King Seo-Jung summoned his two sons. "We are here your Highness," The two princes said as they bowed before their father.
After acknowledging his sons, the King spoke with distress and concern "I need to send one of you to a mission of charity to the village of Haan"
"The Water Village?" Young-Sik mentioned, wanting to clarify if they were talking about the same thing
The village's moniker confused Man-Ju, who asked his brother and father, "Water village? What water village?"
"The village of Haan, used to be part of a natural network of canals, but when the canal dried up a hundred years ago, they built a village on top of it. Despite being called water village, it is dry and relies only on water wells" Young-Sik explained to his older brother.
He then turned to his father, "What is wrong with the village father?" Man-Ju asked with concern
"It is currently plagued by an unknown disease, according to reports, the disease is so fatal, that anyone afflicted by it is sure to die within a couple of days" The King explained the sadness in his voice palpable and evident.
"I volunteer father" Young-Sik stated as he stepped forward "Right now I am the best candidate to oversee that village since I am a physician"
The King, turned to the crowned prince and asked "What do you think Prince Man-Ju?"
"Prince Young-Sik is correct on this your Highness. His knowledge as a physician will be invaluable in finding a cure for this disease" Man-Ju explained, supporting Young-Sik's decision to be the one sent to the village
"You're both right as expected, I will send Physician Go to accompany you" The King stated, as he wanted the prince to have as much help as possible
"I must object to that decision Father" Man-Ju interjected "Your health is of the utmost importance, should something happen to you without Physician Go. I shudder to think of the consequences"
"The crowned prince is right Father, you need not worry, Physician Go has taught me well" Young-Sik stated in agreement with Man-Ju
"Very well, I will ask Physician Go to select the best court maidens to assist you" The King assured Young-Sik "Crowned Prince Man-Ju, I want you to select a contingent of soldiers to guard your brother" turning to Prince Young-Sik the King asked, "Will you be the one to prepare the supplies that might be needed for this mission?"
"Yes your Highness, I will personally oversee the preparations," Young-Sik told the King with confidence.
The King places his hand on Young-Sik's shoulders "Good luck my son, I leave the people of Haan in your hands" The King then left to go to the royal courtroom
Man-Ju embraces his brother "I believe in you, Don't mess this up" The crowned prince told Young-Sik with a grin, With that the brothers went their separate ways. One to follow their father's footsteps, the other to forge a path different from those who came before him.
After two days of travel, Young-Sik and his caravan arrived in the village of Haan, the first thing they noticed was the foul stench that emanated in the air. Jin-Ri after getting off the wagon, went to the prince's side "What is that smell, Your Highness?" she asked the prince
"Blood and human excrement" He answered, turning to Jin-Ri he gave her a white cloth "Use this to cover your mouth and nose" He then turned to the soldiers "Who is the commanding officer?" he asked
A young man came running to him, Young-Sik observed the man to be roughly his age, tall, and well-built as expected from a soldier. He has a thin face, small eyes, a nose with a bigger-than-average base, and wide lips. After bowing, he introduced himself to the prince "Your Highness, I am Captain Gi Kwan, I was assigned by the crowned prince to be your bodyguard"
"Captain Gi, make our camp outside the village. We don't know yet how the people got sick. It would be prudent to protect our people and the medicines we have as well as our water and food supply" Young-Sik instructed the soldier
Captain Gi bowed once more, urgency in his movements as he departed to delegate duties among the soldiers. With a white cloth hastily tied around their mouths and noses, Young-Sik stepped into the village, flanked by Jin-Ri and the court maidens. The sight that met them was one of utter despair. A mother's anguished cries pierced the air as she held her lifeless child, while flies swarmed around a gaunt young man sprawled atop a heap of corpses. The ground was smeared with bloody excrement, the stench rising to a nauseating level that clung to the throat.
Just beyond, Jin-Ri's gaze fell upon what was once a field, now a grim burial site. Children, mere shadows of their former selves, wandered like specters their bones protruding from their skin, while others desperately sought the public toilets, only to be thwarted by the overwhelming crowd. People trying desperately to eat nourishment only to expel it from their mouths, mere seconds later.
Upon reaching the village hall, they were met with a harrowing scene: individuals writhing in agony from relentless fevers, gasping for breath, only to succumb to death moments later.
A local physician approached the prince and introduced himself "Your Highness, thank you for coming. I am Physician Kang" He turns around to let the prince see the condition of the villagers "As you can see, we are in dire need of assistance"
"What can you tell me about the disease?" Young-Sik asked wasting no time to know what they were up against
Physician Kang leads the prince out of the hall, and before he follows, Young-Sik turns to Jin-Ri with urgency. "Miss Shameless! Hurry to our supplies and fetch medicine for fever, diarrhea, and vomiting." With that, he trails after the physician into the bleakness outside.
"Where is the village chief?" the Prince first asked Physician Kang
The physician slightly bowed his head before replying "The chief and most of the village council are all dead, right now I am the acting chief, your Highness"
"Tell me everything you observed about this illness," Young-Sik requested the physician, hoping for insights to help battle the plague.
"The first patient began to show signs of illness Six months prior. He was a rich villager who spoke of meeting people who journeyed across the seas," the physician explains, gesturing toward a big but desolate house by the village well. "He resided there, suffering from diarrhea, vomiting, and fever. His heart raced, he could not urinate, and soon he slipped into a state resembling death (coma) before he finally succumbed." The physician takes a moment to drink from the well, his expression grave. "Not long after, his family and their servants exhibited the same horrific symptoms, and they too perished within days."
"What measures have already been taken to cure the villagers?" Young-Sik inquired, making sure that at least the symptoms were treated
Physician Kang quickly answered the prince "I already exhausted all the medicines for the fever, diarrhea, and vomiting. I keep giving them water, to replace what they lost, yet the patients just keep getting worse"
"So we know how the disease got here, do you have any theories as to what may have caused it?" Young-Sik asked the Physician
Physician Kang shook his head "No your Highness, we only know that after the first symptoms show, death is not far behind" His voice was ominous, almost lacking hope.
That evening in their campsite, Young-Sik burned the midnight oil, trying to find a correlation between the symptoms, the time of onset of the first signs of the disease, and the time of death. Trying to draw a parallel, trying desperately to find the common denominator between all the patients. But alas, Young-Sik is stumped, the cries of the bereaved families coupled with the lack of additional information is preventing him from drawing a clear deduction.
Frustrated at his inadequacies, he threw his book into the ground. A pair of hands picked up the book and dusted it. Jin-Ri approached the prince, handing him the book. Young-Sik looked at her bright face "Try again" she said with a smile that could light the darkest of voids. The prince took the book and opened it on the same page he was on.
Jin-Ri sat by the prince, placed some sliced bread on the table, and asked "What do we need to know about this sickness?"
"We need to know, how people get the sickness, so at least we can prevent others from getting infected" The prince answered, his voice filled with renewed vigor
"What did your teacher teach you about these kinds of sickness?" Jin-Ri asked again, trying to keep the prince thinking
"He said that, um, he told me that these kinds of sickness are probably caused by an infection," Young-Sik stood up and paced around. "But what can cause something like this?"
"Where do we get infections?" Jin-Ri pressed on
"Contact with the sick person" Young-Sik simply replied
"So we need to protect ourselves from getting in direct contact with the sick person. Are the covers we have enough?" She again asked the prince.
"It should be enough, but we should also cover our hands and arms," Young-Sik said, hope rising in his voice.
"Did any of the sick people have anybody coverings? How about the Physician Kang?" Jin-Ri excitedly asked
"Physician Kang was wearing protective coverings as a physician should, At first they didn't wear one, but eventually they did according to Physician Kang" Young-Sik quickly asked
"So the common connection with the sick people and those that are not sick are protective coverings, what does that tell you, your Highness?" Jin-Ri inquired, pushing Young-Sik to think harder, beyond the boundaries of Chiongsun medicine
"These people are festering from the inside; it means something got inside them" Young-Sik rummages through his books
"If we can protect ourselves from this thing by wearing cloth over our faces…how did it get inside us?" She pondered while looking at Young-Sik's search for a certain book.
The prince set a book down on the table, casually flipping through its pages until he paused at a particular illustration. Jin-Ri narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher the unusual and amusing symbols within the book. She felt a mix of surprise and admiration for the prince, who was fluent in a language aside from their own. The book that Young-Sik had retrieved was not inscribed with Chiongsun characters, but rather in an entirely different script.
Young-Sik pointed to a picture that to Jin-Ri looked like a bent bar "A sage from the far west wrote this book, he used a seeing machine to look at a universe that existed beyond our sights" The prince paused to flip through some pages "According to him and his colleagues, the inhabitants of this small and nearly invisible universe can enter our body and can cause festering, making our bodies sick" Young-Sik explained
"Look at this goblin, there is more to him than just a spoiled brat," Jin-Ri thought to herself, impressed at a side of the prince she had never seen before, she continued watching the prince talk and act like a scholar
"While our protective coverings certainly provide us with some level of safety", the question still echoed in Young-Sik's mind: "How did the danger enter our bodies?" He walked back and forth, his eyes drifting to Jin-Ri, who was busy trying to shoo away a fly. As he tracked the fly's movements, he noticed it land on the bread she had brought, and he leaned in, captivated by the way it seemed to taste the slices. At that moment, clarity struck him, and he sprinted back into the village, leaving Jin-Ri momentarily shocked by his urgency.
She hurried after him, finding him near the village hall, gazing at the grim scene of lifeless bodies being carted away. "Your Highness…is there something wrong?" She cautiously asked the prince
Young-Sik turned around, took her hand into his, and excitedly explained his discovery "The flies…the flies are the key! The flies pick up the inhabitants of this invisible universe and accidentally transfer it to the food we eat!" he paused for a while "Physician Kang told me that he prepares his food in his house, everyone else share the same food."
Jin-Ri happily declared, "Your Highness, I believe you just found the first piece of the puzzle"
The two enthusiastic about their finding hugged each other from sheer joy. But the moment they realized they were hugging each other, they immediately stepped away from one another awkwardly.
Just then Physician Kang happened to pass by "Physician Kang!" The two excitedly approached him and started to explain their discovery "The flies are the reason for spreading this sickness" Jin-Ri enthusiastically told the seasoned physician
"Flies? I don't understand" Physician Kang asked with a perplexed expression, trying to make sense of what the court maiden told him
Young-Sik stepped in to explain further "This sickness is probably transferred one of two ways, direct contact and the other by flies! The flies, are attracted to carrion right? These carrions still carry the source of the sickness within them, a fly lands on them or even a sick person and when they leave, they now carry the source of the sickness. They fly then land let's say a piece of bread, and they leave behind the sickness on the bread. When somebody eats the bread, they become inflicted by the disease"
Physician Kang's eyes light up upon realizing the prince's discovery "So that's why…no matter what medicines we give, they got worse…they just get inflicted by the sickness over and over again?"
"Yes!, you said it yourself, you always wore the protective coverings and you didn't eat the food prepared for the villagers, that's why you never got sick, that was the common thing among those who got sick! So all we need to do is continue with the treatment and relocate the food preparation, somewhere away from village hall, say our camp outside the village." The prince suggested, his voice tinged with hope
"I'll go tell the court maidens to widen the work area to accommodate the food preparation for the villagers" Jin-Ri volunteered before running to the camp
Young-Sik turned to the elderly physician "Please tell them to transfer food preparations to our camp, I'll go back and see what we can use against these flies" Physician Kang nodded with a smile, he then hurried to the Kitchen to start implementing the prince's plans
With hopeful spirits Young-Sik and his group started to follow their plan. Jin-Ri directed the other court maidens to prepare the food outside the village. Captain Gi and his soldiers gathered citrus fruits and strung them together to form a cord, which they used to encircle the village and ward off the flies. Prince Young-Sik and Physician Kang continued with their efforts to cure the afflicted villagers.