head and said with concern, "Perhaps your heart wasn't sincere enough. Be more sincere next time, and it will definitely work."
The little girl sobbed, "I've been very sincere. I even promised to give my favorite bamboo dragonfly to the Holy Spirit."
The woman sighed.
"Perhaps the Holy Spirit doesn't like bamboo dragonflies. Try a different one next time."
"Can I have my pitcher plant instead?"
"Yes, that's fine."
The little girl was barefoot, and Xiao Qingyin immediately noticed the blisters on the back of her feet. She frowned and walked over to the mother and daughter.
The mother and daughter suddenly saw a woman dressed as a noblewoman approaching, and their eyes both shrank back slightly.
Xiao Qingyin walked up to the girl and squatted down.
Pointing to the blisters, he asked, "Does it hurt a lot here, like it's on fire?"
The little girl said with tears in her eyes, "Yes."
Xiao Qingyin turned to Linglong and instructed her, "Bring me a basin of water."
Linglong nodded: "Okay."
She gave her companion, who was lurking in the shadows, a look before turning and leaving.
After she left, the woman asked Xiao Qingyin nervously, "What do you need us for?"
"She has dracunculiasis."
Xiao Qingyin pointed to the little girl's instep.
"She'll only get better if the worms inside are pulled out."
The woman's face changed drastically.
"Where are the bugs?!"
"Right in this blister."
Seeing that they knew nothing about dragonworm disease, Xiao Qingyin explained it to them.
"Dragon worm larvae live in water in the wild. If you drink unboiled water, the worms will enter your stomach and then burrow into your flesh to grow..."
The mature nematodes will mate inside the human body.
The male insect dies after mating, but the female insect continues to grow, eventually reaching a meter in length.
Once they become pregnant with larvae, they burrow into the back of a person's foot, releasing a substance that causes blisters on the skin, resulting in pain.
This causes the blisters to rupture, releasing the larvae.
However, after expelling the larvae, the female worm does not leave the human body and remains inside.
The little girl and the woman turned pale after hearing her explanation.
The child is only 1.2 meters tall, yet there is a worm that is 1 meter long inside his body?
The little girl cried out in terror, "Mommy, I don't want the bug! Take it away!"
The woman was at her wit's end.
The holy water has already been drunk, but it has no effect whatsoever and certainly won't cure this worm.
What should they do?
"I can help pull the bug out."
Xiao Qingyin smiled.
Linglong brought the water over just then.
She said to the little girl, "Sit down and put your feet in the water."
The little girl glanced timidly at the woman.
The woman gritted her teeth and nodded: "Then I'll leave it to you, sir."
The little girl did as Xiao Qingyin instructed, sitting on the steps next to the wooden basin and putting her blistered feet into the basin.
Xiao Qingyin broke off a thin branch from a nearby bush, popped the blister on the little girl's foot, grabbed the white thread emerging from the wound, and tied it to the branch.
Then I pressed several acupoints on the legs, rotated the branch, and slowly pulled out the white thread.
The little girl cried loudly in pain.
"Just bear with it, it will be over soon."
Xiao Qingyin comforted her.
The woman stared in horror at the white thread she was pulling, her voice trembling as she said, "This...this is the insect you were talking about?"
“Yes,” Xiao Qingyin replied, “it is a long worm that looks like a thread.”
The woman nearly fainted.
It took Xiao Qingyin about fifteen minutes to pull the whole worm out.
The little girl didn't even have the courage to look at it; she huddled in the woman's arms, trembling.
"Her wound needs some medicine, otherwise it's easy for it to get infected with bacteria, become purulent and ulcerated."
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