Chapter 143: The Little Girl Covered in Ticks
The heat in South Africa is a heat without any humidity. Even though the air conditioner in the car has been turned to the maximum, there is still dry warm wind blowing on Chu Qiao and Lu Zhan, constantly taking away the moisture from their bodies. Chu Qiao and Lu Zhan each hold a water bottle and constantly replenish water so that they can be in the best condition before surviving.
The driver turned around and said, "We'll be there soon."
The two got out of the car and stepped on the South African soil. The heat hit them in the face the moment the door opened.
A "beep" sound rang in Chu Qiao's mind.
"Congratulations, host, for reaching the starting point of this mission. The mission officially begins."
Chu Qiao nodded at Lu Zhan: "Are you ready, Doctor Lu?"
Lu Zhan smiled and said, "Let's get going."
Their starting point was a village deep in South Africa, from which they headed west across the grasslands.
Just as the two were about to turn away from the village entrance and leave.
Chu Qiao heard a sound of crying.
Intermittent, sniffling...
Chu Qiao stopped and Lu Zhan looked at her doubtfully. Chu Qiao asked, "Didn't you hear any sound?"
Lu Zhan took a few steps back. His ears pricked up. "It looks like a child."
The two looked at each other and walked towards the sound. There was no road along the way, only a small path in the grass that was vaguely worn out.
Countless mosquitoes flapped their wings in the stinking ditch on the side of the road. Chu Qiao waved his hands, but it was no use. The swarms of mosquitoes showed no intention of compromising or avoiding.
The two walked all the way to the village. There were only a few empty thatched houses in the whole village. There was no adult in sight. There were only a few children playing in the mud on the roadside.
Following the sound, they came to a dilapidated house where a little girl in tattered clothes was sitting on the ground.
The little girl was crying while slapping her arms, and two shiny marks were left on her dirty little face by her tears.
Chu Qiao squatted in front of the girl and tried to speak in the most gentle voice: "Little sister, what's wrong with you?"
The little girl raised her eyelids and looked at Chu Qiao timidly, but her hands did not stop moving. Sometimes she slapped, sometimes she scratched hard, but she did not speak.
Chu Qiao looked at Lu Zhan awkwardly, wondering if she was only attracted to animals. She didn't seem to be attracted to human cubs.
Lu Zhan walked over and patted Chu Qiao on the shoulder: "Let me do it."
Lu Zhan spoke fluent Nepali: "I'm a doctor, can you let me take a look?"
Chu Qiao's eyes widened, and she suddenly felt a little stupid. It was not that the little girl ignored her, but she spoke in Beidou language, which of course the little girl could not understand.
The little girl trembled and stretched out her arm, which was covered with marks from his scratches.
Lu Zhan looked at the girl's arms, then at her exposed calves, frowning.
Chu Qiao moved closer and clearly saw that there were many small black spots on the little girl's arms. The areas around the black spots had been almost scratched by the little girl, and there were red scars in some places, which were marks left from the past.
Chu Qiao often walks outdoors and knew it was a tick at first glance.
Lu Zhan said softly to the girl, "What's your name?"
The little girl whispered, "Moka."
Lu Zhan: "I'll help you take the bug out, okay?"
The little girl looked at Chu Qiao, then at Lu Zhan, was stunned for a long time, and nodded.
The drone zoomed in, and netizens in the live broadcast room could clearly see Heizi's little bugs drilling into Moka's flesh.
"Oh my god, what is that?"
"Master Chu, let Dr. Lu explain it to us."
"This little girl is so pitiful."
Chu Qiao looked at the girl's body and saw countless places bitten by ticks.
She squatted down and said to Lu Zhan, "I'll handle this with you."
Lu Zhan nodded: "Little Moka, is there any alcohol?"
Little Moka's eyes widened as he shook his head in confusion, obviously not knowing what alcohol was.
Chu Qiao said, "Is there a fire?"
Little Moka also shook her head: "I can only light the fire when Mom comes back."
Lu Zhan frowned. Ticks cannot be pulled out by brute force. If you do that, only the tick's body will be pulled out, and the head will remain inside the body. The remaining head will rot and become infected inside the body.
Chu Qiao did not hesitate. He quickly took out the flint from his backpack and pulled a handful of hay from the side. The flint hit the agate and sparks flew out instantly.
Lu Zhan immediately put the hay over, and the two of them worked together to make a fire much faster than Chu Qiao could alone.
Chu Qiao picked up two pointed branches and lit them. Flames burned on the branches. Chu Qiao blew out the two branches, leaving only black smoke rising continuously.
Chu Qiao handed it to Lu Zhan: "Let's start."
The two men each took one of Little Moka's arms and used a branch to get close to her tick.
When little Moka saw the smoking hot air, his body trembled and he instinctively shrank back.
Chu Qiao comforted him: "Don't be afraid, we will be very careful and we won't burn you."
But she kept struggling, moving her hands and feet around. Chu Qiao was worried that he would accidentally burn her, but he couldn't use brute force to control her like he did with Xiaoyan and Xiaodiao.
Lu Zhan touched little Moka's hair and said, "Don't worry, your brother and sister won't burn you. Let's try it once. If it doesn't work, we won't do it again, okay?"
Little Moka nodded, her hands clenched tightly.
Lu Zhan said as he carefully used a branch to burn the ticks off the girl's body.
The tick felt the heat and immediately struggled and twisted its body, crawling out of Moka's body. Chu Qiao used a branch to jump the tick off and threw it into the fire.
Little Moka gradually relaxed when he saw the insects being burned to death.
Chu Qiao and Lu Zhan took each side and worked together with increasing skill.
After dealing with more than half of the ticks, Chu Qiao finally had time to answer everyone's questions.
"This is a tick, also known as a grass tick. It's a small insect commonly found in grasslands and deserts, parasitizing livestock like cattle, horses, sheep, and camels. Ticks are both vectors and reservoirs for some zoonotic diseases."
"Don't underestimate its small size. The neurotoxins secreted in its saliva during blood-sucking can cause conduction block in the host's motor fibers, leading to ascending muscle paralysis, respiratory failure, and death."
"Also, if you find yourself bitten by this insect in the wild, never pull it out forcefully. The entire head is buried in the skin. Pulling it out forcefully will only pull out the body, and the remaining head will rot and infect the skin."
"Oh my god, this thing is disgusting."
"Do I have to perm him out like you guys do?"
Chu Qiao shook his head: "You can also apply alcohol. If you really don't have any tools, you can also pat the area near the skin where the insect is sucking blood. This way, the insect can't stand the vibration and will come out.
There were too many ticks on the little girl's body, and the sight of them was so dense and swarming that it was frightening. By the time the two of them had dealt with the ticks, the sun had already set.
Chu Qiao shrugged his shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief: "Finally it's done. The living environment here is too harsh."
Lu Zhan glanced at the children around him and said, "It's also necessary for other children."
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