Smiling Edward

With a sense of familiarity, Kraft continued flipping through the pages. The content that followed was better suited for the fantasy or occult sections.

White Fluid, as the book claimed, was a viscous and cold liquid existing within a patient's brain and spinal cord. It possessed sedative and stabilizing qualities and served as the foundation for the birth of thought. Therefore, once the White Fluid was compromised, a person would exhibit clear changes in their mental state.

Mild cases resulted in lethargy and drowsiness, while severe cases led to incoherent speech and an inability to control one's movements. When the White Fluid was exhausted, the final stage was reached: the person would fall into a coma, unable to maintain even the most minimal level of consciousness.

Considering that White Fluid was a cold liquid, the conclusion drawn was that high fever would damage the White Fluid and constantly consume it. To recall a patient's consciousness, one had to use various methods to lower their temperature and promote the generation of White Fluid.

At the same time, because it was observed that the White Fluid of some patients with high fever and delirium would turn yellow and turbid, the author believed that the high fever was causing the White Fluid to transform into Yellow Fluid, thereby reducing the amount of White Fluid.

As for why it transformed into Yellow Fluid, that was because Yellow Fluid was a warm and dry liquid. It was produced in the liver and stored in the gallbladder, representing the body's active energy.

This liquid was considered to be related to digestive capacity; food was broken down and absorbed in the warm Yellow Fluid, providing the energy necessary for a person to survive.

Furthermore, the meticulous author observed a phenomenon: some patients exhibited symptoms of rough, yellowed skin and yellowing of the whites of the eyes. In traditional theory, this was caused by an excess of Yellow Fluid in the body. However, such patients would also show symptoms of malnutrition and edema, as well as anorexia, abdominal distension, and diarrhea after eating greasy food. This completely conflicted with the theory.

It seemed somewhat correct, but not entirely. Kraft began to scratch his head. The paper and pen had been sitting to the side for a while, but he hadn't written a single word.

If he wrote it down, it felt like a waste of paper; if he didn't, he wasn't quite used to it.

It had to be said that although this ancient theory was full of holes, its simple associative logic actually made it quite easy to remember. As long as no one used this stuff to treat him, he could just treat it as a joke.

Finally, looking at Black Fluid, it was something for which Kraft could find no corresponding existence at all. It was a heavy liquid that played the role of an inhibitor in the body, opposing all active attributes.

When there was too much Black Fluid, a person would exhibit depression and low spirits. People naturally born with a higher proportion of Black Fluid were generally calm and restrained, appearing somewhat indifferent, and such people often did not live long.

All liquids, upon gradually losing their properties, transformed into Black Fluid, just as everything would eventually enter death. If the Black Fluid reached a certain threshold, the balance would be completely destroyed, and the human body would irreversibly slide toward deathly silence, with all physiological activities terminated.

This was also considered the mechanism of death—that is, everything, whether fast or slow, entered an inert, unchanging state until the portion of Black Fluid broke through the critical point, putting an end to everything.

Based on the different properties of these liquids, it was only natural to reach a more classic step: the author, based on the concept that man is the core of the world, mapped the four liquids to the four basic elements.

The active Red Fluid corresponded to fire, which meant change and high fever.

White Fluid corresponded to water, constantly running but following fixed paths.

Yellow Fluid was consistent with airflow and wind, both being neutral, balanced, and gentle components.

Black Fluid corresponded to the heavy earth, where all movement would fall into slumber, returning from motion to stillness.

Just like that, a system was built, and the remaining content was the derivation and argumentation regarding diseases and the changes in the four fluids.

"Forget it, let's look at the next one." Kraft closed the book and set it aside. He seemed to have found the source of the theoretical basis for bloodletting therapy. It was probably just that the balance of body fluids had been broken, so they adjusted this balance by making openings in different places and letting some out, right? Mix in some claims about draining corrupt blood to expel harmful factors, and you had the most popular treatment method currently in existence.

With a slight headache, Kraft took out the next book.

This was a book titled Human Anatomy. Judging by the name, it might be something similar to Systemic Anatomy, except that The Church did not allow anyone to touch corpses, and mainstream social thought absolutely did not recognize the act of dissecting a body to observe its structure; such behavior was a one-way ticket to the stake.

So, the author of this book was either a speculator or a thorn in the side of the Inquisition; even a highway robber would be considered timid compared to him.

But then again, in a place like Wenden Port, it was good enough that the people of The Church could clean the bird droppings off Saint Simon Square. For so many years, let alone burning at the stake, they hadn't even lit a torch in the square. As long as the author wasn't dissecting in the middle of the street, no one would probably care.

The opening didn't get straight to the point, but instead symbolically stated that the book was the author's empirical advice, derived from research and comparison of a large number of predecessors' works and his own medical experience, used to save the lives bestowed by the gods, with absolutely no disrespectful acts toward the bodies of the deceased.

As for what works were referenced and what medical experience led him to such insights, the author stated:

It has been too long, I have already forgotten.

Sure enough, flipping to the first illustration, one knew that disclaimers were always meant to fool ghosts. Although not as detailed as the anatomical charts formed after great developments, this full-body diagram, half bone and half muscle, still basically and completely explained the human movement system, even thoughtfully separating the abdominal muscles from outside to inside, drawn in a layered, peeled-back fashion. The internal and external intercostal muscles distributed between the ribs had even clearer texture patterns.

Flipping through the book rather roughly, Kraft discovered that this should be the first volume, mainly discussing how bones and muscles constituted the human movement system. Each part was described with corresponding pictures, analyzing the relationship between the movements a person made and muscle contraction.

The person who drew the original illustrations must have put in a lot of effort. They must have watched at the scene of the dissection, or perhaps it was the author himself drawing sketches while dissecting. There were special emphasis marks and additional notes on the attachment points of the muscles to prevent them from being misplaced due to misunderstandings by copyists during the transcription process.

In this handwritten copy in Kraft's hands, which was who knows which edition, the author's original intent was still accurately expressed. Movements and their corresponding muscle group actions were mapped one-to-one, so even a beginner could understand the crux of movement disorders.

And the third book was, naturally, the second volume of Human Anatomy, which recounted the morphology and distribution of internal organs and blood vessels.

The author implicitly hinted that he had confirmed a part of the correctness of the Four Humors theory in terms of structure in a quite credible way. As for what way, it was once again omitted and left undiscussed.

In short, he acknowledged that clear White Fluid did indeed exist in the brain and spinal cord, and confirmed that Yellow Fluid originated in the liver, was stored in the gallbladder, and had a pathway leading to the intestines. It was just that Black Fluid had yet to be discovered by him.

With this foundation, this pioneer believed that traditional theory was not without reason, at least confirming its reliability within a certain range.

In addition, after analyzing the blood vessels, he innovatively proposed a brand-new line of thought: that Red Fluid could actually be divided into two types, flowing within different blood vessels.

One type of vessel wall was relatively tough and thick, while the other was relatively thin and weak with a larger lumen—translated, this meant arteries and veins. But here, his line of thought went off the rails again.

Because the blood vessels of the individual organs in the abdominal cavity all converged into the liver, he felt that the liver might be the governing organ of the venous system, while the arteries all belonged to the heart, leading to the view that two organs jointly dominated the Red Fluid.

The final chapter of the book returned to Black Fluid. Given that the aforementioned things did indeed exist and could be compared with the Four Humors theory, the author believed that perhaps his work had some shortcomings, which was why he hadn't filled in this final piece of the puzzle.

It was also possible that the Four Humors theory had been passed down for too long, and in repeated transcriptions, it had long since differed from the original, with deviations constantly being amplified until later generations could not understand it. The contradiction in the Four Humors theory where an excess of Yellow Fluid caused patient anorexia was not an isolated case, which showed that his guess was not without merit.

Black Fluid might be a special existence among them; "black" was used solely for naming and did not literally refer to the color. Or perhaps it was simply the embodiment of the concept of stillness and inhibition, not a specific substance that existed, but rather something he had not yet realized the true nature of, requiring more in-depth research to find the answer.

The two volumes of Human Anatomy ended abruptly here, with a mark different from that of the Wenden Port Medical School left at the end. When the creator of a manuscript copied and traced various works, they would always leave this mark indicating the author's identity out of respect for the author.

A mindful learner would have no trouble seeing that it was a fifth cervical vertebra revealing a strange smile; in the cone-shaped hole that looked like a grinning mouth, there remained the author's sloppy, unknown-if-real signature: Edward.