Ge Hong finally refined a pill that could keep the human body's nerves vital.
Just like how a frog's nerves remain active after its death, its limbs would still twitch when stimulated, but only the nerves were alive; the flesh had long since perished.
Prince Xia's condition was akin to that of a dead frog.
Normally, a human's nerves would not react after death, but Ge Hong's pill enabled Prince Xia to achieve this.
However, Prince Xia, who was originally just a "frog," would not have lasted more than a few days before his flesh and nerve reactions simultaneously ceased, leading to his definitive death.
But then, a variable emerged.
That variable was that Prince Xia had previously consumed other miscellaneous "longevity pills" from Ge Hong. The combined effect of these drugs ultimately transformed Prince Xia into the first zombie of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Then, during the process of restraining Prince Xia from harming others, someone must have been injured... Initially, people were unaware of this illness, did not understand it, and did not take it seriously, causing it to spread until it became uncontrollable.
Gu Chaobei's deduction was highly plausible.
The entire family found it to be reasonable.
"So, that's why you need to know Prince Xia's usual diet. This way, you can combine the principles of mutual generation and restraint within his ingredients, along with the possibility of mutations caused by the combined effects of various pills, to ultimately create an antidote, right?"
Gu Qingcheng summarized.
"Precisely, daughter, you are very intelligent." Gu Chaobei rubbed his nose, feeling greatly comforted.
It was truly a shame that his daughter hadn't pursued medicine; she would have been a formidable physician.
"The most critical factor is that people nowadays still believe in nourishing the body with similar substances. Therefore, Ge Hong also added materials from wild beasts into the medicinal ingredients for his pills, such as tiger blood, deer paste, and bear bile. This made the composition quite complex, greatly increasing the possibility of Prince Xia's mutation and also the difficulty of our developing an antidote."
Gu Chaobei said with deep concern.
Indeed, through tens of thousands of years of evolution in harsh environments, animals must possess sufficiently powerful super-cells.
Ge Hong's incorporation of these factors into his medicines ultimately led to the widespread zombie outbreak in the Great Zhou Dynasty. If anyone is to be blamed, he bears significant culpability.
"Father, for someone destructive like Ge Hong, whose harm is so profound, should we eliminate him after he develops the antidote?"
Gu Qingcheng thought far ahead.
"Ge Hong primarily lacked supervision. Prince Xia indulged him, being excessively superstitious about immortality and placing all his hopes on Ge Hong.
However, Ge Hong is indeed a genius. With proper supervision, he can still be of great use.
For instance, I asked him to make aspirin, and he did quite well. I've tested the medicine; although it's not pure yet, it already functions as aspirin."
Gu Chaobei stated.
"He could make aspirin?"
Gu Qingcheng was quite astonished to hear this.
"The main component of aspirin is sodium salicylate, which is found in willow bark. I informed him of this, and he then found ways to extract it, eventually obtaining crystals of sodium salicylate.
A few days ago, I had a slight fever. After taking it, my fever subsided. The efficacy was good."
Gu Chaobei praised.
Hu Lanfang was furious to learn that her husband had tested the medicine on himself without telling her, only discovering it when he accidentally let it slip.
"Old Gu, if you dare to take any more medicine recklessly, I won't let you associate with that Ge Hong anymore. Perhaps, given the opportunity, I'll push Ge Hong into a pile of zombies. He should be responsible for his actions."
Gu Chaobei, seeing his wife's fierce demeanor, knew he had misspoken and could only offer a sheepish smile.
"I was wrong. I absolutely will not do such a thing again."
Gu Qingcheng watched her parents, one angry and the other seemingly preparing to beg for forgiveness, and felt a mix of amusement and sadness.
Although her Mount Cat Supermarket sold medicines, all sorts of common drugs were available, they belonged solely to her. If anything were to happen to her one day and the Mount Cat Supermarket ceased to exist, people would no longer have access to these medications.
Even if she could currently consciously retrieve medicines and store large quantities in the warehouse, once they left the system, the drugs would enter their expiration phase, lasting no more than three years at most, with their potency dissipating.
Gu Qingcheng understood that her father's efforts were worthwhile.
Only when they mastered the technology of pharmaceutical production, and no longer relied on the system, could the common people truly be secured.
"Mother, under the current circumstances, a talent like Ge Hong is indeed very useful. If he can make aspirin today, who knows what he'll concoct tomorrow.
Father was just anxious; he will be more mindful in the future. Please calm your anger."
Gu Qingcheng intervened to smooth things over.
Seeing Hu Lanfang still with a stern face, Gu Qingcheng reluctantly added,
"Let Ge Hong strive to produce medicine to atone for creating the zombie virus."
"Indeed, that's what I mean."
Gu Chaobei quickly agreed.
He could tell his wife was genuinely angry. Angry that he didn't cherish his own health.
Hu Lanfang, seeing him acting submissively, didn't want to lose face in front of her children and could only coldly snort,
"You can work together to develop the antidote, but my only condition is that you cannot test medicine on yourself again. If you dare to break this, I don't care how talented he is at making medicine; I will not allow you to protect Ge Hong anymore."
"Alright, alright, alright. I will be extremely cautious and will not test medicine on myself again."
Gu Chaobei agreed repeatedly.
He knew his wife meant well for him. She might be overbearing, but her anger was ultimately for his sake.
Thinking of this, his heart felt sweet. His expression wasn't one of significant grievance.
On the contrary, it inexplicably exuded a sense of sweetness.
Uh, this overwhelming scent of romance.
Gu Qingcheng was once again forced to witness her parents' affectionate display.
Mi Guo watched the couple's argument from the side, a smile playing on his lips.
He found the way his parents interacted fresh and interesting. In the Great Zhou Dynasty, which wife wasn't afraid of her husband?
Husbands commanded absolute authority, and wives were completely subdued. It was impossible to have a relaxed and humorous interaction like that between his parents.
Mi Guo was deeply envious. The way his parents interacted seemed to be a model of equal partnership and a happy life.
Unlike what he had seen before, many couples in the Great Zhou Dynasty did not interact in such a healthy manner.
Although Mi Guo was young, he had witnessed many tragedies in the village stemming from discord between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, and disharmony between husbands and wives.
Perhaps it was precisely because they didn't have an interaction model like the Gu family's?
In the future, when he grew up and got married, he would definitely listen more to his wife, just like his father and mother. That way, everyone would be happy, and there would be no problems.
Seeing her parents begin to calm down, Gu Qingcheng decided not to interfere further.
Sometimes, the more you say, the more you might err. Once things are clarified, it's best to let them be.
She poured a glass of milk, drank it, and in her consciousness, she petted her cats and dogs.
Wangcai and Kele had not been brought out this time; they were left behind in the village.