The Last Taoist

Chapter 2

Strange Disease

The scream was made by none other than the third aunt who was already asleep.

Before the little aunt fell asleep, everything was normal. In the second half of the night, the third aunt heard the sound of OO@@ getting up in a daze. She thought it was Xiu who was going to get up at night. This child usually didn't get up at night to pee, so why did she get up tonight? With the help of the moonlight outside the window, she saw the nine-year-old Xiu climbed out of bed. She thought her sister just got up to pee, so she didn't care, so she turned around and continued to sleep.

After about a cigarette, the third aunt was suddenly awakened, because she didn't feel the movement of her sister returning to the quilt, so she turned her head to see.

It didn't matter that she turned her head, the third aunt saw the most terrifying scene in her life. The sister in front of the window was kneeling facing the moon outside the window. A shiver completely woke up the still confused third aunt. She straightened her clothes and deliberately coughed with courage, but there was no response. The third aunt has been very timid since she was a child. A mouse can scare her half to death.

The third aunt gently called to the little aunt: "Xiu." But the kneeling sister still did not respond at all.

The third aunt shouted again loudly: "Xiu, what's wrong with you?" The sister still did not respond.

She hurriedly got out of bed, not even bothering to put on her shoes, and went downstairs to see her sister. The third aunt took a few steps barefoot towards the kneeling sister, put her hand on her back and tried to turn her sister, but found that the sister who was usually weak could not be turned by her. With the help of the moonlight, the third aunt went around to the front and saw the most unforgettable scene in her life. The kneeling sister chewed a white candle in her mouth for lighting.

At that time, there was often no electricity in the countryside, so everyone had to always use candles instead of electric lights, and they were reluctant to use them.

At this moment, the aunt was chewing a candle in her mouth, her face was pale, her eyes were dull and lifeless, and she stared at the moon motionlessly. The third aunt was so scared that she screamed the loudest in her life: "Ah..." This scream woke up the grandparents and the uncle who had not yet married, and also woke up the disaster that the aunt had predicted when she was born. When the grandfather ran to their room in his coat, the third aunt was speechless. With a snap, the moment the light was turned on, the aunt had fainted on the ground, and the bite marks on the candle next to her were clearly visible. When the grandfather picked up the little aunt, he was also shocked by her face and the candle in her mouth. The whole family turned their attention to the third aunt who fell to the ground. Grandma pulled up the third aunt: "What's going on? What happened to your sister?" The third aunt was so scared that she couldn't speak at the time. Only her trembling body and chattering teeth told everyone that she seemed to have seen a very terrifying scene. Grandpa picked up the unconscious aunt and put her on the bed, while grandma held the trembling third aunt. The little black dog held by the 12-year-old uncle started barking wildly after entering the room. The non-stop barking was a bit annoying. Grandma impatiently asked the uncle to take the dog out, but the dog barked outside the door again after it went out, but didn't come in.

Grandma might have been a little annoyed by the barking, so she shouted at the dog: "Bark again, I'll kill you!" Strangely enough, after the shouting, the black dog was actually scared to pee, and then ran back to the doghouse with its tail between its legs.

After a while, the gradually calmed third aunt told grandpa and grandma about what she saw, which made grandpa and grandma's hair stand on end. After the third aunt finished speaking, she couldn't help crying again, but grandma covered her mouth with her hand: "Don't cry!"

The third aunt could only suppress her fear and snorted. After a while, the little aunt began to move in a daze, and then began to vomit, vomiting wildly. The things she vomited were mixed with fishy smells, including the candles she had just eaten and the dinner that was already half-digested. It was really colorful and disgusting.

My grandmother actually knew a little about folk medicine. It was so late and there was nothing she could do, so she made Kuding tea for the little aunt to drink. I also drank this Kuding tea at my grandmother's house when I was a child. It is very effective in treating children's stomach upset. Specifically, the outer layer of chicken gizzard skin is dried, and tea leaves are added to the iron plate and roasted. After roasting, grind it and drink it with water. It can eliminate the child's food accumulation. It is said to have the effect of expelling evil spirits and aiding digestion. It is really effective.

Grandma fed aunt bitter gourd tea according to the folk method of indigestion, but aunt clenched her teeth tightly and couldn't swallow it. Occasionally, she vomited out the little bit she swallowed.

Finally, there was no other way, so grandma asked grandpa to pinch aunt's mouth open, asked uncle to hold her kicking feet, and forced her to drink a lot.

After drinking the bitter gourd tea, aunt was quiet for a while, but third aunt didn't dare to sleep anymore, so grandpa and grandma stayed in aunt's room to accompany her to sleep, and asked third aunt and uncle to sleep in their room.

At this time, aunt was a little sober, and after a while, she stopped vomiting, and started to have diarrhea again. She tossed and turned until dawn, and was sent to the town's health center early the next morning.

The staff at the health center said that she might have eaten something bad, so they gave my aunt an IV drip for acute gastroenteritis. As soon as the nurse inserted the needle into my aunt's arm, my aunt pulled it away. She refused to cooperate with the doctor's treatment. Finally, the doctor had no choice but to use a buttock injection. My grandfather had to hold her tightly to prevent her from moving. After a long time of tossing and turning, my aunt still kept complaining. The doctor at the town health center suggested that my grandmother send my aunt to the county hospital with better medical conditions.

At noon that day, my grandparents took my uncle and aunt to the county town by car. After getting on the bus, my grandmother held my aunt and chose a window seat because she was carsick. The bus was very crowded at that time, and there were many people squeezing on the bus outside, including my uncle and my grandfather.

My grandmother opened the window to take a breath, and suddenly my aunt jumped out of the window and was caught by my grandfather outside. My aunt cried and shouted: "Mom, don't take me to the hospital. My disease can't be cured. I'm going to die. Take me home..." No matter how my grandfather coaxed her, my aunt just kept crying and refused to get in the car. She was only nine years old that year. My uncle told me this sentence later because he was there, but my aunt told me that she didn't remember anything. She only vaguely remembered that she had a serious illness when she was a child, and she didn't know anything else.

It is said that my grandfather, who had picked up my aunt outside, stuffed my aunt into the car through the window again. This time, my grandmother held my aunt tightly and held her tightly. She ignored her crying and shouting. The car drove the family slowly to the county town.

When we arrived at the county hospital, with the introduction letter from the town hospital, the hospital immediately arranged for my aunt to be hospitalized. After the doctor examined her, he began to treat her as if she had eaten something bad. During the treatment, my aunt ran out of the hospital more than once when the adults were not paying attention. In the end, there was really no other way. Grandma made up her mind and tied up my aunt with a strip of cloth. She didn't dare to sleep. Several people took turns to watch her. She even went to the toilet in the ward. How could they dare to let her go out?

In 1986, everyone's living conditions were generally poor at that time. The hospital also ate in the canteen. At first, my aunt either spilled the food that my grandmother got from the canteen or didn't eat a single bite. She relied on nutrient solution to survive.

It was probably the third day of hospitalization. At noon that day, my grandmother went to the canteen to get food as usual. When everyone tasted the food, it was half-cooked. The rice was not cooked, which is commonly known as half-cooked rice. Strangely, the bowl of half-cooked rice placed in front of my aunt this time made my aunt drool. For the first time, she said she wanted to eat.

Grandma untied the cloth strip for her in surprise, and the aunt swallowed a bowl of half-cooked rice in a few bites, and shouted for more. As a result, the half-cooked rice in the hands of grandpa, grandma, second aunt and uncle was eaten by the aunt alone. Her stomach was swollen, but she shouted for more, which scared the whole family. Grandma hurried over to find a doctor. When the doctor saw that the child was in such a state, how could she eat anymore? He even pulled out the infusion tube, fed her some digestive tablets and walked away.

At dinner time, the rice was normal, and the aunt started to refuse to eat again. I thought she ate too much at noon, but on the second and third days, no matter how good the food was placed in front of the aunt, she would not open her mouth. This situation continued until the fourth night.

That night, the aunt still refused to eat. Seeing my aunt getting thinner and thinner, my grandmother was so distressed that she cried. No matter how she tried to comfort her, it didn't work. In desperation, my grandmother went out and spent money to buy a half-cooked rice for my aunt to try. As expected, my aunt ate it all up again until her stomach was swollen again. The doctor couldn't explain this situation, but just told her not to feed her this kind of half-cooked rice. The child's stomach was not good to begin with, and this kind of food would easily aggravate the condition.

For the next two days, the family didn't dare to feed her half-cooked rice anymore, and the doctor couldn't do anything about my aunt. It lasted until the seventh day, when my aunt suddenly fainted again, and began to twitch and foam at the mouth, and her heart rate and blood pressure began to drop. The doctor said, let's prepare for the funeral, I'm afraid the child can't be saved, and I don't know what disease it is.

At that time, my grandmother was very strong, she didn't cry, she just said: "If you want to die, you can't die in the hospital, no matter what, you have to take it home!" Then she called a car to take her back to her hometown overnight. On the way back, grandma remembered the crazy Taoist priest from that year and asked grandpa to look for him again. However, that was a crazy Taoist priest who passed by here nine years ago. At that time, there were neither telephones nor business cards. How could they start looking for him in such a vast sea of ​​people?