Chapter 110: [Old Shaman]

Masks are not complicated things, but before the development of microbial physiology, people knew little about the mechanisms of various diseases and generally did not use masks specifically in medical matters.

Ma Shao has already learned that the plague that broke out in Mianxiong City is most likely some kind of pneumonia.

Since it is pneumonia, masks are naturally indispensable.

So he quickly found some women and taught them how to sew simple masks with cotton cloth. The style was almost the same as the Wu mask, which was the mask designed by Mr. Wu Lien-teh in the fight against the plague.

In front of all the women, Ma Shao folded the cotton cloth, cut the two ends to make a bandage, and put it on his face to cover his mouth and nose.

"Just like this, make a lot of masks so everyone has one as soon as possible," he said.

Looking at the simple mask on a rainy day, I hesitated and said, "Does this really work?"

Ma Shao: "You already know that patients need to be isolated. Masks are of course a form of isolation, and they may be the most critical form of isolation. After all, diseases enter through the mouth."

Rainy Day nodded, but still asked, "Is there any other way?"

"No." Ma Shao shook his head. "Garlic wine and garlic oil are useless. Isolation is our only means."

Sleeping Bear has purchased some distilling tools so it can make garlic oil.

The allicin in garlic oil is of higher purity and does not need to be dissolved in liquor before use, so the therapeutic effect is naturally better. However, it is a bit wasteful, after all, the distillation process will cause some of the allicin to decompose due to heat.

Garlic oil was used during the treatment of the first few critically ill patients, but it had no effect.

It can be seen that the culprit of this plague is most likely some kind of virus, and antibiotics are powerless to cure it.

Since antibiotics are ineffective, the only means is isolation to curb the spread of the virus.

"It seems that we can only leave it to fate." Rainy Day sighed.

Ma Shao was still optimistic: "That won't happen. Although isolation is primitive, it is also the most effective method. As long as we can isolate them in time and persist for a period of time, the plague will definitely be contained. The current situation is actually pretty good, at least there has been no outbreak."

"I hope so." Rainy Day changed the subject, "However, in addition to the plague, we have some other troubles to deal with."

"You mean..." Ma Shao could probably guess.

Rainy Day: "Those old shamans tried to revive their traditions and spread the idea that the plague was a punishment from the Great Spirit on you and me. The leader was Vulture, and Thick Shoulders has already captured him, but people other than Vulture are still spreading rumors in secret."

"When the plague came, these monsters and demons jumped out." Ma Shao couldn't help but snorted.

Rainy Day said: "What Thick Shoulders means is to find an opportunity to arrest them and shoot them all. What do you think?"

Ma Shao thought for a moment and said, "We should still make epidemic prevention our top priority. Containing the plague is more effective than anything else... Of course, if they dare to do anything out of line, the tribe can just keep a few less idle people."

The cost of maintaining a shaman is not low. In order to prevent them from doing evil as much as possible, the tribe must give them honorary titles and social status as well as material enjoyment.

For example, the six largest residential houses in Sleeping Bear City are all owned by the old shaman.

Among the various stability maintenance expenses of the tribe, bribes paid to these old shamans are one of the most important components, second only to the expenses of assimilating foreigners.

In addition to these visible costs, there are also some invisible costs, such as the hidden costs brought about by the corruption of social morals.

After learning knowledge, many young people realized the parasitic nature of the old shaman.

However, these parasites live an extremely comfortable life, have a high social status, and can even complain about this and that.

In comparison, I work so hard but still live a dull life, no one cares about me, and I have no place to complain about my depression... Thinking of this, anyone can't help but feel depressed. The spread of this emotion will inevitably hinder the development of society.

But the tribe has no choice. These old shamans have supporters, influence and motivation, especially among the middle-aged and elderly groups.

Faced with the old shaman's incitement and extortion, the tribe had no choice but to pay the money and provide them with good food and drink.

If there is a chance, Ma Shao would naturally like to save the money.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. "These old shamans are so abominable! They are a bunch of people who get what they want without any effort, and yet they slander and gossip everywhere, all day long!"

Ma Shao: "We see them as parasites who get something for nothing, but to their fans and believers, they are more noble spiritual workers. Every time they perform a shaman dance, they are creating spiritual food for the public. It's very hard work."

At the end, he casually said, "If they knew more about reading, they would probably write a diary or something for the believers to read."

"What diary?" Rainy Day didn't understand.

"Nothing, just writing down their ideas on paper." Ma Shao said, "But they will never be able to do that. Their decayed bodies and beliefs have completely deprived them of the ability to learn new things. Until they die, they will just keep chewing on the same old things."

The two talked for a while.

Rainy Day suddenly said, "I hope I won't become someone like this when I'm old."

Masks are easy to make and can be made by anyone with a little sewing experience, so they were quickly promoted throughout the city.

In order to increase the production of masks, Ma Shao also sent people to Clark Town to purchase cotton cloth. He also bought a lot of strong liquor for disinfection.

"What is this?" Mogu held a mask and looked at the soldier in front of him.

The soldier pointed to the mask on his face and said, "This is a 'mask', a tool made by the chief to isolate the plague. Wearing it like me can reduce the possibility of contracting the disease."

Mo Gu threw away the mask without hesitation: "This is nonsense, how can this thing prevent the plague? Don't you have any common sense?"

The soldier was about to say something: "The chief said..."

Mogu interrupted him and pointed at the colorful paint on his face: "Wearing a mask will only cover the patterns on our faces. If the patterns on our faces are covered, how can we fight against the plague god?"

"Young man, I advise you to take off your mask and paint patterns on your face, just like I did, carefully applying three colors. This is something passed down by our ancestors, and it works better than anything else."

The soldier obviously didn't believe it, but he still said politely: "Please wear a mask. The chief said that every member of the tribe should wear a mask. Besides, wearing a mask will not affect the pattern on the face."

"I won't wear this thing!" Gorgu insisted, "I've been learning shamanic medicine since I was five years old. No one knows more about plague than me."

A notice for all the fans of this novel, I apologize for the lack of chapter updates, a few days ago I started with the procedures to enter the university and I do not have enough time, but I will strive to continue uploading chapters, there will be 15 per week. I would appreciate it if you were free members of my patreon, I would like to grow my community.