Capítulo 1548: Chapter 1547: Tracing the Source of the Infectious Disease Virus
Ye Qiu learned nearly everything he could from the old grandmother, and after grabbing a stick, he prepared to head up the mountain with Zhou Wenting and Wen Xin.
The elderly grandmother was a bit worried about the safety of the three, as this stretch of mountains was vast. Besides the nearby peaks where people herded cattle and sheep, the more distant areas were practically uncharted.
Moreover, the mountains were teeming with poisonous creatures like snakes, scorpions, spiders, and centipedes as long as two fingers. Only the villagers with remarkable courage would dare venture up there.
However, the snake catcher Li Laoliu had died a few days ago, Ma Sanpao was also dead, and the other villagers were in quarantine.
Ye Qiu walked ahead with the stick, followed by Wen Xin and Zhou Wenting. Although the two won were a bit frightened, having Ye Qiu by their side bolstered their courage.
After a long walk, Ye Qiu and the two won noticed the stone paths along the way, clearly remnants from those who had co before.
This piqued Ye Qiu’s curiosity, making him wonder just how bustling this village once was, and why so many people died after the outbreak of the epidemic the old grandmother ntioned.
Ye Qiu couldn’t figure it out, let alone anyone else.
If it were still as lively nowadays, Ye Qiu thought the village’s scenery would be quite delightful. But now, with no developnt, it was all endless forests and bamboo groves, with the only sound being the chirping of birds.
As they followed the narrow path upwards, carved out by the cattle and sheep herded by the locals like Ma Sanpao, the stone path eventually disappeared.
From this, Ye Qiu realized that perhaps there used to be houses around here, and the place was once bustling with activity.
“Wenting, Wen Xin, do you believe that a lot of people once passed through here?”
“Of course, I believe it, but hearing you say that gives the creeps,” Wen Xin replied.
“Wen Xin, you’re a nurse! What are you afraid of? Aren’t people dying every day at the Affiliated Hospital?”
“I’m not scared to see it, but just the thought is frightening,” Wen Xin said.
In fact, underground in Jinling, even more people may have died, and although Wen Xin hadn’t experienced anything more terrifying, it was just psychological.
Ye Qiu held her hand as they continued uphill.
Of course, at first, Ye Qiu used his stick to thrash the grass on the ground.
Obviously, Professor Zhang hadn’t done this, leading to him being bitten by a venomous pit viper.
Now, after beating the grass, any venomous snakes would usually slither away on their own.
Climbing further uphill, after about two hundred ters, they saw a large grassy area, resembling a mountain basin, surrounded by high peaks.
The whole area was littered with cow and sheep dung, likely fertilizing the wild grass to grow lusher.
“Ye Qiu, Professor Zhang might have been bitten by the venomous snake here,” Zhou Wenting said.
“They had only just discovered this place, it must have been here.”
Logically, the first person to die from the infectious disease, Ma Sanpao, and his cattle had died. This place was likely the farthest they had reached, suggesting the source of the infectious disease might be nearby.
However, Ye Qiu saw that this place wasn’t much different from others. If Professor Zhang hadn’t been bitten by the snake, Ye Qiu wouldn’t have co here first.
“Could the source of the infectious disease be here?” Zhou Wenting suggested.
“Let’s have a look first!” Ye Qiu circled the area with his stick and found the basin quite large, with a pond at the top. There were mosquitoes, but whether there were fish in the pond was unknown.
Zhou Wenting and Wen Xin both felt besieged by mosquitoes, thankful they had worn long pants; otherwise, it would have been unbearable.
Ye Qiu circled the pond but didn’t find anything for now.
It was unclear whether Ma Sanpao passed the disease to his cattle, or vice versa.
If the cattle infected Ma Sanpao, then it was likely that this was the furthest the cattle and sheep had gone.
After all, it was improbable that they would climb higher, and there was grass to eat and pond water to drink here.
“Ye Qiu, co here and look at this, what is it?”
Zhou Wenting pointed to so green creatures swimming in the pond, prompting Ye Qiu to recognize them as water leeches.
“These are water leeches, from the mountains, so big!” Ye Qiu was genuinely surprised, as they were at least thirty centiters long, with the thickness of a finger, and he wondered whose blood they had been sucking.
“Leeches?”
Both Zhou Wenting and Wen Xin were terrified to hear it, knowing these creatures were bloodsuckers.
Ye Qiu, seeing these leeches, imagined the potential for cattle and sheep to be bitten if they ca here to drink water.
Was it possible that the infectious disease was transmitted via the leeches?
If so, these leeches might be quite valuable for research.
He wondered whether Professor Zhang and the other researchers had found the leeches here.
“I’ll find sothing to catch them, to check if these leeches carry the virus of the infectious disease.”
Zhou Wenting was surprised at how quickly Ye Qiu arrived at that conclusion, though the leeches were indeed repulsive.
Using a bottle of mineral water Zhou Wenting had brought, Ye Qiu used a stick to catch a few leeches, placing them in the bottle. When he handed it to Zhou Wenting, she said, “I won’t hold it; just seeing it makes nauseous.”
Ye Qiu had to carry the bottle himself, surveying the area to find no other suspicious animals.
Though he suspected the venomous snakes might carry the virus, he knew they generally carried large parasites, but the virus was uncertain.
He hadn’t spotted any venomous snakes yet, and didn’t know where the one that bit Professor Zhang had gone.
“Ye Qiu, let’s go back down!” Zhou Wenting suggested.
“Not so fast,” he replied, “we’ve just arrived.”
And Ye Qiu believed it wouldn’t be so easy to find the source of the infectious disease so quickly.
Looking up at the mountains ahead, a range of six to seven hundred ters, he saw many Shandong flying in and out. No path led further; for one person, it was fine, but bringing the two girls along up further might be challenging.
“I want to check out those mountain caves!”
“Ye Qiu, those caves are high and far away; how do we get there?”
“Just follow later,” he said.
For Zhou Wenting, a lady from the Zhou Family, although she had hiked before, such terrain was entirely new.
User Comments
0 comments from readers