However, his illness is bizarre; there are no symptoms like fever, and he doesn't have any pains or itching anywhere on his body.
Apart from lacking energy, appearing somewhat dazed, having no appetite, and his body gradually becoming thinner, there are no other apparent symptoms.
This is the most worrying aspect for Han Cheng.
Being nothing more than a half-baked doctor, he knows only some basic knowledge at best. He can handle common ailments like headaches, fevers, and minor injuries, but he truly has no clue about other illnesses.
Diseases like headaches and fevers aren't particularly frightening; this type of invisible, intangible illness is feared.
Han Cheng is distraught, mainly because someone rarely gets sick suddenly falls ill.
In his later years, he witnessed many such occurrences. People who frequently had headaches or fevers and soaked themselves in jars of medicine usually endured it well, and most of the time, they recovered. On the other hand, those who were robust and rarely fell ill often caught everyone off guard when they did get sick.
Compared to Han Cheng's anxiety, the Second Senior Brother seems indifferent. He doesn't believe he's sick; he thinks he hasn't slept enough and that once he does, he'll be fine.
Sometimes, people become more tired the more they rest.
When facing Second Senior Brother, Han Cheng appears very relaxed, saying that Second Senior Brother isn't in much trouble and that he'll be fine after a while.
Coming from a later era, he knows how significant the power of suggestion can be on a person.
What should he do? What should he do?
Han Cheng sits alone in the room, constantly running his hand through his hair.
Since emerging from the burnt cocoon, he has never felt so powerless.
Whether building walls, making charcoal, or even the complete absence of copper and iron up to now, although it presented significant challenges, it didn't dampen his spirit.
But now, faced with Second Senior Brother's increasingly emaciated appearance day by day, Han Cheng is entirely powerless.
The wooden door creaks softly as Shaman enters from outside.
Han Cheng stops running his hand through his hair and quickly adjusts his demeanor, pretending to be nonchalant.
Second Senior Brother may have a terminal illness, a matter of life and death that only he knows at the moment, and he hasn't told anyone, not even Shaman.
Han Cheng flashes a casual smile and greets Shaman.
Shaman smiles back and sits across from Han Cheng, bowing his head and remaining silent.
"Shaman, is there something on your mind?"
Seeing Shaman's demeanor, Han Cheng speaks up and asks.
Shaman looked at Han Cheng and asked. “Divine Child, is Second Senior Brother all right?”
The voice sounded low.
Han Cheng's heart sank slightly; Shaman was very smart and had already sensed that something was amiss.
"It's nothing," Han Cheng pretended to be very relaxed.
"He just overexerted himself before. If he eats more good food and rests for a while, he'll be fine."
Shaman's expression didn't lighten because of Han Cheng's words. He lowered his head again, his voice lowering slightly, and paused momentarily before saying, "Divine Child, just tell me the truth..."
Seeing that Shaman had already guessed, Han Cheng thought momentarily and decided not to conceal anything, telling Shaman his speculations.
These things had been weighing on his mind for several days, and he had initially thought he could handle it. But now, speaking to Shaman , he found it difficult to contain his emotions.
"Divine Child, it's okay..."
In the end, it was Shaman who comforted Han Cheng.
After telling Shaman about this matter, Han Cheng felt relieved and more comfortable than keeping it to himself.
Han Cheng adjusted his mood and went out. Shaman sat there without moving, letting out a long sigh.
Although he had seen death many times, he still felt uneasy at this moment, especially knowing that the Second Senior Brother, who was so crucial to the tribe, was about to die...
Putting away his weakness, Han Cheng became strong again. He didn't want to give up; this was a living person, someone he had been familiar with day and night.
The second Senior Brother's illness was in his belly.
Nowadays, every part of him was thin except his belly, which remained large.
His belly was originally somewhat prominent, and now it has become even more noticeable, almost comparable to the belly of a pregnant woman several months along.
In such a situation, it was easy for people to make associations.
Han Cheng asked the Eldest Senior Brother, Shaman, and other people in the tribe when the Second Senior Brother's belly started to grow.
After summarizing what several people said, Han Cheng got the following information:
Second Senior Brother had been relatively big and relatively strong since he was young. He had a larger belly than most people, but it was still within the normal range.
The growth began about six or seven years ago.
Six years ago, Second Senior Brother's belly grew, and his whole body also began to gain weight.
However, no one thought too deeply about it because it was a general weight gain.
Even if they did, there was nothing they could do. At that time, people in the Green Sparrow tribe were busy with daily food and had no time to worry about anything else...
Han Cheng squatted in the corner, watching as Bai Xue fed the silkworms with mulberry leaves, pondering the information he had obtained.
With his limited knowledge, there were two main possibilities for Second Senior Brother's illness.
One was that he had a tumor in his belly, and the other was that he had parasites in his belly.
Overall, the possibility of parasites was greater. After all, before Han Cheng arrived, people in the Green Sparrow tribe didn't have the habit of drinking hot water. And sometimes, their food wasn't fully cooked over the fire.
But if it were parasites, then the food and water given to him by the people in the tribe should have been the same, and he shouldn't have been the only one with a big belly.
As Han Cheng pondered this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, as if he had no solution, whether it was parasites or a tumor.
He couldn't just cut open the belly and remove whatever was inside, could he?
He didn't know the formula for standard deworming medicine from his future era either.
In the whole Green Sparrow tribe, the only medicine that could be considered was one herb, chaihu, which wasn't effective for this kind of symptom.
Han Cheng regretted not being a doctor in his future life. He wouldn't feel so helpless now if he had more medical knowledge.
Because of the Second Senior Brother's illness, Han Cheng didn't have much mood to do anything else during this period. He always felt distracted.
The stone or bone hoe he had planned to make was only started and then abandoned.
Second Senior Brother became even more lethargic, his whole person somewhat absent-minded, and his gaze unfocused.
If this state continued to develop, many good days wouldn't be ahead.
At such a critical moment, something happened again.