Gu Jun put on the protective suit before hurrying back to the sickroom. Now the contagiousness of Xie Yiman's illness was brought back into question. After all this was not a normal dermatological illness but it could be the prodromal stage of a transmutative disease. When he returned, Xie Yiman was more sentient than when he left her as she called out his name once she saw him, "Captain Gu, Captain Gu!" Gu Jun noted for himself the new facial symptoms that Uncle Dan described on the way back. The infected area on the patient's face expanded. The irregular erythema previously consigned themselves to the patient's cheeks but now it was spreading. According to this rate, the rash would be all over the patient's face by tomorrow morning. Furthermore, there appeared to be scaly flakes of skin forming above the erythema. The white epidermal layer cracked to resemble little red flecks of scales.