Chapter 19: The Hand of Killing, Learning to Save One Person
When I woke up in the middle of the night, I was awakened by a suppressed and painful dream talk.
The voice was very light, like a wisp of smoke that was about to dissipate, but it had amazing penetrating power, piercing accurately into the depths of his chaotic consciousness.
"Dad...it's cold..."
"Don't go... Qinghan is afraid..."
It was Su Qinghan's voice.
Shen Ye's body, imprisoned by intense pain and weakness, felt as if whipped by an invisible force. He suddenly opened his eyes, his dilated pupils struggling to focus.
What came into view was the familiar thatched roof and an oil lamp burning quietly on the table, almost extinguished. The dim light cast a hazy shadow over the entire room.
He moved his fingers, and the biting chill coming from the cold ground reminded him of everything that happened before he fell into a coma.
He rolled off the bed and crawled to her side, using his hot body to try to shield her from the cold.
But now, what he felt was no longer the coldness of her body, but a kind of... frightening heat.
"Su Qinghan?"
He spoke hoarsely, his voice as dry as two pieces of sandpaper rubbing against each other.
No response.
Only the increasingly rapid and painful murmurs, accompanied by disordered breathing, echoed in the silent room.
Chen Ye's heart sank suddenly.
He didn't care about the pain in his chest and back that felt like they were being burned by fire, and forcibly mobilized a trace of weak internal strength squeezed out from the "Lightless Heart Sutra" to support himself and turn over.
This simple action nearly exhausted all his strength. The excruciating pain from the wound made his vision blacken, and cold sweat instantly soaked his forehead. But he simply clenched his teeth and swallowed back the muffled groan that threatened to burst out of his throat.
He finally saw her face.
In the last glimmer of light from the oil lamp, her once beautiful face was now flushed with an abnormal red. Her lips were chapped, her brows were furrowed, and even glistening tears hung on her long eyelashes, as if she were trapped in an inescapable nightmare.
Shen Ye stretched out his hand, trembling, and covered her forehead.
The temperature that was within reach was so hot that it almost burned his palms!
The high fever is still going on, she will die!
This realization was like an invisible hammer, hitting his heart hard.
He was a killer, the top "Zhu Ying" of the Tianji Pavilion. He was well-versed in the 360 vital points of the human body, knowing which one could kill with a single blow, and which could render someone unable to live or die. He was familiar with the properties of hundreds of poisons, precisely calculating their onset time and the pain they would inflict. He could use over a hundred methods to efficiently and effectively take a person's life.
His hands were used to the cold hilt of the sword, used to the warmth of blood, and used to the touch of ending life.
But now, facing a life struggling in pain due to a high fever, a life he vowed to protect, he found himself... so helpless.
He understands killing.
How should he save people?
This thought made Chen Ye feel panic from the bottom of his heart for the first time. This panic was more intense than facing a siege by a huge army or the unfathomable pressure from the Pavilion Master, and it made him feel even more helpless.
His mind went blank.
The training at the Tianji Pavilion taught him how to survive and kill in any environment, but it never taught him how to care for a patient. The knowledge etched into his bones—how to stop bleeding, how to suture, how to detoxify even the most basic poisons—was all for him, so that this "weapon" of his could heal faster and be ready for the next mission.
That is maintenance of tools, not care for people.
"Water...drink water..."
A most basic and simple idea finally emerged in his confused mind.
He struggled, trying to stand up.
“Hmm…”
His body's betrayal was so immediate. He had overestimated himself and underestimated the severity of his injuries. He had barely managed to stand up when a piercing pain shot through his chest, sending his vision black and sending him plummeting backward.
But he didn't give up.
He looked at the woman beside him whose face was flushed with fever and who was struggling in a nightmare. A strength he had never felt before surged out from the depths of his long-exhausted body.
Can't let anything happen to her!
He gave up standing and, like a wounded lone wolf, supported his body with his arms and crawled towards the water tank in the corner, little by little.
The distance of just a few steps now seemed like a thousand miles away.
The cold ground rubbed against his body, and the wound that had just scabbed under the bandage began to bleed again, leaving a shallow, intermittent trail of blood on the ground.
He finally climbed to the edge of the water tank.
He used all his strength to push open the heavy wooden lid. He looked at his own reflection in the water, a face as pale as a ghost and in a state of disarray.
He scooped up a bucket of water, only to find that a new problem had arisen.
He has no bowl.
The only teacup was broken in the chaos last night.
Chen Ye was stunned. He held the water scoop in his hand, feeling a bit lost for a moment.
Finally, he brought the ladle to his mouth and took a sip of water. He wanted to feed her in this most primitive way, but when he crawled back to Su Qinghan and looked at her dry but still beautiful lips, his movements froze.
He had never been so close to anyone before.
His world is lonely and cold. Emotions are something that the "Lightless Heart Sutra" strives to suppress; intimacy is an absolute taboo in the assassin's career.
But now...
"Dad...I'm so cold..."
She murmured softly in her sleep again, like a needle, piercing through all his hesitation and indecision.
Fuck taboos!
Chen Ye cursed inwardly, leaned over, and clumsily pressed his lips against hers. He carefully passed the clear water, but because of nervousness and unfamiliarity, most of it flowed down the corners of her mouth, soaking her clothes.
He wiped it with his sleeve in a panic, his movements as stiff as a puppet.
One bite after another.
He went back and forth between the water tank and her. Every crawl was a torture. But he was tireless and just mechanically repeated it. He didn't know if this was any use, he only knew that this was the only way he could think of.
After several tossings and turnings, Su Qinghan's lips seemed to be a little moist, but the heat in her body did not diminish at all.
No, this can't go on!
Shen Ye looked around anxiously, his eyes finally falling on the wooden box that saved his life.
Medicine! There's more medicine in the box!
As if he had grabbed the last straw, he crawled to the box like a madman and roughly opened the lid.
Wound medicine, hemostatic powder, strong liquor, bandages...
He took out the things inside one by one, but when he finally looked through them, his heart sank a little bit.
These are all trauma medicines.
None of them can cure internal heat or reduce high fever.
Chen Ye stopped moving and leaned weakly on the wooden box. A huge feeling of powerlessness, like a cold tide, completely submerged him.
For the first time, he discovered that the strength he was so proud of was so insignificant in this small hut and in the face of this sudden high fever.
He could kill the world's top masters, but he couldn't save a weak woman suffering from illness.
How ironic!
"……it hurts……"
Su Qinghan's groan pulled him back from the abyss of despair.
He crawled back to her side, and in the dim morning light coming in through the window, he noticed that one of her legs was in an unnatural position in her curled up body.
He gently rolled up her trouser legs.
A wound, scratched by a branch, appeared before his eyes. It wasn't deep, but given the conditions of last night, it had clearly been contaminated by something unclean. The skin around the wound was now swollen, a dark purple-red, and even oozing pus.
Here's the problem!
It's the inflammation of the wound that causes the high fever!
Chen Ye's eyes instantly became sharp. This was the area he was familiar with—wounds, toxins, and inflammation.
He made a decision immediately.
Debridement is necessary!
He climbed back to the chest and took out the surgeon's knife and the bottle of the strongest liquor.
He knelt down beside Su Qinghan, took a deep breath, and tried to make his hands more stable. He knew that the next process would be painful, but he had no choice.
He held her calf with his left hand and held the knife with his right hand. Without any hesitation, he accurately cut open the rotten flesh.
"Um……"
The severe pain caused Su Qinghan's body to tremble violently, and a painful groan came from his throat.
Chen Ye's heart tightened, but his hands didn't falter. His expression had returned to the absolute focus he had felt as "Candle Shadow." He scraped away the rotting flesh, squeezed out the pus and blood, each movement clean and precise, reaching the pinnacle of precision.
His forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, and it was unclear whether it was because of the wound or the inner torment.
After cleaning up, he unscrewed the bottle and poured the spicy liquor directly onto the bloody wound.
“Sizzle…”
Su Qinghan's body trembled violently as if struck by electricity, and a suppressed scream escaped her throat. Her tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, her eyes were vacant, filled with tears and pain.
"Hold on!" Shen Ye growled, his voice hoarse and firm.
He quickly applied the medicine to her wound and carefully bandaged it with a clean white cloth. After doing all this, he seemed to have been drained of all his strength and fell to the ground, gasping for breath.
He watched as Su Qinghan fell into coma again, but his breathing seemed to have stabilized a little, and he felt a little relieved.
However, he knew that this was only a temporary solution.
To cure the root cause, we must have real fever-reducing herbs.
He had to go out to the village on the other side of the valley and find a pharmacy.
This decision set off alarm bells in his heart.
He was now seriously injured and unable to move. If he was exposed, the consequences would be disastrous. More importantly, he couldn't leave Su Qinghan here alone. Although this place was hidden, it was not absolutely safe.
But staying here means waiting to die.
He looked at Su Qinghan's reddened cheeks, that fragile breath of life that seemed to be extinguished at any moment...
At this moment, all the risks and concerns were thrown out of his mind.
He stood up with difficulty, his body swayed a bit, and he barely managed to keep his balance by leaning against the wall.
He fished out a few pieces of silver from his pocket, his few personal possessions that did not belong to the Tianji Pavilion. He walked to the door, his hand already on the bolt.
As long as she opens this door, walks out, finds the pharmacy and buys the medicine, she will be saved.
It's simple, isn't it?
However, just as he was about to pull the bolt, an unprecedented problem that had never appeared in his life exploded in his mind like a bolt from the blue.
How should he describe her condition to the owner of the drugstore?
This thought made him freeze in place.
His hand stopped in mid-air, and for the first time, his face showed an expression even more confused than facing death.
Yeah...how should I say it?
In his mind, he began to frantically rehearse the conversation that might take place.
"Boss, get the medicine."
"Sir, who caught him? What's wrong with him?"
How to answer?
"My wife"? His heart skipped a beat. This word was too distant and too sacred to him. He didn't dare to touch it lightly.
"My sister"? His lies always seemed so clumsy in the face of real life. His unconcealed murderous aura and alienation made him look nothing like a brother who cared about his sister.
So, let’s talk about the condition.
"She has a high fever."
"Oh? What caused it? Is it a cold or internal heat? Do you have a cough? Do you have chills?"
A series of words he had never heard before and could not understand swirled in his mind.
He knew how to lower a person's body temperature permanently, but he didn't know that even a rise in body temperature could have so many different forms.
Or, to be honest?
"She had an injury on her leg, and the wound became inflamed, causing a high fever."
The pharmacy owner would definitely ask, "How did you get hurt? Was it a knife wound or a sword wound? How could a girl get hurt so badly?"
Every question is a trap.
Every answer could reveal their identity.
He is the "Candle Shadow" of Tianji Pavilion at night. He can calculate the most perfect assassination route in an instant, simulate all the reactions of the target person, and set up perfect traps.
But at this moment, he was completely stumped by the simplest and most normal problem of "buying medicine".
He found that all the skills he had mastered were so pale and out of place under the sunlight and in the hustle and bustle of ordinary streets. He was like a monster walking out of the darkness, trying to imitate human behavior, but at the first step, he revealed his clumsy and funny flaws.
He turned around and glanced at Su Qinghan, who was lying on the ground, still suffering in a coma.
Her life was in his hands.
But he was trapped by a door and an impending simple inquiry.
An unprecedented sense of frustration and anxiety, like countless ants, gnawed at his heart.
Killer, learn to save people.
The first lesson was so difficult.
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