Chapter 285: Chapter 240 Blood Suck
While others didn’t understand, Qiu Feng reacted instantly. "Wait, I’ll get it."
Qiu Feng’s father, Dr. Qiu Jing, was the Director of the Imperial Medical Bureau. This place was practically her second home. She rushed into a room and soon emerged with a bundle of Mind Silk.
Mind Silk used in Mind Study Class came in many materials, not only various metals but also specially made spider silk and Insect Silk. More advanced types had to be exchanged for academic credits.
The bundle Qiu Feng brought out was a special kind of spider silk—not sticky, but exceptionally tough and soft. Li Ang had later discussed with her using Mind Silk to probe the human body, concluding that spider Mind Silk was the most effective.
"Here."
Qiu Feng handed over the Mind Silk. Li Ang took it, cleaned it with saline, and then infused it with Telekinesis.
SHH—
The spider silk trembled and, under everyone’s watchful eyes, slowly penetrated Yi San’s swollen abdomen.
Li Ang closed his eyes, releasing his Telekinesis with extreme caution.
After reaching the High Order of the Body Concealing Realm, the effectiveness of his Telekinesis scans had significantly improved. Although he still couldn’t see clearly much beyond the spider silk itself, it was more than sufficient for inspecting Yi San’s abdominal cavity.
Parasites, so many...
Beneath the swollen abdomen with its bulging veins, countless tiny worm-like bodies were writhing and tumbling.
With every few inches the spider silk advanced, dense masses of worms and eggs became visible.
SHH—
Li Ang slowly withdrew the spider silk and turned to Dr. Qiu Jing. "Dr. Qiu, does the Imperial Medical Bureau have a microscope?"
"Yes. We just bought one last month. Follow me."
Dr. Qiu Jing nodded and led the way to another room.
Li Ang entered the room and, under everyone’s gaze, skillfully used two thin glass slides to prepare a sample. He placed something from the end of the spider silk between the slides, then adjusted the microscope’s objective and eyepiece settings to observe it.
The microscopes in Yu Country were now quite exceptional, capable of clearly revealing very tiny objects almost invisible to the naked eye.
This time, two worms appeared in the lens.
One was long, the other short.
The shorter one was milky white. Its body extended to the sides and curled slightly inward ventrally, tightly embracing the other worm.
The longer one, thinner at the front and thicker at the back, resembled a nematode. It was dark brown and approximately 25 millimeters in length.
The two worms were coiled around each other, so entangled they could hardly be separated.
A mouthpart was vaguely visible at the tip. Below, it had two fork-like tail structures.
Under the microscope, the two worms continued to move weakly. Within their thin bodies, one could see the dark brown patterns of fluid flow—digested human hemoglobin.
Blood-sucking Worm...
Li Ang felt as if a stone had been tied to his heart, dragging it down into an abyss. The intense emotional turmoil overwhelmed his usual composure, and a distressed expression clouded his face.
In his mind, a line of poetry echoed:
"Green waters and blue mountains are in vain; what can even Hua Tuo do against such tiny worms!
Thousands of villages are choked with weeds, people have vanished;
Tens of thousands of homes lie deserted, with only ghosts singing."
Tens of thousands of homes lie deserted, with only ghosts singing...
He could almost see countless tiny worms wriggling and reproducing in the water, spreading death to thousands of families.
Entire villages disappeared from the map.
Countless afflicted individuals suffered from abdomens swollen like balloons. They grew progressively thinner, painfully departing this world.
"...Risheng?"
Dr. Qiu Jing’s voice pulled Li Ang from his daze. "Blood-sucking Worm... is that the Water Gu Worm?"
"Yes. I extracted this from Yi San’s abdomen using Mind Silk. I called it that because I saw it sucking blood within the human body."
Li Ang nodded and stepped aside from the microscope, allowing the others to observe the worms.
Blood-sucking Worms are dioecious, with males and females intertwining. The male worm was short and thick, while the female was longer, averaging 20 millimeters in length. Under the microscope, its surface nodules and spine-like protrusions were clearly visible.
The assembled doctors took turns viewing the wriggling worms under the microscope, their faces turning pale. The thought of a patient’s swollen abdomen being filled with such blood-sucking creatures was enough to send shivers down their spines.
"Years ago, some patients who enjoyed eating raw sashimi and snake soup also experienced abdominal swelling, as if their abdomens were filled with water. After death, their stomachs and intestines were found to be teeming with parasites. Their hearts, livers, spleens, and Lungs were eroded until they were riddled with lesions, like decaying tofu..."
"Then what about this disease? Many people said they no longer dared to drink unboiled water or eat raw food. So how could they still be collectively infected?"
"Could it be because they came into contact with water? They’re all boatmen; they’re bound to enter the water at times..."
"Should we try using croton first? Since there are worms in the abdomen, perhaps we can use croton to expel them..."
The doctors discussed in low voices while Li Ang silently walked out of the room and into the hall of the adjacent building.
Inside the dimly lit hall, rows of temporary beds were laid out on the floor, each occupied by a patient.
The air was filled with the sounds of coughing, labored breathing, and groans. The scent of medicinal herbs, the metallic smell of bloody phlegm, and the acrid odor of vomit hung heavy.
Li Ang looked at the hundreds of neatly arranged beds, an immense oppression weighing on his heart. He gripped the doorframe, his hand clenching so tightly that his fingerprints were imprinted into the wood.
TAP. TAP. TAP.
Footsteps sounded from behind. Qiu Feng approached, looked with concern at the gloomy and depressed Li Ang, and asked softly, "Risheng... are you okay?"
"I’m fine, just a bit..."
Li Ang released the doorframe. For a moment, he was at a loss for words, managing only to suppress the word "despair."
No one in the world probably understood Blood-sucking Worms better than him. And no one knew better how terrifying they could be.
This parasite belongs to the phylum Platyhelminthes, class Trematoda, subclass Digenea, order Strigeatida, family Schistosomatidae, and genus Schistosoma.
In their life cycle, there are seven developmental stages: adult worms, eggs, larva (miracidium), mother sporocyst, daughter sporocyst, tail cercaria (cercaria), and larva (schistosomula).
The cycle begins with the egg stage. Under appropriate temperature and water conditions, the eggs hatch into larvae (miracidia). These larvae quickly find their intermediate host, the nail snail, in the water. They invade its body and reproduce asexually. Over several months, they gradually develop into mother sporocysts, then daughter sporocysts, and finally tail cercariae (cercariae).
Tail cercariae actively swim in the water. Upon discovering a new host, they use the opening at their anterior end to secrete tissue enzymes and burrow into the host’s skin.
Then, the tail cercariae shed their tails and enter the bloodstream. Carried by blood or lymph throughout the body, they pair up and migrate to the Portal vein and intestinal mesenteric vein to reside and mature.
Twenty-four days after invading the host, they begin mating and laying eggs.
A single female worm lays about 1,000 eggs daily. Half of these enter the urinary bladder and are excreted with urine, while the remaining eggs settle in organs such as the liver, rectum, Colon, appendix, Lungs, and brain.
Mature eggs contain mature larvae (miracidia). Their cephalic secretions have antigenic properties, causing egg granulomas and subsequent fibrosis. This leads to liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension, clinically presenting with ascites, splenomegaly, esophageal varices, and other symptoms.
Five weeks post-infection, the host’s feces start containing viable eggs. These eggs drift away with the water current, initiating the next cycle of reproduction, parasitism, and spread.
CRACKLE—
In the night sky, New Year’s fireworks burst forth in a blaze of glory.
Li Ang stood at the entrance to the hall, his back to the dazzling fireworks, his gaze fixed on the rows of beds.
...Can it be controlled?
The tail cercariae of the Blood-sucking Worm spread with the water flow. Any activity like fishing, swimming, washing clothes, or washing feet in contaminated water could lead to infection. Even merely stepping into such water could cause infestation.
Yu Country possessed vast farmlands and expansive river networks, and its shipping industry was particularly well-developed. Consequently, the intermediate host of the Blood-sucking Worm, the nail snail, could easily attach to ships. These vessels then spread the snails far and wide, broadening the range of infestation.
It was like a drop of ink on paper, spreading outward along the fibers on its own.
So, can it be cured?
The best-known medicine for treating schistosomiasis is Praziquantel, a pyrazinoisoquinoline derivative.
Currently, its production was exceedingly complex and difficult—hundreds, even thousands of times more so than that of Allicin or Penicillin. It was nearly impossible to produce.
Considering that the patients in the hall were all in the late stages of schistosomiasis infection... the actual extent of the spread was likely far worse than he had envisioned.
How many people had been infected by the Blood-sucking Worm?
Two hundred thousand? Three hundred thousand? Or... a million...
In the night sky, the fireworks gradually subsided.
Li Ang’s face once more vanished into the darkness.