Chapter 11: Healing the Sick and Saving Lives

The female soldier didn't say much, but she really closed her eyes to rest. Luo Zheng gave a sheepish smile, thinking about how the woman had bled a lot, and with an injury on her leg, the wound must have burst open on their way, leaving her weak. It was far from easy to make it this far; too bad they had lost their marching bag and couldn't rebandage or change the dressing. He saw a tree branch not far away, thick as an arm, so he picked it up and started shaving it with the 65-type Army dagger he had retrieved. In no time at all, a makeshift crutch was made.

Luo Zheng gently placed the crutch near the female soldier before climbing up a tree branch to keep watch. He had often kept watch while hunting with his uncles and brothers, and with a nightscope on hand, it wasn't difficult to keep a lookout at night.

He didn't know how much time had passed when Luo Zheng began to feel sleepy. Rubbing his eyes, he suddenly noticed a faint glimmer in the depths of the dense forest; it was so subtle that he wouldn't have seen it had it not reflected on his face. Luo Zheng instantly became vigilant, and his sleepiness vanished. Why was there a reflection in the dark, dense forest? He set up his gun and started observing through the scope.

It didn't take long for Luo Zheng to spot a figure approaching stealthily, like a hunting leopard in the night, exceptionally vigilant, quick, and agile, with a few more figures faintly visible behind. Luo Zheng knew these people were more than he could handle and quickly slid down the tree, attempting to wake the female soldier, only to find her sweating profusely with her eyes tightly shut, her face pale, and her body shaking.

"This isn't good," Luo Zheng was greatly alarmed, not expecting the woman to come down with a fever and fall into unconsciousness at this moment. Things were troublesome. Thinking of the enemy closing in, Luo Zheng had no time to waste. He slung their rifles around his neck, and shouldering the female soldier, he started to run like mad.

As he ran, Luo Zheng suddenly realized that the woman's body was shaking, a sign of convulsions from a high fever. He became worried, cast aside impractical thoughts from his mind, and sprinted desperately.

In the dark night, the moonlight was faint, and visibility was very low. Fortunately, Luo Zheng was no stranger to walking at night, having hunted in the forest since his childhood. However, carrying someone, his speed was limited, and soon he was too winded to catch his breath. He had no choice but to set the female soldier down, only to see her furrowing her brows, her lips cracked, her forehead covered in cold sweat, and a pained expression on her face. Luo Zheng was troubled. In this dark and desolate night, where could he find medicine?

If she wasn't treated promptly, she might suffer brain damage or even face a life-threatening situation. Looking at the dressing on the wound in her thigh, which was completely dark red, it was clear she had lost too much blood. Without treatment, the leg could be lost for good. Luo Zheng grew anxious. Hearing the babbling of a stream nearby, he quickly carried the woman towards it.

The stream was small, falling from a cliff and forming a little pool below. Luo Zheng placed the female soldier by the pool's edge, scooped water to her mouth with his hands, and she instinctively opened wide to gulp it down, mumbling in her delirium, "Water, water." Luo Zheng hurriedly scooped more water to feed her. As for whether the water was clean, facing life and death, he couldn't care less.

After drinking water, the female soldier fell back into unconsciousness. Luo Zheng, anxious as he looked around at the dark surroundings, suddenly spotted some familiar lush plants by the pool. Approaching, he examined them under the moonlight: broad leaves, lanceolate, with little umbel stalks as thin as threads. He was overjoyed—it was Chaihu Herb, an excellent remedy for cold-induced fever or intermittent fever from exhaustion.

Luo Zheng quickly picked a large amount of Chaihu, washed them clean, but then felt at a loss. Without the proper conditions, he couldn't brew the medicine, and eating them raw wasn't practical either, especially since the unconscious female soldier couldn't chew on her own. What to do? Seeing the pained expression on the female soldier's feverish red face, Luo Zheng gritted his teeth, grabbed a handful of Chaihu, and began to rub them together. Soon, a ball of herbal medicine was formed. He opened the woman's mouth with one hand, and with the other, squeezed the juice from the Chaihu ball into her mouth.

In order to ensure effectiveness, Luo Zheng picked a large amount of Chaihu Herb, squeezed out the juice, and fed it to the female soldier. He then took off his own clothes to lay them on a drier spot of ground and laid the woman down flat on it. After that, he gently tore off the gauze from the wound on the woman's thigh, washed the gauze clean, and wiped the dirtied blood off the woman's wound.

After doing all this, Luo Zheng looked at the unconscious female soldier and gave a helpless wry smile. The situation was dire, and he didn't know how long they could stay here or when the pursuers might find them. Oh well!

In the deep of the night, the wind picked up. The moon emerged from the dark clouds, casting its silver light onto the earth, and shimmering on the pond's edge. Seated by the pond for a rest, Luo Zheng glanced at the female soldier. The grimy camouflage paint was washed off by sweat, smudging her entire face, making it hard to look at. Luo Zheng felt a stir in his heart and couldn't resist cleaning her face with a wet cloth. Before long, a delicate and beautiful face appeared before Luo Zheng.

During the day, he had been too busy fighting for their lives to notice, but the female soldier was surprisingly beautiful after being cleaned. Her willow-leaf eyebrows were slightly knitted, her eyes tightly closed, and her exquisite nose was breathing rapidly. Her face was flushed red as if ill, stirring a sense of compassion in Luo Zheng. He couldn't help but want to hold her in his embrace and care for her deeply, but he still restrained the presumptuous action, sighed, picked up his gun, and looked around for a high point to take cover.

Luo Zheng used the breathing skill passed down in his family to quickly recover his strength while staying alert. Fortunately, nothing happened during the night. After a few hours of rest, the utterly exhausted Luo Zheng's strength had completely recovered, and he felt energetic. He came to the pond's edge only to find that the female soldier was awake, looking up at the sky blankly with a ghastly complexion and lifeless eyes. Luo Zheng walked slowly forward and coughed before saying, "Awake now? Feeling any better?"

"Did you save me?" the female soldier asked weakly, her tone still ice-cold.

Luo Zheng walked to the side without answering directly and said softly, "Can you walk? Those bastards might catch up to us soon."

"They won't," the female soldier said coldly, gazing fixedly at the sky without saying more.

Luo Zheng really wanted to ask why the enemy wouldn't catch up to them, but seeing that the woman didn't want to talk more and thinking about how the pursuers from last night, who weren't far from them, were nowhere to be seen now—with their capabilities, it was impossible not to find this place—if they weren't here, there was only one explanation: they couldn't be bothered to chase.

Thinking this, Luo Zheng became annoyed. If he had known this would happen, he should have pursued them. Thinking of his enemies getting away, Luo Zheng became anxious and quickly said, "Do you have any way to contact the outside world? I'll leave the weapons with you. I need to go and chase down those bastards. By the way, do you know who they are?"

The female soldier looked at Luo Zheng coldly, her icy eyes showing a hint of astonishment but offering no explanation. She just kept staring intently at Luo Zheng, making him feel uncomfortable. He asked in suspicion, "Why are you staring at me like that?"