The torches were moving rapidly toward them, and the flickering marks indicated that the torchbearers were running.

"It doesn't look like a large group, otherwise they wouldn't just have one torch."

"At this time, if someone dares to travel alone without a companion, they must be incredibly brave."

"It must be something urgent, otherwise who would take such a risk?"

"Could it be that they regret exchanging the supplies for us?"

"What are you thinking? This isn't a child's game where you can go back on your word."

"We'll know when they get there. Judging by their speed, they should be there in no time."

The commotion quickly reached Chief Wu and the others, who, without bothering to savor their food, hurriedly stuffed a couple of bites into their mouths and came over.

"Village Chief Si, what's wrong?" Chief Wu asked.

Si Cheng pointed to the moving flames not far away, "Someone's coming, and they're moving pretty fast."

Chief Wu's eyesight might not be very good; even squinting, he couldn't see clearly. "Are there many people?"

"It shouldn't be much, we'll be there soon."

Everyone fell silent and waited quietly for the person to arrive.

"Village Chief Si, we've finally caught up with you!" the man called out from afar.

"Captain Ma? Why are you chasing after us at this hour? Is something important?" The newcomer was Ma Tao, an old acquaintance of everyone's, and Cao Wulin, whom they had seen last night.

"You guys are too fast! We didn't stop for a moment and it was a struggle to catch up with you," Captain Ma said, panting. He was genuinely worried that if they didn't catch up tonight, he would have to spend the night alone, which was no joke.

"With Chief Wu and the others helping out, everyone can get started easily, which is why the speed is faster. Is there something that wasn't explained clearly beforehand?"

"Yes, I have something important to discuss with you." Ma Tao snapped out of his reverie at finally catching up with them and explained the purpose of his visit.

Upon hearing Captain Ma's words, Cao Wulin, who was standing next to him, looked somewhat uneasy and appeared apologetic as he glanced at Yun Qi, who was standing next to Si Cheng.

"What could be so important that Captain Liu would chase after us all the way here?" Si Cheng had a rough idea in his mind.

"Didn't your village give this Brother Cao a packet of traditional Chinese medicine last night?"

"Yes, I gave it to you. What? Is there something wrong with the medicine?"

Captain Ma and Cao Wulin quickly shook their heads. "No, it's just that the medicine is so effective. It's a life-saving medicine. We wanted to ask if the prescription was written by our village itself?"

"Yes, that was a prescription that our village doctor re-examined and rewrote based on ancient medical books."

"What about the medicinal herbs?" Ma Tao quickly pressed for more information.

"Every household grows medicinal herbs, but because they have to use their own farmland to grow them, they don't grow a lot. After all, food is more important now." Si Cheng deliberately underestimated the quantity. You see, every household in the village uses half of their private plot to grow medicinal herbs. The food they get by exchanging these medicinal herbs with the surrounding villages is much more profitable than growing them themselves.

"How much does our village have left? Could you reserve some for us? Of course, we won't take it for free. Whatever you need, we can exchange it with you later."

Ma Tao was in such a hurry because many Western medicines had expired since the disaster. Although there were some traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, it was difficult to prepare a proper prescription. So even if he had a prescription, there was nothing he could do.

For these reasons, people are now afraid to get sick easily. Although two warehouses were unearthed this time, many of the Western medicines stored inside had expired, and even Western doctors dared not use them on people easily.

"We don't know exactly how many medicinal herbs are left in the village right now. We'll have to go back and count them before we can report it to you."

"That's to be expected, but I wonder if our village has any other medicinal herbs with good effects besides this fever reducer?" Ma Tao is becoming more and more satisfied with Pinghe Village, and he keeps mentioning "our village" all the time.

"We do have some other kinds of medicinal herbs, but I don't know what else you need?"

As Si Cheng began discussing the specific medicinal herbs with Ma Tao, Cao Wulin also approached Yun Qi and said, "Yun Qi, we've caused you trouble this time. I didn't expect that doctor to be so talkative. As soon as he saw the child's fever subside, he immediately reported the situation."

Cao Wulin had been on tenterhooks the whole way, afraid that helping him would cause trouble for Yun Qi. He came along mainly to explain and apologize to Yun Qi.

"It's alright. Our village grows some medicinal herbs anyway, and we usually exchange them for goods. It doesn't matter who we exchange them for." Yun Qi knew that Cao Wulin couldn't be blamed for this, and it was actually a good thing for the village. Although they had wanted to bring medicinal herbs to exchange for supplies before, they were afraid that the military wouldn't accept them, because at this time everyone valued food more, so they only brought food.

"Your village really had foresight. You know, since the great disaster, medicine has been extremely scarce. Many people survived the natural disaster, but not the disease. If only we had met you sooner." Cao Wulin murmured the last sentence to himself.

Although he spoke in a low voice, Yunqi still heard him. She didn't press him further, because she knew there must be another story behind it, and since she hadn't heard Cao Wulin mention his family since yesterday, Yunqi dared not ask any more questions.

"How long did it take for the fever to break after taking that medicine yesterday? Is the child alright now?" Yunqi changed the subject and asked about something else.

At this point, Cao Wulin finally smiled. "The fever subsided in the latter half of last night, so even the dregs of the medicine were taken by others today. Luckily, you left the city this morning, otherwise many people would definitely have come looking for you."

When Yunqi thought of that scene, he couldn't help but pat his chest and secretly shout with relief.

Chief Wu was very excited. He had just learned from Village Chief Si's tone that Pinghe Village not only had medicinal herbs, but also traditional Chinese medicine. Now even the army was chasing after him to exchange for medicinal herbs, which meant that the medicine was really effective and indirectly proved the doctor's medical skills.

They migrated here from their hometown, losing countless members along the way. Not all of these people perished in natural disasters; many died from minor illnesses because there were no doctors or medicine.

Although they are not currently living in Pinghe Village, they are at least neighbors, and there is at least hope for the future.

Although Ma Tao was anxious to take the medicinal herbs back, he also knew that Pinghe Village would need to take Chief Wu and the others to a new village to settle down. No matter how anxious he was, he had to wait until they had dealt with things one by one before they could discuss it.

However, what made him happy was that this time he not only knew that Pinghe Village had antipyretics, but also medicinal herbs for other symptoms.