Chapter 188: Walking Within the Throat

"Please lie flat and tilt your head back." This position brings the oropharynx and laryngeal cavity closer to a straight line, making it more suitable for inserting the catheter. "I hope you haven't eaten too much, because the next part might make you feel a bit nauseous."

Once the Duke had breathed deeply and prepared himself, Kraft parted his jaws and inserted the low-specification laryngoscope crafted by the artisans as requested into his oral cavity.

This hook-shaped tool, with its curved metal blade perpendicular to the handle, pressed down on the tongue surface, reaching all the way to the root of the tongue. In the version used by souls from other worlds, it should have been equipped with a small lamp to illuminate the deep structures for the operator.

Regarding this unreasonable request, the artisans flatly stated that there was absolutely no feasibility.

Currently, it can only serve the basic function of lifting the epiglottis; the glottis below remains hidden in pitch darkness, making it impossible to see clearly.

The catheter in hand was not genuine either. Ideally, a highly malleable guidewire should be inserted to twist the tube into a curvature suitable for insertion. But here, there was neither such ideal metal material nor a tube suitable for bending.

Inserting this straight catheter into the relatively narrow glottis is equivalent to blindfolding an archer and demanding he hit the target with a slightly curved arrow. Even knowing the approximate location of the target, it is a task that heavily relies on tactile feel; the tube is far more likely to enter the esophagus.

"Brighten the light." Kraft directed the servants to move the light source to the correct position. He did not wish to directly employ his spiritual senses just yet; no one knew how long the upcoming procedure would last, so he needed to leave as much time margin as possible for observing the interior of the lungs.

Relying on the meager light, he increased the force lifting the laryngoscope, roughly estimated the position of the glottis, and decisively inserted the catheter. There was a slight resistance, but the leather tube, which had adequate hardness, was not blocked and proceeded downward relatively smoothly, entering a certain lumen.

Through the external opening of the tube, Kraft felt the airflow as hoped. If the length estimation was correct, it was now extending from outside the jaws to the bifurcation of the left and right main bronchi.

Everything was normal, for the moment.

Having completed the anti-asphyxiation safety measure, Kraft began to repeat the air-inflation procedure performed earlier. The operations over these past few days had provided him with quite rich experience; he skillfully disinfected, draped, punctured, and connected the balloon.

"Everything ready?"

The Duke silently indicated his agreement; the hard tube lodged in his throat made the nodding motion somewhat difficult.

Sensory information from the spiritual organ flowed into his mind, an all-encompassing, unobstructed vision surveying the inside and outside of everything around him.

A sense of security from having everything under control, as if the entire drawing room had been gathered within by an invisible hand, while the span of his spirit, spread and flowing, made him feel wide and comfortable, extending over twenty paces away.

【It is growing】

It is not an unchanging organ; rather, it matures and develops through repeated use and contact, its expanding range, formed by the accumulation of tiny streams, far surpassing the past.

The fungal spirits within the cavity had nowhere to hide; the space, undergoing periodic expansion and contraction, gradually collapsed. The soft, dense velvet cilia became restless and swayed, detaching from the lesion wall and moving toward the wider direction dictated by instinct.

This process took a little time, like a living clump of moss pulling its rhizoids out of the humus, using its root-hairs as if they were legs.

"Mm." The Duke wanted to express something, but the catheter was pressing down on his tongue.

"Your body temperature is rising; I suspect there are other troubles as well." Kraft first secured the needle insertion point, then called to the guards watching this side, "Two of you, come. If convulsions occur later, be sure to hold the body down."

This time was different; it could be foreseen that the following events would have to be completed amidst the activity of the fungal spirits. Abnormal trembling of the limbs followed closely upon the fever.

The hyphae climbed up the ruptured fistula connecting the cavity to the bronchi, deformed and squeezed into the narrow tubular space, plugging this airway. The expansion and contraction movement of the corresponding lung segment immediately slowed and stagnated.

The long-formed cavity gave the fungi too much room to grow; only a small portion was needed to fill the narrower bronchi, and after the whole mass squeezed in, it formed a cylindrical long embolus. What's more, the crawling speed was slow, which made the doctor especially anxious.

From a certain perspective, this also explained why they were so persistent in seeking parasitic bodies; the motility of the hyphae was truly terrible.

The fuzzy filaments entangled and crawled forward alternately, occasionally probing other branch cavities. Wherever they moved, they blocked it; the higher they went, the larger the blocked airway became. Meanwhile, the obvious active stimulation caused the Duke to cough violently uncontrollably, his Adam's apple bobbing.

The tremors were perceived by the fungal spirits; infection foci lurking within the skull and muscle bundles activated. Chaotic movement information seized control of the body, developing from slight trembling into a full-blown tonic-clonic seizure.

Every muscle seemed endowed with its own will, tension increased, moving according to different frequencies and amplitudes.

This pathological manifestation expanded rapidly, Increased in weight as never before, even involving the respiratory muscles controlling the rise and fall of the chest. They worked against each other, and the force driving respiratory movement was thus disrupted.

"Get that balloon, pump air into the tube!" At this moment, the endotracheal intubation finally served its most common purpose, acting as an auxiliary for breathing.

But without connection to a ventilator, without a fixed structure, and relying solely on a leather bag to pump air, the effectiveness of the catheter was truly questionable; it could not last long. However, the fungal spirits in the right lung had finally found the main bronchus; the wider pipe allowed its crawling to speed up considerably, and it was about to reach the carina and enter the trachea.

"Faster, faster..."

Amidst the busyness, Kraft diverted some attention to the patient's face. The convulsing facial muscles certainly could not reflect the patient's true expression; the key lay in the lips, whose color showed a faint sign of darkening, hinting at the silent approach of hypoxia.

There were no branches left before the fungal spirits; next, they only had to wait for it to crawl up from the trachea. If lucky, Kraft could clamp it within the throat.

However, the fungal spirits did not think so. The opening of the catheter was also near the tracheal bifurcation; the small tube with surging airflow and the tracheal lumen caused it some confusion in judgment, unable to understand why the place with richer airflow was actually narrower.

After a brief pause, the hyphal mass stretched out slightly, then contracted. The leading filaments, pushing against the airflow, probed into the catheter, followed by the subsequent parts surging in.

Thus, the trachea was no longer blocked, but the artificial channel currently relied upon for ventilation was now fatally blocked.

【Damn it】

Kraft's mind went blank for an instant; the Duke's lips, already dark red, seemed to be turning purple. After all, surely no one in this world had ever dealt with the absurd accident of a lung parasite retrograde-blocking the catheter; he ran through all the operational procedures in his mind but found no corresponding solution.

His basic on-the-spot adaptability made him realize he didn't need to dwell on this.

【No, why am I still keeping this thing?】

The lack of a fixed structure turned into an advantage; he released the balloon, smoothly pulled the catheter out of the throat, and threw it toward the roaring furnace fire.

Flames wrapped around and licked the leather, heating and drying the hyphae blocking it. The spiritual organ pressed down, firmly restraining the fungal spirits which had lost their hostage, and an invisible force tore them into fragments, causing them to disintegrate and vanish.