Folk Remedy for Fever Reduction (Please Recommend and Bookmark)

"We also have stone basins with lids and small stone basins. If you want them, you can trade boys for them." After the Water Jar trade was finished, the Elder had Stone take out the Pottery Pot he was carrying, along with the two remaining Pottery Bowls.

Baldy was stunned. How did they have so many beautiful stone basins? This one even had two handles and a stone lid. What was it for?

Following Luo Chong's instructions, the Elder told them that it could boil water and cook meat. He had Baldy's people bring over a jar of water and some Dried Meat, then set up firewood. One-Ear personally taught them how to cook the meat.

The Dried Meat was cut into small pieces, mixed with clear water and two Salt Stones, then set over the fire. In less than twenty minutes, the rich fragrance of Meat Broth drifted from the pot, making everyone around it swallow hard.

Luo Chong had only taught them this that morning. Even One-Ear and the others had never tasted it themselves. Now it seemed their Chieftain really was incredible—so meat could be eaten like this.

One-Ear lifted the lid, ladled half a bowl of Meat Broth into a Pottery Bowl, then used a twig to pick out several chunks of stewed meat and put them in the bowl. He handed it to Baldy and told him to drink slowly.

Baldy hesitated before taking a small sip. He squinted and smacked his lips. Mm, it was really fragrant.

The salty Meat Broth shimmered with a beautiful layer of oil. The stewed meat was tender, flavorful, and juicy. One bite made his whole body feel comfortable; he did not even feel cold without animal hides on. Delicious. So meat could be eaten like this, and stone basins could be used like this. If they had a bowl of Meat Broth on a snowy day, perhaps no one would ever freeze to death again.

Trade. They had to trade. What were a few children? Trade them away. Children could not hunt; they could only pull grass. What was the point of keeping them? They only wasted food.

After finishing the Meat Broth, Baldy finally became generous. He readily handed over the people, then had his underlings carry out a large sack of Salt Stones, filling Big Strength's Back Basket to the brim.

According to Luo Chong's requirements, they had traded for two adult women, two nearly grown boys, four girls, and a large sack of salt—that was, Salt Stones. The mission had been completed beyond expectations. The other side had even thrown in a dying child.

The Elder was very satisfied, and Baldy was very satisfied too. He only felt that the lidded stone basin was a little too small. There were so many people in the tribe; it simply was not enough.

Just then, the Elder gave him some satisfying news.

"If you want more stone basins like this, you can come to our tribe and trade Salt Stones or people for them. The price will remain the same." After saying that, the Elder and his group left. Otherwise, they would not make it back before dark.

There had been seven people in the group when they came. With the nine people they had acquired, there were now sixteen on the return trip. Their gains had been plentiful—far better than a day of hunting.

The group hurried along and finally returned to the Han Tribe by evening.

At the cave entrance stood the four Water Jars, four pots, and a large stack of big bowls that Lame had fired that day. Lame stared at the pottery with a foolish grin. This was the happiest day of his life.

The women who had gone fishing had also returned. There were many people today, and they had caught a great deal of fish. There was also a strange phenomenon: several hundred fish caught today were exactly alike. They had tiny scales, round bodies, pointed heads, and red bodies, and they had swum upstream from the lower reaches of Small River.

Luo Chong initially judged them to be sea fish similar to salmon, swimming upstream into freshwater every autumn to lay eggs. The school was enormous, filling the river everywhere. He had no idea how far this place was from the sea.

Several hundred large fish, each half an arm long, hung together to dry in the wind. It was quite a spectacular sight. The women all beamed. This was meat—they could catch meat too.

When the Elder led the group back, this was the sight that greeted them. The adults and children they had traded for were dumbfounded. So many stone basins! They had been traded away for stone basins today, yet this tribe had so many more. They could probably trade for every person in their tribe with these.

And those strange pieces of meat hanging there—no legs, no fur. Were those edible too? It seemed joining this tribe would not be bad at all. Thinking of that delicious basin of Meat Broth from the morning, even though they had not tasted it, they still felt it must be the best thing in the world. Had they not seen Chieftain Baldy's blissful expression?

The Elder led the people to report to Luo Chong. Eight naked people and one naked child. Damn, were they really that stingy? Couldn't they at least throw in a set of animal-hide clothes when selling people? Why had they all come back naked?

The newcomers were all shocked. The Chieftain of the tribe they were about to join was actually a child. His hair was tied up, and the only thing setting him apart from everyone else was the bone stuck through his hair.

Luo Chong narrowed his eyes and smiled as he walked past them one by one. Each of them was skin and bones, malnourished at a glance—clearly inferior goods. But it did not matter. He had plenty of meat. He would fatten them up over one winter.

Finally, he stopped before the woman holding the child and examined them closely. The child did not move at all, and his face was very red. Luo Chong frowned and touched the child's forehead. It was as hot as a Small Stove. A high fever.

Luo Chong hurriedly called out, "Pack up. Go home and make dinner." Then he tugged the woman into the cave.

First, he found an animal hide and wrapped the mother and child in it, then had them sit beside the Fire Pit to warm themselves. Luo Chong paced anxiously nearby.

Fever reduction, fever reduction. Analgin, Cephalosporin... damn it, there's nothing. Even for physical cooling, I don't have any alcohol. What do I do? What do I do?

There was no Western medicine, so what about Chinese medicine? Chinese medicine for reducing fever... right, Gua Sha. Gua Sha could reduce fever. Back in his hometown when he was little, he had seen his grandfather, who was also his master, treat people.

Gua Sha could be done with a jade pendant or a cow-horn scraping board. He had neither, but a piece of bone should work, right? As soon as he thought of it, he acted.

First, he set a pot of clear Fish Soup to simmer beside the Fire Pit, then went to find a bone suitable for Gua Sha. There were no cow horns, but Luo Chong had Terror Bird bones. That Terror Bird's Big Mouth was a full half meter long. Wasn't that perfect for Gua Sha? A natural bone scraper. He only needed to smash off a small piece.

The tribespeople were all collecting dried fish, boiling water, and cooking, while Luo Chong was deep in the cave, clanging away as he smashed the bird beak.

The woman holding the child had no idea what he was doing. She only knew that this Young Chieftain treated her better than Baldy had. He had given her and her son an animal hide and let them warm themselves beside the Fire Pit. But he had just touched her child and then frowned. Would he make her throw the child away too? Tears silently flowed from the woman's eyes as she grieved for her child. She was not very old, and this was her first child.

As she cried, Luo Chong walked up to her holding a yellow fragment of bird beak.

"Don't cry. I can help save him. Give me the child." Luo Chong crouched before her as he spoke.

Unfortunately, she could not understand a word of Luo Chong's Mandarin. Fear filled her eyes. This Chieftain seemed to be telling her to give him the child.

Damn it, time was life. I can't just keep wasting time like this. Luo Chong gathered a pile of straw and spread it beside the woman, then laid an animal hide over it. Smiling, he pointed at the child and patted the bed he had just made.

This time, the woman understood. She gently laid the child from her arms onto it, then looked at Luo Chong again. The Chieftain had made such a luxurious bed. Surely he was not going to throw the child away? And the Chieftain's smile was so kind.

I examine you thrice each day: Have you recommended? Have you bookmarked? Have you commented? No? Then hurry up... (ToT)