Chapter 782: Baifeng Forgets

With the experience of this snake, everyone no longer held any expectations for finding snakes later; after all, the worms inside the snakes were truly too disgusting, and after eating them, they might even grow inside one's own stomach. Now, there might already be worms in their own stomachs, so there was no need to look for more trouble for themselves. They especially hoped to find medicine that could kill the worms as soon as possible.

Baifeng had forgotten one thing: there was more than one type of medicine that could kill Ascaris. However, because when he was studying, antiparasitic drugs in traditional Chinese medicine were no longer the focus—there were already better, more easily obtainable drugs—and after decades of hygiene campaigns, Ascaris had been almost eradicated, so Baifeng had neither seen Ascaris disease in clinical practice nor treated any patients with Ascaris.

The short chapter on antiparasitic drugs in the corresponding traditional Chinese medicine curriculum had been almost completely forgotten. He only remembered that Betel Nut could kill and expel parasites, but he had forgotten a more easily obtainable medicinal material.

Sichuan Chinaberry is a commonly used medicinal herb, but it also has a relative in the same genus, the Chinaberry. Barefoot doctors in the past used the Chinaberry to treat Ascaris. However, Melia Bark as a medicinal ingredient had almost disappeared and could no longer be found in most Pharmacy shops, so it was no wonder Baifeng had forgotten it.

The Chinaberry exists on the territory of Huaxia, but it is in a relatively dangerous and remote area that Changle has not yet visited. By comparison, the territory of the Xuanyuan Tribe, which has already been explored extensively, is much safer, and this plant, the Chinaberry, was found by Changle.

Changle discovered a characteristic of the Chinaberry: there were almost no insects around it. The people of the Xuanyuan Tribe also said they liked to use the leaves of the Chinaberry Tree to repel mosquitoes and insects, and the effect was very good. Changle felt this might be a relatively valuable tree, so he collected its fruit, leaves, bark, and roots, preparing to bring them back to Huaxia. He had not seen the flowers, and since the timing was not right, he did not collect specimens of the flowers.

He also held high hopes for another very special tree species, which the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe called the Wood Seed Tree. For naming various plants, Changle's first rule was that he must use the name already used by the local indigenous people, followed by the name his father knew, or a name his father gave; only the names he gave himself were the last resort.

As for this Wood Seed Tree, he naturally followed the name used by the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe. For the Xuanyuan Tribe, this was more convenient, and the recognition of Changle's work would also be higher. They could not change a name that their people had been using for several generations just because of one person, Changle, unless Changle were their Tribal Chief.

The reason Changle paid attention to this plant was simply because its Wax Seed was very peculiar. At the very beginning, it was because the appearance of this tree was very beautiful; the bare tree was hung with extremely many, extremely lush white fruits, making it hard for Changle not to notice.

But when he picked up the fruit from the ground and touched it with his hand, he sensed something was wrong because the texture of this fruit was too peculiar and also particularly familiar. Furthermore, when scraped, something could be scraped off; it was greasy, which made Changle think of beeswax.

He did not know if anything other than bees could produce wax, and whether the fruit of this plant could also do so. If it could, then the people of Huaxia would no longer need to use an Oil Lamp at night, but could switch to using some candles instead. Candles would then no longer be an expensive product in Huaxia.

In the Xuanyuan Tribe, conditions were very limited. The Construction Team had stepped up their pace to build a small room for Changle. Although it was still extremely crude, it was much better than where he had lived before. However, he had already become accustomed to working in the office with Cangjie and the others, so he did not move his workspace.

Not only was the space insufficient, but many of the instruments he needed were also missing. Even if he wanted to try to refine the Wood Seed fruit here to see if he could extract the wax, he could not do it. He also did not want to do such a thing in the Xuanyuan Tribe; for such an important matter, he still felt it should be done in Huaxia.

So he asked for a full sack of the fruit of the plant that was most numerous in the Xuanyuan Tribe. The people of the Xuanyuan Tribe were afraid that he had discovered some important thing and wanted to take the seeds back. Even though Changle explained that he wanted to conduct an experiment to try it out, and that if this seed could be processed, it would be a good thing for both of their tribes...

... the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe naturally would not agree. Coupled with the treaty in place, one or two seeds were no problem, but this many—they could not allow it. In the end, Changle stepped back and had people smash all the seeds, guaranteeing that they could not be used as seeds.

Three of them were pierced through the middle with a needle because, under the guidance of Huaxia, they knew about the embryo; as long as it was removed, even the fattest seed could not grow.

Leaving three intact was only so that Baifeng could identify them and to preserve the layer of wax film on them. Smashing them did not matter; the wax film would be smashed inside anyway, and by boiling them in water, it could still be extracted.

The Xuanyuan Tribe had not yet received any substantive research results from Changle; they only knew the names of a few types of Grass, which were of no help to them. For some medicinal materials, Qibo already had his own research, which conflicted with Changle's, and Changle was not an expert in this field, so his help to the Xuanyuan Tribe was very shallow.

But fortunately, Changle's knowledge was truly profound. While engaged in his own work, he was also helping Cangjie. The sons of Xuanyuan also often sought out Changle to answer their questions. Over the long term, Changle was still quite well-liked in the Xuanyuan Tribe, and everyone no longer held hostility or opinions toward Changle.

It was just that they were not very satisfied with the progress of Changle's work. It was clearly written in the treaty, but unfortunately, Changle still had no progress. This made them somewhat suspicious: did Changle really intend to share his results with the Xuanyuan Tribe, or had he already sent the good things he discovered back to Huaxia, while the Xuanyuan Tribe was kept in the dark?

Changle was also aware of this, so he was quite confident about the two types of seeds he had found this time. Thus, he gave his word to Xuanyuan: "I believe that among this harvest, we will definitely be able to find something useful. I am very confident now."