Chapter 13: dog-headed strategist

They proceeded to discuss Old Medicine Dog, and Old Four-Eyes volunteered to summon him.

Medicine Valley is seventy or eighty miles away from here, but Old Four-Eyed called out a few times from a high place, and then there were dogs barking in the distance. Old Four-Eyed turned around and said that the news had spread, that Old Medicine Dog had heard it, and that Old Medicine Dog would naturally come over.

Dino asked curiously, “How could the old medicine dog hear that from so far away?”

Old Four Eyes said, “Of course, the old medicine dog can’t hear me, but there are dogs along the way that will carry my words over. It will take no more than it takes to eat a meal to get there. Our method is unique to dogs and is called ‘Dogs Barking at the World’.”

Dino was stunned. He then remembered that all the villages along the way had dogs. Even if there was a section without a village, the dogs could cross the mountain and deliver the message.

“It’s almost like making a phone call, and even faster than a postman delivering mail.”

He sighed, and around 11 o’clock, the old medicine dog indeed arrived. Smelling his scent, it bowed respectfully and addressed him as “Great King.”

Dino was still not used to this, and he was a bit reserved himself. He asked the old medicine dog to get up, thanked the old medicine dog first, and then talked about the Wellford and its prescriptions. However, after talking about it, he was quite disappointed.

The prescriptions of the Wellford are indeed unique, but that’s all. What’s truly remarkable is Wellford’s ability to diagnose illnesses. Prescriptions are actually everywhere. Go to Patan Bookstore, and you’ll find all sorts of medical books and prescriptions, enough to overwhelm you. But what’s the use?

To treat an illness, the first step is to diagnose it. Once the illness is confirmed, a prescription can be written to treat the symptoms. The prescription is static, but the patient is dynamic. Without a living patient, even the most miraculous prescription is useless.

The old medicine dog possessed a wealth of prescriptions and was entirely open about sharing them. Being non-human, it had no reason to conceal these remedies from Wellford. However, the prescriptions proved utterly ineffective when administered to Dino.