221. Windfall
Mars Kuhn left with his brother and nearly a thousand surviving sailors. We agreed not to violate each other from now on. Of course, we all understand that this promise is not worth a penny, and it is nothing more than a balance based on strength.
Old Tucker and Mavie talked a lot. Both of them were a little absent-minded at this time, but they both controlled themselves with strong self-control and would not do anything that was unfavorable.
I know that Old Tucker wanted to fly to the Mediterranean at this time to find his only relative in the world - his granddaughter Christina. But even if the journey from here to the Mediterranean is smooth, it will take several months, not to mention that everything is difficult to tell, so it is really hard to control in time, and there is no hurry to do this few days.
But I made a promise to Old Tucker that we would rush to the West as quickly as possible, as long as there is no ties on the road, it is actually very fast.
Old Tucker nodded gratefully. I think if Mavie had just given him a small boat, he would have taken the lead on his own. Has Old Tucker experienced strong winds and waves or could he be stable?
In the next few days, I ordered all staff to rest on the spot. On the other hand, I also had to repair the newly acquired five large three-masted sailboats in Beihai, and to be simple and familiar with them, so that I can feel at ease when going to sea.
At this time, I also encountered a problem of scratching my head - there were too many wounded people, and a doctor, Rodriguez, was in a hurry to deal with it. Moreover, the southern hemisphere is now midsummer, and the weather is extremely hot. Under the current medical conditions, the wounded people's recovery is extremely slow, and some people even have recurrences!
Rodriguez was also helpless. This was the first time he faced so many patients at the same time, and most of them were muskets and artillery injuries, which were particularly difficult to recover. If he took them back to Manila now, he would be afraid that the environment at sea would be even more difficult to recover!
After thinking about it, I had no better way. But Old Tax thought for a while and suddenly said with little certainty: "Captain, I have been walking in this area for many years. It is said that there is an indigenous village on the other end of the island. I heard that there is a famous miracle doctor inside."
Mavi pondered for a moment, frowned and said, "You mean...Doctor Mamahadi? I have also heard his legend. His traditional Chinese medicine is very powerful. It is said that he can produce bones and live dead people! I don't know if it is true."
I was surprised and said, "There is such a magical doctor? Where is it? Take us to find him!"
Old Tucker nodded and said, "According to legend, this miraculous doctor Mamahadi lives in seclusion on the eastern end of this island! It takes three days to walk there, and only half a day to take a boat."
So I ordered a boat to reach the eastern end of the island as fast as possible and to invite the legendary magical doctor.
Negros Island was not big. Our ship arrived day and night and soon arrived at the eastern end of the island. After getting off the boat, he spread his hands and searched everywhere. He soon found a secluded native tribe in a sea-back bay.
Looking at these people living with grass, I suddenly remembered the Peach Blossom Land described by Tao Yuanming. This place is really a paradise far away from the hustle and bustle! The houses are not big, the main structure is made of wood, and the roof is covered with tiles made of bamboo. The surrounding grain fields are connected by fields, and chickens and dogs are heard from each other.
The children were playing around in shorts. When they saw outsiders coming, they screamed and ran home. Soon, many people came out of the village and looked at us with some alert expressions.
A man who looked like a village chief walked out, walked a few meters away from us and stopped, and asked us in the local language what he said. I definitely didn't understand this, but fortunately, Mawei, a local, also answered the other party in the local language. The village chief suddenly looked much more respectful, and seemed to be very grateful to him and looked up and down a few times, then nodded and made a gesture of invitation.
I asked the brigade of men to stay in the village, and I led a dozen people to walk in with the village chief. On the way, I asked Mavi softly: "What did you tell the village chief? Why did his expression and attitude change immediately?"
Mavi smiled bitterly and said lightly: "I told the name of the kingdom before, and I told him that I am the prince Mavi. The village chief actually remembers me! So I am no longer prepared."
I couldn't help but be amazed. Human feelings and worldly ways are really suitable for everyone. It has nothing to do with ability. The only relevant factor is opportunity...
When they entered the village, the villagers heard that the prince of the former king had returned, and they all ran out of the house and stood two rows along the village path, looking at us with admiration. Many of them saluted us, but their movements were very inconsistent. Almost everyone smiled, and their eyes were full of friendlyness. These simple indigenous people were so pure!
On the way, Mavi had already told the village chief about our purpose, and the village chief was not vague and immediately took us to the home of the witch doctor Mamahadi.
To be honest, when I heard the word "witch doctor", I still muttered in my heart, and I always felt that this thing was unreliable. But Mavi and Old Tucker were full of confidence, especially Old Tucker, whose words were very obscure, as if he had the meaning of this relationship with this witch doctor.
The witch doctor's home is not the largest in the village, but it must be the highest because it has a second floor! Of course, it cannot be said to be the second floor in the true sense, but a loft is built on the first floor, but even so, it is already a high-tech that ordinary people in the village cannot reach.
I asked everyone to stay outside the house. I brought Jiugui Zhengxiao, Mavi and Old Tucker into the house with the village chief. The witch doctor seemed to have known that we were coming and was sitting in the main hall waiting for us.
After I walked in and bowed, I looked at the witch doctor a few times. She was thin, aged, but her eyes were bright! She was wearing a robe in linen and had a pendant chain made of skulls of unknown animals hanging around her neck. The whole house was gloomy and there were all kinds of indescribable and unknown things, but the strange ones did not smell, which made people inexplicably different.
When he saw us coming in, he bowed his head slightly and waited for the village chief to explain our purpose in local language. Mamahadi was silent for a long time, but his eyes were fixed on me. His eyes were neither sad nor happy, and seemed to penetrate everything.
Suddenly, he opened his shriveled lips and spoke: "Young man from Middle Earth! Your door to fate is in the west. To find your own destiny, you must go west! Go west! Don't stay here for a long time!"
He actually spoke Chinese! I was so surprised! Just as I was about to ask, Mamahadi raised his hand to stop me, he continued, "No wonder! My ancestors were originally Han people. When my ancestors went to sea with the eunuch of the Three Treasures, they had a private relationship with the female official on the ship. When they walked here, the female official was about to give birth. According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, there was no blood in the ship, so my ancestors and husband got off the ship here and came to this village."
I said a long sigh and said in surprise: "I didn't expect that there would be such an opportunity! I could actually meet people from my hometown here!"
Mamahadi smiled slightly. Although it was even worse than crying, her tone was warmer: "Young man, sit down and talk! I have medicine here, and there is nothing to treat you!"
We nodded and sat down, sat around Mamahadi for a while, and then he continued to speak in a strange voice: "I know what you are here. I have a herb here, which is most suitable for external trauma. If you take internal and external application, you will definitely get better in seven days!" After that, he pointed to a large cabinet in the corner of the supplies and signaled to us.
I asked with some embarrassment: "We have been injured for a hundred people. I wonder if the amount of the available medicine is enough?"
Mamahadi smiled tiredly and said, "For so many years, I have been alone and idle, so I have stockpiled a lot of medicinal materials, refined them into medicines and stored them here. Not to mention a hundred people, a few times more is enough! Since you are here, let's divide half of them! The rest will be left to the villagers. I am gone in the future, so they can have a medicine to retain."
I frowned and said, "Senior, where are you going? I'm going to go to sea. I wonder if I can help?"
Mamahadi smiled slightly and said softly: "Young people are enthusiastic, but you can't help with my place for the time being - what I want to go to is the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, just go there alone! I dare not bother to send you off!"
I couldn't help but ask in surprise: "What do you say? Seniors are very energetic, but why do you say this?"
Mamahadi smiled faintly and said, "I am already ninety-three years old this year, and I have a very high life span in this life. I have been enlightened for many years, so I naturally know that the deadline is coming. Young people, there is no need to make a fuss about this fact. It is just a matter of life and old age, sickness and death!"
I lowered my head and silently, not knowing how to describe my mood at this moment. The elder who had just met just now said frankly that his deadline was approaching and he was about to die. I was speechless and could only sigh. After a long time, I asked, "I don't know what wishes I have, I will help me fulfill them."
Mamahadi glanced at Old Tucker, smiled slightly and said, "Your feet are ready?"
Old Tucker cussed and said, "Okay! I also want to thank you for your help back then, otherwise tetanus alone would be enough to kill my life!"
Mamahadi did not answer, but just smiled slightly and looked at me and said, "It is an opportunity to meet people from Middle Earth at this time. You have a friendship with my ancients, which is a fate. Young people, I have practiced medicine for a lifetime and have no other accumulation. The only thing I can't bear to give up at this moment is the experience of practicing medicine written by myself in the past few decades!"
After saying that, he twisted his body, opened a small suitcase on his left, and took out a stack of notebooks from it. It can be seen that these notebooks are quite old, and they should be something his ancestors brought from the Ming Dynasty. It is impossible for the local area to have such advanced papermaking technology.
Mamahadi gently patted the notebooks and said with a smile: "I studied medicine with my father at the age of five, started my teacher at the age of nineteen, and practiced medicine for seventy-four years. All my experiences are recorded here. Well, look at this!"
As he said that, he took out the bottom book and handed it to me. When I took it and looked carefully, the handwriting on it was almost gone, but I could still see a few words "Shanghai Miscellaneous Diseases"! It was Zhang Zhongjing's work!
Seeing that I was serious, Mamahadi smiled and handed me a bunch of his experience notes, and said softly: "When I was young, I went out to sea with my father and wandered in the ocean for more than ten years. In my opinion, the prescription of the Medical Saint is worth ten thousand gold, but one place is water and soil to nourish one place, and the other place is water and soil to nurture the other things. The herbs and soil overseas are very different from the Central Plains, so I sorted out and wrote down these experiences. If you want to go out to sea, you must be able to use it!"
As he said that, he pointed at one by one: "This is the experience around Indians, this is the experience south of Qiusaro. The people there are quite dark and very interesting. This is the experience of practicing medicine in Western places, and I believe it is the most useful to you!"
I was immediately overjoyed. In this era, my biggest enemy was injuries and illness. The conditions at sea were harsh. Once I had serious illness and strange diseases, I could only wait for death. Every year, the bodies of non-combat-abundant sailors at sea were thrown into the sea. If the conditions were good, they might shoot a few shots for him. If the conditions were bad, it would be a problem of splashing water.
And with these experiences, it’s different! I have to find a Chinese medicine doctor, preferably younger, and give these experiences to him. From then on, there will be a layer of guarantee for going overseas, right?
While I was happy, I remembered something again and asked, "Senior! Is this experience a rubbing?"
Mamahadi smiled strangely and said, "Where is the time to make rubbings? They are just lonely books!"
I couldn't help but frown and said, "Old book? Then this is so precious! I took it away. How can your successor learn? How can locals seek medical treatment?"
Mamahadi couldn't help but smile a strange smile and shook his head and said, "My experience is written in Chinese characters, but no one in the village can recognize Chinese characters except me! I went to sea all year round, and my only child died on the sea, and there were no descendants. If these experiences are left here, it would be a real waste. If you take them away, at least they are really useful!"
So that's it, I couldn't help but be speechless. After a long time, I said, "Since that's the case, I will arrange for people to send some fashionable medicines from time to time!"
Mamahadi was very happy and clasped his hands together and said, "So good! Young man, remember my words, go west! Go west! Don't stop!"
After saying that, he closed his hands together, slowly closed his eyes, and smiled and said the last sentence: "After I die, please bring my heart back to Middle Earth!"
Chapter completed!