The morning mist over Chang'an had not yet cleared when cheerful drumbeats suddenly echoed along Suzaku Avenue. Wearing glowing green-ox-horn headgear and holding a large banner that read "Begone, Dysentery Germs, Enter Joy," Huwa led a crowd rushing out from an alley, instantly turning the street into an ocean of joy.
"Come, come, come! Neighbors and friends, today we are not seeing patients, we are putting on a show!" Huwa shouted at the top of his lungs, "As long as you play along with us, you can scare those dysentery germs so bad they'll run for their lives!" No sooner had he finished speaking than a group of apprentices in bizarre costumes began showing off their skills. Dawa, the Tibetan apprentice, rode a gorgeously decorated yak, its body hung with jingling bells that scattered disinfectant powder scented with Tibetan medicine. Kim, the Silla apprentice, held a glowing bamboo slip of the *Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art*, its formulas transformed into epidemic prevention chants; as he danced, the bamboo slip projected colorful lights and shadows.
The most eye-catching of all was the "Garlic Mantou Idol Group." Dozens of assistants held giant models of garlic mantous that not only blinked their eyes, but also popped out small slips of paper inscribed with epidemic-prevention knowledge from their mouths. "Take a bite of me, and health will always be with you!" "Spit into a spittoon, and germs can't invade!" The high-pitched, childish voices of the mantous had t…
Chapter 526