Jiang Xi paced anxiously in the yard, trying to calm herself down.
I have countless questions in my mind.
Will anyone get hurt?
What exactly happened?
She stayed up all night until the sun rose and the first rays of dawn pierced through the mountains and dense forests, her eyes stinging from the light.
Waiting in the courtyard was no longer enough for her. Jiang Xi walked slowly towards the entrance to the forest, which had become a path because of their frequent comings and goings.
For safety's sake, she held an axe in her hand, suppressing the urge to rush into the woods, and stood by the roadside, guarding the entrance to the forest.
We waited until noon, when the sun was so hot that our mouths and tongues were parched.
Jiang Xi rubbed her sore eyes and suddenly heard a sound coming from the woods. She quickly backed away, staring intently into the woods.
After a few moments, she saw Yan Zheng, who was the first to emerge from the woods, and her nose tingled with emotion.
Jiang Xi wiped her face with her sleeve and asked in a thick nasal voice, "Are they all back?"
Yan Zheng stood two meters away and said with a smile, "They're all back."
Jiang Xi could no longer hide her emotions and burst into tears.
It's good that they're all back, it's good that they're all back.
Then, with her eyes still blurry, she went to check on the three people again. One had an injured arm, one was lying silently on the back of a deer, and the other was missing his antlers.
She pursed her lips again, pointed at Yan Jing'an, and asked, "What's wrong with him?"
Yan Zheng handed her the rope and said, "I suspect it's a concussion; his brain was damaged."
Yan Jing'an, who was feeling dizzy and lightheaded, heard what he said, forced himself to open his eyes, glanced at Jiang Xi, and gritted his teeth, saying, "My brain is fine, just some external injuries."
Yan Jing'an thought to himself, "This is incredibly embarrassing. I always boast about how great I am in the forest."
Unexpectedly, this time they stumbled at the hands of that neither-bear-nor-monkey thing.
He could avoid most of the dangers in the forest. Even when encountering ferocious beasts like tigers and wolves, he could easily get rid of them using grappling hooks and ropes.
But yesterday's thing was tall and strong, and it was surprisingly fast.
He struggled to shake it off, thinking he could finally catch his breath, but the thing, for some reason, kept following him. During the fight, it even swung its claw at him, causing him to hit a rock and suffer a concussion.
This time, they really stumbled and capsized in the gutter.
Seeing that he was in a lot of pain, Jiang Xi said softly, "Stop talking and get some rest."
After she finished speaking, Yan Jing'an obediently shut his mouth, lay down on the deer, and closed his eyes to rest.
Jiang Xi touched the deer's body, then turned her head and saw Yan Zheng's arm, which was still bleeding. She quickly asked, "Is your arm injury serious?"
Yan Zheng glanced at it twice and said, "It's nothing, it'll be fine after some rest."
He then asked, "Was everything alright at home tonight?"
Jiang Xi shook her head: "It's nothing, I was fine all night yesterday."
Then her heart skipped a beat, and she asked, "What? Is something wrong?"
Yan Zheng wasn't sure either; he felt something was off about what happened yesterday.
When he went to find Yan Jing'an, it tried its best to hide and even knew how to launch a sneak attack. But when he fought with it, the beast only used brute force and seemed to have low intelligence.
But how did they manage to make sure Yan Jing'an couldn't escape?
To avoid causing unnecessary panic, he suppressed his doubts.
Once inside the courtyard, the two quickly helped Yan Jing'an down. Yan Zheng, ignoring his injured arm, carried him to the bed.
Before even getting into bed, after all this commotion, Yan Jing'an couldn't help but vomit again.
Yan Zheng quickly grabbed a basin to catch it.
Jiang Xi carried the items prepared on the octagonal table into the bedroom one by one, and then went to the kitchen to fetch a basin of hot water.
Yan Zheng said, "It's okay, you can go out first, I'll change his clothes."
Jiang Xi hesitated for a moment, then glanced at his arm before finally nodding, leaving, and closing the door behind her.
Yan Zheng used a clean white cloth dampened with hot water to first wipe the bloodstains from Yan Jing'an's forehead, neck, and body. Then he treated the ten-centimeter wound behind his ear, which, although not deep, still required stitches.
He picked up the needle and thread that Jiang Xi had prepared on the white cloth and said, "The wound is so big and too close to the brain that we can't use anesthesia just in case. Bear with it, I'll stitch you up. Don't move around."
Yan Jing'an glanced subconsciously at the needle and thread he was holding, and his face paled even more.
The needles made by the ancients were so fine that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were used for sewing shoe soles.
Yan Jing'an said, his lips trembling, "Wait, don't use this. I have a needle and thread in my bag."
Yan Zheng looked at the needle in his hand and felt that something was wrong. As Yan Jing'an had told him, he took out a palm-sized medical box from his backpack. Inside were a needle, a crochet hook, several antiseptic wipes, and two needle holders.
He laughed and said, "Well done, you're quite well-equipped."
Despite feeling dizzy, Yan Jing'an said, "That's it. With the anti-inflammatory injection, that's all I have."
"Turn around and bear with it."
Without anesthesia, the stitches were so painful that Yan Jing'an's head was throbbing.
For a moment, I couldn't tell whether it was the pain from the wound or the headache from the concussion.
After finally sealing the needles, Yan Zheng applied disinfectant and then re-wrapped the white cloth made by Jiang Xi.
Then I took out some anti-inflammatory medicine and gave him an injection.
Knock, knock, knock, a knocking sound came from the door.
"Alright, come in."
Jiang Xi was holding a tray with a bowl in it. Inside was a bowl of root and yam porridge and a decoction of crescent-shaped herbs.
The porridge contained some red dates and honey.
Sugar increases physical strength. Yan Jing'an probably didn't eat much yesterday, so eating something high in calories now will help his body recover.
Yan Zheng helped him up, and Yan Jing'an forced himself to eat some food despite feeling dizzy.
Yan Zheng placed the herbs by the bedside and instructed, "Wait ten minutes and drink the medicine yourself."
At this moment, Yan Jing'an was so dizzy that he didn't even have the strength to nod. He just murmured an "Mmm" and closed his eyes again.
After coming out, Jiang Xi quickly changed Yan Zheng's dressing.
The bandages that had been on yesterday were now covered in blood. Jiang Xi carefully removed them, some of which got onto the wound. Yan Zheng's brows furrowed deeply as he tore them off.
Jiang Xi carefully cut him open with scissors and then simply wiped his upper body with a hot towel.
Next, take out iodine solution to disinfect the wound.
Yan Zheng looked down at the wound and said, "This needs stitches."
Upon hearing that she needed stitches, Jiang Xi's hands trembled; she had never done this kind of work before.
Yan Zheng comforted him, saying, "It's alright, don't be afraid, just do as I say."
Having learned from her previous experience with wound cleaning, Jiang Xi was much more composed this time.
Following Yan Zheng's instructions, she first disinfected the needle and thread, then carefully cleaned the dirt from the wound with a dagger.
In some places, the tissue was so tightly stuck together that it inevitably brought out some blood when it was torn apart.
Yan Zheng felt a sharp pain and broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead.
He glanced at Jiang Xi and said, "Well done, your surgical skills are getting better and better."
Jiang Xi's initial tension dissipated considerably after his words. She glared at him and said, "What kind of time is this to be joking?"
Yan Zheng smiled and continued, "Now just sew clothes the way you usually do, the simplest way will do. Just sew the two sides of the wound together, it doesn't matter if it looks good or not."
Jiang Xi followed his instructions and made seams one by one.
She could clearly feel Yan Zheng's muscles spasming due to pain, but she had to take deep breaths to try to ignore it.
There were three claw marks in total, and it took so long that she was covered in sweat when it was over.
After stitching up the wound, disinfect it with iodine solution, and then bandage it with a clean white cloth.
Having gone nearly two days and one night without rest, coupled with his injuries, Yan Zheng's face showed obvious signs of fatigue.
Jiang Xi made him drink a bowl of porridge and then a bowl of herbal medicine. After a quick wash, she urged him to go to bed.
Yan Zheng held her hand tightly, saying, "Let's sleep together. You didn't get a good rest last night either."
Jiang Xi sat on the edge of the bed, stroking his slightly long stubble on his chin, and said softly, "I'm going to check on Xiao Lu and feed Xiao Hei and the others."
"You go to sleep first, I'll be there in a bit."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com