Rainbow flags were strung up across the square outside Qingniu Medical Hall. Wearing a pair of glowing ox-horn headband, Huwa hoisted a large banner that read "Anti-Epidemic Heroes, Debuting Today!" and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Attention all drama kings and queens of the city! Today we are cosplaying the superstars of the anti-epidemic world, and the grand prize is a garlic-infused feast from Xiaotao Eatery!"
The event exploded with excitement right from the start. Dawa, the apprentice from Tibet, cosplayed as the "Disinfecting Yak Hero," his body draped with prayer-wheel-shaped sprayers. With a flick of his yak tail, he misted the air with a fragrance mixed with Tibetan medicine. The apprentice Kim from Silla dressed up as the "Arithmetic Immortal," holding up glowing bamboo slips of *The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art* while muttering as he walked, "Calculate the epidemic away, and not a single germ shall hide!" But the absolute best were the staff of Xiaotao Eatery, who collectively cosplayed as a walking "Garlic Bun Boy Band," balancing giant buns on their heads and shouting, "Take a bite of me, and all diseases flee!"
The cosplay venue was a riot of laughter. A scholar dressed up as Sun Simiao, the author of *Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold*, but he held a giant green onion like a horsetail whisk instead, prompting Huwa to tease, "Looks like he's going to onion-strike the dysentery bacteria!" Aunt Zhang's grandson, Little Huwa, was even wi…
Chapter 536