Seventh Chen stood not far away and, upon hearing the commotion, couldn't help but look over, his expression filled with worry.
He wondered if the doctors had finally collapsed under the increasingly hopeless situation.
The lights in the Buddhist Temple seemed disturbed, casting flickering, dancing shadows.
"This is madness, isn't it?"
"Even if those who have had smallpox are not afraid of it, how many of those who contract it survive?"
"Miss Jun, if you can't think of a solution, don't overpressure yourself."
Some doctors spoke with irritability and interrogation while others with sighs of consolation; the recent pressure was indeed great, and under such strain, people's actions and words could become insane.
Miss Jun tapped on the table.
"I understand what you mean, smallpox is fierce, and who dares to guarantee survival upon contracting it," she said. "But what if there were a type of smallpox that could cause an outbreak, yet have a mild enough poison that it wouldn't kill?"
The voices in the grand hall went silent.
"This way, the person would still be considered to have had smallpox, with the virus in their body, so when smallpox strikes again, it won't harm them," Miss Jun continued.
There was still silence in the grand hall, the doctors with varying expressions, their eyes full of shock and doubt.
It sounded reasonable, but...
"Is there such a virus?" a doctor asked.
Yes, is there such a virus? One that causes disease yet does not lead to death; some people contract mild cases of smallpox and survive, but that's too hard to discover. Who knows who has the milder form of smallpox? That, as Miss Jun always said, is chosen by heaven, beyond human selection.
Miss Jun nodded.
"Yes," she said.
Yes?
Everyone again looked stunned, and suddenly a doctor's gaze shifted to Miss Jun's hand. Her hand was resting on the corner of the table, and following her hand, there was a thin copper pipe.
There wasn't just one copper pipe; the table was crowded with many of them.
Could it be...
That doctor suddenly got goosebumps, and instinctively took a step back.
Others, influenced by his action, also thought of something and looked towards the table, then immediately stepped back, their expressions horrified.
"This, this..." Doctor Feng managed to maintain his composure while pointing at the copper pipes on the table, his voice trembling, unable to complete his sentence.
Miss Jun picked up a thin copper pipe.
"Yes, these contain the smallpox virus," she stated.
Although they guessed as much, hearing her confirm it made the doctors take another step back, their expressions filled with fear.
"No need to be afraid, this is the kind of virus I mentioned that makes one break out but will not be lethal," Miss Jun said with a smile, placing the copper pipe back down.
As the thin pipes clinked together, producing a sharp sound, one after another, they echoed continuously in the quiet temple, sounding particularly hollow.
The ringing of the copper subsided, and stillness returned to the grand hall.
This was too incredible to believe, the doctors' minds were a mess, not knowing what to think or ask.
"Miss Jun." It was Doctor Feng who spoke first, although his expression was still agitated, "How, how do you plan to do this?"
"Vaccination," said Miss Jun. "Inoculating children who have not had smallpox, so they will no longer be attacked by it, so people will no longer fear the harm of smallpox."
Doctor Feng felt his throat turn dry.
"Vaccination, what does that mean?" he asked.
"Just as the name implies," Miss Jun said, reaching for a thin copper pipe and bringing it to her lips.
This action made everyone in the room tremble with fear.
That was smallpox virus.
"Direct it towards the nose of someone who hasn't been sick," Miss Jun said unfazed, "and blow the virus inside."
Accompanied by the fall of her words, she blew through the thin copper pipe.
The girl's voice was soft and gentle, her breath was as sweet as orchids, but at this moment, this gentle exhalation, when it entered the ears of the doctors in the quiet Buddhist Temple, was like a needle piercing their hearts.
A shiver ran through them, a chill spreading over their skin with goosebumps.
"Then this person will be infected with smallpox and start having pustules?" Doctor Feng asked with a trembling voice.
Miss Jun nodded.
"Yes," she said with a smile.
Could she really smile at a time like this?
Did she understand what she was saying?
Doctor Feng's gaze moved past Miss Jun and landed on the Buddha statue behind her.
The Buddha sat quietly, eyes downcast with compassion.
"Miss Jun, have you ever considered whether what you're doing is killing people or saving them?" Doctor Feng took a deep breath and looked solemnly at Miss Jun as he asked.
Killing or saving—this was a question the doctor had asked her, and she had also asked others.
Not only had she asked, but she had also received an answer.
Killing.
She had seen with her own eyes how two children from a family had died.
Although her master said that there were sick children in that household, making it very likely they would have become infected, at least at the time her master blew smallpox into their nostrils, they had not been ill; they had been healthy.
Miss Jun lowered her gaze.
Her master had killed two children but saved another.
Was this killing or saving?
It was killing first and then saving.
But it did not change the fact that it was killing.
Miss Jun looked at Doctor Feng and then swept her gaze over the rest of the people in the Buddhist Temple.
"I am not the first one to propose this," she said. "In the folk, there were people who wrapped uninfected children in the clothes of those with smallpox, creating the illusion that the child had also fallen ill, in the hope of deceiving the evil poison of smallpox."
Could this be true?
The doctors looked at each other; they had never heard of such a thing.
You have not traveled enough and do not know in many places where people lack medicine, they can only rely on themselves to fight for a chance to survive against diseases and calamities.
She was fortunate enough to have traveled many places with her master and, even if she had not witnessed it herself, had heard her master speak of many things.
"This, of course, resulted in many deaths, but some people also survived. Is this killing or saving? I do not know," Miss Jun said.
This was neither killing nor saving; it was simply a desperate last resort, and the doctors did not know how to answer.
The Buddhist Temple fell silent for a moment.
"Miss Jun, I understand what you mean," one doctor said. "But this is too terrifying. Smallpox is dreadful, but not everyone will contract it. To deliberately infect oneself and develop the disease for something that might not even happen, to potentially die in an attempt to avoid a death that may not have come—is unimaginable, and certainly, no one would be willing to do such a thing."
The doctors nodded in agreement.
"Yes, Miss Jun, this is too... too hard to accept."
"...Even if those who survive smallpox will not contract it again, does that mean one should deliberately contract smallpox? That's truly courting death."
Miss Jun smiled.
"No, you still do not understand my meaning," she shook her head and said. "I was speaking of people's past explorations and desperate attempts. After so much time, we have found a better and safer method, a safer source of smallpox."
********************************
Additional material origin: "The Pox Science Golden Mirror Poem Collection" from the Qing dynasty records that vaccination started during the reign of the Longqing Emperor of the Ming dynasty (1567-1572 AD) in Ningguo Prefecture's Taiping County (present-day Anhui's Taiping) and thus spread throughout the land.
Some scholars have used the "Thousand Golden Essential Prescriptions" as a reference to speculate that human smallpox inoculation already appeared during the Tang dynasty.
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At the beginning of the month, seeking a base level of monthly tickets, thank you, thank you.